Lothians economy strongest in Scotland

Published on Wednesday 10 October 2007 12:24

THE economy of Edinburgh and the Lothians outstripped wider Scottish economic growth by an average of almost a third each year since 1999, according to a new report on the region.

And sectors such as financial services and life sciences are growing at four times the national rate of expansion.

But more was needed to be done if the Lothians were to move into the "champions league" of global regions.

Dave Anderson, senior director of operations for Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian (SEE&L) was to reveal the growth story at the economic development agency's annual meeting today, claiming the local economy is the largest contributor to Scotland's economic growth.

According to a report commissioned by SEE&L, the Edinburgh and Lothian economy grew by an average of 2.7 per cent a year since 1999 compared with the Scottish average of two per cent.

The report also shows levels of prosperity, productivity and economic participation are higher than the UK and Scottish averages.

Elsewhere, Mr Anderson revealed that the report also showed more than half of all people employed here work in high-value jobs in knowledge-intensive industries such as financial services and life sciences.

Both sectors, according to the SEE&L boss, are growing at eight per cent a year - roughly four times the Scottish growth rate.

Mr Anderson said the early findings showed some very promising trends for the future.

"The report highlights that we have all the essential ingredients needed to sustain and accelerate further economic growth both locally and nationally.

"However, the report highlights that we cannot be complacent. Although we are outperforming our domestic rivals, we need to continue to push on with our priorities if we are to move into the 'champions league' of internationally competitive regions."

"Productivity improvement remains the fundamental key to unlocking future economic growth in the region. We need to aspire to levels achieved in competitive cities such as London, Amsterdam and Frankfurt."

SEE&L's latest annual report, also published today, showed the agency's total expenditure in the year to March 31 was 45.2m, up 11 per cent on the previous year, taking the total invested in economic development activity since 2001 to more than 700m.

Mr Anderson also said there had been "significant progress" at flagship projects such as the Edinburgh BioQuarter and the Informatics Forum, which have the potential to position Edinburgh as world leaders in the life sciences and advanced computing sectors respectively.

Charles Hammond, chairman of SEE&L, said the agency had achieved an "impressive set of results".

HELPING BUSINESS START AND GROW

OVER the past year, SEE&L met or exceeded all its targets. Among the highlights were:

Supporting 1760 business start-ups through the Business Gateway scheme, including 785 starts by women and 124 starts from residents in disadvantaged areas.

• Provided one-to-one business development support to 300 companies with significant growth potential.

• Helped 82 companies in priority industries internat-ionalise their business.

• Helped leverage more than 45 million of new investment into projects such as the Informatics Forum and Edinburgh BioQuarter.

• Supported 2317 individuals to achieve a "positive outcome" from vocational training and development.

• Worked with 166 companies on workforce development plans to increase productivity.