Scotland’s fintech cluster fuelled by record number of SME firms and a 200% jump in investment funding
FinTech Scotland announces, on its fifth birthday, a further increase in the number of entrepreneurial fintech SME firms as well as a record-breaking new investment funding for the year.
In the last 12 months, Scottish fintechs received over £305m in funding supporting their growth and development, representing an increase of over 200% on the previous year
Over 60% of funding was raised by fintech SMEs focused on payment and data innovation, while other innovation categories raising significant investment were wealth management solutions and financial regulation.
In addition, 2022 saw the number of Scottish fintech SME firms increased to 211, a 13% increase over the year, driven by both new fintech start ups and international firms setting up in Scotland.
Commenting on another record-breaking year, Nicola Anderson, chief executive said:
“I am continuously inspired by the progress achieved by fintech entrepreneurs who continue to accelerate innovation, change and growth across the cluster. The record levels of investment in 2022, reinforces the value of of fintech innovation, and propels us to continue driving cluster excellence, build on the recognition the we achieved in 2022, and the role we play in contributing to the growing wider UK fintech ecosystem.
As we enter 2023, I am excited to be developing the opportunities with entrepreneurs, industry and academic partners, Scottish Enterprise, Innovate UK, Financial Conduct Authority along with other clusters across the UK as we execute our ground breaking Research and Innovation Roadmap”
Adrian Gillespie, Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise, added: “
The growth of Scotland’s fintech sector demonstrates what can be achieved when all partners work collaboratively to create an ecosystem that is attractive to companies and investors.
“FinTech Scotland has made an enormous contribution to developing our country’s fintech sector since its inception. We look forward to continuing to work in partnership with FinTech Scotland and all other stakeholders to deliver even more economic opportunities in this vibrant sector over the coming year.”
FinTech Scotland has confirmed for the coming year its strategy to continue leveraging cluster excellence credentials to drive innovation and build on the valuable collaboration with fintech centres around the UK.
This will also include a focus on supporting fintech SMEs scale-up through increased collaboration with the thirty FinTech Scotland partners as well as major economic initiatives with Smart Data Foundry and a new centre of excellence for innovation in financial regulation.
Big Boost for UK FinTech as FinTech Scotland Achieves Top Cluster Excellence Accreditation
FinTech Scotland Recognised as Leading Fintech Cluster Management Organisation in Europe
UK FinTech innovation has been given a significant boost with the announcement that FinTech Scotland has achieved a new level of Cluster Excellence accreditation.
The accreditation, which is the highest level achieved by a fintech body in UK and Europe, comes at a time when economic clusters are increasingly being highlighted by Government as an enabler in driving innovation. For example, the UK Government Innovation Strategy and Scottish Government Economic Transformation Strategy.
The globally recognised European Secretariat for Cluster Accreditation (ESCA) confirmed the excellence award for FinTech Scotland following an in-depth audit of the organisation’s progress and delivery record since the bronze level award was achieved in January 2020.
In confirming the silver cluster excellence award, ESCA highlighted several significant improvements by FinTech Scotland including,
- Supporting the growth in the number of Fintech SMEs by 22% year on year
- Leadership of increased cluster collaboration between fintech SMEs, large enterprises, universities, public sector bodies throughout the UK
- Producing UK’s first industry led 10-year Fintech Research & Innovation Roadmap
Sir Ron Kalifa OBE, author of the HM Treasury Fintech Sector Review in 2021, said
“Congratulations to FinTech Scotland who are a bellwether example of leveraging the outputs of fintech innovation and accelerating the regional fintech development and growth, the importance of which was highlighted in my FinTech Sector Review.”
“This excellent recognition is a testament to the FinTech Scotland model that Stephen and Nicola have led, and I know they are continuing to use their expertise to further advance national connectivity and provide support to UK regions through the FinTech National Network as well as the new Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology”
Commenting, Stephen Ingledew, FinTech Scotland Executive Chair and founder said,
“I am very proud of the team in achieving this significant milestone and my sincere thanks to all the committed cluster participants. The award further recognises our leadership and collaboration across UK reinforcing the pivotal interdependence with each other in fostering progressive innovation within all regions, so the tide rises for everyone”
Highlighting the opportunity for further cluster development, Nicola Anderson, Chief Executive of Fintech Scotland said,
“The accreditation is a terrific platform to advance our strategy and execute the ground-breaking industry driven Research and Innovation Roadmap. Bringing together leaders from industry, entrepreneurial firms, academia, public sector, we will use our cluster expertise to drive innovation locally in Scotland and in collaboration throughout the UK”
“We are particularly excited about the innovation opportunities in open finance, regulation, payments, and climate finance. Through a collaborative and inclusive approach, these can contribute to addressing the challenging economic headwinds across the UK”
Catherine Martin, Vice Principal of University of Edinburgh, one of four organisations who led the formation of Fintech Scotland in 2018 commented:
“As a founding partner of Fintech Scotland, the University of Edinburgh is delighted to see this accreditation. It is a very gratifying achievement, and we look forward to building on our work with Fintech Scotland and its ever-growing number of partners.”
