Scottish Government

Achievements

This section details achievements across all three strategic pillars and highlights our cross-cutting approach to innovation with examples in each pillar.

Achievements: Strengthening the world-class workforce

In relation to skills and workforce development, our medium and long term objectives are to ensure Scotland offers a labour market which supports the internationally competitive financial services industry by meeting the industry's current skills requirements and anticipating future needs.

In order to gain the widest possible input to our deliberations and activities FiSIG set up a number of delivery groups to undertake specific work. Three of these delivery groups, Skills, Gender Pay Gap and Financial Capability have been focused on our overall aim of strengthening the world-class workforce.

The Skills delivery group has completed a full mapping exercise of the skills activity in Scotland. This has shown that a significant amount of work is being undertaken throughout the country and is:

raising the appeal of the industry as a career choice:University students enjoy the live trading floor in Stock Market Challenge

• 10 Financial Services tours delivered for teachers, careers advisers, students and Jobcentre Plus advisers in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and Fife; over 325 delegates and 26 companies involved.
• Three e-mentoring projects delivered with 88 participants each completing a 10 week course; involving Firhill High School and Scottish Widows, Royal High School and State Street Corp, Peebles High School and Lloyds TSB Scotland.
• Both State Street Corp and Lloyds TSB Scotland participated in an e-mentoring project with Napier University undergraduates involving 24 participants.
• -Five Stock Market Challenge events held in Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow involving 625 S3 pupils from 125 schools sponsored by Standard Life Investments, Morgan Stanley, BNP Paribas and Barclays Wealth and supported by Careers Scotland.
• Three Stock Market Challenge university events held in Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow involving 130 university students sponsored by Standard Life Investments, Morgan Stanley and BNP Paribas and supported by the universities' careers services.

Financial Services and the International Financial Services District ( IFSD) passes "student test":

After a day meeting representatives from four of Glasgow IFSD's best-known employers, over 90% of the history and maths undergraduates who took part in a Financial Services tour in March 2008 said they were now interested in a career in financial services.

Over the course of the day, 36 students met representatives from Morgan Stanley, Barclays Wealth, RBS and Abbey to find out about the diverse range of careers within the industry. As students studying for non-vocational degrees many had not previously considered financial services as a possible career. That view had certainly changed by the end of the day, with the following just a selection of some of the comments from participants:

"it has made me more aware of the different sectors within each company"

"it's been a real eye opener"

"it was not something I had considered previously but it is now a real option"

Cathy Malone from SE, who organised the tour said: "The tours are designed to bring financial services firms looking for high quality candidates together with students who want to live and work in Glasgow when they graduate, but don't know what's on offer for them from the financial services industry. It's a win-win for everyone, including Scotland."

The students who participated in the tour were recruited through the Aiming University Learning @ Work Project based at the University of Glasgow. Irene Bell, Project Manager stated that: "The students and staff who took part were immensely impressed by the content and format of the day. It opened up a potential career sector to the students that hitherto they would not have considered. In addition,
it acted as a confidence builder, to learn that the attributes developed by their chosen degree courses were much in demand by financial services firms."

Providing people with the skills to work in the industry, for example, by delivering pre-recruitment training:

• Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland ( CIOBS) Schools Certificate in Financial Services delivered to 58 S5 and S6 pupils across Scotland.
• Introduction to Investment Operations courses delivered to over 40 individuals across Scotland.
• 16 students undertaking the Higher National Diploma ( HND) in Financial Services.
• National Qualification ( NQ) Accounting delivered to 4,176 S3, S4 and S5 pupils across Scotland.
• Skills for Work in Financial Services (Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework ( SCQF) Level 5) delivered to 101 S5-S6 pupils and non-advanced Further Education ( FE) students across Scotland.

