This study looks at all companies registered in Scotland and where their total assets are more than 3 million.

The aim of this study is to provide an overview of the key movers and shakers in the Scottish corporate sector. Only key data has been isolated, particularly the company’s net worth and total assets, but also their full name, date incorporated, registered office, activities, shareholders, directors (with date of birth, nationality and occupation) and number of employees (where available).

Two indicators of size are used: net worth and total assets. These are preferable to turnover which is influenced by profit margins and whether the companies are capital or labour intensive.

A short summary of the corporate sector in Scotland:

There were 360,000 small and medium-sized enterprises providing an estimated 1.2 million jobs. These accounted for 99% of all private sector enterprises, accounting for 55% of private sector employment and 40% of private sector turnover.

The number of VAT/PAYE registered businesses is 176,000.

Small companies (1-50 employees) alone accounted for 43% of private sector employment and 28% of private sector turnover. The 2,300 large (250+ employees) companies accounted for 45% of private sector employment and 60% of private sector turnover.

Companies with no employees (sole proprietors or one employee director) accounted for 70% of all private sector companies, 13% of private sector employment and 5% of private sector turnover.

The two largest industry sectors were ‘Professional, Scientific & Technical Activities’ (53,000 companies) and ‘Construction’ (47,000 companies). Together, these two sectors make up 27% of all private sector companies.

Companies whose ultimate base is outside Scotland represented 3% of companies, accounting for 34% of employment and 53% of turnover. For large companies (250+ employees) they represented 81% of companies, accounting for 62% of employment and 74% of turnover.