Talking-up Scotland

From my familiar but BBC Scotland’s unfamiliar, the wholly independent, Insider, based on a survey by the Federation of Small Businesses, today:

‘A poll of more than 1,000 UK SMEs showed confidence north of the border improving from -8 to -5 in the second quarter of the year, compared to a worsening across the UK as a whole from -6 to -8.’

Those minuses are less negative than they seem. In the same report, we read:

‘Scotland’s SMEs are currently among the UK’s most positive when it comes to revenue expectations and business conditions over the next 12 months. This optimism bodes well for the broader economy with a likely knock-on effect for job creation, investment and growth.’

https://www.insider.co.uk/news/sme-confidence-scotland-uk-amazon-12894013

Needless to say, this isn’t the only good news recently featured here but not ‘there’. See:

Business activity soars to four-year high across manufacturing and service

Business confidence in Scotland soars by 24% while it sinks 29% in non-Scottish parts of UK

Scottish businesses more likely to be stable than those in rest of UK: News from a parallel universe unknown to our mainstream media

Scottish Government supports economy with new business rates unique in UK

Scottish business confidence higher than in any other region of UK

Douglas Fraser will be saving these up for one big cheery special.