Highlights of Financial Services Announcements in 2009

Despite the turmoil in the financial markets during 2009, Scotland’s fundamental strengths in this sector remained robust – with more companies setting up and expanding their operations in Scotland and reporting profits.

A report at the beginning of 2009 by recruitment specialist Joslin Rowe showed that 22% of firms expected to increase their permanent employee numbers in 2009 which still shows an optimism in the employment market in Scotland.

Furthermore in the same report 48% of the 85 companies interviewed described their company’s level of business confidence as ‘optimistic’ or ‘very optimistic’.

Growth of jobs in Scotland

2009 began with postitive news with the announcement that BNP Paribas Securities Services in Glasgow were creating 80 new jobs as part of its five-year plan to recruit 370 new jobs in Scotland. This was followed by supermarket giant Tesco’s plans to create more than 200 new financial jobs in Edinburgh and to move it’s existing 250-strong Tesco Personal Finance team to a new office in Edinburgh City Centre.

Sir Richard Branson also chose Edinburgh at the site of Virgin Money’s new mortgage operation which aims to create more than 100 new jobs, and later on in the year the historic UK banker and infrastructure management company Kleinwort Benson set up offices in the capital to service the current buoyant wealth management market in Scotland.

This all contributed to a rise in job vacancies in the area showing welcome signs that the city’s economy was recovering and will continue to recover in 2010.

Meanwhile in the west, Glasgow was enjoying its share of new job creation. While building up its Edinburgh operations, Tesco also announced plans to create 800 financial services jobs in Glasgow which will be the new site of Tesco Personal Finance’s insurance call centre operations.

Glasgow’s financial district come of age

Glasgow’s International Financial Services District (IFSD) was also attracting more companies with LV = Broker Division settling into new offices to market its wide commercial insurance portfolio at the same time as esure, the internet and telephone based insurance company, announced plans to expand its base into the IFSD to create 500 new permanent jobs. This is part of a long-term expansion programme to create 250 jobs in customer services by mid 2010 and a further 250 jobs by 2014.

Since its launch in 2001, the IFSD has attracted just over one billion pounds of investment creating 15,150 jobs, making it one of the largest economic regeneration projects in the UK. It aims to attract 20,000 new jobs and develop two million sq ft of Grade A office space by 2011.

Protecting skills for the upturn

Protecting existing jobs and attracting new ones to Scotland’s financial services sector is very high on the Scottish Government’s priorities: in February the Finance Sector Jobs Task Force was established to tackle the current challenges in the sector and help prepare Scotland’s economy for a strong recovery.

It was announced by the Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond who said: "Scotland's financial services industry has a long-standing, global reputation for excellence. The recent and unprecedented events within this sector, around the world, have created real challenges.

"This is why the Scottish Government is determined to do all we can to protect and retain the skills and experience of the sector.”

The Task Force will co-ordinate efforts to ensure maximum levels of employment are retained within the financial services industry.

This initiative later backed up by the plans to create 460 new financial and business services apprenticeships across the country, as part of wider £16 million programme to create 7,800 new apprenticeships in skills important to the future success of the country.

More information:

Jobs in Financial Services

Financial Services Employers