Why Edinburgh could attract businesses from London after Covid – John McLellan

With only a small fraction of the public known to have contracted the Covid-19 virus, less than 3,000 people in the Lothians, the potential for spread is obvious, which makes testing and tracking all the more essential. The evidence of the weekend is that people have had enough of their freedoms being so severely limited and an alternative to the sledgehammer of total lockdown is badly needed.

That the economy has been sledgehammered is not in doubt and an effective means to get people back to work is essential because although demand is still there it will quickly transfer to other places where conditions are more favourable.

Information coming into the cty council indicates that investor interest in the Edinburgh economy remains strong and the construction industry in particular is straining to get going again. And if property markets are as good as reported in the south they will quickly revive here.

The effect of the virus in densely populated areas might also be to Edinburgh’s advantage, where the smaller scale and availability of open space makes it the kind of place where operations seeking to move out of cities like London could favour if the infrastructure is there. It could also give Edinburgh an advantage over traditional rivals for out-of-London options like Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham.

But always keeping several paces behind the rest of the UK might limit the opportunity and, like it or not, an already struggling economy like Scotland’s is going to need every advantage possible in the rebuilding phase.

No-one wants a second wave but lessons from places like Germany and Sweden are there to be learnt and as health is an entirely devolved responsibility there is no reason the Scottish Government can’t use different approaches to the UK to accelerate recovery as much as it can to delay relaxation.

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