Advice from the head of the London Stock Exchange

YOUNG ARE TOLD: QUIT SCOTLAND FOR SUCCESS

ARTHUR MACDONALD

09:00 - 20 September 2002


The Scottish head of the London Stock Exchange caused a furore last night by telling pupils at a top North-east school they should leave Scotland if they want to be successful.

Elgin-born Don Cruickshank, who is also chairman of media group SMG which owns Scottish and Grampian Television, described Scotland as a desperately self-centred and parochial place where the old school tie still mattered.

He told pupils at Robert Gordon's College in Aberdeen, which he attended: "Maybe we'd flourish a bit better, both economically and culturally, if more of you gained more experience of the rest of the world - and I'm not, definitely not, talking about a gap year.''

Politicians and business leaders accused Mr Cruickshank of being out of touch with today's Scotland.

Lib Dem MSP for Argyll and Bute George Lyon said: "It is astonishing that he would suggest that people would need to leave Scotland and we are a parochial inward-looking people.

"He obviously hasn't been spending enough time in Scotland. His views are of a London-based exile, one that doesn't reflect the views of today's devolved Scotland."

Scots entrepreneur Tom Hunter said: "We have moved on from the old school tie 110%. Don should get out more in Scotland and speak to some real people."

But he acknowledged: "It is essential to go to other countries to get business ideas and broaden your horizons."

Mr Cruickshank compared his own career with that of Robert Gordon and pointed out they had both found success by leaving Scotland.

He went on: "The bumf about the college says Robert Gordon was a member of a well-known Aberdeenshire family who made his fortune as a merchant in the Baltic ports.

"Being a member of a well-known Aberdeenshire family actually means that at the age of 12 in 1680 he was left the modern-day equivalent of between £1million and £2million."

Despite this, he chose to risk his fortune and returned home in 1740 after 40 war-filled turbulent years with tens of millions of pounds that allowed him to found the college.

Mr Cruickshank continued: "He was a proponent of a competitive market economy and so am I."

He said the collapse of the dot.com boom and recent financial scandals, mainly in the US, paled into insignificance when compared with events like the South Sea Bubble in Robert Gordon's times.

Both Mr Cruickshank and the school's founder had left Aberdeen for 40 years. Mr Cruickshank asked: "Would Scotland be a better place if he and I - and many others like us had stayed?

"People leave Scotland because it is a desperately self-centred, parochial place, where if I may dare to say it, the school you went to still matters and still forms the foundation of many of Scotland's social networks.

"Maybe we'd flourish a bit better, both economically and culturally, if more of you gained more experience of the rest of the world - and I'm not, definitely not, talking about a gap year.

"I suspect that the accumulated wealth and experience which at least some of you would bring back to Scotland might bring an openness, vigour and freshness to Scottish life that would benefit everyone."

He added: "We need a new Scottish enlightenment to echo that which Robert Gordon experienced. I doubt whether it can be home grown, whatever the merits of today's Robert Gordon's College."

Business leaders reacted to his comments at a function in Aberdeen last night which was raising money for the Prince's Scottish Youth Business Trust.

Pat Machray, chief executive of chartered accountants and business advisers Johnston Carmichael, said: "There's plenty happening in Scotland for them to stay. A lot of Scottish businesses have moved into global markets."

Bill Hughes, chairman of the Prince's Trust in Scotland, said Mr Cruickshank's statement that old school ties still mattered was "totally historical" and more than 40 years out of date.

"There is a substantial dormant entrepreneurial spirit throughout Scotland and we've discovered that through the 550 youngsters that we helped set up in business last year," he said.

David Paton, chairman of the Princes Scottish Youth Business Trust, also took exception to Mr Cruickshank's comments.

He said: "It is hardly constructive. The trust has helped set up 345 businesses over the last 13 years that it has been in Grampian, involving an investment of £1.2million.

"The survival rate of those businesses is over 50% and that is commendable by any standards. Fortunately, they have all chosen to remain in Scotland."

Aberdeen Central Labour MP Frank Doran said: "Don Cruickshank should have a word with Sir Ian Wood, who stayed loyal to Aberdeen and is now the richest man in Scotland.

"It is possible to stay in Scotland now and 'make your pile' if that is your ambition. We have many examples of local people who have done just that."

He said Mr Cruickshank's message "sounds dated and a little bitter".

Aberdeen North Labour MP Malcolm Savidge said: "The day Mr Cruickshank delivered his speech, Aberdeen was shown to have the highest wages in Scotland and it has regularly been judged to have some of the best quality of life. Nobody should denigrate the value of living and working in Aberdeen."

North-east SNP MSP Richard Lochhead said: "There is no reason why Scots on the make cannot live at home."

Gordon Liberal Democrat MP Malcolm Bruce described Mr Cruickshank's message as "depressing"