Market Research in Scotland

Market Research in Scotland

Market Research in Edinburgh

Edinburgh is Scotland’s largest city with 460,000 inhabitants, and is also the second largest financial centre in the United Kingdom. Around 1 in 4 people in Edinburgh work in the public sector. Top employers include NHS Lothian, the City of Edinburgh Council, the University of Edinburgh, the Royal Bank of Scotland Group and Lloyds Banking Group (inc Scottish Widows). Edinburgh is a major centre of education in the United Kingdom, and with four major higher education institutions in the city.

In the 19th century, Edinburgh’s economy was known for banking, publishing and brewing. Today, its economy has changed considerably. Health was by far the largest industry in terms of contribution to total numbers of employed persons in the sector, around double the size of each of the other minor sectors. The second largest industry is retail, followed by financial services. Other similarly-sized segments are accommodation & food services, business administration & support services, education, manufacturing, and professional, scientific & technical.

The Healthcare Sector in Edinburgh

The health sector shows strong collaboration between the public, private and academic sectors. Edinburgh has a storied history of medical developments, such as the hypodermic syringe, the discovery of chloroform anesthesia, the development of insulin, penicillin and the MRI scanner. That tradition continues as the city pioneers in bio-informatics, and cancer treatment, among other fields.

Edinburgh’s global financial services sector is diversified, with specializations in banking, fund management, asset servicing and insurance. The city is the UK’s largest financial services centre after London, and a major European centre for asset management and asset servicing. Leveraging the city’s expertise in IT, the city is poised to become a leader in FinTech. Virgin Money and JP Morgan Asset Management, among others, have offices here.

Education Market Research in Edinburgh

The education sector is an important part of Edinburgh’s economy. Life sciences and microelectronics are emerging fields. The University of Edinburgh is a leader in the fields of medicine and law. Heriot-Watt University specializes in science and engineering and Napier University in the fields of computing, business, and creative fields.

Tourism is a large part of the economy. Edinburgh is Scotland’s most popular tourist destination in terms of visitor numbers, with numbers growing substantially each year.

Market Research in Glasgow

Market Research in Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland with an output of over $20 billion, and is one of the fastest growing cities in the UK. It is the hub of the metropolitan area of West Central Scotland. Around 85% of the jobs in Glasgow are service-oriented. Most of these service sector jobs are focused on professional services, such as finance, information technology, business services, public administration, and health and education. The city intends to create an action plan for all of these key sectors, which the private sector will further develop. Glasgow has 3 airports: Glasgow Airport, Glasgow Prestwick, and Edinburgh Airport is an hour away.

Traditionally Glasgow was well known in the manufacturing industries like shipbuilding and other heavy engineering. Major manufacturing firms, such as Aggreko, Weir Group, and Clyde Bowers are represented. The city has diversified its economic activity since that era.

The largest sector is health. The Glasgow BioCorridor, which includes the BioCity incubation centre, the south Glasgow hospital campus, and universities. The overriding philosophy is to facilitate collaborative work between the public sector, industry and academia and enable all stakeholders to take advantage of specialised facilities and expertise found in the area.

The second largest sector is retail. More than 90 million shoppers visit Glasgow every year, which has the largest retail shopping area in the United Kingdom outside of London.

The third largest is the education sector, with 5 colleges and 5 universities. Talent for the city is provided through the University of Glasgow, University of Strathclyde and Glasgow Caledonian University as well as the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the Glasgow School of Art.

These universities provide training in IT and business administration, hospitality and tourism related subjects, creative arts, and engineering and technology. The city has a reputation for keeping its graduates, and is currently emphasizing training for IT.

About Market Research in Scotland

Market Research in Aberdeen

SIS Market Research provides advantages with extensive experience and skill sets. We provide Qualitative, Quantitative and Strategy Research.

Key methods include Focus Groups, Surveys, Customer Interviews, Video Ethnography, CATI Telephone Interviews and Online Communities.  We provide access to Consumer, B2B, Industrial, Healthcare and Automotive audiences.

SIS can help you stay competitive by delivering full insight in the business landscape through market opportunity research, competitor analysis or market intelligence among other services.