Energy firms dominate Insider's Top500 Scottish companies

Scotland’s economy stands at a critical threshold as it transitions to a greener future. The changing face of Insider’s Top500 suggests that we are well on our way to net zero carbon emissions by 2045, but that we have been losing critical corporates with head offices in Scotland.

The latter is of course not a new issue, but the domino effect is that it damages the professional supply chain of lawyers, accountants, IT professionals and support service companies that gravitate around large businesses and the rounds of deal-making.

While Scotland remains a land of smaller and private family business, it is vital that the the Top500 firms are innovative, sustainable market winners, allowing other firms to prosper in their wake.

This ranking is a list of firms that have a registered presence in Scotland. While some are headquartered North of the Border, many are subsidiaries of larger organisations and corporates from the UK and the rest of the world.

The full list can be perused here, but here's the top 25:

Insider Top500 2022 - one to 25

Rank	Company Name	Location	Activity	Turnover (£m)		Profit (£m)		Employees		Profit Per Employee		Year End
22				Present	Previous	Present	Previous	Present	% Change	Present	% Change
1	SSE	Perth	Energy	£6,826.40	£6,800.60	£2,516.40	£367.60	12,513	7%	201,103	540%	Mar-21
2	Scottish Power	Glasgow	Electricity Generation	£5,164.00	£5,124.50	£802.70	£629.00	5,600	0%	143,339	28%	Dec-20
3	Bank Of Scotland	Edinburgh	Bank	£5,147.00	£6,033.00	£883.00	£1,278.00	27,258	-7%	32,394	-26%	Dec-20
4	Aviva Insurance	Perth	Insurance	£5,383.00	£6,276.00	£264.00	£221.00	3,000	0%	88,000	19%	Dec-20
5	Royal Bank Of Scotland	Edinburgh	Bank	£1,932.00	£2,379.00	£368.00	£1.00	2,100	-30%	175,238	52577%	Dec-20
6	Virgin Money	Glasgow	Bank	£1,570.00	£1,539.00	£416.00	(£173.00)	7,415	-10%	56,102	-368%	Sep-21
7	Diageo Scotland	Edinburgh	Drinks	£1,424.00	£1,719.00	£328.00	£669.00	3,137	-1%	104,558	-50%	Jun-20
8	Arnold Clark Auto	Glasgow	Car Dealers	£3,798.20	£4,463.10	£156.50	£117.00	12,515	0%	12,505	34%	Dec-20
9	Weir Group	Glasgow	Engineering	£1,964.70	£2,661.90	£184.30	(£371.80)	11,130	-22%	16,559	-164%	Dec-20
10	Chivas Brothers	Dumbarton	Whisky	£949.18	£1,139.48	£252.72	£539.33	1,649	-6%	153,256	-50%	Jun-20
11	FirstGroup	Aberdeen	Transport	£4,641.80	£7,754.60	£75.20	(£299.60)	89,053	-14%	844	-129%	Mar-21
12	Scottish Widows	Edinburgh	Insurance	£560.27	£510.74	£464.42	£407.17	2411	0%	192,627	14%	Dec-20
13	Edrington Group	Glasgow	Drinks	£625.60	£792.20	£178.40	£227.00	2,384	-6%	74,832	-17%	Mar-21
14	Gxo Logistics UK	Edinburgh	Contract Logistics	£1,197.69	£1,087.46	£46.60	£44.81	18,551	5%	2,512	-1%	Dec-20
15	Miller Homes	Edinburgh	House Builder	£655.60	£816.00	£98.40	£154.50	1,007	0%	97,716	-36%	Dec-20
16	Abrdn	Aberdeen	Investment	£564.90	£485.50	£112.60	£20.20	799	16%	140,926	381%	Dec-20
17	The 1887 Company	Glasgow	Drinks	£514.30	£668.10	£139.20	£217.50	877	-6%	158,723	-32%	Mar-21
18	Cirrus Logic International (UK)	Edinburgh	Semiconductors	£981.67	£1,018.40	£29.48	£22.50	112	-10%	263,212	45%	Mar-21
19	Farmfoods	Glasgow	Supermarkets	£892.50	£661.75	£26.24	£22.15	4,509	17%	5,819	2%	Jan-21
20	Scotland Gas Networks	Newbridge	Energy	£384.00	£357.00	£119.00	£116.00	275	-6%	432,727	10%	Mar-21
21	Walter Scott & Partners	Edinburgh	Investment	£295.79	£255.77	£196.03	£250.89	162	5%	1,210,043	-25%	December-20
22	Stagecoach Group	Perth	Transport	£928.20	£1,417.60	£24.70	£40.60	23,762	-5%	1,039	-36%	May-21
23	Beatrice Offshore Windfarm	Perth	Offshore Energy	£343.70	£372.50	£102.50	£108.30	100	0%	1,025,000	-5%	Mar-21
24	John Deere	Edinburgh	Manufacturing	£496.93	£606.52	£31.55	£4.61	89	-7%	354,449	639%	Nov-20
25	Alliance Trust	Dundee	Investment	£263.37	£60.81	£229.92	£552.89	6	0%	38,319,835	-58%	Dec-20

