University of Glasgow and Lloyds Banking Group announce groundbreaking agentic AI research programme
- The University of Glasgow and Lloyds Banking Group have launched a four‑year research partnership to explore how AI can support software and data engineering.
- The project will help Lloyds Banking Group implement agentic AI at scale within their software engineering practice, while giving University researchers a unique opportunity to study large‑scale engineering transformation in a real‑world setting.
- The partnership will create a PhD, a Masters of Research and a post‑doctoral role.
- The project’s findings will guide how Lloyds Group scales the use of agentic AI across wider data and engineering teams and contribute to the development of best practice, national policy and industry standards.
A new research partnership between the University of Glasgow and Lloyds Banking Group is setting out to explore the potential of AI to support software and data engineering.
Over the next four years, the partners will explore how large language model-based coding tools called agentic AIs could support and enhance the work of software and data engineers at Lloyds Banking Group.
Agentic AIs are software tools which act as semi-autonomous ‘agents’ to complete tasks of varying complexity. In software and data engineering, they are already being used to write and debug code, solve technical problems, and perform a variety of project management tasks.
As the UK’s largest digital bank, Lloyds Banking Group is investing significantly in developing new digital software and services, alongside training and new skills for colleagues, to support its 28 million customers.
The University’s research team and Lloyds Banking Group will work together to design experiments that test the efficacy of agentic AI for high priority activities in individual software teams. The team will use a variety of empirical software engineering research techniques to gather evidence, such as data mining.
The project will help Lloyds Banking Group implement an agentic AI approach to software and data engineering and measure the impact across their organisation. At the same time, it will provide software engineering researchers at the University with a rare opportunity to study and contribute to a large-scale transformation to software and data engineering practice.
The collaboration will create a PhD and a Masters of Research position at the University, along with a post-doctoral research associate post to work with Lloyds’ software engineering teams.
Dr Tim Storer, of the University of Glasgow’s School of Computing Science, will lead the University’s side of the partnership along with colleague Dr Peggy Gregory.
Dr Storer said: “Agentic-driven software engineering is a fast-developing sector with the potential to enable human engineers to work more efficiently by automating some tasks and allowing them to focus their skills on higher-level work.
“However, there has been relatively little research in industry on how integrating agentic AI into software engineering practices can be done effectively in large-scale organisations.
“We’re delighted to be partnering with Lloyds Banking Group on this groundbreaking project. Together, we will enable the Group’s plans to increase their software development capacity, produce high-quality research for the benefit of all, and influence national policy and industry standards.”
Lloyds Banking Group’s contribution will be led by Dr Shane Montague, Head of Research Engineering, with executive sponsorship from Professor Andrew McDonald, Enterprise Data Provisioning, Technology Platform Lead.
Dr Shane Montague said: “Lloyds Banking Group’s mission to Help Britain Prosper means leading innovation that genuinely improves how engineering gets done, with a focus on delivering enhanced digital services for our customers.
Each quarter, the partnership will task Lloyds Banking Group’s software and data engineers in Bristol, Manchester and Hyderabad to work with their agentic AI counterparts on a different type of task with the aim to measure the impact on quality and speed of delivery.
As the partnership continues, the Group will develop and improve their understanding of how to harness the benefits of agentic AI. Successful projects will be rolled out across the Group’s wider data teams, and eventually to all software and data engineering teams.
At the same time, Glasgow researchers will work alongside the teams to gather evidence on each project’s impact on efficiency, workflow and the day-to-day work of the teams.
Together, the partners will publish regular research papers documenting their work and develop best-practice documents to help organisations of all scales integrate AI into their software and data product development processes.
Tech giants urged to join fight against soaring scam ads in UK
Social media giants are being urged to join the fight against the soaring number of scam ads in the UK and to pay their fair share in combatting online fraud. The call comes ahead of the Government’s National Fraud Strategy, set to be published imminently.
The Payments Association (TPA), wants a Home Office-led overhaul of how online fraud is fought in the UK and set out the sector’s view on the way forward and how to take action at its PAY360 event in London this month.
Scam ads use AI tools to impersonate trusted brands and exploit social media algorithms to appear at the top of shoppers’ search results. They offer fake products or services to steal money or personal data.
Recent years have seen a surge in scam ads on sites like X, Facebook and Instagram. It is estimated that UK shoppers see an average of 185 scam ads a month.
The Payments Association wants a fairer regulatory framework for fighting online fraud. While social media platforms generate revenue from all advertising, real and fake, it is financial institutions that bear the brunt of combatting the crime.
