Black businesses contribute over £500 million to the Scottish economy every year.

Scotland’s black and ethnic minority population is only around 2 per cent, but its members are contributing proportionally more to the economy, making up around 3.6 per cent of small employers in the country. In financial terms this contribution equates to between £500 and £700 million annually towards Scottish national wealth. This is according to new research commissioned by the Scottish Executive which was aimed at finding out the scope and extent of ethnic enterprise, and also identifying areas where difficulties are still being encountered.

Breakdown

South Asian and Chinese communities have the highest overall rates of self employment, with Pakistanis being the most entrepreneurial; almost 30 per cent own their own businesses. Amongst black communities these figures were lower with less than 10 per cent of Africans and Caribbeans being self employed. But there was slightly higher business ownership amongst Black Scottish people at just over 10 per cent. This is marginally higher than the percentage for White Scots. Most ethnic businesses tended to fall within the traditional sectors of retailing and catering, and the report noted that more needs to be done to provide support and encouragement to diversify. However a few have broken into new sectors such as fashion and IT.

Issues

Issues which the report acknowledged need addressing centre around a lack of access to formal finance and lack of engagement with mainstream business support services. The report’s recommendations include raising awareness of available facilities such as the Business Gateway website, and building the confidence of communities where access to these services is low. Commenting on the findings of the research, Deputy Lifelong Learning Minister Allan Wilson said the report showed ethnic minority business people contributing a huge amount to the Scottish economy. But he cautioned, “This research also makes clear that we must do all we can to make sure the right support is in place for MEBs. “There is a concern that minority ethnic business people are unaware of, or unable or reluctant to access the considerable support on offer. “The Executive is committed to tackling this and ensuring organisations such as the Business Gateway are able to cater fully for MEBs and their specific needs.”