Ensuring workforce development activities deliver skills for the future:Stuart Bernau, Group Retail Director, Nationwide Building Society and former FSSC Chairman, Teresa Sayers, FSSC Chief Executive with John Swinney MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth at the FSSC Dinner in Edinburgh Castle

• Association of Chartered Certified Accountants ( ACCA) cross-sector accounting qualification delivered to 4,152 work-based students across Scotland.
• Financial services employees studying for CIOBS qualifications across Scotland which includes 447 enrolments for Certificate level qualifications; 564 for the Chartered Banker and affiliated courses; 125 for Diploma level qualifications and 431 for regulatory qualifications across Scotland.
• Chartered Insurance Institute ( CII) delivered Ed ASSESS online learning system offering technical and market knowledge with in excess of 500 users across Scotland.
• Almost 6,000 exams taken at public centres in Scotland for CII qualifications leading to Chartered status for Brokers, Insurers, Financial Planners and Insurance Practitioners.
• Over 1,000 students across Scotland studying for Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland ( ICAS) qualifications leading to Chartered Accountant status; from this 243 are now qualified.
• Over 200 Modern Apprenticeships and Scottish Vocational Qualifications ( SVQ) achieved by financial services employees across Scotland through a range of providers with support from SE and more than 200 currently in training.
• 57 people across Scotland working towards achieving SVQ Accounting level 2.
• Around 550 employees in the investment industry achieved Securities & Investment Institute's ( SII) Introduction to Investment - the Foundation qualification and around 200 achieved SII's Investment Administration qualification.
• 10 employees achieved SII Advanced Certificate Examinations developed with Scottish Investment Operations ( SIO); around 70 achieved Certificates in the SII Certificate Programme; 25 achieved SII Diplomas.
• National Progression Award ( NPA) - Financial Services SCQF level 6 delivered to 50 candidates in RBS.

Building a talent pool for Scotland's Investment IndustryAlan Thornburrow, Chief Executive of Scottish Investment Operations and winner of The Innovators 2007 Investment Award, pictured with the Securities & Investment Institute's Carlye Campbell

Scottish Investment Operations ( SIO) extended its successful Introduction to Investment scholarship programme which provides aspiring talent with an opportunity to enter the industry.

SIO won additional funding from the Stewart Ivory Foundation, which has supported the project since 2003, and new funding from SE to provide over 40 individuals with a unique chance to learn about the industry and network with industry employers with the goal of finding a job - over 75% of delegates surveyed now work within the industry.

SIO also re-launched its website which increased user levels by 160% to 2.1 million hits per annum. Additionally, The Innovators 2007 saw SIO crowned Investments category winner for its work on the development of advanced qualifications for the investment industry.

Alan Thornburrow, Chief Executive, SIO commented: "2007 was a very successful year and we look forward to building on that in 2008 with more initiatives to support the industry on talent attraction and skills development."

Encouraging an increased and diversified pool of potential employees for the financial services industry:

Two initiatives address this issue: the Scottish Government's Fresh Talent Initiative and SE's industry-specific talent attraction activity, talentscotland. In addition, FiSIG set up a delivery group to look at issues around gender pay in the industry. The following activity took place:

• Fresh Talent Initiative officials have hosted a number of Fresh Talent events across the country with a number of financial services companies attending. A financial services factsheet to be distributed at workers' fairs (including overseas) has been developed and is downloadable from scotlandistheplace website. This site also hosts Fresh Talent case studies of individuals working in financial services, showcasing the successes of individuals and the opportunities available to them.
• Immigration specialists within the Relocation Advisory Service have held a number of meetings with financial services companies to provide advice and assistance to those looking to recruit staff from overseas.
• Working with financial services companies to target individuals with key skills, over 2,000 financial services professionals from more than 50 countries have registered their interest in living and working in Scotland by subscribing to the SE talent attraction website, talentscotland.com.
• 34 financial services organisations are profiled on talentscotland.com which also features job opportunities, industry news and the relocation stories of senior financial services personnel who have chosen to base their careers in Scotland.
• Following the release of revised statistics on earnings, the Gender Pay Gap delivery group produced a paper providing an overview of earnings across gender in Scotland and Great Britain ( GB). In particular, the paper focused on earnings across gender in the financial services sector and provided a review of several studies that examine the gender pay gap in a broader sense, including a summary of recent studies and research carried out in Scotland, the United Kingdom ( UK) and Europe on the underlying causes of observed gender pay gaps.

