Today, The Herald teams up exclusively with Grant Thornton to unveil its Top 100 Scottish private companies report. The top 100 have reported total annual revenues of nearly £40 billion, representing average growth of 26% over the last year and employ about 136,000 people.

Herald Business Editor Ian McConnell said: “This Grant Thornton report provides a fascinating insight into the crucial role played by Scotland’s top private companies in helping drive economic growth, identifying many key players across a raft of sectors and highlighting the importance of the food and drink, and energy industries to the nation.”

The report found Scotland’s world-renowned food and drink sector has more firms than any other industry in a key compilation of the country’s top 100 companies. And two of Scotland’s biggest Scotch whisky distillers have made the overall top five.


READ ALL OUR ANALYSIS ON THE TOP 100


Scotland's Top 100 private companies revealed in new report

Scotland's 'most profitable sector by far' revealed

World-renowned Scottish sector leads the way


It also underlined the importance of the energy sector to Scotland’s prosperity and to the economy in the north-east of the country as the energy and natural resources industry has been revealed today as “by far the most profitable” in Scotland in 2023.

Ten of the top 100 Scottish companies highlighted by the Scotland Limited Report 2024 compiled by accountancy giant Grant Thornton are involved in the sector, including the business which topped the ranking overall.