The decision by Cardtronics to make an £8.5 million bid for i-design suggests that the US cash-machine operator sees real value in technology developed in Tayside.

Ana Stewart, founder of i-design, can claim to be a genuine pioneer after alerting banks to the potential of using the vast estates of automated teller machines to market their services.

The company went on to persuade giants such as British Airways that they could use i-design's technology to turn ATMs into electronic advertising devices.

Millions of consumers are likely to have seen the company's handiwork, probably without realising it.

In addition to being a Scottish technology success story, i-design deserves credit for managing to achieve progress amid tough times for the key banking and advertising markets.

Some people in Scotland are bound to be concerned by the prospect of the country losing another member of the relatively small band of listed companies based north of the Border.

The prospect of the takeover of i-design by a foreign corporation may spark some unease in Dundee, where the company employs 30 people.

America's NCR axed 252 jobs when it closed its cash-machine manufacturing operation in Dundee in 2009.

With that in mind, i-design's statement that Cardtronics does not intend to close the Dundee base and has indicated the offer will provide continuity of employment for staff will be welcomed.