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At the time of writing, on the morning after the general election, there are still a few results to come in but it looks certain that Britain is heading towards its first hung parliament since 1974. The Conservatives have the most seats but not enough for a majority. The Liberal Democrats failed to make the gains which their election campaign may have suggested but are in a good position to influence any legislation that a coalition government might make. The results have had an immediate effect on the markets with sterling taking a hit and the Footsie stumbling. The markets don’t like uncertainty and Miles Templeman, the director of the Institute of Directors has been quick to call for an end to what he calls ‘a political vacuum’. Whatever your political comple
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The last few weeks have seen a series of enjoyable punch-ups between the banking industry and everyone from the Federation of Small Businesses to the Institute of Directors. In a nutshell, the banks say that their lending policies are fair and that they are lending at the levels they should be. Those who want to raise finance from the banks have a very different view of events. Speaking ahead of the FSB annual conference in Aberdeen, Scottish Policy Convenor Andy Willox OBE said ‘There is still anger in the small business community – as there is in the public at large – that the failed banks we generously bailed out have repaid us by hiking charges, squeezing credit and, in some cases, even removing relationship managers from branches.’ Not to be outdone, the
These are interesting times for the Scottish economy, particularly as it seems to be running at a different speed from the rest of the UK. Both The Herald and The Scotsman ran prominent stories today based on the release of a report by the financial information services company
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Edinburgh was recently crowned Europe's Best Small City of the Future for a second successive year.
With apologies to our Vistage Scotland members who are not based in Edinburgh, we thought we would draw your attention to a report on the European Cities and Regions of the Future as compiled by fDi Magazine, an offshoot of the Financial Times.
The full report is here but, in summary, judged on
In January, the global energy consultancy, McKinnon & Clarke announced that it had been sold to mid-market growth investor Lyceum Capital for £22million.
The Fife based company has soared in value over the last few years under the guidance of a management team that included three past and present Vistage Scotland members.
The company’s founder Sandy McKinnon and its CEO Simon Northrop were both long term Vistage members and director Sandra Birrell has been an active member of Edinburgh’s Vistage 19 group
Last year’s financial upheavals sparked important changes in the global business landscape but, thanks to the troubles of institutions such as the Royal Bank of Scotland, they had a special significance for the Scottish business community. This year is likely to be no less interesting with a general election, a possible Scottish independence referendum and continuing uncertainty over the financial outlook all promising, or threatening, to shake things up. Vistage members already benefit from the regular predictions of Roger Martin Fagg and, in particular, his forecasts for the economy in the Vistage white paper, The New Economy: Prospering In The New Business Landscape. CA Magazine, the magazine from the