Jane Martin, Managing Director of Innovation and Investment at Scottish Enterprise said:
“Strong, effective and purposeful collaboration between industry, academia and the public sector is key to delivering much needed innovation and growth for Scotland. FinTech Scotland is a brilliant example of this in action.”
FinTech focus groups set up to support FinTech Scotland Roadmap
A new FinTech event series focused on collaboration and stakeholder engagement will play an important role in supporting the development and delivery of the recently published FinTech Scotland Research and Innovation Roadmap.
FinTech is driving change in the financial services industry, one of the most important parts of our economy. It presents a significant disruptive force and will shape the future of the digital economy.
The financial services industry contributes £132 billion to the UK economy each year and research and innovation will play a fundamental role in shaping the future of finance. FinTech is already a rising force in Scotland, with over 200 fintech businesses, driving growing levels of investment and creating exciting and interesting high value jobs.
Embracing this growing potential, the R&I Roadmap sets out the foundations to do more. The overarching aims of the Roadmap are the creation of over 20,000 new FinTech related jobs and an increase in economic value (GVA) from £598 million to more than £2 billion – over the next 10 years.
To support the Roadmap, the FinTech Research and Innovation Event Series 2022-23 has been launched, created by FinTech-Tables, supported by FinTech Scotland and global law firm Pinsent Masons.
The events will provide a platform for discussion that will continue to support an industry-led approach to research, innovation and impact across the four key pillars of the Roadmap; financial regulation, payments & transactions, climate finance, and open finance data. The series will see key contributors meeting to discuss actions outlined against each theme in a series of industry roundtables and panel discussions.
The event series is already attracting a lot of support, with speakers confirmed from a number of organisations for the opening event in September this year, including Pinsent Masons, Autorek and the University of Strathclyde, where a panel of experts will convene to consider role of technology and data in financial regulation.
Commenting, Fintech Scotland Chief Executive Nicola Anderson said,
“This Roadmap event series continues to show the demand and ambition across Scotland to play a leading role in the shaping the future of fintech innovation, and enable the future of finance that will serve the needs of citizens and businesses as we continue to see the digital economy grow and emerge. Fintech innovation in Scotland is already demonstrating a future that can drive better outcomes for us all. By building more collaboration and embracing our strengths, in innovation, finance, and technology, we will continue to play a leading role in advancing finance across the world. ”
Yvonne Dunn, Partner leading the Financial services technology practice at Pinsent Masons said
“As Fintech continues to develop and advance it is disrupting global financial markets, but much needs to be done for it to affect genuine change. Put simply, innovation in technology combined with adapting attitudes and behaviours across society will be a catalyst to drive meaningful change. As we look across the international landscape, Scotland will play a vital role in advancing Fintech given its financial heritage, strength of its universities and an ingrained culture of entrepreneurialism. TheFinTech Scotland cluster is a demonstration of what can happen through collective action. This roadmap event series gives us a forum to move in the right direction and genuinely propel Fintech into a new era of innovation.”
Ian Davey, Founder of Fintech-Tables said
“FinTech in Scotland is a movement and what makes this sector unique is the willingness and desire of the entire ecosystem to come together and work for the greater good of the cluster and people in Scotland as a whole. This first of its kind event series will provide a platform for engagement around the FinTech Scotland Research & Innovation Roadmap and an opportunity for the industry to take action as a group to help shape the future of Fintech in Scotland through collaboration, innovation and inclusion”
Scotland’s Fifth Fintech Festival Celebrating UK Wide Innovation
Celebrating collaborative innovation that is driving economic recovery will be a core theme at Scotland’s Fintech Festival which will take place over four weeks in September and October.
