eFinancialCareers

Since Barclays Wealth arrived in Glasgow to set up its operations and technology division in 2007, it’s been recruiting aggressively in Scotland’s biggest city. It’s just recruited 11 senior staff for a new technology venture, and there’s more to come. The firm has created 199 new roles in Glasgow in 2008 alone, taking the number employed in its technology division to 218. The new hires are to focus on developing... Read more

UK private bank Brown Shipley has set up an Edinburgh office and plans to expand aggressively over the coming 18 months. But is Scotland’s talent pool deep enough to support yet another new player? Brown Shipley has poached Graham Auld and Victoria Drysdale from Deutsche Tilney to run its Edinburgh office and says it has ambitious plans to expand north of the border. John Williams, the firm’s private client divisional... Read more

The Financial Services Advisory Board’s (FiSAB) annual report on Scotland, conveniently timed to coincide with Global Financial Services Week, attempts to paint a pretty picture north of the border. But surely it can’t be that rosy? The report waxes lyrical about various educational initiatives designed to encourage a skilled financial services workforce, and the fact that the industry has grown by 96% since 1998. It’s predicting more success on the... Read more

While no one’s likely to escape the credit turmoil, Scotland’s burgeoning private banking sector looks to be about as safe a haven as there is. Edinburgh-based private bank Adam & Company last week said it had seen annual pre-tax profits grow by nearly a quarter to £20.7m, despite the credit crunch. Managing director David Crathie was reported as saying: “None of us are immune, but our clients appear well placed to... Read more

As Scots plans for a local income tax steam ahead, recruiters have begun warning of the dire effect it could have on jobs. One recruiter says the tax proposals, introduced by the SNP as a replacement for council tax, will spell the death of Scotland’s financial services industry. William Finlayson of Scottish search firm Finlayson Wagner Black agrees: “People would think twice about taking up opportunities. The pool of talent... Read more

Rogue traders and vagabonds yesterday looked to profit by spreading vicious lies about Scotland’s own HBOS. But are things that rosy north of the border? After rumours circulated yesterday about a “liquidity crisis” at Britain’s biggest mortgage lender and Scotland’s second largest bank, HBOS, its share price plummeted by nearly 17%, to a record low of 398p. This wiped £3bn off its market value in one foul swoop. It turned out it... Read more

Barclays Wealth is said to be struggling to retain its private client managers. What are their other options? Mark Kibblewhite, managing director of Barclays Wealth in Edinburgh, was last week locked in crisis talks with a team of “disgruntled private client managers”, according to reports in The Herald. The problems at Barclays Wealth seem to stem from the fact that its staff feel they are being pushed into cross-selling by... Read more

Contractors in Scotland may be forced to bite the bullet as financial services firms look to cut back on temps. The temp market has been booming in Scotland over the last year, as soaring headcount requirements and limited talent have forced companies to fill the gaps with contractors. Rates have soared from £250-£300 a day to £350-£400, according to recruiters, which might be the reason the party looks set to end. Steve Shields,... Read more

The private banking sector is heating up in Scotland, but pay still lags far behind other financial centres. Standard Life Investments is the latest to add a wealth management feather to its cap, following on from HSBC Private Banking, which opened up an Edinburgh branch in January. Other smaller boutique wealth managers like Rathbone Brothers, Bell Lawrie White, and Adam & Co. all provide investment services to Scotland’s upper crust.... Read more

Plans for a local income tax in Scotland could discourage quality candidates from making the move north of the border. Owen Kelly, chief executive of Scottish Financial Enterprise – which is backed by such financial powerhouses as Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Life – has told the Scotsman that Government plans for local income tax are troubling his members. He said: “Anything that starts to look like we have people... Read more

Forget the difficulty in finding the people for financial services jobs, Scotland might struggle to find offices to put them in. Property consultant Jones Lang Lasalle has warned that Edinburgh faces a shortage of office space, but it seems it’s not just space in the Scottish capital that’s in short supply. Scotland is fast becoming the region of choice for back-office roles. Citigroup employs around 235 people in Edinburgh, BNP Paribas... Read more

Education, education, education. The skills shortage in the Scottish financial services market has prompted action at a grass roots level, and its targets are getting younger. The Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland (CIOBS) offers a Certificate in Financial Services in schools, which looks to fast-track pupils into a financial career and is now on its second intake of students. The class of 2006 were the guinea pigs, but last year... Read more