​'London-centricity is unsustainable': 200 business leaders back Scottish … – RT

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Published time: August 28, 2014 11:04

Edited time: August 28, 2014 11:47

AFP Photo / Andy Buchanan

More than 200 business people have lent their support to the “Yes Scotland” campaign in an open letter published in The Herald Scotland newspaper, just one day after 130 slammed the idea of secession from the UK.

The heads of 200 companies representing about 10 percent of Scotland’s workforce have backed Scottish independence over staying with the UK. Similar to the pro-unity bloc’s letter on Wednesday, all the bosses signed on an individual basis, not as representatives of their companies.

“We are involved in business and entrepreneurship at different levels in Scotland and around the world. We believe independence is in the best interests of Scotland’s economy and its people,” the letter reads.

Wealth and entrepreneurship will blossom in Scotland once power and resources are centralized in Edinburgh and not London, the pro-independence business leaders wrote, hoping to tip the balance of economic power.

“It will encourage a culture in which innovation, endeavor and enterprise are nurtured. It will place power in the hands of Scotland’s people to channel the huge resources of our country in the interests of those who live and work here,” the letter states.

“The London-centricity of Britain’s economy is unsustainable,” wrote Professor Nathu Puri, founder of Purico, a UK-based industrial manufacturing company with strong ties to India.

“We must re-industrialize the nations and regions outside of the South East of England,” Puri said.

In total, the ‘Yes’ campaign says that over 2,500 businesspeople have joined the pro-independence Business for Scotland organization, with membership coming from large corporations to smaller, family-owned businesses.

Tony Banks, the chairman of the group, calls the demographic the “lifeblood” of Scotland’s economy.

“More and more business people are moving to ‘Yes’ after looking at the facts and figures. Our members know Scotland’s balance sheet is relatively stronger than the UK’s but we have the potential to be stronger. We know Scotland will thrive as an independent country, because key economic decisions will be made by those who truly understand and care most about our Scotland’s distinctive economic needs, that’s the people who live and work here,” Banks said.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron expected to give a speech later on Thursday which will focus on the connectedness of the Scottish economy to England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Cameron will say that in some industries, Scottish companies source 90 percent of their customers from the UK. According to Cameron, trade between the UK and Scotland supports 1 million Scottish jobs, or about 20 percent of the population.

Leading signatories are Sir Brian Souter, chairman of Stagecoach, an Australian-based transport giant, Jim McColl, chairman and CEO of Clyde Blowers, a £1 billion engineering group, and Ralph Topping, former CEO of gambling site William Hill.

On Wednesday, about 130 pro-UK business leaders signed an open letter stating their case to keep Scotland a part of the Union, and not seek independence.

The letter argued that Scotland’s business success is directly correlated to its integration with the UK economy, which is more than 10 times bigger than the Scottish economy of $250 billion.

The letter argued that Scotland’s recent success, record growth in investment and high employment are both connected to integration with the UK, and that separation would put progress at risk.

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Scottish independence: Business leaders question 'Yes' vote business case – BBC News

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More than 130 business leaders have signed a letter saying the business case for Scottish independence “has not been made”.

The signatories come from a variety of businesses including banking, mining, engineering, food, whisky, and technology.

But lobby group Business for Scotland said economic “facts and figures” support Scottish independence.

The letter has been published in The Scotsman newspaper.

Scotland will go to the polls in the referendum on 18 September, with voters being asked the “Yes/No” question: “Should Scotland be an independent country?”

The letter is signed in a personal capacity by business leaders including Douglas Flint, the chairman of HSBC; Andrew Mackenzie, the chief executive of the mining giant, BHP Billiton; and Sir John Grant, executive vice-president of policy at the energy company, BG Group.

Others include Audrey Baxter, executive chairman of Baxters Food Group; Simon Thomson, the chief executive of Cairn Energy; and Ian Curle, the chief executive of Edrington, which owns the whisky brands The Macallan and The Famous Grouse.

Better together campaigners say jobs are at stake

The letter was organised by Keith Cochrane, the chief executive of the engineering firm, Weir Group, who has already warned of “substantial risks” if Scotland votes for independence. Its backers say that no political organisations have been involved in putting together the list.