SSE, which was at the forefront of sponsorship at COP26 in Glasgow, is once again Scotland’s top ranked company and continuing to make the headlines, while ScottishPower, part of the Spanish Iberdrola Group, ranked second.

Not long ago, the likes of Royal Bank of Scotland and Bank of Scotland dominated the Top500 listings, alongside Clydesdale Bank, Standard Life and Scottish Widows.

While all have since slipped from the top-spots, they are playing important roles in Scotland’s green business agenda, and supporting environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment.

Clydesdale has disappeared into Virgin Money, while almost five years after Standard Life’s merger with Aberdeen Asset Management, the value of the business has fallen from a peak of £11.3bn.

The Scottish company lost its way somewhat and Standard Life Aberdeen was ‘disemvowelled’ to abrdn in 2020. Its first half result of 2021 admitted the company “is still struggling to generate growth against a tough background of intense competition from passive asset management giants as well as ongoing difficulties stemming form the 2017 merger”.

Meanwhile, Aviva Insurance remains a strong force in Perth. In 2021, it became the first major UK financial services company to target net zero by 2040 and is committed to investing responsibly, with a central pillar of its investment process now being the consideration of ESG factors.

The dominance of energy companies and the building of green infrastructure is a major theme for 2022.

SSE Renewables, along with Japanese conglomerate Marubeni Corporation and Danish fund management company Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, won rights in the ScotWind leasing round to develop what will become one of the world’s largest floating offshore wind farms off the East coast of Scotland.

ScottishPower was also awarded seabed rights to develop three offshore wind farms off the coast of Scotland – including two floating wind farms developed in conjunction with Shell.

The companies of the Scotch whisky industry, which contributes around £5bn to the economy every year, remain stalwarts in the Top500, including Diageo, Chivas Brothers, the Edrington Group, Whyte & Mackay, William Grant & Son, and Ian Macleod Distillers.

Ivan Menezes, chief executive of Diageo, speaking during his firm’s capital market day, said: “We have continued to invest in our brands, sharpened our focus on accelerating growth and quickly responded to shifts in consumer behaviour.”

Much like other Scottish distillers, he is challenging the sector to become more efficient and sustainable. “We launched a 10-year sustainability action plan, building on our strong track record of doing business the right way, from grain to glass.”

Across the sectors, companies are increasingly working out how to make the right moves to a renewable future. The biggest challenge remains in Scotland’s building sector, especially in the retrofitting of millions of homes which once depended on the coal-fired hearth and the electric heater.

As Scotland learns to live in a post-Covid state, one of the challenges of the coming years will be how escalating energy prices in Scotland can come down to levels that do not fuel steep inflation for citizens and increase energy and transport cost for businesses.

It looks as if the Insider Top500 firms in 2022 will need to work even more smartly to remain strong and profitable in the face of the turbulence ahead.

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