Scottish retailers are concerned about a lack of information on the implications for their businesses should the nation vote for independence in the forthcoming referendum.

The vote, due to take place on 18 September, will decide if Scotland should remain part of the UK. According to the latest YouGov poll, 52% of those surveyed said they would vote no to independence, 37% said they would vote yes, with 11% undecided, or not going to vote.

Dennis Williams of Premier Broadway in Edinburgh said there wasn’t enough information about what would happen if there was a yes vote. “The White Paper is vague and we need more information about what would happen if Scotland became independent,” he said. “We could lose the pound, which would be problematic. A lot of businesses could leave.”

Ian Mitchell of The Village Store, Ayr, in East Ayrshire, said it would be “crazy” to leave the union with England as “Scottish people would have to pay for it at the end of the day”.

He added that the situation wasn’t as straightforward as Alex Salmond had made out, and there were “a lot of questions still to be answered about currency and taxation which would impact business”.

Craig Cunningham of Abbiecraig Stores in Fife said while there may be positives for an independent Scotland, there hadn’t been enough information about exactly what would happen after a split.

However, Calum Duncan of Kincraig Stores in Inverness-shire believes that an independent Scotland would have no impact on his business.

“We have very few English suppliers so I can’t see much changing from a business point of view,” he said.

Source

Aidan Fortune