The letter says that “much is at stake”: “Our economic ties inside the United Kingdom are very close and support more than a million Scottish jobs.

“As job creators we have looked carefully at the arguments made by both sides of the debate.

“Our conclusion is that the business case for independence has not been made.”

Scottish independence: Business for and against

‘Financial advantage’

One source told BBC Business Editor Kamal Ahmed that it grew out of a “frustration” about what is perceived as a lack of cohesiveness about the business and independence debate.

The signatories account for about 50,000 jobs in Scotland, from large firms such as Babcock ship building to small engineering firms in Glasgow’s east end, our business editor says in his blog.

Supporters of an independent Scotland point to their own supporters from business and economics.

Yes campaigners argue there are economic advantages to independence

Business for Scotland said in a statement: “Business for Scotland has 2,500 members who run businesses in Scotland, employ people across the country in a range of industries, and all believe that Scottish independence is in the best interests of Scotland and Scottish business.

“It’s a position reached after looking at the facts and figures and realising that, from a simple balance sheet point of view as well as other considerations, our best interests lie in becoming an independent country.”

Former Royal Bank of Scotland chairman Sir George Mathewson, has said that Scotland’s vital financial services sector – for example – would flourish if Scotland votes “Yes”.

‘Global business’

“There is nothing to suggest that being part of a smaller country hinders a financial services industry. Switzerland, for example, has – in Geneva and Zurich – not one, but two of the world’s Top 10 financial centres. Singapore, with five million people, is ranked 4th,” he has said.

“Investment is an increasingly global business, where success depends much more on people than on borders.”

Economist and former head of Scottish Enterprise Sir Donald MacKay has argued that an independent Scotland would be in better fiscal shape than the UK is at present.

“An independent Scotland should use that financial advantage to invest in re-engineering our economy towards industrial, manufacturing and tradeable services development,” he has said.

Willie Walsh, the chief executive of IAG, owner of British Airways, also says that independence could be good for Scotland.

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It's Not Business As Usual In Ferguson, Missouri – Here And Now

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Ferguson police are visiting businesses in an effort to communicate more. (Deborah Becker)

Missouri Highway Patrol Captain Ronald Johnson was among the officers walking the streets of Ferguson over the weekend, greeting the throngs of people protesting the shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown.

“I see that we need to communicate more. When you don’t communicate more, you don’t show yourself for what you are and explain your processes and your policies, then you lend yourself to perception — and perception can be a negative thing,” Johnson said.

Missouri Highway Patrol Captain Ronald Johnson (right) speaks with community members including the owner of Clip Appeal barbershop, Kaye Mershon (second from right). (Deborah Becker)

The perception of Ferguson has changed dramatically in just a few weeks. While many people may not have even known exactly where this St Louis suburb of 21,000 was, Ferguson is now an international symbol of racial unrest.

The largest gatherings of demonstrators have been near the site where Brown was shot — along a major roadway lined with strip malls. Several of the damaged stores have the word “Open” spray-painted on boarded-up windows. At least 80 businesses have been affected by vandalism and a loss of customers.

Among the business owners Captain Johnson met with was Kaye Mershon, owner of Clip Appeal barbershop.

“It’s been slow because it hasn’t been accessible,” Mershon said, but she’s optimistic. “I think that we’ll be back on track. We have clients who’ve been coming here for years. I think we’ll just be back to normal.”

Buffi Blanchard, Ikiao Jones, Kaye Mershon and Jared Scott pose for a photo at Clip Appeal barbershop in Ferguson. (Deborah Becker)

But some business owners aren’t sure what normal is anymore. Charles Davis opened Ferguson Burger on August 8 — the day before Brown was shot. His restaurant has become the epicenter of the demonstrations where many protesters, police and reporters gather to monitor the streets.

The first days after Davis opened, business was slow, but soon he had a steady stream of hungry customers.

“Business is great right now,” Davis said. “People from Australia, Canada, Japan California. They would have never been here other than from this unfortunate situation.”

How the effects of the unrest will play out for local businesses is still not clear. Brian Goldman, president and CEO of the Northwest Chamber of Commerce, says at least one local business is monitoring the continuing demonstrations to determine when — or if — it will reopen.

