I NOTE the Agenda contribution from Susan Aitken, leader of the SNP opposition on Glasgow City Council. (“We must all pull together to put city in vanguard of economic progress”, The Herald, February 22).
She says that the Labour-run council, and thus the city, has "lagged behind”, is dominated by “muddled thinking” and is so “20th century”. So let’s consider only a few economic facts taken from the recently published Glasgow Economic Strategy:
In 2014, Glasgow was the fastest-growing major city economy in the UK, with seven per cent growth in our GVA (gross value added) – twice the rate of cities such as Liverpool or Manchester.
The city generates more than £19 billion of economic output, making us by far the economic powerhouse of Scotland.
The city’s business base increased by 2000 new companies between 2013 and 2015. And we have signed the largest City Deal of its kind in 2014 – bringing in over £1.13bn of investment to the city and its surrounding areas.
It might be worth noting that Glasgow’s high-tech GVA has been measured at £480m, which is more than that of Dundee and Edinburgh put together. So much for a city that is offering “outdated solutions … to 21st century problems”.
In fact far from “trailing in the wake” of competitor cities, Glasgow’s economic achievements have been awarded accolades. In 2016 Glasgow was named European Entrepreneurial Region of the Year for that year, by the European Union, only the second city in history to receive this award which is usually reserved for much larger city regions.
Ms Aitken warns that we have to be ready “to navigate Brexit”. However, the city’s Brexit Report has been produced as a collaboration between the Glasgow Economic Leadership (GEL), the city’s Chamber of Commerce and the city council. Under the GEL leadership of Professor Sir Jim McDonald, the principal of the University of Strathclyde, we have developed real strengths in precisely the key sectors of life sciences and quantum technologies which Councillor Aitken talks of. In fact, Oxford Economics has identified that between 2011 and 2015 the GEL key industry sectors in Glasgow saw employment increase by 5.5 per cent – more than twice the rate of other sectors in the city. GEL has led the way in developing Glasgow’s first innovation district pioneering capital and technology investment of more than £400m with the TIC building at its heart. Not bad for a “talking shop”.
Also, last November, one of the world’s biggest 7T MRI scanners was delivered to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital to mark an investment of £10m plus.
Frank McAveety,
Leader, Glasgow City Council,
City Chambers, Glasgow.
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