Attracting a skilled and diverse workforce through Fresh Talent

Independent Scottish accountancy and business advisory firm Henderson Loggie has cast its net internationally in its search for candidates with the right skills. Six of the firm's 210 employees are from outside the UK, including an assistant manager from New Zealand, a Russian insolvency administrator, and office administrators from Africa and Germany.

"The ability to recruit and retain higher-quality individuals than competitor organisations is becoming much more of a strategic priority for business, especially within the professional services sector" explained HR director Liz Jackson. "But most employers are finding that the war for talent is getting harder every year. To ensure that we continue to attract the best candidates with the right skillset, we decided to look further afield.

"Having made that decision, we've either been directly approached by people going onto our website or seeing our adverts on recruitment websites. We tailored that process with making sure we had the correct policies and procedures in place to handle the people that came forward.

"As far as we're concerned, quality and diversity are integral to our core values. We will recruit the best talent we can get, from wherever we can get it."

The overseas recruits work in a range of professional roles covering audit, accountancy, financial preparatory work and general administration. So skills in areas such as fluency of English language, numeracy, finance, computing and client liaison are essential.

Delivering financial education in schools and beyond

The Scottish Centre for Financial Education ( SCFE), part of Learning Teaching Scotland ( LTS), delivered on its Action Plan for Widening the Industry's Involvement for 2007-08 Learning Money Matters in Scotland: A Framework for the Further Development of Financial Education in Scottish Schools. In doing so, the following financial education activities have been delivered:

• Talk Money, Talk Solutions was produced in partnership between the SCFE and Clydesdale Bank. The SCFE is working with Scottish local authorities in distributing this to every primary school in Scotland. The use of this resource in schools has been supported by continuing professional development ( CPD) opportunities for teachers.
• The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, working in partnership with Prudential, produced a resource for learning and teaching in English secondary schools called Adding up to a Lifetime. Working with the SCFE, this resource has been adapted to suit the Scottish curriculum and over 800 copies have been distributed to secondary schools in Scotland.
• The award-wining On the Money resource was produced in partnership between the Scottish Book Trust, SCFE and Standard Life. The SCFE is working with local authorities to distribute this resource to every primary school in Scotland.
• The idea of schools running a Money Week has really taken off. For example, in Glasgow more than 120 schools have run a Money Week since September 2007. Money Week is a themed week where every class in a school does work on issues related to money. This can, for example, involve young people working with parents, employees of banks and credit unions or setting up a "fair trade" tuck shop. The idea started in primary schools but has been adapted by a number of secondary schools across Scotland.
• SCFE in partnership with Stirling Park delivered a number of CPD events for teachers to enable them to learn more about financial education to assist delivery in the classroom.
• RBS in partnership with SCFE delivers MoneySense to secondary schools throughout Scotland where students learn about personal finance, money management and enterprise skills; teachers benefit from teacher placements and help from a dedicated RBS employee.
• Young Enterprise Scotland's Financial Education Initiatives are delivered to both primary and secondary schools targeted at hard to reach and vulnerable young people. This is delivered in partnership with SCFE; SIO; More Choices, More Chances; Determined to Succeed and the Prince's Trust.

On the MoneyAuthor Alison Murray reads from On the Money to children at St Philomena's Primary School

The production of the On the Money set of short stories has been the result of a partnership across the business, culture and education communities. Standard Life, Scottish Book Trust and SCFE set out to produce a resource that would be fun and engaging for young people in primary schools. One of the other aims was to make the resource as inclusive as possible. To achieve this, a pack of support materials was developed that includes:

• British Sign Language Video
• English and Gaelic Audio
• English Subtitles
• Illustrations

This work was acknowledged at The Innovators 2007 where the partnership was recognised by the award for innovation in Corporate Citizenship.

