Scottish Cities Alliance

World-leading business experts fDi Intelligence have ranked a number of European cities, on their fDi performances. We’re pleased to share that Glasgow, Edinburgh, and the Highland’s region, have made it in to some of the top spot’s for European Cities and Regions of the Future ranking’s.

Glasgow scored highly as it was placed first in the large European cities of the future category for FDI strategy; it was fifth in the connectivity category and made the top ten in the business friendliness category.

And this recognition is richly deserved.

Glasgow is going places when it comes to innovation. It’s been named by the UK Government as one of three recipients of funding for the Innovation Accelerator programme. This programme is investing £100m in 26 research and development projects to accelerate the growth of three high-potential innovation clusters, among them the Glasgow City region.

As a biotech and pharmaceutical hub, the city boasts more than 200 life science companies and has supported the growth of medtech and other areas of research through the ‘Glasgow Biocorridor’, which brings together organisations and businesses working in this space. Last year, German pharmaceutical group Merck expanded its biosafety testing operations in Glasgow by opening a new 1200 sq m facility.

Councillor Susan Aitken, Leader of Glasgow City Council, said:

I’m absolutely delighted to see this recognition of the impact of the City Government’s economic policies, which have transformed Glasgow’s approach to inward investment and put us in the top rank of European cities to attract high quality jobs and generate growth all our citizens can share in.

Recent years have seen the emergence of really significant sectors in tech, the green economy, the space industry, the creative economy, and advanced manufacturing – and these will all help to drive Glasgow’s future growth and high skilled jobs.

Taken with our recent ranking as the world’s 61^st best city for global investment attractiveness, Glasgow can take real encouragement from how the world increasingly sees us.

Cllr Susan Aitken, Leader of Glasgow City Council, Invest Glasgow

Glasgow’s success comes hot on the heels of Edinburgh doing well in the survey last year when our capital city scored a number of top ten places in the mid-sized European cities of the future categories, including second place for economic potential and fourth place for overall performance.

And Inverness and the Highlands can take a bow too, after hitting sixth place this year for small European regions of the future for FDI strategy, with the Inverness Campus development a driving force for high quality innovation and collaboration between businesses, scientists and academics.

The remarkable achievements of Glasgow, Edinburgh, and the Highland’s region underscore their well-deserved positions as beacons of innovation and economic prowess on the European stage, setting the stage for continued growth, collaboration, and global recognition.