Company bosses feel disconnected from Holyrood – Daily Business

Almost two-thirds of industry decision-makers cannot name business or economy spokespeople from Scotland’s top two political parties.

A new survey reveals a low level of connectivity between business and political leaders, while civil servants are accused of not understanding business.

Despite this, the SNP continues to be regarded as the best party at representing their interests.

The tenth edition of the Understanding Business survey, released today reveals that fewer than four-in-ten respondents said they know the business/economy spokespeople for the SNP (38%) and Scottish Labour (37%), with the Scottish Conservatives at 27%, despite its claims to be the party of business.

Nearly three-in-five firms (58%) are not familiar with the senior civil servants responsible for their sector and almost half (47%) of those expressing an opinion feel that civil servants do not understand their business much, or at all.

The survey is designed and conducted by Diffley Partnership and Charlotte Street Partners and received responses from 630 businesses.

Asked which party best represents their interests, just under one-third (30%) said the SNP, with Scottish Labour on 25%, the Scottish Conservatives 12% and Reform UK 11%.

The Scottish Government is seen as more concerned with their needs than the UK Government (54% versus 39%), though the gap narrows when firms are asked about the extent to which each government is taking action to address their concerns (46% SG versus 36% UKG).

When asked to identify the political interventions that would do most to boost the growth of their business, reduced taxation (44%), increased support for business owners (27%), and reduced business rates (27%) were the most popular choices, although all three are down slightly on the previous quarter, by six points, one point and two points respectively.

Following several recent high-profile cyber-attacks on UK businesses, the survey found cyber-crime (73%) to be the foremost crisis concern among firms, ahead of climate disaster (52%), staff malpractice (42%) and terrorism (41%).

However, more than half of firms report feeling prepared to deal with these issues, with the exception of terrorism (39%).

When asked to forecast general economic prospects, four-in-10 (39%) expect the economy to worsen over the next year, excluding ‘don’t knows’, which is one of the lowest levels recorded by this survey, while over one-third (35%) predict improvement, an increase of 10 points since March.

Despite pressures on the cost of hiring, a quarter of businesses have seen their workforce grow over the past three months, with 15% reporting a fall in employee numbers.

Around half of firms (48%) have been actively hiring staff, with the majority of those (52%) identifying applicants’ skill levels as the biggest barrier to recruitment.

Scott Edgar, Senior Research Manager at Diffley Partnership said: “This latest wave of Understanding Business highlights the evolving pressures facing Scottish businesses, from recruitment challenges and rising costs to concerns about cyber threats.”

Malcolm Robertson, founding partner at Charlotte Street Partners, said: “Governments at both Holyrood and Westminster talk about economic growth being absolutely central to their ambitions.

“And yet, there is still a clear sense of disconnect between the business leaders who will ultimately achieve that growth and the politicians who are relying on it.

“Businesses must have their voices heard at the cabinet table, but if most executives don’t know who is primarily responsible for representing their interests in those discussions, something is badly amiss.”