A speedy and decisive government response to the London airports review, due to be published this week, is the most important current issue facing Scottish business, the Confederation of British Industry has said.
The airports commission led by Sir Howard Davies is reported to have plumped for Heathrow rather than Gatwick for the new airport capacity urgently needed in the south-east.
Hugh Aitken, director CBI Scotland, said a decision was at the top of the organisation's agenda. "People need to see that level of infrastructure support, because they can't develop the way they would like to unless they see capacity increase and capability being made available. It has been a common theme for some time - and now they need to call it and make it happen."
The Airports Commission has been considering whether to recommend a third runway at Heathrow or a second at Gatwick. The average number of daily flights departing from Scottish airports to Heathrow has declined from 50 to 35 in the past decade as the hub has become increasingly congested.
In a letter to The Herald last month, Glasgow business leaders said a third runway at Heathrow would "deliver growth for our exports sector, support tourism from long haul destinations and attract inward investment to Glasgow".
The letter was backed by chief executives Stuart Patrick of the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, Amanda McMillan of Glasgow Airport, and Scott Taylor of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, and by the Glasgow Restaurant Association, Greater Glasgow Hotels Association, Glasgow's Leading Attractions, and Howden Group.
However Gatwick chief executive Stewart Wingate responded that that building a second runway at Gatwick would lead to more competition between UK airports, which would in turn benefit Scotland. He claimed that if the Heathrow option was chosen, some long-haul flights in and out of Scotland could be under threat from the creation of a 'monopolistic mega-hub'.
John Cridland, CBI director-general, told The Herald: "I think the most important issue for business people in Scotland is getting swift government action to address the Davies commission."
He went on: "Everybody in the CBI wants diggers on the ground for a new runway by 2020. To do that, the government will need to take a decision this week, we must have an unequivocal decision. The government should simply endorse what Howard Davies comes up with - there is this temptation to meddle."
Mr Aitken said that also high on the CBI Scotland agenda was education and skills, following research which asked employers what they were looking for in hiring young recruits. He said: "Only 43 per cent were looking for academic skills, 85 per cent were looking for attributes such as personal style, roundedness, and understanding business."
Last year the review for the Scottish Government by Sir Ian Wood concluded that schools were ignoring the needs of the 50 per cent of non-academic school-leavers and letting them merely "fill in their time". Sir Ian recommended that Education Scotland "work more closely with business organisations and their members to ensure that their work is underpinned by an understanding of industry's needs and expectations".
Mr Aitken commented: "We are working very constructively with the government to put a plan together for the next five to seven years on how we can reach out to that."
He cited as role models Knightswood secondary school in Glasgow where 11 different companies now engage with pupils, and Forth Valley College which is devising a blueprint for students to spend part of their time in work experience.
Mr Aitken, a technology veteran of Scotland and the US, said: "There is a belief here that if you don't get a degree you are failing, that is the wrong mindset, you don't get that in California where 17-year-olds can't wait to get out and start their own company. But we recognise the issues and there is a wind of change - government, secondary schools and colleges are starting to understand that."
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