Consumers conned by fake adverts lose money individually, and the total impact is adding up. According to recent data from Juniper Research, UK shoppers lost £44 million to fake ad scams in 2025 – that figure is set to rise to £84 million by 2030.
The fraud is called Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud because consumers are conned into voluntarily handing over their money.
Tougher consumer protection regulations have seen a mandatory reimbursement threshold for APP fraud imposed in October 2024 and payment service providers have reimbursed 87% of all scam-related losses since this was implemented.
But social media giants, where fraud originates, pay nothing to reimburse shoppers who become victims of crime on their platforms.
It is estimated that social media platforms generated £3.8bn in revenue from scam ads in 2025, roughly ten per cent of all social media ad revenue. Advertising on social media is set to grow by 120 per cent in the next five years to be worth £84bn by 2030.
Last month The Payments Association published its manifesto for 2026, called Making Britain a Payments Powerhouse.
It outlined plans for the Home Office to draw up a new “shared responsibility framework” which would see liability for economic crime “shared proportionately amongst stakeholders based on origination data”.
The UK is a major target of scam ads. In 2025 alone it is estimated to account for 95 billion scam ad impressions – this figure is set to rise to 137 billion by 2030.
Riccardo Tordera Ricchi, TPA Vice President – Policy and Government Relations, said: “Payment firms are expected to stop fraud at the point money is transferred when the real crime has been committed upstream – through digital communication and scam advertising.
“It cannot be right that while social media platforms benefit from the revenue generated by online fraud, consumers and payment firms are left to pick up the bill for that crime.”
The Payments Association wants Ministers to tighten Britain’s National Fraud Strategy (of which a major update is due imminently) by extending the Economic Crime Levy to both social media and telecoms companies.
The levy is a government charge imposed on more than 4,000 businesses regulated under Anti-Money Laundering laws.
Depending on their size, companies pay a flat annual fee – ranging from £10m to £1bn – to fund initiatives to combat money laundering and economic crime. From next month (April) thousands of larger firms will face substantial increases in the fee.
At its PAY360 event this month, The Payments Association will publish a paper also calling on social media giants to do more to detect and prevent online fraud.
It wants big tech and telecoms firms to sign up to the Online Fraud Charter, improve fraud detection protocols and strengthen verification of online advertisers.
The Association is also calling for new legislation to allow for better data sharing across industries and the creation of a new UK Digital Payments Fraud Centre – an independent hub that uses AI to detect fraud trends and co-ordinate responses across payments, telecoms, e-commerce and law enforcement.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves last year signalled the Government was considering a greater role for tech and telecommunications firms in battling fraud.
Finance and Health Lab National Conference to convene cross-sector leaders at The Edinburgh Futures Institute
FinTech Scotland today announced the Finance and Health Lab National Conference, on 19 March 2026, an invite-only national event bringing together leaders from financial services, health, academia, government and the innovation ecosystem to explore how Scotland can lead the next wave of progress at the intersection of health and financial wellbeing.
Hosted at the University of Edinburgh’s Futures Institute, the conference will showcase practical insights, emerging innovation, and opportunities for collaboration focused on challenges that matter in later life and beyond — including inclusive service design, strengthening financial resilience, and building trusted approaches to data.
The Finance and Health Lab is designed to accelerate collaboration across sectors, connecting partners to test ideas, generate evidence, and support innovations to move from insight to impact. The conference will share what’s been learned so far and set out the next steps for continued ecosystem action.
What to expect on the day
The one-day programme (10:00–16:00, arrival from 09:30) includes:
- A keynote and guided discussion on the future of financial health in an ageing society
- A research insight showcase on health–wealth dynamics in later life
- An industry panel on designing future-ready, inclusive financial services
- A startup showcase and demonstrator session featuring ventures from the innovation call
- A data proposition session exploring trusted, ethical pathways for financial-health data use
- A closing conversation on scaling innovation through collaboration and national impact
Registration is invite-only, with a register interest option available via the event page.
Aleks Tomczyk, Chief Executive, FinTech Scotland, said: “Scotland has a unique opportunity to lead in innovation that connects financial resilience with healthier outcomes. The Finance and Health Lab National Conference brings partners together to share evidence, spotlight innovation, and build practical routes to collaboration and scale.”
Dr Andrea Taylor, Chief Executive Officer of Edinburgh Innovations, said: “This is an opportunity to align research, practice and policy and focus collective effort on innovations that can make a measurable difference for people as they age.”