This will be the fifth FinTech Festival hosted by FinTech Scotland with every indication that this will be even larger than previous years with participation from leading entrepreneurs, innovators and policy makers from across the UK and the world.
Every year since 2018, Scotland’s Fintech Festival has showcased the growing innovation across the fintech cluster involving a diverse range of fintech leaders and organisations
The 2022 FinTech Festival will give particular emphasis to the growing collaboration throughout the UK which is enabling the progress of the much-acclaimed FinTech Research & Innovation Roadmap launched in March of this year by FinTech Scotland
The FinTech Festival opens on 15th of September with the Annual Fintech Summit at Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh and conclude on 6th of October with an evening of Fintech Awards recognising the achievements of people and organisations across the fintech cluster.
Commenting Nicola Anderson, FinTech Scotland Chief Executive said:
“The Festival has grown each year, despite the pandemic, and for 2022 I’m looking forward more in-person events. The four weeks is an ideal opportunity to share how collaborative innovation has a key role to play in addressing economic and social challenges”
A Festival highlight will be the UK Fintech Symposium taking place at NatWest Gogarburn headquarters on 22ndSeptember, bringing together all the UK regional fintech clusters as well as Government ministers, regulators and leading fintech innovation influencers to discuss financial innovation contribution to economic recovery.
Stephen Ingledew, FinTech Scotland chairman and host of the UK FinTech Assembly said,
“The Festival will celebrate how fintech is very much a team’ activity and how this UK collaborative approach to innovation is fueling sustainable growth and job creation as well as a positive social impact to benefit all UK regions and communities.”
The many diverse Festival events and gatherings are already scheduled and many more will be added on www.scotlandfintechfestival.com.
Phoenix Group collaborates with TCS COINTM and FinTech Scotland to drive forward innovation in customer engagement and financial well-being
Phoenix Group, the UK’s largest long terms savings and retirement business, has launched a new Innovation Forum that will look to use the latest FinTech innovation to build greater engagement and support the well-being of its customers, driving forward greater financial inclusion.
In collaboration with TCS’ Co-Innovation Network (TCS COINTM) innovation ecosystem and FinTech Scotland, the Phoenix Innovation Forum will invite FinTech enterprises and entrepreneurs to explore partnership opportunities that will introduce innovative thinking and new ways of working. Phoenix will be looking to work with FinTech firms who share a passion for improving financial wellbeing, with a focus on making a genuine positive impact on customers’ lives on their journey to and through retirement.
Phoenix Group’s purpose is to “help people secure a life of possibilities” and as part of this, it is committed to building greater financial literacy and inclusion. Phoenix looks toengage with its customers throughout the different stages of their life, providing the right products and support, at the right time, to help them make the right choices.
The Phoenix Innovation Forum will give FinTech enterprises and entrepreneurs the opportunity to design, refine and present innovative solutions to senior leaders across PhoenixGroup. The initial focus will be on two key engagement themes:
- Curiosity – Using creative tools and interactions to spark increased levels of curiosity about saving and financial planning, which can help to nurture greater learning, especially in the area of planning for retirement.
- Gamification ”“ Using gamification’ tools and rewards which are interactive to encourage greater engagement in digital channels, by creating an immersive approach and demonstrating to customers the value of saving and investing for the future.
Phoenix’s Managing Director ”“ Pensions and Savings, Colin Williams, said:
“This is a great opportunity for Phoenix to connect key decision makers within our organisation with innovative enterprises. We are looking to fuel creativity and come up with new solutions which really support our customers and build greater engagement and financial inclusion which is important to our Group’s social purpose and part of our long term sustainability strategy. We are looking to deliver forward-thinking propositions and to be at the forefront in developing innovative solutions, working in collaboration with TCS COIN and the FinTech Scotland community.”
Nicola Anderson, Chief Executive of FinTech Scotland commented:
“We are delighted to support the Phoenix Innovation Forum which is a further example of the valuable role FinTech innovation can play in improving customers’ financial engagement and well-being. Phoenix’s commitment to innovation to support its large customer base and its partnership approach will attract significant interest from FinTech entrepreneurs who share their ambition of helping customers more effectively engage with savings and investments.”
