Shared ambitions can help produce powerful results - Jo Davidson
Recent days have highlighted the powerful results that can be achieved when political differences are set aside in favour of shared ambition.
The Scottish and UK Governments’ recent signing of a memorandum of understanding to support the Forth Green Freeport is a strong example of collaboration delivering real economic potential.
An initial £25 million investment in seed capital will prepare key sites within the Green Freeport to attract investors, helping to reindustrialise areas across Edinburgh, Fife and Falkirk.
Detailed economic impact reports suggest the project could generate around £8 billion in economic activity and create 34,500 well-paid jobs, with around half based directly at sites stretching from Leith to Grangemouth and into Fife.
Supported by targeted tax and customs incentives, the benefits will be felt far beyond the Freeport itself, strengthening both the Scottish and UK economies.
There is genuine reason to celebrate. As Forth Green Freeport chair Dame Susan Rice rightly described it, this is a “momentous day”.
That sense of ambition, however, stood in sharp contrast to the Scottish Budget delivered last month. While businesses welcomed some modest measures to soften the impact of rising business rates, many felt the Budget represented a missed opportunity to articulate a clearer, more ambitious plan for economic growth.
With further non-domestic rates rises looming through forthcoming revaluations, hospitality and tourism businesses in particular fear the limited support on offer will not go far enough to mitigate escalating costs.
In retail, growing divergence in policy approaches north and south of the border risks undermining Scotland’s competitiveness for future investment.
These concerns matter deeply in Edinburgh. The city is Scotland’s primary tourism and hospitality engine and alongside Glasgow, its major retail centre. The success of these sectors underpins employment and prosperity across the Capital and beyond.
More recently, the announcement of More Homes Scotland - a proposed national housing agency - has been cautiously welcomed. Designed to perform a role similar to Homes England, it reflects a recognition that housing supply is a critical constraint on economic growth.
Edinburgh Chamber has long campaigned alongside the city council and homelessness charities for greater urgency in tackling the city’s housing crisis, which, we argue, is as much an economic issue as it is a social one.
Yet significant caveats remain. The agency’s creation depends on the outcome of this year’s Scottish Parliamentary elections, no budget has yet been allocated and it will take up to three years before it becomes operational. For a city grappling with acute housing pressures now, that timescale risks falling well short of what is required.
All of this reinforces a simple truth: in an election year especially, the voice of business must be heard. What was missing from the Scottish Budget was a clear, ambitious vision for growing Scotland’s economy and growth is essential to creating good, sustainable jobs and opportunity for everyone.
That belief has driven a year of work by the Edinburgh Chamber to develop a business-led local growth plan, Edinburgh 2030: Unleashing Our Economic Ambition. Developed following the Chamber’s Call to Action last year, the plan draws together existing strategies into a single, measurable and actionable framework with a bold goal: to make Edinburgh one of the world’s strongest city economies.
The plan sets out five clear missions. It calls for accelerating business dynamism by doubling the number of scale-ups with annual revenues above £50 million by 2030, and by doubling annual venture capital investment from around £150 million to £300 million.
It highlights the urgent need for more and better business infrastructure, including the delivery of 30,000 new homes by 2035, alongside new office and research laboratory space.
It sets an ambition for Edinburgh to become Europe’s leading innovation city for populations under one million, building on strengths in research, data-driven innovation, fintech, the creative industries and health innovation.
Achieving this will require a skilled and resilient workforce, including employer-led training programmes to upskill 7500 people each year in high-demand sectors.
Crucially, all of this must be underpinned by a visible Team Edinburgh Economic Network, led by a clear figurehead and tasked with securing £1 billion in new external investment by 2030.
Delivering this vision will require ambition, boldness and genuine partnership. If Edinburgh is to remain a great place to do business and a great place to live, political leaders must recognise the scale of the challenge and work alongside businesses that are desperate to see real teamwork, engagement and shared purpose.
Director of Policy at Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce