City of London Burns Supper: First Minister's speech - 26 January 2026

It’s an enormous pleasure to be with you this evening.

Madam Lady Mayor, can I thank you for that generous welcome, your warm comments about the relationship between Scotland and the city of London and also for your generosity in hosting this wonderful event this evening

I agree wholeheartedly with the comments that you made, Lady Mayor, that building a strong future for investment – in both Scotland and the City of London – is essential.

Scotland and the City are more than distant neighbours.  We are close partners with shared priorities, shared opportunities, and shared ambitions.

And the Partnership Agreement we signed this evening sets out our commitment to turning those ambitions into reality.

It is a privilege to be joined at this dinner this evening by so many who have a part to play in this – leaders in financial services, investors, and partners from across a wide range of sectors of the economy.

We all share an interest in increasing investment in Scotland and in the City.  And in seizing opportunities in green finance, AI and digital innovation. 

Crucially, we also share an interest in building ladders of opportunity for others, in financial services and beyond.

It is fitting that we gather to reflect on those sentiments for a Burns Supper this evening – the evening after we celebrate Burns Night in Scotland and around the globe.

Burns had a sharp eye for inequality and a deep respect for the dignity of work, and the dignity of individuals.  

In “A Man’s a Man for a’ That”, Burns wrote:

“The honest man, tho' e'er sae poor,Is king o' men for a' that.”

That belief; that dignity, that fairness and contribution matter more than rank or riches, still speaks powerfully to all of us today.

It is apt tonight because, when we talk about investment, growth, and competitiveness – what we are always talking about, ultimately, is people.

People whose jobs depend on the decisions made in boardrooms and trading floors.

People who take personal risks to launch a business – creating not just jobs, but livelihoods.

People whose futures are shaped by capital flows – and by whether those flows bring together growth beyond the balance sheet, to also growth to businesses and communities, and individuals.

And people who will rightly judge those in government and in business, less by the wealth they create, and more by the difference they make to people’s lives.

That is why the relationship between Scotland and the City of London is so important.

Because our partnership, and the choices we make together over the coming years, will help to shape our economy and our society.  They will shape people’s lives, and the lives of the people that we all serve.

Scotland has a great deal to offer this partnership.

We have world-class universities and research strength.  We have remarkable expertise across financial services, from banking and asset management to insurance and pensions.

And we offer major opportunities for investment, particularly in renewable energylike wind, tidal and green hydrogen.  And in the wider supply chains that support these key emerging industries.

But, as I set at the outset, our shared intention is to turn ambition into reality.

For that, we need a combination of clear policy, patient capital, capacity  capability and ultimately, delivery within our economy.

That is where the people in this room play such a pivotal role.

We are acting on many of those remarkable opportunities in Scotland by the work that we are taking forward to attract and to ensure that we anchor investment in the Scottish economy

We benefitted enormously, as the Lady Mayor cited, from partnership between the City of London and Scottish Financial Enterprise in the organisation of the investment summit in Edinburgh last year.

We have also benefitted most recently from the collaboration with the British Venture Capital Association and the generous hosting of an investment gathering by His Majesty The King in Edinburgh in Holyrood Palace just last Monday.

Bringing together both of these events – the investment summit and the collaboration with the BVCA – bringing people together to share and to understand the opportunities for investment that exist in Scotland and how we, through our collective efforts in government – making sure that policy and investment decisions support the achievements of many of these projects and propositions that are emerging.

Because in all of that we have to recognise that this is a shared endeavour, and as leader of Scotland’s government I recognise the obligation that we carry to make sure that we are part of enabling and arranging those arrangements and that collaboration.

So as a government, we have concentrated on trying to make sure that we make Scotland more investment ready than we have been before. And I want to share with you remarkable progress in that respect.

Our focus on the creation of the  InvestScotland Portal is providing investors with live investment propositions, including  risk-return profiles and a very visible pipeline of projects for investment in Scotland. 

The Scottish National Investment Bank has been one of the most significant innovations that we have brought into the investment climate in Scotland. It continues to provide strategic commercial finance into businesses and infrastructure across Scotland.  Notably, it recently passed the milestone of £1 billion of investment commitments that have been made in the Scottish economy. And that has also leveraged third party investment in addition to the commitments made by the Investment Bank.

I know many of you here tonight already invest in Scotland and are representatives of significant employers in Scotland.  You employ Scottish workers and advise Scottish firms.  Perhaps you are considering what next Scotland can offer you.

To that, I say: Scotland is a place where investors can have confidence – in our workforces, our policies, our institutions, and in our direction.

It is a place where good businesses can start, scale, and stay.

And it is a place where good businesses can offer a positive difference to people and communities.

In supporting our investment efforts, the government is taking forward, indeed I have been involved in discussions today, about the issuing of Scottish Bonds in the next parliamentary term. To enable us to take forward that step we have had to secure a credit rating for Scotland for the very first time. And I am delighted to say that the credit rating that we achieved last year from Standard and Poors and from Moody’s is equal to that of the United Kingdom.

And what gave me such heart from the assessment made by these two credit rating agencies was that they both paid tribute to the diversity of the components of the Scottish economy. They recognised the prudent financial management that exists in the public finances of Scotland and they paid tribute to the strong financial institutions that we have put in place to make sure that we take wise decisions around the public finances and the decisions for which we are responsible.

So, on that background, there is a strong investment opportunity to be taken forward to deliver growth in the Scottish economy.

