The north-south divide

More and more Edinburgh bankers are splitting their time between Scotland and London.

Take a walk around Edinburgh airport any weekday morning and one of the fastest growing trends of modern times will be immediately apparent - the growth in Edinburgh/London commuters is huge. Angus Macpherson, the recently appointed chief executive of Edinburgh-headquartered investment house Noble Group, believes a twin city approach is now vital for the success of his business.

Macpherson, who splits his working week 40/60 between Edinburgh and London, recently told Scotland on Sunday: "There are also a lot of Scots who want to live and work in London, and with offices in Edinburgh and London we are quite well placed to take advantage of that. Being Scottish is such a fantastic brand, it is a fantastic advantage from our perspective. You have to have a London base because [London-based] businesses want you to be able to be in their offices within five minutes."

His comments suggest that a willingness to work in London, at least part of the week, is now essential to building a successful career in Scottish financial services. But not everyone is willing to make the commute - we know of at least one high-flying banker who recently gave up a very lucrative job for exactly this reason.

Is this career suicide? Not according to the human resources director at a leading Scottish finance house, who herself spends part of every week in London. She tells us: "If you pick a company which has most of its clients in Scotland then it will be absolutely fine to say you don't want to work in London. It all comes down to where the company does its business."

You have been warned.