"I would not just recommend this book to my friend, I'd recommend it for the world." Danielle Murie, Primary 7, Arkleston Primary School

Mapping the delivery of financial capability activities

The Financial Capability delivery group has completed a full mapping exercise of financial capability in schools and beyond in Scotland. This has been a significant piece of work which has produced an excellent overview of the activity going on throughout the country, for example:

• Citizens Advice Scotland ( CAS) Pilot Education Projects to vulnerable clients post school in East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, East Lothian, Airdrie, Angus and Dumfries & Galloway.
• Save by the Bell financial savings scheme in schools in Dundee sponsored by the Stewart Ivory Foundation.
• Financial education delivered in schools in Glasgow, West Dunbartonshire, East Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, North Ayrshire, West Lothian, Renfrewshire and Western Isles - all supported by the Scottish Government's Financial Inclusion Fund.
• Financial Services Authority ( FSA) has delivered the Financial Capability in the Workplace programme providing free financial education to employees across industry, with the support of a secondee from AEGONUK.
• POLisi - IT Based Business Challenge developed by the Insurance and Actuarial Society of Glasgow ( IASG) as part of its 125th Anniversary Programme is a business game for students aged 15-17 years to simulate running an insurance company in competition with other teams. Games are currently running in Glasgow with a view to rolling out nationally in 2008.
• Stewart Ivory Foundation programme delivered in half of Scotland's secondary schools preparing S5 and S6 pupils for life after school.
• FSA delivering a toolkit to support student money advisers and student support services to students in FE; also delivering Money Doctors with the same aims but targeted at university students.
• FSA produced a Colossal Cards resource and Money Made Clear website.
• Dunfermline Building Society's Money Detective initiative produced for primary schools in partnership with SE and Careers Scotland.
• CIOBS runs the Financial Education Partnership ( FEP). The FEP is funded by Airdrie Savings Bank, Clydesdale Bank, Dunfermline Building Society, HBOS, Lloyds TSB Scotland, RBS and Standard Life. Staff from the member organisations undertook around 720 visits involving approximately 25,000 individuals covering 12 subject areas relating to personal financial capability. The workshops are adapted to suit a range of age groups from primary and secondary pupils through to adult groups.

Informed and confident customers

Having undertaken an initial survey of financial learning in communities across Scotland, Learning Connections and the Financial Inclusion Team of the Scottish Government have now identified a suite of case studies of adult financial education projects taking place across Scotland.

The case studies describe work taking place in a variety of settings, including community learning and development, prisons, workplaces, credit unions and citizens advice bureaux. They provide evidence that financial education with adults is most successful when it emerges from partnership working. For example, three projects in West Lothian have been particularly successful because of the effective links between the West Lothian Credit Union Forum and the local authority's community learning and development service. The case studies also demonstrate that adults are often most motivated to take part in financial learning when they are in some sort of transition: for example, going back into employment, leaving prison, or developing a community organisation.

Work is now ongoing to deliver interactive case studies which will be useful to:

• adult learning and youth workers who want to find out about effective resources and teaching ideas (such as websites, games and other activities);
• development workers in communities and organisations, who are looking for ideas about how to attract adults into learning with whom they might work in partnership; and
• policy makers.

The case studies will be available from summer 2008.

Supporting Innovation by bringing industry thinkers and experts together

Scottish Financial Enterprise ( SFE) has initiated a programme of business briefings, designed specifically to engender debate about future trends and developments in financial services. The first of these, in March 2008, looked at the rapidly changing nature of the global competitive environment for the Scottish industry and examined some of the implications. SFE is also working with the Scottish Council Foundation and other partners to extend innovative thinking beyond the industry and into wider social and political networks.