George Davis, owner of Ferguson Burger, opened a day before Michael Brown’s shooting. His restaurant is the center of where people congregate for the demonstrations, and business is booming. (Deborah Becker)

“Things have calmed down. Now everyone is waiting to see what happens next,” Goldman said.

Already though, Goldman says St. Louis was taken out of consideration for some conventions. He says chamber officials are consulting those from California and Florida about how they handled racial unrest. They’re also meeting with the area’s largest employers — Express Scripts, Emerson Electric and local colleges — to assure them that Ferguson is safe, and encourage people to visit.

Goldman is calling it a “buy-cott rather than boycott Ferguson” campaign, and so far he says it appears be working.

“People were there this weekend and realizing that it looks scary at night, but during the day it’s just a normal street,” he said.

Brian Fletcher, former Ferguson mayor and chair of the I Love Ferguson Committee is pictured in his makeshift headquarters at a coffee shop in Ferguson, selling t-shirts and handing out lawn signs. (Deborah Becker)

Another campaign that started after the unrest began is called the I Love Ferguson Committee, chaired by former Ferguson mayor Brian Fletcher. The group has distributed thousands of lawn signs and sold thousands of t-shirts with the “I heart Ferguson” logo.

Fletcher has long been involved in local politics and feels his community has been unfairly portrayed by the national media as a hotspot of racial insensitivity. Forming the committee is his way of trying to change the story line.

“It’s like riding a bicycle uphill,” Fletcher said. “You don’t ever stop pedaling or you go backwards. As the hill gets steeper, you have to pedal even harder than we were so that the legacy of Ferguson future won’t be the death of Michael Brown, but the result of his death of how we become a better community that hopefully will be a model community.”

Fletcher defends the fact that although 67 percent of Ferguson is black, its police department is 90 percent white. He says Ferguson doesn’t have the resources to attract minority police officers. But he admits there are racial tensions that Ferguson — and most U.S. cities — need to address.

Gerry Noll, owner of Ferguson Bicycle, says the white community wasn’t aware of the extent of the racial tensions. (Deborah Becker)

Gerry Noll owns Ferguson Bicycle and like Fletcher, he says he’s shocked by the criticism of his community. But he’s hopeful that image will change.

“It’s exposed a lot in the white community we were not aware of. Whereas maybe Ferguson is a byword or hashtag Ferguson is a negative thing or brand right now, but my optimism says in two, three, five years, Ferguson will be a byword for ‘hey that’s the way to solve those problems.’”

One of the ways they’re hoping to change the image of Ferguson is by opening an Economic Recovery Center later this week.

Some storefronts in Ferguson are boarded up to protect the glass, but they’re still open for business. (Deborah Becker)

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As Truce Holds, Dazed Gazans Get Down to Business – New York Times

Business leaders urge Scots to vote against independence – Reuters

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Scotland’s flag, the Saltire, flies on top of Dean Castle in Kilmarnock, Scotland March 27, 2014.

Credit: Reuters/Suzanne Plunkett

Aug 27 (Reuters) – More than 130 company bosses have come out against Scottish independence, saying the business case for it has not been made, in one of the biggest corporate interventions in the referendum debate just three weeks before the vote.

Chief executives of FTSE 100 companies including mining giant BHP Billiton BLT.L and temporary power provider Aggreko AGGK.L plus the chairman of HSBC bank HSBA.L, and bosses of whisky, fishing and potato firms all put their names to a letter calling for the United Kingdom to stay together.

Voters will decide on Sept. 18 whether Scotland should end its 307-year-old union with England and leave the United Kingdom.

The latest intervention against independence is likely to provide a shot in the arm for the British government’s “Better Together” campaign and comes as the pro-independence side struggles to catch up in the polls, despite its leader Alex Salmond’s recent success in a TV debate.

Several recent polls have shown support for independence pushing higher, but the most recent “poll of polls”, on Aug. 15, which was based on an average of the last six polls and excluded undecided respondents, found support for a breakaway stood at 43 percent against 57 percent for remaining within Britain.

The open letter published on Wednesday said that as “job creators” the companies had studied both sides of the argument.

“Our conclusion is that the business case for independence has not been made,” it said, adding that uncertainty surrounds issues such as currency, regulation, tax, pensions, EU membership and support for exports.

