Swinney and Forbes must back business - Carol Jacobs

As a professional services provider working internationally and across sectors, Alba Partners identifies some core global and domestic challenges facing businesses. As a relatively young firm, growing rapidly and committed to developing our business in Scotland, we would welcome measures that support entrepreneurial firms that are scaling up, and we see a number of opportunities for John Swinney’s administration to create a more fertile climate for business development.

There are a number of potential growth sectors in Scotland. Swinney’s government needs to concentrate on driving up productivity in those areas, recognising the wider benefits a strategic focus will bring. Financial and professional services is one of those sectors, but energy, technology, food and drink, and life sciences are other areas in which Scotland has distinct strengths, all underpinned by a highly skilled workforce and high-quality research from our universities, which need the support of government to continue to play their enabling role in the economy. Given the right conditions, businesses in high-growth sectors can flourish. Creating those conditions should be a top priority for the Scottish Government.

Getting the right infrastructure in place to take advantage of emerging opportunities ought to be another priority, requiring strategic public investment and steps to reduce the regulatory burdens and processes that are acting as a brake on investment and slowing down progress. Kate Forbes has previously been vocal about the potential for economic transformation in the Highlands on the back of the renewable energy revolution, but the same principles apply to other parts of Scotland and economic sectors.

The Scottish Government could also use its powers over business and personal taxation to increase competitiveness. With personal taxation increasing across the UK and a greater proportion of the workforce getting pulled into higher tax bands, recruitment has become increasingly challenging in already tight global labour markets, a challenge exacerbated by the Scottish Government using its tax varying powers to increase taxation at the margins rather than to steal a competitive march. We recognise the pressures on public finances and the political commitment to strong public services, but a thriving economy will increase revenues more effectively than hikes in business and individual tax burdens.

The Swinney government has a chance over the coming weeks to put down solid foundations for longer term economic success, building on existing strengths and addressing the most acute areas of structural weakness. A stable fiscal environment, business friendly policies, and a sharp focus on the sectors with greatest growth potential should all be core ingredients of a dynamic fresh approach. At this juncture, considered choices will help John Swinney prove that he offers more than continuity and can set his own course.