Register interest
This event is by invitation only. Register your interest on the Finance and Health Lab National Conference page to receive further details.
Finance and Health Lab launches Innovation Open Call for later life financial wellbeing solutions
FinTech Scotland today announced the launch of the Finance and Health Lab Innovation Open Call, inviting fintechs, startups, and innovators to develop and test ideas that address defined challenges affecting financial resilience, financial confidence, and quality of life as people age.
The Finance and Health Lab is a national programme led by FinTech Scotland, bringing together financial services organisations, fintech innovators, academics and public sector partners to explore how financial wellbeing and health interact and intersect in later life. The open call is designed to move beyond general discussion, creating space for evidence-led innovation, collaboration and practical experimentation that can inform future services, models and policy.
As the population grows older, changes in health, income, care needs and financial complexity increasingly shape people’s wellbeing. Through this open call, applicants are invited to propose solutions aligned to priority challenge areas focused on improving outcomes in later life.
Industry partners
Innovators selected through the open call will have the opportunity to engage with participating industry partners:
Priority challenge areas
The Innovation Stimulation programme is structured around a set of priority use cases reflecting pressing later life financial health challenges. Applicants should align their ideas to one or more of the following:
1. Predictive Financial Vulnerability Insights for Later Life
Using health, behavioural and financial data to generate early warning insights that help identify when individuals may be entering periods of financial vulnerability due to health changes.
2. Healthy Ageing Scenario Simulation for Financial Planning
Creating dynamic, personalised scenario planning tools that model the financial impact of later life health events — including longevity, income change and care transitions.
3. Data Quality and Ethical Data Sharing for Health and Wealth Insights
Strengthening permissioned, ethically governed data flows between health, financial and public sector systems to support better later life services — improving trust, transparency and data quality.
4. Cross-System Care and Financial Navigation for Ageing Populations
Helping people navigate fragmented ecosystems spanning health services, social care, pensions, insurance and benefits as needs evolve — reducing complexity and stress.
5. Empowering Later Life Financial Decision Confidence
Strengthening confidence and decision-making, reducing anxiety and supporting long-term wellbeing through complex or high-stakes decisions.
6. Age-Friendly FinTech and Inclusive Digital Service Design
Making digital financial services more accessible, trustworthy and supportive for older adults and those with health-related barriers.
Aleks Tomczyk, Chief Executive, FinTech Scotland, said:
“The Finance and Health Lab open call is about practical progress — bringing innovators and partners together to explore solutions that can strengthen financial resilience and support better outcomes as people age. We’re looking for bold ideas grounded in real needs, with the potential to be tested and learned from quickly.”
How to Apply
Applications open 4 February and close 12 February.
Learn more and apply on the Finance & Health Lab Open Call page.
Financial Regulation Innovation Lab (FRIL) launches Skills Academy to Develop Future FinTech and Financial Regulation Talent
Financial services is undergoing one of the most significant periods of change in decades. Technology is advancing at pace, new regulations are emerging, and organisations of every size are wrestling with how to build the skills needed to keep up.
In response to this, the Financial Regulation Innovation Lab (FRIL) – created as a catalyst to help the sector respond to these challenges – has launched the FRIL Skills Academy, a pioneering skills and education platform designed to address skills gaps and support career development across the financial and professional services sector and fintech ecosystem.
Supported and delivered by FRIL’s academic partners, the University of Strathclyde and University of Glasgow, the Skills Academy will go live on 30 January 2026, offering a transformative learning environment for professionals and industry partners.
The FRIL Skills Academy responds directly to the rapidly accelerating pace of technological change, especially in areas such as AI, data quality, and regulatory compliance, where talent shortages continue to hinder innovation and increase recruitment costs. Research conducted by FRIL identified skills gaps across the sector which supports the need for strategic investment in workforce development to maintain the UK’s global competitiveness.
Professor Stephen McArthur, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Strathclyde, said:
“The FRIL Skills Academy strengthens Strathclyde’s role in delivering executive education and its launch is extremely encouraging and a significant step forward.
“Informed by Scotland’s expertise in financial services and shaped by industry demands, the Academy will provide challenge-led skills and leadership development aligned to productivity, innovation and growth. This is an ambitious project that is unique in the higher education sector in the UK, and I have no doubt that it will support the wider economic ambitions of the city, Scotland and beyond.”
Professor Graeme Roy, Head of University of Glasgow Adam Smith Business School said:
“The FRIL Skills Academy demonstrates our commitment to working closely with industry, co-creating engaging and practical learning, and fulfilling our ambition as a civic institution to contribute positively to economic resilience, innovation and societal good.
