Can Scotland attract more back office roles?

Scotland has been the beneficiary of a number of international financial services firms 'onshoring' back office activities in recent years, but it needs to act quickly to capitalise on its reputation if it's to grab more of this business.

The likes of JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, BNP Paribas, State Street and Citigroup all run operations north of the border, utilising the growing pool of expertise around various back office functions.

But Scotland needs to move swiftly if it's going to grab a bigger piece of the outsourcing pie, suggests Andrew Rigby, head of outsourcing and partner at law firm Brodies.

"There is a small window of opportunity," he says. "If we don't start to move, other centres, such as Singapore, or even Jamaica and Senegal, will become part of this."

Rigby is working with the Scottish government to try and attract more firms to Scotland - whether that be through software development (as in the case of JPMorgan's European Technology Centre in Glasgow) or back office services.

Firms with existing operations in Scotland are beginning to hire again after a brief period of retrenchment, suggests Alan Thornburrow, chief exec of Scottish Investment Operations.

Recruiters confirm this view. Margaret Dyer, director of Joslin Rowe's Scottish office, says that although recruitment is much slower than 18 months ago, inflows of new business means investment operations roles are still being created.

"However, it's still very difficult to fill these positions," she says. "Especially in this market where firms demand a 100% skills match and candidates are still being very cautious when it comes to switching roles."