Scotland sees pace of growth of R&D workforce overtake UK's

Scotland has grown its research-and-development (R&D) workforce more than 50 per cent quicker than the UK average in the last decade, according to new analysis.

Innovation funding specialist Catax has revealed that the number of R&D jobs in Scotland has climbed 128.6 per cent over the last ten years, with only three other regions — London, the West Midlands and Wales — seeing stronger growth.

Scotland’s growth was also faster than the UK-wide figure of 83.8 per cent over the same period to 283,000 full-time equivalent positions in the latest 12-month period.

The firm said R&D jobs are an “important indicator of future economic growth, particularly when it comes to industries reliant on innovation”, and such roles “often lead to the creation of more skilled jobs locally”.

Catax, citing what it said is the latest Office for National Statistics data for 2020, also pointed out that Scotland now boasts 16,000 R&D workers — up 6.7 per cent annually, although lower than the average R&D workforce across every region of the UK of 23,500.

However, Scotland’s share of the UK’s total R&D workforce has risen to 5.7 per cent from 4.5 per cent in 2010.

Catax boss Mark Tighe said: “Scotland isn’t short of ambition, and the pace at which it has added R&D jobs over the past decade puts it right up there with the fastest-growing innovation regions of the UK.

Such roles 'will be a key factor in further stimulating Scotland’s economy,' according to the report. Picture: Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images.

“These highly skilled roles play a crucial role in driving regional economic growth, and will be a key factor in further stimulating Scotland’s economy.

“There is still an imbalance in the UK, with far more R&D jobs existing in the South. It will be interesting to see how the levelling-up agenda affects the balance of power in the years to come.”

Catax says it is an expert in specialist tax relief, and since launch has recovered more than £430 million of tax relief for its clients

Chancellor Rishi Sunak in last week’s Spring Statement cited plans to reform R&D tax credits. “Right now, we know that the amount [UK] businesses spend on R&D as a percentage of GDP is less than half the OECD average,” he stated.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.