The Anatomy of Scottish Capital

Scottish Companies and Scottish Capital, 1900-1979

John Scott, Michael Hughes

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000440133
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Economics
• Subtopic: Economic History
• Index: Economics

Originally published in 1980, this book gives a concrete description of the development of Scottish companies and Scottish capital through the 20 th Century, based on empirical study. The study begins with the major companies of 1904-5 and examines their history and subsequent development. The top companies in a number of periods are also examined and the study concludes with an investigation of the major companies of 1973-4 and their response to the (then) recent oil developments. The book uses both detailed company histories and broad historical interpretations as sources drawing the data together into chronologically ordered sections. Its focus is on the companies and people which make up the system of Scottish capital, seen as a relatively distinct system with its own characteristics and its own pattern of development within the British system.

1
THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCOTTISH CAPITAL UP TO THE FIRST WORLD WAR

The Scottish industrial revolution was centred on west central Scotland and was based upon textiles and heavy industry. Cotton had been the first growth industry and had led to developments in dyeing, calico printing and thread manufacture. As Lancashire competition caused problems for the Scottish cotton industry, firms moved into wool and flax production. The development of the textile industry stimulated the production of spinning and weaving machinery, though the engineering industry did not really take off until coal and iron deposits began to be worked commercially. The production of goods for export led to an early development of marine engineering and shipbuilding, and this industry in turn, in association with the growth of the railways, stimulated the development of the basic coal and iron industries. Scottish capital emerged in these industries, and firms began to grow in size mainly through the internal accumulation of capital rather than through bank credit.

The period from 1870 to 1914 saw the consolidation of the basic structure of the Scottish economy. The main interests of Scottish capital were in heavy industry, textiles, railways and the booming investment company sector. These industries, together with drinks, tea trading and chemicals, were dominated by joint stock companies, and the joint stock principle was making inroads into industries where private partnerships remained the main form of business enterprise. As Scottish industrialisation had occurred in alliance with English imperial power, so the relative decline in British industrial supremacy, which followed the rapid industrialisation of America and Germany, had its repercussions in Scotland. Scottish capital came to exemplify the problems of the British economy as a whole: the economy was centred around export oriented heavy industry which faced increasingly aggressive foreign competition, and had a massive outflow of investment funds into foreign agriculture, railways and mines, much of which exacerbated the domestic problems.

Our aim in this chapter is to discuss the most important Scottish companies in the period up to the First World War. We shall give a detailed discussion of the largest companies of the year 1904–5 and we shall trace the development of these companies and the connections between them. We shall show how the main areas of Scottish capital were linked together through common ownership, interlocking directorships and bonds of kinship. This analysis will make clear the basic structure of the Scottish economy which has been briefly sketched above.

Scotland’s Top Companies, 1904–5

The top Scottish companies for 1904–5 are listed in Table 1.A, at the end of this chapter. A total of 64 non-financial companies had issued share capital in excess of £300,000. Together with the eight Scottish banks, 14 large insurance companies, and 22 investment and property companies with capital over £300,000, the list of ‘top companies’ comprises 108 companies. Table 1.1 shows the size distribution of the non-financial companies.

Table 1.1: Size Distribution of Non-Financial Companies (1904–5)

Companies by Rank	Total Share Capital (£)	Cumulative Total (£)
1–10	132,137,155	132,137,155
11–21	14,340,297	146,477,452
22–30	7,869,755	154,347,207
31–40	6,472,894	160,820,101
41–50	5,364,453	166,184,554
51–64	5,600,182	171,784,736
TOTAL	171,784,736

