Glasgow, United Kingdom
Glasgow’s development was built on it being a market town, where leather production and wool were its foundations. Being coastal there was naturally commerce in fish, but linen and cotton spinning became increasing important. Glasgow has thrived since it was named European City of Culture in 1990; it has good art collections, restaurants, is home to the Scottish Ballet, Opera and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. It has two excellent universities, both of which have very high research involvement. Glasgow is the UK’s fourth largest City with 1.7 million people in the greater Glasgow area. It is in the top 30 largest cities in Europe. The work force is well educated, being second to London in the UK for level of graduates employed. The city has diversified industries, with a few sectors being significant; low carbon, financial and business services, life sciences, engineering, energy (particularly renewables) and education. Being a gateway to the highlights of Scotland tourism is important. 80% of the Whisky bottling for Scotland takes place in Glasgow. The future of Glasgow, more than many other UK cities, is troubled by uncertainties over Brexit. This is due to the high dependency on EU funding for the Universities, with many EU students there, and for research projects. Despite this the life sciences industry, hosting the Glasgow Bio-Corridor, and funded partially from GSK (a US company) should allow for continued growth and development. The Financial and Business services sector should also allow the city to continue growth. Today the city is 74th in the world ranking of financial centres; the sector employs 52,000 in large banks and institutions. This makes the private sector in Glasgow amongst the fastest growing in the UK. With a strong history in Engineering, and hosting many important engineering companies, (with around 10,000 professional engineers working in the City), supported by Universities with a strong engineering emphasis, there is no reason why Glasgow should not continue its growth based on a diverse but strong economy. The supply of talented staff can only be of benefit to the future. It is for the business leaders of the city to take these opportunities, and overcome the uncertainties that Brexit may have caused.