BlackRock confirms 250 job expansion in Edinburgh

Investment management giant BlackRock yesterday confirmed a further 250 jobs are being created at its Edinburgh operation.

The company's expansion in the city was given a "real push" by its $13.5 billion (8.3bn) acquisition of Barclays Global Investors last year.

Stewart Carracher, head of the Edinburgh office, said most of the new jobs would be in business operations, finance and technology and the company has taken extra space in its Torphichen Street offices.

He said: "BlackRock has for many years recognised the attractiveness of Edinburgh as a financial centre and the high calibre talent pool that exists within the financial services industry across Scotland."

The Edinburgh office now manages about 12.7bn worth of funds among the $3.6 trillion of assets the firm manages across its 25 locations worldwide.

Edinburgh is also home to the firm's €2.6bn (2.2bn) pool of European equity funds, which collectively grew 150 per cent in the last year.

The European equities team is led by Nigel Bolton, who joined BlackRock from rival Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (Swip) in 2008.

The announcement on BlackRock's expansion comes a week after Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Money revealed it was opening a new headquarters in the capital and recruiting 300 staff.