First Minister welcomes new Scottish jobs

Up to 200 new sales jobs are to be created in Glasgow by direct marketing firm Aquira with the opening of its new sales lab at the city’s Pacific Quay.

The new jobs will be in consumer and business-to-business sales and are being supported by £500,000 Regional Selective Assistance funding from Scottish Enterprise.

Welcoming the announcement at First Minister’s Questions today, First Minister Alex Salmond described the new jobs as “fantastic news for Glasgow” and “more evidence of the improving employment picture across Scotland”, adding: “Up to 200 new jobs is fantastic news for Glasgow, creating a very welcome boost to the local economy and presenting new business opportunities in the heart of the city’s digital district.

“The Scottish Government and our agencies are entirely focused on working with business to create new jobs and Aquira will receive £500,000 of support through Scottish Enterprise.

“I know that Aquira have spent two years looking for just the right location to site their new specialist sales facility and it’s no surprise to those of us familiar with Glasgow’s skilled and dedicated workforce that they’ve chosen Scotland’s biggest city.

“This provides yet more evidence of the improving employment picture across Scotland and comes just a day after I announced an £88 million fund to create 10,000 new jobs for young people and 3,000 new small business jobs – and just a day after the publication of very encouraging figures showing 47,000 more people are in work across Scotland.

“Youth unemployment, in particular, has fallen by 6.1 percentage points over the year.

“Last week’s Ernst and Young UK Attractiveness Survey showed that foreign direct investment projects coming to Scotland in 2012 are at their highest level for 15 years. Scotland is ranked number one for inward investment projects outside London, up from number two last year and we have maintained our consistent place as one of the top performers when it comes to attracting employment.

“We are committed to maintaining and building sustainable economic growth in Scotland and delivering the most competitive business environment anywhere in the UK.”

Marilyn Barnes, Aquira MD, said:“We see Scotland as a very attractive place to invest in and we don’t see that changing in the future.

“The country is rich in opportunity which makes it a great place to do business. We think Scotland has some key competitive advantages, not least its strong skills base.”

Lena Wilson, Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise, said: “Aquira is a forward-looking and ambitious business with excellent potential for growth.

“Our partnership has already resulted in new, high-quality jobs for Glasgow. We look forward to continuing to work with Aquira as the business develops, and to sharing more successes in the future.