A new survey has shown that 76% of Scots believe Scotland is a good place to do business, with just 12% disagreeing with that statement.
However, only 44% think that the Scottish Government has the right policies in place to make Scotland and attractive place for inward investment, with 38% stating it does not have the right policies in place.
The poll was conducted by Survation on behalf of True North at the start of August among 1,002 Scottish adults, finding that hospitality and tourism (with 71%) was believed to be the most important sector in terms of recovery and growth following the pandemic.
The energy sector followed on 65%, with the food, drink and agriculture industries just behind on 62% and financial and professional services some way back on 41%.
Asked whether they were aware of the contribution that the financial services and professional services sectors make to Scotland's economy, 10% were 'not at all aware', 39% stated they were 'not that aware' and 35% said they were 'quite aware'.
These sectors represent 9.2% of Scottish gross value added (GVA), so once given this fact, 80% of respondents said they thought they were 'important' to the future success of the nation's economy, while 9% said 'neither important or unimportant' and just 3% said 'unimportant'.
The research was published at an event last night, organised by advisory firm True North and Scottish Financial Enterprise (SFE), which sought to discuss Scotland’s growing presence as a global financial centre and to explore the key challenges and opportunities ahead.
The survey also found that 81% believe the UK and Scottish governments do not collaborate well, with just 16% stating they do collaborate well.
The True North analysis suggested that this speaks to a polarisation of UK politics in recent years, constitutional deadlock and a lack of mutual respect between governments in London and Edinburgh.
Another question found that 64% of respondents thought Holyrood and Westminster should work together to invest in and deliver major strategic infrastructure projects, while 28% said they should work independently to do so.
Sandy Begbie CBE, chief executive of SFE, welcomed the survey's endorsement of SFE's approach in highlighting the need for effective collaboration in several areas.
Last year, the organisation launched its five-year strategy, establishing a range of proposals to drive collaboration across the industry and with both the Scottish and UK governments.
“It is hugely encouraging the vast majority of people consider our industry as important to the future success of Scotland’s economy, but there remains work to do in order to articulate our role in supporting the growth of other sectors.
“There is also a clear appetite amongst the public for both the Scottish and UK governments to work more closely to help businesses and communities as part of wider economic recovery efforts, which is something SFE has consistently called for since the onset of the pandemic.
“The necessity of collaboration is further evidenced by the lack of awareness of efforts to accelerate energy transition,” Begbie continued, adding: ”We must turn this weakness in to an opportunity and SFE will actively encourage both industry and government to align behind a strategy to ensure that Scotland becomes a global leader in both the delivery and financing of the race to net zero.”
A final question on the poll asked about how different sectors are doing in terms of the energy transition and net zero targets.
It found that 65% were not aware of how the financial and professional services sector was doing to invest in work towards these goals.
The energy sector fared better, with 45% aware, compared to 50% not aware of what was being done to invest in the transition.
In terms of the governments, 40% were aware of UK-wise initiatives (compared to 54% unaware), while 45% were aware of Scottish investment (compared to 49% unaware).
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