Scotland experiencing a business boom

Scotland is booming with business as high-profile firms choose to take advantage of lower operating costs, a highly-skilled workforce, and a resilient business infrastructure.

According to business continuity providers Phoenix the boom is being driven by two decades worth of businesses seeking to achieve cost savings by off-shoring elements of their business, who are now realising the benefits of bringing these operations back onshore.

Phoenix’s head of business continuity unit, Mike Osborne explained that “overseas workers might cost less on a head-for-head basis, but they are less productive in the long-run. Off-shored operations typically require a greater headcount than their UK equivalent.”

It seems that Scotland provides a perfect mixture of lower operating costs and a highly-skilled workforce, in comparison to the South East. This could explain why firms look to move more of their operations North of the border.

Scotland’s infrastructure, especially in the Central Lowlands, is another key attraction. Businesses – especially financial firms – need to ensure that they have robust disaster recovery plans in place whenever they migrate to a new locality. A new business continuity (BC) centre in Hamilton, Scotland, will hopefully support the migration of such businesses,

“The Hamilton Business Continuity Centre is perfectly sited to serve the powerhouse of the Scottish economy, enabling businesses to secure their business continuity plans without making a large capital investment in redundant premises,” said Osborne.

The Hamilton site – set to launch 30th April – will provide businesses with an instant replacement premises, which can be occupied within a few hours in case of emergencies, such as major disasters or business disruptions. The site was created to meet bespoke requirements of individual organisations: from basic office administration functions to complex financial based call centre activity. In addition to office based continuity, the internet-connected site offers a safe-haven for Scotland’s email, website and critical data; with a resilient tier III aligned data centre, built as part of the new facility. Will it help boost Scotland’s business landscape?

By Shané Schutte

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