Are metro mayors key to improving Scotland’s economic prospects?

Last week, former first ministers, senior MSPs and officials gathered in Edinburgh to celebrate 25 years of Scottish devolution. Along with the cheese and wine, there was much talk about what the Scottish parliament has achieved and what more it could do.

But does the Scottish business community also feel this milestone is a cause for celebration? Over Holyrood’s lifetime, Scotland’s GDP, and business creation numbers, haven’t shot the lights out and the number of Scottish based plcs has fallen dramatically.

So could more devolution help improve Scotland’s economic performance? The latest Understanding Business independent quarterly survey of more than 500 Scottish firms showed that more than two in five (44 per cent) felt devolution had improved conditions for business in Scotland but there was