BGN Entrepreneur

The near collapse of Scotland’s two biggest banks a year ago condemned Britain to its deepest downturn for generations. Simon Duke visits Edinburgh to see how the Scottish capital is faring in the recession.
The main arteries of the city are clogged with traffic thanks to the much-delayed construction of a new tramline. A hard-won reputation for prudence lies in tatters because of the reckless behaviour of its two biggest banks. And the rain is gushing down from the heavens.
One year on from the financial cataclysm that all but shattered Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS, there’s little apparent reason for cheer in Edinburgh. There are, however, signs that traumas inflicted on the city following the Lehman Brothers collapse are easing, and the process of catharsis has begun.
House prices in Scotland’s well-heeled capital have started to rise again. Foreign firms are investing in the city. And unemployment levels, while at a ten-year high, are well below the rest of Britain. Finance is, after all, in the very bedrock of Edinburgh.

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