Industry in Scotland has traditionally been dominated by coal,
steel and heavy engineering. The decline of these industries
in the 1970s and 1980s produced a fundamental change in the nature
of the Scottish economy.
Find out about how Scotland's traditional industries, such as
shipbuilding, textiles and fishing, have made way for new
economies, such as finance, electronics and computing and
renewable energy. Find out about giants of Scottish industry, and
see examples of products designed and built in Scotland.
Graduate Engineer, BAE Surface Fleet, Glasgow
"I thought shipbuilding was very much
an industry in decline so it was a surprise to me when I was
looking into jobs that the shipyards came up, and how much advanced
technology and skills were involved.
"The ship's built in transverse blocks. It's like a slice of
cake. The ships used to be built longitudinally, in layers, but now
it's more efficient to build in these cross-sections.
"I was involved in doing a lot of the structural calculations on
the centre of gravity of the block and how we were gonna transport
it from the shed onto the berth on the transporters. You were just
a tiny person next to this huge big bit of ship standing under
it.
"There is a real sense of pride among everyone. You can see it
at the ship launch; 'Oh, I did a bit of that and I was responsible
for that', working together as a team."
Managing Director, Shin-Etsu Handotai Europe Ltd,
Livingston
"I was appointed to come over to Scotland in 1998
because of my experience in electronics and silicon (in USA and
Paris) that was judged useful for managing the operation here in
Scotland.
"In early 1980s the Scottish Development Agency was keen to
develop the silicon industry here. There were three or four big
electronic device manufacturing companies already for Silicon Glen.
Therefore, Shin-Etsu came here to serve as a key raw material
supplier locally.
"Depending on the types of intergrated circuit devices, it may
be rather better to produce them in South-East Asian countries
where the cost of the labour forces is not so high, but very
specialised and specific types of devices can fit well here in
Scotland."