Finance

“Annual income twenty pounds (£20), annual expenditure nineteen pounds, nineteen and six (£19.97), result happiness.
Annual income twenty pounds (£20), annual expenditure twenty pounds, ought and six (£20.02), result misery.” (Charles Dickens, in the novel, ‘David Copperfield’)

The financial services sector is extremely important in Scotland - despite the current recession.

It employs around 90,000 staff, just under 4% of the Scottish workforce. Scotland is the second largest financial sector in the UK after London and the south east, and the fifth largest financial centre in Europe.

However, the sector is going through ‘challenging’ times, and the impact on employment in the industry is still difficult to assess:

• figures released in 2009 by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Fraser of Allander Institute suggests 16,500 fewer financial services jobs in Scotland by the end of 2010


• staff turnover, which was already low, has fallen because workers are uncertain about the future


• Only 45% of financial services companies hired permanent staff in 2008, compared with 68% in 2007


• 22% of companies intend to increase permanent employees in 2010


• 24% of companies cut back on permanent staff in 2008, compared with 6% in 2007.

• Tesco Personal Finance opened its new retail bank headquarters in Edinburgh and recruited about 200 new staff in 2009; they are currently recruiting for their new finance customer service centre in Glasgow, creating another 800 new jobs


• Virgin Bank plans to employ 100 new staff in Edinburgh; it already has about 30 staff working in the bank’s head office which is soon to double


• BNP Paribas Securities Services in Glasgow is recruiting 80 new staff for its investment operations division


• Esure insurance plan to recruit 500 call centre workers in Glasgow by 2014
• Barclay's Wealth Management operation in Glasgow plans to create 500 new jobs
• Capita announced it will be creating 300 jobs at its insurance contact centre in Stirling.

To work in this area you must be:

• interested in number work


• accurate, methodical and well organised


• able to deal with confidential information and to resist discussing your clients’ affairs - you will be dealing with financial matters which could make or break your clients’ reputation or business.

• able to talk to clients easily


• willing to listen carefully to their needs


• able to explain complicated financial matters in simple terms.

There are some Modern Apprenticeships in accountancy or finance and a lot of people take a college or university course before starting work. In Scotland a third of all employees in the finance sector have a degree.

There are courses at all levels from a 1-year National Qualification (NQ), through Higher National Certificate (HNC) and Higher National Diploma (HND) to a 4-year degree and postgraduate and professional qualifications.

Several professional bodies offer qualifications you can take while you are working. If you have good Standard grades, or a Scottish Vocational Qualification (SVQ) at Levels 1 or 2, or a Scottish Group Award (SGA), or an NQ, you can join a training scheme run by the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT). If you have a Higher National Diploma (HND) or degree, or you are a member of the AAT, you can take professional qualifications.

The jobs in this career area fall into 2 sectors

• Accountancy


• Financial Services

Sources

Scottish Financial Services Review (2009)

Employment and earnings in the finance sector: A gender analysis (April 2009) - Equality and Human Rights Commission

Strategy for the Financial Services Industry in Scotland (2009 Annual Report) - Scottish Government

Economic Commentary, February 2010, Fraser of Allander Institute