In this piece in The Scotsman, Sandy Begbie discusses the issues we'd like to see take priority under the new Scottish government administration, calling for a new approach to tax and business regulation and an honest conversation about how we can improve higher education funding.

Figures from the Scottish Government show that Scotland’s economy is estimated to have shrunk by 0.3% in February, with GDP contracting in the second month of 2024.

SFE are delighted to announce Glasgow Children’s Hospital as the charity partner for the 2024 Scottish Financial Services Awards, sponsored by EY.

Research from the Financial Conduct Authority’s Financial Lives survey shows that while the overall picture has improved slightly over the past year, many people continue to struggle to meet financial commitments. 

Scottish Financial Enterprise has published the results of a new tax and competitiveness survey, offering insight into how senior leaders in the sector see Scotland’s competitiveness.

SFE Chief Executive Sandy Begbie CBE FRSE is in New York for Tartan Week this week, as part of a delegation including politicians and business leaders representing Scotland at the annual city-wide event celebrating close ties between New York and Scotland.

We’re now hiring for a new Events & Relationship Manager. This is a fantastic opportunity to work in a tight-nit, welcoming team, build new skills and develop relationships across Scotland’s financial services ecosystem. Find out more here.

Following her recent keynote speech at our Journey to Net Zero Summit Dr Sarah Ivory, Senior Lecturer in Executive Education, Climate Change and Sustainability at University of Edinburgh Business School, makes the case for a Duty of Care and a Duty of Hope in Scotland’s financial services industry.

In this blog, Grace Robertson, Consultant at EY’s Sustainable Finance Team dives into the important topic of the Just Transition, describing what a Just Transition truly means, why it is so important and how the financial services industry can collaborate to achieve Net Zero and do so in a way that manages the social impact and ensures nobody is left behind.

Scottish financial services industry reports major strategic progress as industry leaders meet to discuss continued growth and collaboration

In our latest Spotlight on Higher Education blog, Supta Das tells us about her Graduate Apprenticeship in IT management at Heriot-Watt University and how it helped her develop the key skills she needed to navigate to world of work and thrive in her current role at EY Scotland.

New figures from TheCityUK show that employment in Scotland’s financial and related professional services industry increased by around 13,000 between 2021 and 2022, highlighting the strength of our post-covid recovery.

As part of Scottish Apprenticeship Week 2024, we asked the latest addition to the SFE team, Lana McGill to write a blog for us discussing her office administration apprenticeship, what she has learned over the past 6 months and how she feels she has progressed since joining.

Read our response to the Chancellor’s budget statement here.

If you’d like to be part of a growing industry, fancy a career change, or are looking to gain new skills and experience, consider an apprenticeship in Scotland’s financial services industry.

Marking Scottish National Apprenticeship week, Professor Gillian Murray of Heriot-Watt University has written in The Scotsman to highlight the important role that graduate apprenticeships can play in tackling the fintech skills gap.

JP Morgan has unveiled a major new investment in Edinburgh for its private banking and wealth management division, further cementing the firms commitment to Scotland ahead of the opening of its new technology hub in Glasgow later this year.

In our next spotlight on higher education blog, Matej Mezes, of PwC provides insight on his accountancy degree at Edinburgh Napier University whilst working a full time job as a duty manager at the Edinburgh University Pleasance gym before eventually landing a place on the Actuarial Services Graduate Programme at PwC.

After receiving the rising star award at the 2023 Scottish Financial Services Awards, Rachel Coleman of Pinsent Masons has shared a blog with us outlining her current role, the work she carried out that enabled her to win the award and how it felt to receive such recognition.

In our first spotlight on higher education blog, Robert Glover from abrdn shares his career story to date, his regret at not pursuing higher education early in his career but how he has now corrected this through applying to a graduate apprenticeship scheme where he is now working towards a full Bsc Hon degree as a data scientist.