If Scotland, with its $250 billion (150 billion pound) economy, 5.2 million people, oil industry, and nuclear submarine base, leaves Britain, with its $2.5 trillion economy and 63 million people, the consequences would be profound.

Britain’s three main political parties want it to stay in the union, which includes England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The letter, organized by Keith Cochrane, chief executive of Scotland-based engineering company Weir Group WEIR.L, said that with Scotland part of the United Kingdom, businesses have a strong platform for investing in jobs and industry.

“This is about business informing the debate,” Cochrane told the BBC on Wednesday.

“What we are seeking to do is highlight the concerns of real businesses, business with tens of thousands of employees, businesses representing all facets of Scottish business life to ensure those concerns can be taken on board by the voters,”

All signatories had signed the letter in their personal capacity.

On the other side of the debate, Michelle Thomson, managing director of Business for Scotland, a co-operatively owned business network for pro-independence business people, told the BBC that staying within the union also presented businesses with uncertainty given a possible future referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union.

(Reporting by Sarah Young in London and Karen Rebelo in Bangalore; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

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Scottish independence: Firms question 'Yes' vote business case – BBC News

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More than 130 businesses have signed a letter saying the business case for Scottish independence “has not been made”.

The signatories come from a variety of businesses including banking, mining, engineering, food, whisky, and technology.

But lobby group Business for Scotland said economic “facts and figures” support Scottish independence.

The letter has been published in The Scotsman newspaper.

Scotland will go to the polls in the referendum on 18 September, with voters being asked the “Yes/No” question: “Should Scotland be an independent country?”

The letter is signed by business leaders including Douglas Flint, the chairman of HSBC; Andrew Mackenzie, the chief executive of the mining giant, BHP Billiton; and Sir John Grant, executive vice-president of policy at the energy company, BG Group.

Others include Audrey Baxter, executive chairman of Baxters Food Group; Simon Thomson, the chief executive of Cairn Energy; and Ian Curle, the chief executive of Edrington, which owns the whisky brands The Macallan and The Famous Grouse.

Better together campaigners say jobs are at stake

The letter was organised by Keith Cochrane, the chief executive of the engineering firm, Weir Group, who has already warned of “substantial risks” if Scotland votes for independence. Its backers say that no political organisations have been involved in putting together the list.

The letter says that “much is at stake”: “Our economic ties inside the United Kingdom are very close and support more than a million Scottish jobs.

“As job creators we have looked carefully at the arguments made by both sides of the debate.

“Our conclusion is that the business case for independence has not been made.”

‘Financial advantage’

One source told BBC Business Editor Kamal Ahmed that it grew out of a “frustration” about what is perceived as a lack of cohesiveness about the business and independence debate.

The signatories account for about 50,000 jobs in Scotland, from large firms such as Babcock ship building to small engineering firms in Glasgow’s east end, our business editor says in his blog.

Supporters of an independent Scotland point to their own supporters from business and economics.

Yes campaigners argue there are economic advantages to independence

Business for Scotland said in a statement: “Business for Scotland has 2,500 members who run businesses in Scotland, employ people across the country in a range of industries, and all believe that Scottish independence is in the best interests of Scotland and Scottish business.

“It’s a position reached after looking at the facts and figures and realising that, from a simple balance sheet point of view as well as other considerations, our best interests lie in becoming an independent country.”

Former Royal Bank of Scotland chairman Sir George Mathewson, has said that Scotland’s vital financial services sector – for example – would flourish if Scotland votes “Yes”.

‘Global business’

“There is nothing to suggest that being part of a smaller country hinders a financial services industry. Switzerland, for example, has – in Geneva and Zurich – not one, but two of the world’s Top 10 financial centres. Singapore, with five million people, is ranked 4th,” he has said.

“Investment is an increasingly global business, where success depends much more on people than on borders.”

Economist and former head of Scottish Enterprise Sir Donald MacKay has argued that an independent Scotland would be in better fiscal shape than the UK is at present.

“An independent Scotland should use that financial advantage to invest in re-engineering our economy towards industrial, manufacturing and tradeable services development,” he has said.

Willie Walsh, the chief executive of IAG, owner of British Airways, also says that independence could be good for Scotland.

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Thailand's Business in Paid Surrogates May Be Foundering in a Moral Quagmire – New York Times