“Universities have a vital role to play in supporting lifelong learning – providing opportunities for upskilling and reskilling that enable people and organisations to thrive in a rapidly changing world. I would like to thank colleagues at our University and our partner institutions, as well as our industry collaborators, whose commitment, expertise and shared vision have made this possible.
“It is enormously gratifying to see this initiative evolve from an ambitious idea into a fully realised Skills Academy with the potential to make a lasting impact across the financial and professional services sector.”
Professor Eleanor Shaw, Associate Principal (External Engagement & Partnerships) of the University of Strathclyde, said:
“I am delighted that the FRIL Academy is now launching. This is an important milestone for FRIL, marking one important outcome of the project which is to launch a Skills Academy informed by the needs of Scotland’s vibrant FinTech community and Glasgow’s internationally recognised financial services district. Strathclyde is committed to providing useful learning and the Skills Academy promises to deliver just that. This is an important development in our commitment to executive education focused on what matters to our entrepreneurial and industrial partners: fresh skills, leadership development, and a commitment to making Scotland and the UK a more productive, innovative and flourishing environment in which founders want to start, grow and scale their businesses and towards which talent is attracted. This is an exciting development, and the Skills Academy is likely to grow to become an important learning asset for not only Glasgow but across Scotland.”
Aleks Tomczyk, Chief Executive of FinTech Scotland, said:
“As Scotland continues to lead in fintech and digital innovation, the FRIL Skills Academy sets a new benchmark for how academia and industry partner at pace. As the first initiative of its kind in UK higher education, it will provide professionals with practical, employer driven skills across AI, data and regulation, strengthening our talent pipeline and competitiveness.”
A Demand‑Led Approach
The FRIL Skills Academy is the first of its kind in UK Higher Education, will be delivered through a virtual platform that provides 24/7 global access and supports both blended and traditional learning formats.
The FRIL Skills Academy offers an extensive portfolio of microcredentials, short courses, and executive education opportunities, tailored to different stages of a learner’s career journey.
Industry partners will gain access to courses which develop a pipeline of skilled professionals trained on real regulatory and technological challenges as well as opportunities to co‑create content, deliver guest lectures, and engage in knowledge‑exchange events.
Learners will benefit from employer‑driven microcredentials and practical learning experiences; career pathways spanning early career to senior executive; and a supportive environment that fosters lifelong learning and professional advancement.
Click the following link to access the FRIL Skills Academy: FRIL Skills Academy
Contact
Christine Sinclair
Programme Director
christine.sinclair@strath.ac.uk
Xiang Li
FRIL Skills Development Lead, Senior Lecturer in Management and Professional Development
About FRIL
Financial Regulation Innovation Lab awards £50,000 each to four fintechs to accelerate consumer wealth support
The Financial Regulation Innovation Lab (FRIL) today announced the four fintechs selected to receive grants through its latest Future of Wealth Innovation Call, delivered by FinTech Scotland in partnership with SuperTech WM.
The six‑week programme concluded on 15 January with a Showcase Day, where 21 fintechs presented solutions to the challenge: helping consumers make informed financial decisions and access more tailored wealth support, while keeping pace with evolving regulation.
Throughout the programme, and against the backdrop of the joint HM Treasury-Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Advice Guidance Boundary Review (AGBR) which seeks to help close the UK’s advice gap by clarifying how firms can provide more meaningful support under the Consumer Duty, participants took part in workshops and deep dive sessions to develop, refine and tailor their propositions to real world industry needs and potential pilots with partners. The FCA was involved throughout and provided both valuable clarity and guidance.
The Innovation Call was delivered with the support of 10 strategic partners: PwC, Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, Sopra Steria Financial Services, NatWest Group, M&G, BNP Paribas Personal Finance. , Dudley Building Society, Wesleyan and Standard Life; alongside academic partners at the University of Strathclyde and the University of Glasgow, and Growth Builders, which supported delivery.
Following the Showcase Day, four fintechs were selected to receive £50,000 each to further develop their solutions. Over the grant period, the awardees will continue to collaborate with industry and academic partners to test, validate and accelerate their innovations towards adoption and scale.
The winners are:
Finspector is an AI-powered compliance platform that automates the review and monitoring of financial promotions across text, images, video, and social media. It helps regulated firms reduce risk, evidence compliance, and scale marketing activity with confidence across jurisdictions.