Achievements: Global and local profile

Significant efforts have been made throughout the year to raise the profile of Scotland's international financial services centre to key audiences in Scotland and around the world by taking forward the aims of the FiSAB Communications Plan. This will ensure consistent messages about Scotland's financial services strengths, investments proposition and global reach are articulated.

Investment and expansion in Scotland's international financial services centre:

• SE and Scottish Development International ( SDI) activity to promote Scotland as a hugely successful financial services centre with a strong legacy and a significant competitive advantage through risk minimisation and cost competitiveness has seen major investment by international companies directly and indirectly involved in the financial services industry such as BNP Paribas, Morgan Stanley, Shell, NCR and Dell.
• In total more than 1,800 financial services jobs have been secured through inward investment consolidating Scotland's position as the best performing region in the UK and a leading region in Europe for attracting foreign direct investment (fDi). Scotland was recently named as the European Region of the Future 2008 by the Financial Times fDi magazine, beating 38 other European regions for the title. This is the second time in four years that SDI has won this prestigious award. The award sends a strong message to the international business community about Scotland's economic potential.
• Regional Selective Assistance ( RSA) has proved a valuable asset in attracting new companies to Scotland and helping established companies remain in Scotland to develop and grow. For example, Barclays Wealth Management's new infrastructure base at the Aurora building in Glasgow. This project was supported with RSA of up to £4.2m creating some 500 new jobs and safeguarding at least 800 existing jobs. It will see the company's operations in Glasgow extend, complementing the existing three sites in the city, currently employing over 1,000 people.

Continue to engage and influence regulators and policy makers, including HM Treasury, the FSA and the EU, by utilising the co-ordinated Scottish Voice of the public sector, the private sector and trade union

• Full engagement has continued with UK Trade & Investment ( UKTI) via SFE's membership of the Financial Services Sector Advisory Board ( FSSAB) and SDI membership of the UKTI Regional Forum.
• SFE Reception at Dover House, London in June 2007 involving MPs and other London based officials with stakeholders, where the success of the Strategy was communicated and partners met with stakeholders.
• SFE and member companies continued proactive engagement with EU officials and Commissioners during a visit to Brussels in June where they met, amongst others, Agne Pantelouri, Director, Consumer Affairs, DG Health and Consumer Protection and David Wright, Director, Financial Services Policy and Financial Markets, DG Internal Market and Services.
• Scottish Government officials worked with colleagues from HM Treasury to organise a stakeholder event in Scotland to discuss HM Treasury consultation on the European Commission ( EC) proposals on conflict of laws on contractual obligations to include insurance contracts (also known as Rome1).
• The Fraser of Allander Institute at the University of Strathclyde has been commissioned to undertake a study of the economic impact of the Scottish financial services industry on the Scottish economy.

Raising Scotland's international profile as a leading financial services location:

• In September 2007, SDI in conjunction with UKTI hosted 20 European based journalists who met and received presentations from SDI, AEGONUK, Citygroup and AON along with SFE; John Swinney MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth hosted a dinner for the visiting journalists.
• Seven Chinese journalists visited Scotland as part of a UKTI press tour; SDI provided an overview of the financial services industry in Scotland and during the visit the journalists visited and received presentations from Baillie Gifford, Martin Currie, Standard Life and SFE.
• In November 2007, UKTI held a seminar at the British Embassy in Tokyo to promote the UK's strengths in financial services; as part of this event, SFE presented Scotland's strengths and capabilities to an audience of 50 Japanese financial institutions.
• As part of a UKTI-organised visit by the Chinese Insurance Regulatory Commission ( CIRC) in November 2007, SDI organised presentations by SFE, Aberdeen Asset Management and Standard Life, to showcase Scotland's strengths in both the insurance and asset management sectors.