Vivekanand Ramgopal, Global Head ”“ TCS BFSI Products and Platforms, commented:
“Enterprises are looking to form collaborative, purpose-driven ecosystems to launch innovative new offerings that deepen customer relationships and drive growth. To succeed, they need an extensible, open API-based, future-ready digital core like the TCS platform that powers Phoenix Group’s operations. That agile digital foundation is now enabling our two organisations to co-innovate around client analytics and customer experiences at our Innovation Lab in Edinburgh. We are delighted to expand this partnership with the Innovation Forum, and bring in partners from our extended innovation ecosystem, the TCS COIN, to innovate at scale and at speed.”
The initiative will provide the opportunity for FinTech innovators to develop a potential formal partnership with Phoenix Group to build solutions which will not just benefit Phoenix’s customers, but will contribute to innovation for wider society. FinTech firms looking to be part of the Phoenix Innovation Forum will can register their interest in participating on this page.
Sainsbury’s Bank partners with FinTech Scotland to deliver better customer outcomes through collaboration
Today, FinTech Scotland announced Sainsbury’’s Bank is joining its group of strategic partners.
The strategic collaboration with Fintech Scotland will enable the supermarket bank to collaborate with innovative leaders in technology, helping to shape future customer propositions. This builds on the strategic digital emphasis of Sainbury’s Bank in recent years, including the transformation of operational systems and platform to best serve its customers.
The new Sainsbury’s Bank operating model has been developed to advance nimble and agile ways of working, creating the right environment for its technology team to innovate and integrate new fintech solutions.
The strategic partnership with FinTech Scotland will serve as a catalyst to accelerate change, deliver better outcomes for customers, and learn from the thriving Scottish fintech cluster.
Sainsbury’s Bank will also get involved in the work to progress the actions from the FinTech Research & Innovation Roadmap published by FinTech Scotland in March 2022. More specifically they will participate in projects around the theme of Everyday Personal Banking and SME Banking.
Commenting on this partnership, Nicola Anderson, CEO at FinTech Scotland said:
“Sainsbury’s Bank is an important and valuable contributor for the Scottish FinTech Cluster, and I am delighted it has joined the Fintech Scotland strategic partners. We’re looking forward to working with the team, learning from their experiences in building a digital bank and innovative mindsets, while supporting their future banking ambitions through fintech partnerships and actionable research.”
Simon Jacobs, Chief Operating Officer, Sainsbury’s Bank said:
“As we continue to look at how technology helps to take our business forward, and to deliver great propositions and products, for loyal Sainsbury’s and Argos customers, we’re delighted to be joining the FinTech Scotland cluster to play our part in ensuring Scotland seizes the fintech opportunity in terms of economic growth and job creation.”
Lloyds Banking Group and FinTech Scotland Announce New Innovation Programme
Lloyds Banking Group has announced 3 new strategic innovation challenges as it opens its cohort 2 of its Launch Innovation Programme. Working in collaboration with FinTech Scotland the group is inviting fintech’s from all around the world to take part.
This follows the success of the first Programme that saw 12 fintech firms selected, from Scotland and Europe. This year the group is hoping for many more continuing to show the continued commitment of Lloyds Banking Group to partner with fintech businesses.
The bank is seeking fintech partners to help them achieve their sustainability goals, improve customers’ financial lives and support their colleagues in a post-Covid pandemic world.
Successful fintech applicants will have 10 weeks to refine and test their innovative solutions, working in collaboration with colleagues across the bank. This will include direct access to challenge sponsors and mentors in the bank, as well as business development support, clinics and external business masterclasses.
The Launch Innovation Programme is an initiative that aims to create collaboration opportunities between the banking group and fintech SMEs to enable faster innovation and deliver for customers.
Interested firms can learn more and apply by visiting fintech.union-dev2.net/launch before the 1st of April. Lloyds Banking Group are committed to enabling greater diversity and will actively target, welcome and support applications from women and businesses founded by people of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic heritage
Commenting on the launch, Nicola Anderson, CEO at FinTech Scotland said:
“Lloyds Banking Group Launch Innovation Programme is a perfect example of how collaboration can deliver innovation and better outcomes for all. Amongst other things I was delighted to see three innovation themes this year which demonstrate how fintech can help with financial matters, well-being and sustainability. I’m looking forward to reading the applications.”
David McLeay, Innovation Product Owner for Insurance & Wealth Transformation at Lloyds Banking Group added:
“We are super excited to open our Launch 2022 programme as it’s a key part of our strategy to improve collaboration with fintechs and harness the power of Innovation. The 12 companies from the initial 2021 cohort delivered amazing ideas and experiments for our colleagues and customers. This year we are looking to build on that with additional investment and scale to identify up to 24 partner companies across a broader range of business challenges.”
