PEOPLE will not be deterred from doing business and investing in Scotland because of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s announcement of plans for a second referendum on independence by 2021 if Brexit happens, a leading property sector figure predicts.
David Davidson, who is chairman of commercial property services group Cushman & Wakefield in Scotland, flagged Brexit and observed political uncertainty was now a normal state of affairs.
He said: “We are not as worried about the impact of a potential second Scottish referendum as we were the last time it was announced two years ago.
“Since then, we have had constant political noise which has undoubtedly slowed down decision-making but, with Brexit delayed further, regrettably political uncertainty appears to be the new norm.”
READ MORE: Royal shares plunge as bank signals Brexit danger
Referring to Ms Sturgeon’s statement this week on plans for a second independence referendum, Mr Davidson added: “The recent SNP announcement doesn’t give a firm date for a referendum to go ahead and I don’t think it will put people off doing business and investing in Scotland. Life goes on. People need to eat and drink and have leisure time and holidays, so the economy appears to be holding up.”
Mr Davidson observed there were “so many other global issues that investors need to factor in”, such as international trade tensions, the European elections and what changes they might bring, and “extreme weather events”.
Mr Davidson said: “Whilst it is not necessarily helpful for us in attracting our investor and occupier clients to Scotland, the world won’t stop turning because of a possible referendum in two years.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here