Table 1A: Scotland’s Top Companies (1904–5)^*

Section A: Non-Financial Companies
Rank	Company	Industry	Capital (£000)	Multiple Directors
1	North British Railway	Railways	47,236	Earl of Dalkeith (C), C. Carlow (VC), A.B. Gilroy, H. Grierson, A.K. McCosh, H.S. Macpherson, A. Simpson, H.G. Younger
2	Caledonian Railway	Railways	42,899	Sir J. Thompson (C), Sir J. King (DC), Sir M. Mitchell-Thomson, D. Tod, Marquess of Breadalbane, H. Brown, Sir C.B. Renshaw, E. Cox, J.H. Houldsworth, Lord Newlands, H. Allan, G.R. Vemon, W. Younger
3	Glasgow and South Western Railway	Railways	14,204	Sir J. Bell (DC), Sir M. Arthur, Earl of Glasgow, W. Lorimer, Sir H.E. Maxwell
4	J. and P. Coats	Cotton thread man.	10,000	Sir T. Glen-Coats, Sir J. King, Sir W. Arrol, S. Clark
5	Great North of Scotland Railway	Railways	4,979	T. Adam, T. Crombie
6	Highland Railway	Railways	4,653	R.M. Wilson (DC), Marquess of Breadalbane, W.S. Fothringham, J.G. Stewart, Duke of Sutherland, SirW.O. Dalgleish
7	Forth Bridge Railway	Railways	2,325	Lord Balfour of Burleigh, Earl of Dalkeith, H. Grierson
8	Consolidated Tea and Lands	Tea planters	2,000	Sir A.K. Muir (C), Sir R.D. Moncrieffe, J.F. Muir, J.T. Tullis, A.M. Brown, R. Scott, R.H. Sinclair, D.M. Hannay
9	Linen Thread	Linen and thread man.	1,991	Sir J. Knox (VC), Sir T. Glen-Coats
10	Burmah Oil	Oil	1,850	L. Gow, J. Innes
11	United Collieries	Coal mining	1,801	H. Mungall (C), J.T. Tullis (VC), Sir D. Richmond
12	North British Locomotive	Engineering	1,750	W. Lorimer (C)
13	Distillers	Whisky distillers	1,419	A. McNab, J.B. Harvey
14	Stewarts and Lloyds	Iron and steel man.	1,400	J.G. Stewart (C), Sir W. Arrol, R.M. Wilson
15	Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire Railway	Railways	1,389	W.A. Donaldson (C), J.M. Denny, H. Brown
16	Glasgow District Subway	Railways	1,300	A. Simpson (C), J.P. Smith, A.K. McCosh
17	Tharsis Sulphur & Copper	Copper mining	1,250	Sir C. Tennant (C), H. Brown, T. Alexander, J. Couper, Sir J. King
18	‘Moss’ Empires	Theatre manage.	1,031	-
19=	Kanan Devan Hills Produce	Tea planters	1,000	Sir A.K. Muir (C), Sir R.D. Moncrieffe, J.F. Muir, D.M. Hannay, A.M. Brown, R. Scott, R.M. Sinclair, J.T. Tullis
19=	William McEwan	Brewers	1,000	W. Younger (MD)
19=	William Younger	Brewers	1,000	H.G. Younger
22	Barry, Ostlere & Shepherd	Linoleum man.	934	-
23	West Highland Railway	Railways	929	H. Grierson (C)
24	Anglo-American Direct Tea Trading	Tea merchants	910	Sir A.K. Muir (C), Sir R.D. Moncrieffe, A.M. Brown, R. Scott, R.M. Sinclair, J.F. Muir, D.M. Hannay, J.T. Tullis
25	Alex Pirie & Sons	Paper makers	900	-
26	Amalgamated Tea Estates	Tea planters	898	Sir A.K. Muir (C), Sir R.D. Moncrieffe, J.F. Muir, D.M. Hannay, A.M. Brown, R. Scott, R.M. Sinclair, J.T. Tullis
27	Coltness Iron	Iron and steel man.	850	J.H. Houldsworth, Sir J. King
28	Fife Coal	Coalmining	831	T. Aitken (C), J. Jordan, H. Mungall, C. Carlow
29	Callandei & Oban Railway	Railways	817	Sir J. Thompson (C), Marquess of Breadalbane, Lord Newlands, H. Brown, D. Tod
30	Nobel&s Explosives	Explosives man.	800	Sir C. Tennant (C), Sir R.W. Anstruther, H. Brown, T. Alexander
31	George Younger & Son	Brewers	750	G. Younger (C)
32	Arizona Copper	Copper mining	737	J.B. Harvey, A. McNab
33	Irrawaddy Flotilla	Shipping	720	Sir J. King (VC), T. Aitken, ...