THE number of high growth firms in Scotland has increased by more than a third since the recession, according to new research.

Defined as a firm that has at least ten employees and records annual average employment growth of 20 per cent over three years, Scotland had 722 high growth firms in the three years to 2015, up 35 per cent from 534 in the three years to 2012.

The Enterprise Research Centre, which carried out the research, said the number of high-growth firms across the UK had risen to 11,855 – the largest number since the dotcom boom of the early 2000s.