Overview
Midlothian’s economic landscape is marked by a diverse range of sectors, with a significant presence in professional, scientific, technical activities, and construction. The region shows a healthy mix of established and emerging companies, indicated by a notable number of new companies and scale-ups. The gender diversity in founding and director roles shows room for improvement, with a male predominance. The absence of IPOs suggests a focus on steady growth over rapid expansion strategies.
Employment and Business Growth
- Total Employees: Midlothian has 21,092 employees, with a 7.56% growth. This indicates a robust employment landscape, benefiting from 442 companies reporting increases in employee numbers.
- Top Sectors: The leading sectors are professional, scientific, and technical activities (575 companies, 16.69%), construction (535 companies, 15.53%), and wholesale/retail trade including motor vehicle repair (399 companies, 11.58%). This diversity suggests a balanced economic structure.
- Top Sectors with Rising Company Numbers: Sectors like research tools/reagents and agriculture and farming are showing a rise in company numbers, indicating emerging areas of economic activity.
- Scaleups: The presence of 23 scaleups reflects a dynamic business environment supporting growing companies.
Business Continuity
- Company Cessations: Midlothian witnessed 370 company cessations, juxtaposed against 3,573 total companies. This indicates a relatively stable business environment with a low cessation rate.
- New Companies in 2 Years: With 895 new companies in the last two years, the region shows a strong entrepreneurial spirit and a conducive environment for startups.
- SMEs and Exporters: There are 2,606 SMEs and 71 exporters, demonstrating the region’s backbone in small and medium enterprises with a modest international reach.
- Foreign Parent Companies: The presence of 28 companies with foreign parentage suggests international investment and global business ties.
Gender and Age Diversity in Leadership
- Founders’ Gender: 23.38% female founders, 74.03% male, indicating a gender gap in entrepreneurship.
- Directors’ Gender: 28.19% female directors vs. 67.43% male, reflecting similar gender dynamics in leadership roles.
- Age Distribution of Directors: Directors are spread across age groups, with the majority (50.73%) aged between 40-60 years, showing a blend of experience and relatively mature leadership.
Innovation and Growth Potential
- Fundraisings and Patent Owners: With 17 fundraisings and 76 patent owners, there’s evidence of innovation and investment in new ideas.
- Grantees: 8 grantees indicate some level of research and development activity, potentially leading to future growth.
Conclusion
Midlothian’s economic profile is characterised by a healthy mix of various sectors, a strong presence of SMEs, and a growing number of new companies. The gender disparity in leadership roles presents an area for improvement. The absence of IPOs and a moderate number of scale-ups suggest a focus on sustainable growth rather than rapid expansion. Overall, Midlothian presents a stable and diverse economic environment with potential for further development in emerging sectors.