Looking back
The good news is, Scottish business still has a pulse to check. You’d be forgiven for doubting that if you’re tracking the nation’s GDP. This crawled to 0.2% growth during Q1 2025, suggesting the economy has gone a bit light-headed, looks rather pale and urgently needs some sugar.
There’s some life in us yet, though. Six months ago, a third of our respondents said the financial year was going worse than expected – that’s down to less than a fifth now (19%). The vast majority of you (64%) are stoically right on track – no less, no more, just how we like it.
In keeping with the general trend towards – dare we say it – muted positivity, we’ve also seen a reduction in how many business leaders see economic uncertainty as their biggest challenge. Could this be because the economy is very certainly treading water? Are we all resigned to the economic equivalent of walking up the downward escalator? Frankly, right now we’ll take it.
What we can say is that Scottish business leaders are not feeling flush. Many have warned that access to investment capital is drying up, with almost half (48%) saying it’s scarce or very scarce. Just 8% describe investment as readily available.
Indeed, it isn’t a boardroom table-length leap to see the link in our data: firms have been concentrating on ‘defensive’ strategies, such as squeezing every inch out of the top line (74%) and looking for operational efficiencies (65%). Those jazzy growth strategies like entering new export markets (7%) or product diversification (22%) just aren’t on the radar.
Looking ahead
A theme we’re keen to pick out this period are our skills gaps. Hiring is still in stasis with very few respondents expecting to increase headcount beyond 10 in the next six months. Moreover, twice as many of you describe the Scottish talent pool as “average” compared to “good”, damning it with the faintest of praise.
The robots aren’t coming for us yet, though. The vast majority of our respondents say they don’t expect artificial intelligence to impact their headcount by any more than 10% in the next five years – and two thirds don’t expect any material change at all. So, if you’re still grappling with AI, you’re not alone.
While we remain non-partisan here at The View, we do keep a pulse on your confidence in political leadership. What has come through clearly are your priorities as we approach the upcoming elections. Top of the list are calls for changes to taxation and financial support. This is followed by a strong desire for improved workforce and skills planning and increased access to investment funding.
“But what does all this mean?” I hear you ask. In short: the economy’s flatlining, investment’s hard to come by, we’re finding ever more ingenious ways to squeeze more from less, and we’re desperate for both taxation relief and a few economic rocket boosters.
See you in six months.
Editor, The View.
