The UK and its priorities are often considered skewed towards London; however, that may soon change. Glasgow, as the largest city in Scotland, has a fast emerging strong financial hub, which is all set to create history. Careful planning, a young demographic, and growing hi-tech and services sectors have helped Glasgow to attract the right mix of business and financial services.
Glasgow is building excellent infrastructure to emerge as a diverse and globally competitive city. The city is home to a number of blue-chip companies, global organisations, and some of the biggest financial names in global finance.
If you buy shares, you will be interested to hear that plans are progressing to launch a Scottish stock exchange, Bourse Scot, in the second quarter of 2019. Headquartered at Edinburgh, Bourse Scot will have offices in Glasgow and Aberdeen.
The Bourse Scot initiative is the brainchild of entrepreneur Tomas Carruthers, who has a background in innovative trading platforms. Bourse Scot, which is in partnership with Euronext, one of the world’s largest stock market operators, will be the first Glasgow exchange since the closure of the trading floor in 1973.
A new stock exchange in Glasgow will galvanize the city’s financial services sector, play a vital role in bringing together businesses and industry, and enable Scottish investors to directly fund business opportunities and support economic growth. Moreover, Bourse Scot is an exchange with a difference. The key focus of the exchange is on social and environmental impacts. Potential listers will need to show how the investment will be used to deliver environmental benefits.
The social and economic landscape of Scotland has transformed over the decades, and growth sectors such as renewable energy and biotechnology have reinforced Scotland’s standing as a centre for global excellence. A stock exchange with an environmental focus will be a harbinger of green investments and will spur wealth managers to create green portfolios.
Since the closure of the Scottish Stock Exchange in Glasgow 45 years ago, the finance sector in Scotland has continue to feel the effects.
According to data compiled by Paul Marsh and Scott Evans of the London Business School, Scottish shares have underperformed UK shares by a large margin since 2014, which was perhaps not a good advert for reviving the Glasgow exchange. However, a completely new exchange will boost Scottish stocks, spur trading activity, and correct the divergence with UK stocks.
With the uncertainty of Brexit looming large, banks and financial institutions recognise the need to shift jobs away from London. Glasgow is well poised to emerge as an alternative destination, and the creation of a new stock exchange will no doubt act as a catalyst.