Planda is a behavioural AI platform that helps financial services firms move beyond outdated segmentation to deliver hyper-personalised customer engagement. By connecting data across enterprise workflows, Planda builds dynamic customer segments that evolve in real-time, enabling institutions to personalise at scale and deepen relationships.
Amplified Global uses AI and Machine Learning to help firms assess, simplify, and demonstrate consumer understanding at scale, ensuring they meet compliance obligations with confidence. Its technology analyses and enhances intelligibility, helping organisations turn complexity into clarity. Through a guided digital journey, it makes content more engaging, measurable, and human – redefining how people connect with information.
Afternoon’s the new data + AI first operating model for advice firms. Data collection is automated with a focus on completeness and quality. AI modules automate work, allowing a doubling of clients with the same team and with less risk from meeting to report in under 2 minutes.
Aleks Tomczyk, Chief Executive, FinTech Scotland, commented:
“The Advice Guidance Boundary Review is pivotal to widening access to meaningful financial support across the UK. Too few people are saving adequately for retirement, and historically advice has skewed towards higher earners. Government, regulators and industry are aligned on helping the wider population make better‑informed financial decisions. By funding these four winning projects and opening real‑world pilots with partners, we’re accelerating practical solutions that improve consumer decision‑making and access to support, while helping firms operate confidently within the advice–guidance boundary.”
Kate Murray, Strategic Projects Lead, Scottish Widows & Lloyds Banking Group, said:
“We want to fill the advice gap that currently exists in Britain and ultimately, enable people to have a much more prosperous financial future. The Innovation Calls present such a massive opportunity. We at Lloyds Banking Group are changing the way we do change and innovate to go faster. Bringing in outside thinking, technology, and just a completely different perspective can help us achieve that.”
Hilary Smyth Allen, Chief Executive, SuperTech WM, added:
“Partnership matters because that’s how you really get things done with impact. Through the partnership with FRIL, we’ve been able to work across a broader spectrum of the ecosystem. Consumers come in all shapes and sizes, and so does the industry that services them. Innovation for us means we are maximising outcomes for those consumers.”
Crawford Taylor, CEO & co-founder, Afternoon Finance, stated:
“The advice gap is real, and firms are under growing pressure to support more people, with better outcomes, under tighter regulation. Afternoon exists to make that possible, using data and AI to remove friction, reduce risk and radically improve how advice is delivered.
This funding allows us to continue to accelerate our mission: helping advice firms support more clients, more effectively, without compromising quality, compliance or trust. Being selected as one of just four winners from over twenty fintechs is a huge validation of the approach we’re taking.”
About FRIL
FinTech Scotland marks its eighth anniversary reinforcing its position as one of Europe’s leading fintech clusters
Marking its eighth anniversary, FinTech Scotland reports that the nation’s fintech cluster has more than doubled in size in the past five years – from just over 120 firms in 2020 to more than 260 – confirming Scotland’s position as one of Europe’s most dynamic and collaborative fintech clusters.
This growth has been driven by higher levels of investment, deeper partnerships across industry, academia and the public sector, and more businesses scaling up and trading internationally.
Innovation in practice has also taken a major step forward, with the 10-year FinTech Research and Innovation Roadmap now embedded and over 40% of recommended actions under way. Central to this has been the 2025 award-winning Financial Regulation Innovation Lab (FRIL), which plays a key role in creating the right conditions for collaboration and product development. A recent example is the partnership between Amiqus and Virgin Money: through the FRIL programme, Amiqus moved from an initial pilot to live production with Virgin Money, using AI to transform business banking onboarding – demonstrating the capability and scalability of its platform.
In 2025, the cluster also launched two major new initiatives: the Centre of Excellence in Distributed Ledger Technology, focusing on digital assets, payments and tokenisation, with digital trust at its core, and the Finance and Health Lab a pilot cross-sector research and innovation programme dedicated to improving financial wellbeing, resilience and long-term financial health in Scotland.
Looking ahead to 2026, FinTech Scotland will focus on translating innovation into economic and social value, in line with UK industrial policy priorities, and enabling all participating in the cluster to thrive.
Aleks Tomczyk, Chief Executive of FinTech Scotland, said:
“The doubling of Scotland’s fintech density is a clear signal that our collaborative and cluster-based approach is working. The Research and Innovation Roadmap provided a national framework to accelerate purposeful innovation, and it’s been inspiring to see how fintech entrepreneurs, financial institutions, and universities have got behind that shared vision.
As I begin 2026 as FinTech Scotland’s new Chief Executive, I look forward to leading our plans to support the next stages of cluster growth and thereby accelerate successful business growth and innovation in financial technology.”
