THE doomsayers on Scottish inward investment will, happily, not be finding much to back up their viewpoint in the hard numbers.
Yesterday, taxpayer-backed Scottish Development International (SDI) revealed its activities had in the year to March helped attract projects from the rest of the UK and overseas that secured 7,839 jobs north of the Border. This was up 10 per cent on the previous 12 months.
The number of such projects secured also jumped, from 96 to 139. Some investments in Scotland from the rest of the UK, SDI noted, go back ultimately to an overseas-based parent company.
Some in the political and business world have suggested the heightened Scottish independence debate, after last June’s Brexit vote, has weighed for a while now on inward investment.
However, accountancy firm EY’s annual survey, published in May, showed Scotland won a record number of foreign direct investment (FDI) projects during the 2016 calendar year, 122 in all. This was impressive, given 2015 had seen a 51 per cent leap in the number of such projects attracted.
SDI operations director Neil Francis yesterday highlighted his agency’s focus on research and development projects, and on technology, with software and life sciences among sectors being targeted.
He noted SDI is “very conscious of the risk” posed by Brexit, given some companies locate in the UK to access European Union markets. However, the pipeline of projects is stronger than this time last year, so hopefully Scotland’s targeting of technology-focused investment will provide some resilience.
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