Edinburgh has the second largest financial sector in the UK and is a major European center for asset management, asset servicing, and financial technology. It houses some of the biggest UK names in finance, including banks RBS and HBOS, and some of the most traditional names in pensions like Scottish Widows and Standard Life.
At the same time, it offers a size of town which is easy to visit and, as well as business highlights, offers excellent opportunities to see landmark sights both within the city, like Edinburgh Castle, and outside, like St Andrews and the Scottish Highlands.
Tour Objectives
- Gain a practical understanding of financial markets in Europe (specifically the UK), and how these may differ compared to the U.S.
- Learn how different-sized businesses deal with issues of international management (including cash and risk management) and tie in with the issues discussed in class
- Understand different business cultures and the impact they may have on strategies, and see first-hand how business strategy may have to react to events in markets
Possible Activities
- Visit the Royal Bank of Scotland, which was the fifth largest bank in the world prior to the financial crisis. The bank was hit massively by the crisis, but remains a large player with around 70,000 employees
- Meet Standard Life Aberdeen, Scottish Enterprise, Abbott Risk Consulting, Noble Grossart, Ballie Gifford, Weir Group, and Edrington Group
- Learn about fintech issues and what it is like to have a non-Western parent company from Skyscanner, a travel aggregator website used by around 60 million people per month, which was recently bought by the largest online travel agent in China