Major office moves hint at brighter times for Glasgow

Copious column inches have been devoted in recent times to the travails of Glasgow city centre.

The demise of Sauchiehall Street has been a source of angst for many, as the once-mighty retail and leisure thoroughfare has endured a painful decline, while policy moves to reduce car use and carbon emissions in the city centre have angered businesses which are in dire need of a footfall boost.

But all is not lost for the city. The recent investment by JP MorganChase in a huge new Glasgow base was rightly seen as a significant vote of confidence in the International Financial Services District and the talent pipeline of the city, which the US banking giant has successfully tapped into over the last 25 years. The New York-based investment bank employs 2,600 people in Glasgow and, at the recent official opening of its 270,000 square foot base on Argyle Street, signalled its willingness to add even further to the team.

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“Our new building represents JPMorgan Chase’s long-term commitment to Glasgow and to Scotland,” said Lori Beer, the bank’s global chief information officer. “This sustainable, state-of-the-art workplace will house future generations of our people and serve as an investment that is much more than the building itself. It is an investment in the community – reflecting the far-reaching impact our company has in Glasgow.”

The US bank’s investment in Glasgow is not the only reason to be upbeat about the city’s status as a major financial centre. Research published this week by property consultancy CoStar Group underlined the appeal to big companies of nearby Bothwell Street as an attractive place to lay down roots. New lettings by accountancy giant PwC, tax and auditing specialist RSM, and Scotch whisky distiller Edrington helped the street command a record 30% share of take-up in the city’s core office market in the first quarter of the year. It means 140,000 sq ft has been taken up in Bothwell Street in the last year, CoStar found.

The commitment shown to Glasgow by such major companies is surely a positive development for the prestige of the city and the many smaller businesses – from bars, restaurants and coffee shops to high-street retail outlets - that stand to benefit from their proximity to these shiny new offices.

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Of course, the dominant news item this week was the resignation of Humza Yousaf as First Minister and leader of the SNP and the battle to succeed him, which looks increasingly like a coronation for veteran politician John Swinney.

Ian McConnell, business editor of The Herald, used one of his columns this week to question whether the SNP, which until last week had shared power with the Scottish Greens at Holyrood, has been as bad for business as its critics regularly say.

“The narrative that the SNP and Scottish Greens have been bad for business has at times painted a picture that the economy north of the Border has been performing much worse than that of the UK as a whole in recent times,” he wrote.

“However, this is not borne out by the data.”

This week, meanwhile, saw the May edition of The Herald’s Business HQ Monthly published on Thursday. It led with an exclusive story by business correspondent Kristy Dorsey on the prospect of Scottish space company Orbex achieving its first launch in 2025.

Chief executive Phillip Chambers said construction of the company's spaceport on the A’ Mhoine peninsula in Sutherland is expected to be completed by the end of this year. Assuming planning and licensing permissions are granted, this will pave the way for the inaugural launch of an Orbex Prime rocket carrying payload on behalf of Surrey Satellite Technology Limited into space.