One of the finest examples of this is the growth of Scottish FinTech, and its alignment with regulation, consumer outcomes, and public trust.

If the next era of financial services is built on data, AI, and digital capability, then the winners and leaders of that era will be those who combine these tools with trust, good governance and consumer protection.

That is exactly the sort of innovation that we want to see in Scotland that we can be proud of: technology is able to be utilised to work in harmony with responsibility, so that in all of the steps that we take we are looking at the long term interests of consumers, investors and the wider public in Scotland

It’s not just in new technologies that we are seeing investment, and innovation in Scotland – we are seeing it also by the investment of financial services companies in Scotland.

Last year, I joined the senior leadership of BlackRock, some of whom I believe are with us tonight, to officially open their new office at Dundas House. That expansion will ultimately see BlackRock grow its Edinburgh workforce by a third.

They are not alone. We’ve seen significant developments from Barclays, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley choosing to expand their Scottish presence in recent years. Just to mention a few of the companies that have done so. They have created thousands of well-paid, high-value jobs because they know what I hope everyone in this room knows – Scotland is a centre of excellence when it comes to financial services.

That excellence, and that drive for success, is something we share in common with the City of London, and it is why this is a partnership that matters, and is delivering investment with real impact.

Like Burns, we recognise that success is hollow if it is detached from human dignity.  Prosperity must go together with purpose.

For Scottish investment, that means a competitive environment in which to do business and invest.

It also means a financial system that supports transitions – to net zero, to new technologies, and to a changing global economy.

And, above all, it means a future where that progress is felt in people’s day-to-day lives.

In fair pay and sustainable work.

In growing, thriving communities.

In opportunities for young people, especially those without the traditional networks but with talent, drive and ambition.

And it means a system that works not only for those with assets, but  for those working hard to build them.

That is why this partnership matters to me, and to Scotland. And it’s why I recognise what the financial services community contributes to Scotland, because of all of those strengths in relation to improving the quality of people’s lives and the opportunities that are available to them.

So the partnership between Scotland and the City of London is important in bringing together the scaleand reach of the City of London with the ideas, talent and opportunity in Scotland; from which we can build great things, and a better future for everyone around us.

Our event tonight takes place the day after the anniversary that we celebrate on Burns Night. Burns lived and worked during the time of the

Great Scottish Enlightenment, that period in the late eighteenth century when Scotland produced more people of letters, more people of learning and more people of science than did any other nation on Earth.

In just about every discipline known to man, a Scot was in the lead in those days in Edinburgh. We had David Hume, eminent philosopher, and one of the finest brains that Europe has ever known. His works, an Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, and an Enqury Concerning the Principles of Morals, were judged to be amongst the greatest literary and philosophical achievements.

One of Hume’s closest associates was Adam Smith, whose Weath of Nations turned the world of economics on its head when it was published. The theory of moral sentiments and enquiry into the wealth and cause of the wealth of nations have defined the debate about moral purpose and economic activity.

Smith’s explanation about the importance of empathy and the importance of walking in the shoes of others has shaped so much of the thinking about moral purpose and economic activity over these years.

And while these two were the twin peaks about Scottish intellectual achievement at the time, they were by no means the only heights. For we had, at that time, leaders in science, mathematics and physics, geology, chemistry, engineering, medicine and exploring.

And in architecture Scotland led the world with the Adam style from Kirkcaldy commissioned from St Petersburg in the east to Boston in the west and whose style was taken up and copied by architects around the globe.

It was also the age of great achievements of Scottish art – the age of Ramsay and most of all, Henry Raeburn whose famous painting of Robert Burns has just been rediscovered in a property in Scotland.

And it was not just men that made a striking impact on the formation of modern Scotland. Mary Somerville, described as the Queen of Science, was key to the discovery of the planet Neptune, and led the Royal Astronomical Society.

Francis Wright was a social reformer and early feminist who advocated for universal education and legal rights for women. These were all the historic foundations of the strength and the capacity of the intellect of Scotland.

And the good news is that a new generation of leaders are doing exactly the same in Scotland today. In life sciences, in financial services, in energy, in FinTech, an AI, in digital technology, in space, in supercomputing and in so many other disciplines.

There is much, much to celebrate about the past, the present, and the future of Scotland.

So tonight, as we enjoy Scotland’s national dish in the heart of the City, I want to once again say thank you to the Lady Mayor, for all of your hospitality this evening and for your generous contribution to the partnership agreement that we have signed today. And also to the staff here at Mansion House, and to everyone who helped to organise this wonderful event to celebrate the partnership between Scotland and the City of London.

And I want to ask all of you here, as we celebrate achievements and consider where our ambitions might take us next – to remember why those achievements matter. 

The businesses and communities, and the livelihoods that depend on them.  The future generations and ladders of opportunity.

Your work turns ambitions into reality – not only yours but others too, in Scotland and the City of London, now and in the future.

So let us take the spirit of this evening: the warmth, the friendship, the shared purpose, and our partnership agreement, and let us turn it into real progress and practical momentum in the months and years ahead.

Because the opportunity in front of us is real.

And if we work together, we can shape a future that is not only wealthier, but fairer, one that is inclusive, and that improves the lives of those we serve.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, may I ask you to be upstanding and to raise your glasses in joining with me in a toast to the Lady Mayor, the Mayoral Consort– and to the enduring friendship and partnership between Scotland and the City of London.