Reply to: We should all urge Scots to stay in Scotland

[scooterscot]

So I really don't think being part of the UK is necessary for Edinburgh to flourish, either. Cut the red tape and keep taxes low and high skilled workers, entrepreneurs and capitalists will follow. Only problem is the EU is not fond of tax competition, but hey ho, they're in a gradually weakening position anyway.

The wherewithal to bail out reckless banks is already dissipating in England, anyway, and that is for the better. What both England and Scotland should aim to attract are manufacturing jobs, since they already possess advanced financial hubs.

I agree. This will be Scotland's chance to simplify the tax system. I want to see small business become the backbone of the economy, not a government that flirts with big corporations & corrupt MP's lobbying in parliament on their behalf.

[doodab]

Or they might just move their HQ to somewhere with a future. Like Shanghai.

I doubt they would headquarter in China while it's still a communist regime, though those that need regional headquarters might choose it over say hong kong.

[BrilloPad]

Edinburgh does have a proper financial services sector this is true, it's not just outsourcing of back office stuff. Par of the appeal of Edinburgh over say Frankfurt or Paris is the fact it's in the UK though. That means the legal and regulatory frameworks are well established and well respected, effectively it's like doing business in London. An independent Scotland might be able to base it's systems on ours but it won't have the BoE or the same track record so it will take a bit of time to establish the same level of confidence I expect. I don't know if institutions would move lock, stock and barrel but they might prefer to relocate some stuff or direct future investment to the UK.

Or they might just move their HQ to somewhere with a future. Like Shanghai.

[Ticktock]

Dell don't have a place and HP are there on account of an old Compaq office which was there 20 years ago and probably for a while before that so nothing to do with cash incentives.

Really? I guess imagined the weeks I spent working up in the old tobacco factory building out towards Dennistoun when I was training all of the initial hires there for Dell, and then the regular trips I took as they grew to over 1000 heads (more than they used to have in Bracknell). And of course the fact that all of my expenses were passed on to the Scottish Enterprise agency, along with a lot of the costs the company had in setting up the site.

[doodab]

Cut corp tax to 10% and no bank levy and suddenly Edinburgh becomes very attractive to City Banks...

So why did they all choose Edinburgh in the first place then? There are plenty of places with lower taxes.

Notwithstanding existing businesses like RBS & Scottish Widows, Edinburgh has flourished for much the same reasons Leeds has. Take it out of the UK and Leeds will overtake it IMO. The likes of Tesco & Virgin will likely move if Edinburgh turns out to be a Foreign country.

[AtW]

Assuming they don't start a trade war, and no other European countries drop their rates, and they import enough Indians so they have accents that could actually be understood

Ireland has got 12.5% and so far most of EU countries did not drop their corp tax rates.

[MicrosoftBob]

Cut corp tax to 10% and no bank levy and suddenly Edinburgh becomes very attractive to City Banks...

Assuming they don't start a trade war, and no other European countries drop their rates, and they import enough Indians so they have accents that could actually be understood

[MicrosoftBob]

Slay the dreamer, eh doodab?

Gordo should never have been PM - where was our vote? How is this democracy?

Yeah he was a bit too right wing for Scotland, you'll get who you deserve

Time to go off and wallow in your socialist utopia, it's been nice subsidising you

[DodgyAgent]

Do you think we could return to the 5 nations rugby and boot scotland out. They are so sh*t at rugby (and soccer for that matter) that they are demeaning the standard of EU sport. Maybe they should form a league with Greenland and a few other nations of a similar standard.

[Zero Liability]

What does the BoE add to the mix, exactly? Or the FCA/PRA? London offers huge network advantages and a very skilled, large labour pool. Although you could make the argument that the regulatory framework is banker-friendly in the UK, I wouldn't pin it down on that. Scotland would like to be part of this because it makes managing the currency that much easier, but it could still join the Euro if it wanted the benefit of a widely accepted, somewhat decently managed currency. I don't think either the £ or the Euro are really that well managed but since all things are relative, lets say they are.

So I really don't think being part of the UK is necessary for Edinburgh to flourish, either. Cut the red tape and keep taxes low and high skilled workers, entrepreneurs and capitalists will follow. Only problem is the EU is not fond of tax competition, but hey ho, they're in a gradually weakening position anyway.

The wherewithal to bail out reckless banks is already dissipating in England, anyway, and that is for the better. What both England and Scotland should aim to attract are manufacturing jobs, since they already possess advanced financial hubs.

[AtW]

Because Edinburgh, being in the UK, is a very viable alternative. Take it out of the UK and it becomes somewhat less so.

Cut corp tax to 10% and no bank levy and suddenly Edinburgh becomes very attractive to City Banks...

[doodab]

So why are they not doing it in London in the first place?

Because Edinburgh, being in the UK, is a very viable alternative. Take it out of the UK and it becomes somewhat less so.

[AtW]

That means the legal and regulatory frameworks are well established and well respected, effectively it's like doing business in London.

So why are they not doing it in London in the first place?

If Scotland dropped corp rates to 10% then it would get plenty of banks move there.

[doodab]

Edinburgh does have a proper financial services sector this is true, it's not just outsourcing of back office stuff. Par of the appeal of Edinburgh over say Frankfurt or Paris is the fact it's in the UK though. That means the legal and regulatory frameworks are well established and well respected, effectively it's like doing business in London. An independent Scotland might be able to base it's systems on ours but it won't have the BoE or the same track record so it will take a bit of time to establish the same level of confidence I expect. I don't know if institutions would move lock, stock and barrel but they might prefer to relocate some stuff or direct future investment to the UK.

[minestrone]

Glasgow was always a shining beacon before major investment was made there, wasn't it?

It's not too bad now on the whole, and attracted some major companies (e.g. HP and Dell) but of course that has nothing to do with money being pumped into the area.

Dell don't have a place and HP are there on account of an old Compaq office which was there 20 years ago and probably for a while before that so nothing to do with cash incentives. Glasgow has quite a lot of lower end banking stuff and some back end stuff but nothing and I mean nothing to boast about.

The banking sector in Edinburgh is on a completely different level, large head offices of major players to many specialist smaller firms, these places go there because of the skills of the workforce, because a lot of people work in finance in Edinburgh and because it is a good place to run your business, it looks good and has history. These places don't need or look for cash incentives to locate there.

The think that all this can be taken of them by some place in the north of England by using some bribes is quite frankly ludicrous.