Marketing Scotland's financial services industry around the world:An example of SDI's international marketing campaign

SDI has undertaken a dedicated marketing campaign promoting Scotland's financial services industry. As well as direct marketing and e-marketing campaigns which have resulted in a significant increase in web traffic, there has also been a series of high profile adverts in some of the world's leading business press including the FT, Les Echos, Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Business Week and Forbes magazine (see below).

The Innovators 2007 offers an exciting new addition to the retirement options available in the UK

AEGONUK - 5 for Life retirement solution

AEGONUK has launched 5 for Life, the first product for the UK pensions market to guarantee income of at least 5% of the amount invested for the rest of the investor's life, coupling the security of a guaranteed income with the benefits of retaining control of investments. The product meets a gap in the market for an alternative to annuities, which do not enable the investor to benefit from improvements in stock market performance, or investment plans, which could run out of money during the investor's lifetime. Launching 5 for Life has enabled AEGONUK to take the lead in a new market, and has paved the way for AEGONUK to develop new bank distribution partnerships. Since its launch in September 2006 AEGONUK has seen steady growth in sales of 5 for Life and some of the company's major competitors are now developing their own equivalents. Overall winners of The Innovators 2007. Gregor Stewart, Partner, Head of Advisory Services, Scotland Ernst & Young LLP, Peter Dornan, Director of Partnership & Distribution Development, AEGONUK, Gordon Arthur, SFE Interim Chief Executive

Achievements: Improving the business infrastructure

By the very nature of infrastructure projects, delivery of actions is more likely to be in the medium to longer term. Short term actions therefore focus on ensuring engagement and understanding of related policy issues which the industry has identified as critical, such as planning. This year, the Scottish Government's Chief Planner led FiSIG through the process and progress of the National Planning Framework ( NPF) review. The NPF sets out the Scottish Government's ambitions for Scotland's development over the next quarter of a century, providing detail on critical elements of national infrastructure and addressing national spatial issues. Other achievements have included:

Using FiSAB and FiSIG influence to continue to address industry priorities within emerging transport policy and seek to improve transport connectivity in and between Scotland's cities and with global markets

• Advance work for the Glasgow Airport Rail Link ( GARL) was completed in November 2007 in terms of installing 71 of the portal frames which will be required for the Overhead Line Electrification ( OLE) equipment on the Glasgow to Paisley rail corridor; work was completed ahead of time and under budget.
• Transport Scotland has been tasked with the delivery of packages of work collectively known as the Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Programme which is designed to prepare and implement cost-effective ways to improve reliability, reduce journey times and increase capacity for the expected continued growth in rail passenger numbers between Edinburgh and Glasgow; the scope includes improvements on the Shotts, Carstairs, Cumbernauld, Dunblane, Alloa and Stirling lines as well as the core Edinburgh to Glasgow line.
• The Route Development Fund ( RDF) ended on 31 May 2007 due to changes required by EU rules; however, the Spending Review outcome provides continuing support for RDF routes launched before that date with 36 routes continuing to operate and 22 (17 international and five domestic) of these routes still receiving investment from the Fund.
• Scottish Ministers have chosen to build a replacement Forth Crossing; this will be a cabled stayed bridge, just west of the existing bridges and will have multi-modal capacity and offer connections to the surrounding transport networks.
• Rail franchise extension includes plans to improve connectivity between Scotland's cities and London.

Improved communications connectivity within and across Scotland's major citiesLaura Gordon, Director, Glasgow: Edinburgh Collaboration

The Glasgow:Edinburgh Collaboration Initiative is a partnership between the councils of Edinburgh and Glasgow and SE. One of its main priorities is to get good physical and virtual connectivity between the two cities for the benefit of Scotland. The Initiative has recently published research on the potential economic benefits from enabling wi-fi and voice connectivity on the move. Not only do rail and bus passengers now expect access to wireless and mobile technology on the move, but a number of transport operators also accept that wireless and voice connectivity is an integral part of the service. City Link recently announced free wi-fi access on its buses between Glasgow and Edinburgh and National Express has announced wireless access as part of its franchise. First ScotRail is also looking to provide wi-fi access on its services between the cities and an announcement is expected soon.

