Scotland Ready for New Stock Exchange?

There seems to be the political push and will in Britain to have a stock exchange again in Scotland, as it's part of the 'Liberal Democrat manifesto,' put forward by the British political party.

Although most of the former stock exchanges in Britain had long ago been merged into the London Stock Exchange, renewed interest in whether that has been good for the overall business sector in Scotland, which has generated the idea of opening up a more regional focused exchange in the country.

It idea is to provide more opportunity to raise capital in a post banking collapse world, which has made it much more difficult to raise money for companies.

The argument is an exchange doesn't have to be a gigantic one, or need to compete on the international stage, like London Stock Exchange does, in order to be effective in raising capital for businesses.

Large exchanges look for large companies, leaving out opportunities for a number of companies left without the needed capital to grow; thus the idea of a more regional exchange to help those companies meet a growing need.

Cited by the BBC, Professor Robert Huggins of the Cardiff School of Management, had this to say about the possibility:

"There are many companies within the more peripheral regions, outside the core regions of south-east England, who are unable to access the capital they need to grow, which would allow them to become more competitive.

"A stock market, or some sort of stock platform at regional level would provide them with an additional layer with which they would be able to access investment."

This should be especially helpful for companies who need to raise somewhere between "half a million and £2m," added chief executive of InvestBX, Sue Summers.

Some feel the way electronic exchanges are set up around the world there would be no advantage in launching a regional exchange, but there are a significant number of people who prefer to invest regionally, and an exchange like the one proposed for Scotland would cater to that particular crowd, while also potentially attracting investment from other areas of the world, depending on the company and the sector it serves.

I really like this idea, and hopefully it will go forward. There is definitely a gap for companies getting access to the financing they need in this particular aspect of business in the area, and to provide and meet that need should result in a successful exchange.