8 INSIDER March 2020 http://www.insider.co.uk
IN BRIEF
Vote backs BID
to secure Moray’s
tourism industryValue of major
fraud court cases
tripled last yearTOURISM businesses in Moray
have voted overwhelmingly in
favour of introducing a Tourism
Business Improvement District
to secure the future of the
industry in the region.
The vote resulted in a 75 per
cent yes vote for the BID which
will aim to deliver a five-year
business plan to build on the
growth of tourism in the area
over recent years.
The results were announced
in the Elgin Library after a
postal ballot which had run for
six weeks from December.
Last year tourism was worth
£130m to Moray, with the
region welcoming almost
800,000 visitors who supported
more than 2,800 jobs.
The new BID will invest
more than £1m in tourism
development over five years.THE VALUE of major fraud cases
going through the Scottish
courts more than tripled in
2019, according to the latest
KPMG Fraud Barometer.
The latest data, which
analyses fraud worth more than
£100,000, showed that cases
valued at more than £15.6m
were heard in courts across the
country, up from cases worth
more than £4.5m in 2018.
One case involved Alistair
Greig, 65, who offered investors
(mainly in the Aberdeen area)
through his business, Midas
Financial Solutions (Scotland)
Limited, high-interest accounts
with the Royal Bank of Scotland
(which did not exist), promising
them guaranteed returns on
capital and interest payments.
He is alleged to have obtained
around £12.98m from investors
under false pretences.
Annette Barker, KPMG’s head
of Forensic Regions, said: “There
has been a significant increase
in the value of fraud cases in
the Scottish Courts this year,
which correlates with the
overall UK picture.”Talent spotters put capital 45th in world
FinTech birthday marks growth in sector
EDINBURGH has been ranked
45th in the world in a listing of
the most talent competitive cities.
The Seventh Edition of the
Global Talent Competitiveness
Index shows London rising from
14th to second place while the
UK has dropped from ninth to
12th best country in the world for
the ability to attract, retain, train
and educate skilled workers.
The index, produced by The
Adecco Group together with
business school INSEAD and
Google, says the UK’s ability to
attract and retain talent is affected
by its lack of political stability
and poor tolerance of minorities.
The report suggests the UK’s
weakest area is its relatively lack
of internal openness.
This would improve through
greater tolerance of minorities,
a category in which the UK fell
from 54th rank to 78th this year.
The report findings also suggest
that attention should be paid to
vocational and technical skills, as
more could be done to improve
secondary education by making
it more relevant for the labour
market. The report also suggestssome cities rather than countries
are strengthening their role as
talent hubs, with London’s efforts
to attract and retain top talent
paying off.
The UK capital’s jump 12
places from the previous year
demonstrates its ability to be
flexible to new trends, and
capacity for future readiness in
fields such as artificial intelligence
or advanced technologies,
including fintech and medtech.
London also received a strong
performance in the attract and
global knowledge skills areas.
These assess the degree ofinternationalisation of cities
(infrastructure and connectivity,
population with tertiary
education and number of patent
applications) – all of which
contribute to making the capital
such a hub for talent.
Edinburgh is the second top UK
city in the rankings at 45 with the
other two being Birmingham at
76 and Cardiff at 77th.
Alex Fleming, president and
country head of the Adecco
Group UK and Ireland, said:
“These research findings reveal
the scale of the talent challenge
facing organisations in the UK.”TRADE body FinTech Scotland
celebrated its second anniversary
by announcing that the number
of fintech businesses in the
country has grown by more than
60 per cent to 119 over the last
12 months.
The growth in the new
fintech enterprises focused on
reinventing financial services
has been driven by new start-
ups such as Visible Capital,
SecureTheFile, Open Banking
Research, Contract2Pay, Digital
Future Capital and Guiide among
many others over the year.
In addition, the growth has
been fuelled by fintech firms
moving to Scotland from other
parts of the world, such Gobbill
(Australia), Polydigi (Hong
Kong), EedenBull (Norway) and
QWallets (US), who are now part
of the Scottish fintech community
along with other global fintechfirms, bringing their expertise
and energy with them. Other
innovative fintech companies
from elsewhere in the UK have
also set up in Scotland including
Xpand, Mudano, Infinity Works
and BePayd.
Since its inception in early 2018,FinTech Scotland has facilitated
the growing fintech innovation by
fostering the connection between
entrepreneurs, large financial
services firms, the universities,
government and public sector
as well as a range of strategic
partners and stakeholders.NEWS: BRIEFING
News and quotes compiled by Ken Symon
L-R, Graeme Jones, Scottish Financial Enterprise; Stephen Ingledew, FinTech
Scotland and Kate Forbes, then the digital economy minister now finance secretary