Laura Gordon, Director, Glasgow:Edinburgh Collaboration said: "The provision of integrated voice and data communications on the Glasgow-Edinburgh trains remains a key focus not only for the obvious economic benefits outlined by our research, but also to help stimulate a modal shift, from car travel to train, when passengers realise they can be productive for the entirety of the journey."

Increase awareness and accessibility of public sector support for innovationJim Mather MSP, Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism.

Scottish Government grant support for R&D alongside advice and assistance from the public sector have contributed to successes in Year 3. For example, projects include two Edinburgh-based SMEs working in the fund management arena:

• Level E Ltd which is developing artificial intelligence-base technologies for multi-asset portfolio management; and
• Timberpost Ltd which is developing a novel highly-automated long/short equity fund management system.

In addition, Korala Associates is working with the University of Edinburgh to model the vulnerability of ATM software and develop protective patches.

On 31 January 2008, Jim Mather MSP, Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism announced a new SE grant to support business R&D. This was the final action stemming from an extensive review of business grants in 2006 which aimed to better focus grant support on the main areas that will assist future competitiveness, increased productivity and greater investment in R&D product development. The new grant was launched at the start of April and is open to business of all sizes. SMEs in particular are now able to access much larger grants for larger projects.

"Enhancing the quality and focus of support for business and innovation will have a direct and positive impact on competitiveness and growth"

Increase the level of collaboration between the financial services industry and universities in Scotland

The Industry and University Collaboration delivery group comprising academia, industry and government has been established to increase the level of collaboration between the financial services industry and universities in Scotland to encompass skills; knowledge and experience; research and internationalisation. Initial actions have included the identification of actions being taken to ensure the integration of "employability" skills within university courses at all levels and that these meet the needs of the financial services industry.

Work is now also being taken forward to develop a proposal to establish a Scottish centre of excellence in financial services research.

Ensure a business-friendly regulatory and planning environment

It is imperative to create an environment in which the financial services industry in Scotland can flourish. The FiSAB and FiSIG partnerships continue to ensure that policy makers gain advantage from industry-led solutions by:

• Regular updates provided to FiSIG on relevant Scottish Government regulatory developments.
• The Regulatory Review Group is developing a strategic approach, in addition to its role in trying to resolve specific problems. The strategic approach is designed to achieve practical improvements in the way existing regulatory regimes are operated and improve
  the way that legislation is drafted by, for example, making recommendations for improving Regulatory Impact Assessments.

Strengthen the Scottish supplier communityThis view taken from esure's building in the heart of Glasgow's IFSD illustrates the scale and modern features of the City's financial district

SE's most recent supplier development event was held at HBOS headquarters in Edinburgh on 14 November 2007. The focus for this event was on the customer and the changing shape of the value chain for financial services and explored how best technology suppliers can build better relationships with the industry. As well as HBOS, representatives of Dunfermline Building Society, Intelligent Finance, Standard Life, RBS and Scottish Widows Bank plc also participated. There were also contributions from Google, BT and Vodafone. Thirteen of Scotland's leading technology companies, as well as representatives from the University of Edinburgh, participated in the event.

IFSD - Glasgow

One of Glasgow's biggest success stories in recent years is the International Financial Services District. Fronting onto the River Clyde at the Broomielaw, the IFSD offers a purpose-built environment to meet the modern day needs of financial services companies.

Through a partnership between the public and private sectors, almost £1 billion has been invested so far, providing high quality offices, an outstanding public realm, the latest technology infrastructure and a highly skilled workforce.

Many of the world's leading financial services companies now have a presence in Glasgow including Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, esure, Direct Line, Barclays Wealth, HBOS, RBS, ACE, Lloyds TSB Scotland, BNP Paribas, AON and National Australia Group.