THOUSANDS of jobs have been created or safeguarded in Scotland in the past six months as a result of investment by American firms, new figures have revealed.
First Minister Alex Salmond announced today that a total of 5833 jobs has been created or safeguarded as a result of support through the Government's economic development agency Scottish Enterprise in the first two quarters of 2014-15. Nearly half of the roles - 2572 - were as a result of investment by US firms.
Examples include financial services firm Ceridian UK Limited, which is creating a technology centre of excellence at its base in Renfrew, expected to support 130 new jobs. The company currently employs 300 people in Scotland.
Around 500 jobs are also to be created by US business services company Synnex-Concentrix in its new 22,000sqft global delivery centre located in Gourock.
And Chicago-based insurance brokerage firm Arthur J Gallagher & Co is to create a Glasgow finance hub which will generate 67 jobs over the next two years, taking the number of staff in the city to 172.
Salmond said: "Scotland continues to build on its strong business relationship with the US, the success of which can be plainly seen in the figures I have announced today.
"I have every confidence we will see further investment this year and in years to come."
Lena Wilson, chief executive of Scottish Enterprise, said: "The US continues to be our largest inward investor. This is testament to the attractiveness of Scotland as a competitive business base."
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