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Business

Business Profile: The thriving, modern environment of Edinburgh provides work for around 440,000 people. Roughly 20% of them are involved in manufacturing; the rest are in the service industry, finance and administration. Recent statistics indicate a level of 2.6% unemployment, compared with the Scottish average of 5%.

More than 75% of all those working in manufacturing are employed by four sectors: the chemical industry; electrical engineering; paper, printing and publishing and food and drink. Five of the largest manufacturers are GEC Marconi Avionics Electronics (defence electronics), Continental (tyres), Scottish Courage (brewing/leisure), Burtons Biscuits and D B Marshall (both food processing). 80% of service sector employees work for information technology, tourism and financial companies. The latter account for a third of all commercial office space in the city, making Edinburgh the second most important financial centre in Britain - after London. A new financial district known as The Exchange has been built in an effort to sustain this position. The Exchange complex cost more than 400 million Pounds to build and includes the huge Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC). Since the opening of the EICC in 1995, more than 100,000 new business tourists have arrived annually in the city, bringing in an estimated additional revenue of 24.2 million Pounds.

The five largest companies in Edinburgh (ranked by turnover) are Standard Life, Scottish Widows, Scottish Courage, Royal Bank of Scotland and Scottish Equitable. Some of the major employers are Lothian Health, Scottish Office, Standard Life, University of Edinburgh, Royal Bank of Scotland and City of Edinburgh Council.

Business Etiquette: Standard office hours are Monday to Friday 0900-1700. Punctuality is expected at meetings. Both men and women are expected to wear suits. It is usual to shake hands when greeting a business contact and to use his or her surname until both parties agree to use forenames (although formalities are often dispensed with straight away). English is the language of business; the only difficulty visitors may have is in understanding the Scottish accent, which can be quite strong. An increasing number of locals speak other European languages.



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