While watching the Virgin group founder Sir Richard Branson’s company video at the Scottish Business Awards, those of us at the Business for Scotland table couldn’t help but chuckle. It felt like an advert for the Yes campaign, finishing its high-octane feel good business mantra on: “The answer is ‘yes’!”
It set the tone for what was to be a very upbeat awards and the biggest yet in Scotland with over 2000 attendees packed into the EICC. It demonstrated a very confident Scotland with its eye on the prize. Certainly not a business community clouded with uncertainty and shrugging away from the prospect of a “yes” vote in September, as the No campaign would have us believe.
Sir Tom Hunter urged the audience to aspire to be the best in the world, not just the UK or Europe, and that ambition is mission critical. And given the star-studded line-up and heavyweight award winners it wasn’t difficult to see this philosophy already under way.
Major business players such as Sir Angus Grossart won a special award for outstanding contribution. Sir Angus has been at the heart of Scottish business for four decades and is known as the puppet master of the Scottish economy. The respected merchant banker has taken a relaxed approach to the referendum and is reported to have no qualms about independence, predicting that “pragmatism” will emerge among the country’s businesses following the vote.
Another business icon, Martin Gilbert, picked up best company of the year with his Aberdeen Asset Management, which is one of the world’s leading independent asset managers and one of Scotland’s biggest companies. Martin has also taken a sensible approach to the matter and recently said: “We have no plans to move our headquarters out of Aberdeen we already operate in 30 countries round the world, so one more’s not going to make any difference.”
Then we had the rather suave Elgin entrepreneur Leslie Benzies picking up CEO of the year, which was very well deserved. As President of Rockstar North which began its journey in Dundee, he’s the mastermind behind the iconic game Grand Theft Auto and headquarters his company in Edinburgh with a growing workforce soon to reach up to 500. A guy more keen to be in front of a console than on screen, Leslie rarely gives interviews or speaks to the media. In typical Leslie style he collected his award sporting a rather shiny gold Yes badge showing his subtle personal support for the campaign. But it did not go unnoticed. Leslie is a big deal in the gaming world and the Scottish business community. Just look at Grand Theft Auto V, which broke records with sales of $800 million (£500m) within 24 hours of its September 2013 release.
In a clear indication of their growth, Rockstar next month takes over the Scotsman Publications offices at Barclay House in Edinburgh as the Scotsman scale down to a more modest base. Perhaps it’s a sign of the times that out goes the old media and in comes the new.
And Dr Yes, as he is known amongst the Virgin group, Sir Richard Branson was on top form during his question and answer session. He also seemed unperplexed on the issue saying whatever happens Scotland will still remain the best of friends with the rest of the UK. He also found himself agreeing with BA boss Willie Walsh for the first time ever, saying that a flagship white paper policy of reducing air passenger duty by 50% could only be a good thing.
So what does this tell us? Well I get the feeling that if some of Scotland’s top entrepreneurs are pragmatic, or if a world-leading innovator such as Leslie Benzies can see that “Yes is the answer” alongside heavy hitters such as Jim McColl and Brian Soutar, who were also in attendance, then we are on a pretty good footing.
It reflects the buoyant mood in Scotland, which has fared relatively well from the downturn. As Governor of Bank of England Mark Carney said “the recovery began in Scotland” which returned to growth faster than the UK and is the top place in the UK for inward investment.
All the evidence demonstrates that Scotland is a wealthy nation and even David Cameron has agreed that we can be independent. You just had to take a quick look round the EICC on Monday night to see our capabilities.
An independent Scotland would be the 14th wealthiest nation in the developed world by GDP per head of population. Scotland’s wealth is built on solid financial foundations, a diverse economy and substantial economic potential in new industries such as biotechnology and renewables, as well as current key sectors like food and drink, tourism and oil and gas.