THE top 100 privately-owned companies in Scotland raised employment and revenues, and hiked profits, in their latest financial years, a survey has revealed.
The survey, published today by accountancy firm Grant Thornton, said these firms had grown total revenue by nine per cent, increased employment by 12 per cent and boosted profits by 32 per cent.
It showed 40 per cent of the top 100 firms recorded double-digit percentage growth in profits.
The survey excludes listed companies and the subsidiaries of companies based elsewhere in the UK and overseas.
Grant Thornton said the financial statements of the country's 100 leading limited businesses showed operating profit hit £882 million from total revenues of £20.6 billion, all generated using a workforce of 103,807 people.
Grant Thornton's Scotland Ltd 2014 report is compiled using the most recent publicly available accounts of Scotland's top-performing private businesses, using a measure of turnover and profits.
Meanwhile, seasonally adjusted figures published yesterday by the Office for National Statistics revealed that UK business investment fell by 0.7 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the three months to September. This fall in business investment casts further doubt on the sustainability of the UK economic recovery.
The ONS said that household spending had risen by 0.8 per cent in the third quarter. It confirmed its previous estimate that gross domestic product had grown by 0.7 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the three months to September.
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