After years of speculation and delay, Scotland is finally getting the nod for two major projects with the potential to reshape our economy: a £750 million national supercomputer at the University of Edinburgh and confirmed funding for the long-awaited Acorn carbon capture scheme in the North East.
For once, we’re not reading about billions going solely to London and the South East. This spending review has a Scotland-shaped footprint.
Let’s start with the supercomputer. This is not some flashy vanity project. In today’s economy, data is gold. And computing power is the pickaxe.
High-performance computing underpins breakthroughs in everything from drug discovery to clean energy to making air travel more efficient.
With the right support, it will also be fundamental to unlocking the potential of AI. Edinburgh is already home to the supercomputer ARCHER2, so the city is a natural fit. This investment doesn’t just buy us a few thousand faster chips; it should cement Scotland’s place as a centre for scientific and industrial R&D for decades to come.
Universities, start-ups, and established tech businesses in Scotland should be excited. This gives Scottish firms a real competitive edge in research. And it puts us in the same league as global powerhouses who understand that economic success increasingly comes from intellectual infrastructure.
Equally important is the long-overdue funding confirmation for the Acorn Project – Scotland’s flagship carbon capture and storage (CCS) scheme based in St Fergus. The North Sea basin could be a global leader in CCS, which captures emissions from industrial processes and locks them deep underground. Acorn alone is expected to support tens of thousands of jobs, many in areas like Aberdeenshire that badly need a just transition from oil and gas.
Environmentalists and economists should both be celebrating this one. Scotland has the natural advantage, the engineering expertise, and the workforce to compete. What we’ve lacked is political will and commitment from the Treasury, but this announcement does offer hope.
If this government really is choosing “investment over decline”, as Chancellor Rachel Reeves puts it, then these are exactly the kinds of smart, targeted investments we need. Long-term capital funding for jobs and infrastructure modern economies rely on.
The numbers sound great in a news article, but none of this will matter unless there’s delivery. Scotland has heard warm words from Westminster before. We’ve seen game-changing projects get announced, delayed, shelved, and quietly dropped more times than I can count.
The supercomputer project itself was put on the shelf just last year. And the Acorn Project has been passed over twice for UK Government support, despite being further along than other schemes in England. It’s hard to blame Scottish business leaders and local communities for being cynical.
We don’t need just announcements. We need shovels in the ground. We need procurement contracts going to Scottish firms. We need upskilling and apprenticeships aligned with the new infrastructure. And, crucially, we need consistent, ring-fenced support rather than just one-off capital injections followed by years of neglect.
The Chancellor talks about “stability”, but business needs predictability too. If Scotland is going to host the UK’s top supercomputer and a flagship carbon capture facility, we need to see those projects embedded in a long-term industrial strategy. That means revenue support. That means local supply chains. That means ensuring public investment crowds in private sector innovation, rather than just making headlines for a week.
We also need parity of ambition. While £750 million for Edinburgh is welcome, we have to keep an eye on Sizewell C in Suffolk getting more than £16 billion. Or that English city regions are seeing over £15 billion in new transport funding. Scotland’s share of the pie is growing, but we’re still catching up.
So yes, credit where it’s due. The investment is meaningful. The tone is serious. And the direction of travel is broadly right.
But if the UK Government wants Scotland to believe this isn’t just another case of smoke and mirrors, they’ll need to prove it. Not just through more press releases, but through clear delivery, local benefit, and sustained ambition.
Scotland has the brains, the skills, and now the opportunity. Let’s make sure this time, we get the backing to match.
Side
Gaming studio’s sights set high
Scotland’s gaming industry continues to be a significant and growing sector, with the launch of a new video game last week.
MindsEye was developed by Edinburgh-based Build A Rocket Boy studio and tipped to be the next Grand Theft Auto.
With GTA VI delayed until next year, it should be a fantastic opportunity for the studio to satisfy gamers’ thirst for a new action adventure – but the game has had a rocky start.
Some gaming journalists and content creators were given access to a preview of MindsEye, no doubt to help build momentum ahead of the launch, but it didn’t receive the glowing reviews the studio wanted. Some who previewed the game even suggested the launch should be postponed.
It’s always a risk opening any product or service up to reviews. The reason many consumers value them is because they are an honest, first-hand account – and that’s also the reason they can be a valuable PR tool.
But you have to be prepared that it might not go your way.
Build A Rocket Boy has been quite defensive in its response, going as far as to claim that people were “being paid to ‘trash the game’ before it launches”.
The one review the studio won’t be able to get away from is that of its paying customers, and it will be interesting to see if they agree with the critics.
It would be great to see it do well and reinforce Scotland has a superb creative hub for the gaming industry. Here is hoping.
It Made Me Laugh
Star hot doggs on the menu
US rapper, Snoop Dogg, has shared ambitions to bring a pop-up burger van to Celtic Park and even suggested he would serve football fans, himself.
Inspired by actor Ryan Reynolds’ investment in Wrexham, Snoop has said he would love to invest in Celtic if the opportunity arose.
While the likelihood of this business venture coming to fruition may seem a little pie in the sky, I admire the idea of transforming the usual football half-time fayre of a pie and Bovril.
Snoop Dog had said he wanted to show fans that food at stadiums can be excellent and has apparently already consulted chef, Gordon Ramsay, who almost made it as a Rangers player back in the day.
Let’s see if he can hit the big leagues in stadium catering.
It Made Me Weep
Airport strike threat grounds summer hopes
As we enter the final weeks before school summer holidays, Unite, the union, has warned of potential strike action at Glasgow Airport which could “ground planes and passengers”.
Five companies which operate at one of our busiest airports are disputing with staff over issues including pay and work/life balance.
Last year, Glasgow Airport saw an average of 30,000 passengers travel through the hub each day in the first three weeks of the summer holidays.
It’s a strategic move from Unite, but let’s hope ongoing talks are successful and it doesn’t result in holidaymakers and Scotland’s tourism industry getting caught in the crossfire.
