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Scottish Entrepreneurs Have Global Pulling Power But Need To Be More Inspiring To Boost Overseas Trade

Posted: 24th October 2016

Scottish entrepreneurs have global pulling power but need to be more inspiring to boost overseas trade

  • Scots seen as ‘co-operative’, ‘hard-working’ and ‘reliable’ but could be more ‘inspiring’, ‘driven’ and ‘easy-going’
  • Almost a quarter (24%) of overseas businesses work with fast growing Scottish businesses or successful Scottish entrepreneurs
  • Three quarters say ‘Made in Britain’ remains great selling point for British products

Glasgow, Monday 24th October 2016:  International confidence in Scottish entrepreneurs is high, but a lack of innovation could dampen long-term trade prospects, according to new research* published by Barclays. The study interviewed 1,350 business leaders around the world on their perceptions of British entrepreneurs and their experiences trading with Scottish scale-ups. Almost a quarter (24%) of overseas businesses work with fast growing Scottish businesses or successful Scottish entrepreneurs, a higher proportion than several other areas of the UK including Northern Ireland (17%), Yorkshire (12%) and West Midlands (8%). But Scottish businesses are not attracting as much trade as areas like London (62%) and Wales (25%). Scotland has long retained a reputation for innovation and China (32%), the US (29%) and UAE (26%) are most optimistic about Scotland’s potential to create the next Apple or Google on home shores. Yet this fell dramatically in the views of France (17%) and Germany (19%). Outside of London, 30% of those polled* are aware of an Edinburgh based start-up hub, but more leaders are familiar with businesses in Liverpool (54%), Manchester (53%) and Cambridge (43%) demonstrating that there is still a job to be done to promote Scotland and its capital as tech hubs.

Trading with the UK post-Referendum

Following the UK’s EU Referendum vote, 61% of International business leaders say it won’t have any impact on the way they do business with UK entrepreneurs: 84% believe UK products and services will continue to offer good value, three quarters (76%) say they are confident that Britain will have a solid plan in place, while the ‘Made In Britain’ brand is a highly attractive for 74%. A further 60% say Brexit will actually improve their trade dealings with British companies.

Doing Business with UK entrepreneurs

Scottish entrepreneurs are described by overseas business leaders as co-operative (42%), hardworking (40%) and reliable (40%) but fall short on resilience (25%) and inspiration (30%).

Table 1: Common traits of UK entrepreneurs, as voted by global business leaders:

  1. Co-operative – 42%
  2. Reliable – 40%
  3. Honest – 40%
  4. Hardworking – 40%
  5. Polite – 39%
  6. Innovative – 39%
  7. Smart – 38%
  8. Passionate – 35%
  9. Driven – 30%
  10. Inspiring – 30%

Challenges for UK enterprise overseas

Worryingly, UK entrepreneurs could be missing out to overseas counterparts at a time when competitive advantage is vital. Two fifths of international business leaders (44%) admit that Brexit may reduce their trade with the UK in the future, and point to the US and Germany as examples that Britain could better emulate in trade and negotiation skills. It seems the ‘British reserve’ could also be holding businesses back: just over half (62%) of overseas business people think that UK entrepreneurs are far too polite, 65% think they could be better at negotiating deals, with an additional 65% who think that they could be better at communicating with them. Furthermore, 59% of international business leaders think US start-ups are more likely to succeed than UK. While nearly nine in 10 (87%) know of the US’s Silicon Valley, just 65% have heard of the UK’s Silicon Roundabout- and 30% think it is a TV show, showing more must be done to build the UK’s profile overseas as a centre for entrepreneurs. When asked what would encourage them to do more trade with companies in the UK, nearly half (47%) say Brits need to show greater differentiation and innovation in products and services. Other factors include a need for more face-to-face communication (47%) and for the UK’s digital skills to be improved (45%). If these were addressed, global business leaders would increase their trade with the UK by almost a third (28%). The UK being better at digital is most important for business leaders in China (64%).

Jamie Grant, Head of Scotland & Northern Ireland at Barclays, said: “This shows Scottish entrepreneurs are held in high regard by business leaders globally, particularly in Brazil, China and the US.  However it’s critical that, against the backdrop of Brexit, we do everything we can to maintain and crucially build on this. That includes capitalising on the trade relationships and investment opportunities that the research highlights in order to thrive.

“Policy makers and the wider industry have an important role in boosting the reputation of Scotland’s enterprise, as despite being home to a swathe of inspiring businesses, our international trade partners do not necessarily view us as leaders in the tech space. Our findings show that improved digital, innovation and communication skills will increase trade in the UK by almost a third. As a recognised global hub for high growth businesses, we must do all we can to declare we are open for business for these economic dynamos.”

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