A sign of how far the ICAEW has extended its ability to represent our 1400 members in Scotland came earlier this month with an invitation to attend the National Economic Forum in Edinburgh. First Minister Alex Salmond was there along with three other ministers - Jim Mather (Enterprise, Energy & Tourism), John Swinney (Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth) and Fiona Hyslop (Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning).

Attendance is by Ministerial invitation only, so it was great to know that the Scottish Government not only recognises the importance of ICAEW members to the Scottish economy but also wants to hear their views.

Keith Proudfoot, the Institute’s Regional Director for Scotland, joined others from FTSE 100 companies, business support agencies, Institute of Directors, CBI, Scottish Chamber of Commerce, Skills and sector representatives, individual trade unions and the Scottish TUC as well as representatives from universities.

The main break-out discussion for the Forum this time was on the skills gap with Keith in the Financial Services group. He told those present that, as our business confidence monitor was predicting, businesses in Scotland plan to severely cut back investment in staff training over the coming 12 months, that the Institute’s Continuous Professional Development framework is seen by finance professionals as a benefit not an imposition and that there are great opportunities for ACAs.

This is reflected in the growing ICAEW membership in Scotland – confirming that the global reach of our qualification is being recognised in a country which, as the Enterprise survey demonstrated, has a greater engagement with overseas trading partners than other parts of the UK.

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