FinTech Innovation Roadmap Aims to Drive a Threefold Increase in Economic Growth and Job Creation
FinTech Scotland has published a ground-breaking Research and Innovation (R&I) Roadmap with the objective of boosting economic recovery, driving growth and creating jobs over the next ten years.
Over the ten-year period, the ambition will be to deliver in Scotland an additional 20,000 plus fintech related jobs as well as produce an increase in economic gross value add (GVA) through fintech innovation from £0.5bn GVA today to £2.1bn GVA by 2031.
The industry led Fintech R&I Roadmap, the first of its kind in the UK, has been pulled together by the cluster body FinTech Scotland in collaboration with fintech entrepreneurs, the financial services sector, academia, regulators, Government bodies and consumer groups.
The cross industry led collaboration has resulted in four key strategic innovation themes which provide the foundation for the Roadmap, these are open finance data, climate finance, financial regulation and payments and transactions.
The Roadmap is published on the anniversary of the HM Treasury commissioned Review of Fintech led by Ron Kalifa OBE which set out a number of recommendations, including the opportunity for research and innovation to accelerate the development of cluster excellence.
The full Fintech Research and Innovation Roadmap is available here.
Nicola Anderson, Chief Executive, who co-authored the Roadmap with Executive Chairman Stephen Ingledew, said,
“The R&I Roadmap demonstrates how collaborative fintech innovation can drive positive economic and social outcomes. I would like to thank industry, academia and all participants for their enthusiastic engagement and contributions in producing this action orientated Roadmap. As a dynamic tool, work is already underway with partners across the FinTech Scotland cluster and the UK”.
Ron Kalifa OBE, said
“This Roadmap aligns with the recommendations I set out in the Review of UK Fintech and supports our national ambition to encourage growth by creating the right conditions for innovation. I believe the Roadmap can act as a stimulus for purposeful UK wide fintech collaboration and I am excited to see the positive impact of this work.”
John Glen, Economic Secretary to the HM Treasury and City Minister said
“Our fintech sector is a global success story, with record levels of investment over the last year. The Government is committed to supporting UK fintech as it goes from strength to strength, including by ensuring we draw on the huge amounts of knowledge and expertise across all of the UK. So, it is great to see the initiative taken by FinTech Scotland in developing this new industry-led tool, and I look forward to seeing how the Roadmap develops”
Finance Secretary Kate Forbes said
“Scotland is one of the best places in Europe to start and grow a fintech firm and I am delighted to see the industry focusing on research and innovation as we move forward with Scotland’s economic, social and environmental transformation. This Roadmap sets ambitious targets for sectoral growth and job creation, building on the wealth of talent and innovation that exists across the wider tech ecosystem in Scotland.”
Catherine McGuinness, Policy Chair at City of London Corporation said
“Nurturing research and innovation are integral to the success of the UK as a global financial hub. FinTech Scotland’s R&I Roadmap highlights the undercurrent of support for the ecosystem and the transformative power that cultivating this sector can have across society. The dynamism of the Roadmap will act as a pioneer and The City of London Corporation welcomes the progress made and we look forward to seeing Scotland yield the benefits of these to drive growth.”
Janine Hirt, Chief Executive of Innovate Finance commented on the climate finance theme
“We will need to innovate and evolve business models to finance and enable a greener future. We look forward to further collaboration with FinTech Scotland as this R&I Roadmap contributes to industry working with government and regulators to maintain the UK position as a global leader of fintech innovation and green finance.”
Peter Mathieson, Principal and Vice Chancellor of University of Edinburgh commented
“As one of the founding members of FinTech Scotland, the University is committed to supporting Scotland and the UK achieve the ambition to be a global fintech leader. We have academic excellence across many disciplines and this Roadmap invites us to harness data-driven innovation and build purposeful collaboration across sectors to meet the challenges of Open Finance, financial inclusion and the transition to Net-Zero.”
Adrian Gillespie, Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise said,
“The FinTech R&I Roadmap sets out an ambitious path establishing Scotland as a global digital economy leader. It creates the foundations for us to explore transformational opportunities, building on the wealth of talent and innovation that exists across the wider tech ecosystem.”
Kevin Colins, the interim Chief Executive of the Smart Data Foundry, who sponsored the development of the Roadmap said
“Traditionally, financial services has seen universities as a source of graduate talent, rather than supporting their Research & Innovation needs. I’m proud to partner with Fintech Scotland to help deliver these recommendations and work with universities to meet the increasing demands from the sector.”
The full Fintech Research and Innovation Roadmap is available here.
NCC Group partners with FinTech Scotland to further enhance cyber resilience across the sector
Global cyber security and risk mitigation expert, NCC Group, has secured a new strategic partnership to offer its services to FinTech Scotland’s cluster of almost 200 fintech businesses with the aim of strengthening security postures and boosting resilience.
Cyber threats are a growing concern for enterprises and citizens alike. The partnership directly addresses this concern by enabling FinTech Scotland to provide more cyber security expertise and knowledge to the Scottish fintech community.
Under the partnership, companies involved in the FinTech Scotland cluster will have access to a broad range of cyber security services and expert advice, giving them the confidence to balance increased resilience and ongoing innovation to achieve a secure competitive advantage.
The partnership will also see NCC Group collaborate with FinTech Scotland on marketing, events and research to help inform businesses of the importance and benefits of cyber security across the fintech ecosystem.
Michael Upton, UK Sales Manager at NCC Group, said:
“We have a strong existing presence with financial organisations across the globe, including many of Fintech Scotland’s existing strategic partners. These partnerships, combined with our long-standing presence in Edinburgh, our insight in the fintech space throughout the UK and Europe, and our continued investment in research mean that this strategic relationship will add value for both NCC Group and Fintech Scotland.
With that in mind, we’re excited to help FinTech Scotland’s members to enable business growth on a safe and resilient footing, to clearly demonstrate how they will protect themselves and their customers from cyber threats and comply with global governance frameworks to support their growth.”
Nicola Anderson, CEO at FinTech Scotland, said:
“Strategic partnerships with global organisations that have a strong base here in Scotland are essential to offering our community a broad range of support options to achieve growth, so we are delighted to welcome NCC Group to the cluster. As an experienced cyber security partner with considerable heritage and insight, NCC Group can support fintech development and help us continue to nurture Scotland’s high growth FinTech assets.”
Hays and FinTech Scotland partner to address demand for tech talent
Recruiting expert Hays has formed a strategic partnership with FinTech Scotland, the cluster management organisation which enables collaborative innovation in the financial services sector.
The move is aimed at ensuring a healthy pipeline of tech talent as new research shows that nine of the top 20 salary increases in Scotland for 2021 are related to the fintech (financial technology’) sector, highlighting an increased demand for such roles. With Hays’ global network, the partnership will also play a vital role in helping Scottish fintechs expand abroad.
The research, according to the Hays Salary & Recruiting Trends Guide 2022, shows that security architects saw a salary increase in 2021 of 17.3%, the highest increase within Scotland’s top twenty, whilst DevOps (IT development and operations) roles saw an above average increase of 10%.
To address the demand for niche talent in fintech, Hays’ specialist division, Hays Technology, will support the Scottish fintech cluster in recruiting for skills in fields such as cyber security, mobile banking, cloud applications, AI and blockchain solutions.
Justin Black, director of Hays Technology in Scotland, said:
“Clearly, the high demand for tech roles that we’ve seen in recent years continues and salaries are increasingly rising as a result. This is great news for Scotland which is the largest fintech hub after London. But we need to make sure that the talent pipeline is sufficiently healthy to fulfil the demand going forward.
“Through our recruitment knowledge, best practice and global network, we will be able to inform FinTech Scotland’s strategy, ensuring that the demand for fintech skills is met, and maintained, with a healthy talent stream.”
Nicola Anderson, chief executive of FinTech Scotland, commented:
“Since we launched FinTech Scotland in 2018, we’ve been working closely with Skills Development Scotland, Scottish universities, businesses and government agencies to ensure that skills providers are meeting the needs of tomorrow’s financial community.
“Having access to Hays’ extensive knowledge and data research on how best to attract the required skills makes them an ideal partner to help us fulfil our objectives, whether it’s for start-ups, scale-ups or established organisations.”
The research from Hays also shows that nearly two-thirds of employers in Scotland have increased salaries this year, with 71% planning to do so again over the next 12 months.
Other roles within the top 20 salary increases are in engineering, marketing and procurement which are also skills sought after by innovative fintech firms. Overall, salaries across Scotland increased by 2.6% in 2021.