Jane Martin, Managing Director of Innovation and Investment at Scottish Enterprise, added:
“A major strength for Scotland is its connected fintech cluster, an inclusive network of entrepreneurs, researchers, and industry leaders working together to solve real world challenges. This growth shows that Scotland can have a global impact by focusing on purposeful and collaborative innovation.”
Callum Murray, CEO of leading fintech firm Amiqus, said:
“FinTech Scotland has provided practical ongoing support to Amiqus and many other fintech scale ups across the country for many years. Our involvement in their FRIL innovation programme dramatically accelerated relationships with large scale banks, built trust in our capability to deliver at scale and directly led to us securing a new ongoing client partnership. We look forward to the collaborative opportunities working with the Fintech Scotland team over the years ahead.”
Hiring optimism in Scotland dips as Hays encourages employers to aim for long-term staff retention
- Optimism for the economic environment among employers in Scotland has dipped from 31% in 2025 to 26% for 2026, although hiring continues
- Significant workforce mobility expected in Scotland as 57% of professionals report they expect to move jobs next year
- 58% of Scotland employers cite recruiting the right talent as their key external challenge
- Talent retention (57%), skills shortages within current teams (51%) and managing change (46%) are other key concerns
- Hiring should be based on potential, not just skills, says Hays
Long-term optimism for the economic environment has dropped among Scotland employers in the last 12 months to 26%, compared to 31% in 2025. This is higher than the rest of the UK where only 15% of employers are optimistic, compared to 34% UK-wide in 2025.
The research, from Hays recent Salary & Recruiting Trends guide for 2026, reports cautious optimism in the short-term as employers continue to hire, but pessimism in the long-term as employers respond to cost pressures, revisions to workforce strategy and the uncertain economic outlook.
Current priorities for organisations are operational efficiency (73%), revenue growth (62%) and customer experience (42%), with recruiting the right talent at 53% being the top recruitment challenge. Regardless of short and long-term challenges, Keith Mason, director at Hays Scotland, believes that employers are still not majoring enough on the employee proposition when attracting talent.
“There’s been quite a culture shift since the pandemic, and employers need to focus much more on their employee value proposition than they did before to differentiate their organisation,” he says.
“Yes, salary is important, especially as the cost of living is rising. But professionals are looking more closely at what they need from a role. Our research found that 57% of professionals in Scotland are planning to move jobs next year – this is a striking figure that signals a period of significant workforce mobility. This level of intent suggests that employees are increasingly reassessing their career paths, driven by factors such as better pay, improved work-life balance, and opportunities for growth.”
The research also shows that 74% of employers in Scotland are planning to hire in the next 12 months which is the same as in 2025. 70% plan to hire permanent staff, with 27% planning to hire contract, freelance, interim or temporary workers. And as the debate continues on the benefits or otherwise of hybrid working, Mason believes that this issue needs to be managed carefully.
“This discussion has to be based on productivity – not time,” he says. “The research shows that profit growth is a key priority for organisations, but this only comes with efficiency and productivity which shouldn’t be based on the time someone spends in an office or working from home. And an effective workplace culture can’t thrive if too many people are absent. Hybrid working therefore needs to be managed with care, striking a balance between organisational priorities and employee expectations.”
Skills shortages within current teams are also a challenge according to 51% of respondents, highlighting a need for employers to identify future managers and leaders.
“It’s important to remember that the notions of ‘talent’ and ‘skills’ are very different. You can teach people skills, but you can’t teach talent as this is a natural attribute in a person. Be mindful of hiring for potential, for example, identify today the people who will be able to lead tomorrow. Only 16% of employers said that applicants need a university degree – it’s the talent to go further that often matters more.”
Other expected challenges for employers in Scotland are the rising costs for businesses (48%), managing risk and cyber security (32%), keeping up with technology innovation (27%) and keeping up with, and implementing, new legislation (15%).
To request access to the Hays Salary & Recruiting Trends guide, click here.
About the research: The survey on which these findings are based was conducted between 19th August 2025 and 9th September 2025 and received 5,136 responses from employers and employees working in a range of organisations and sectors across the UK, including 360 in Scotland.
The Delivery and Impact of the FinTech Scotland Cluster in 2025
This report highlights the progress made across the FinTech Scotland Cluster in 2025, a year marked by continued growth and increasing global influence. The cluster has welcomed new firms, attracted higher levels of investment, and seen more businesses scale confidently and trade internationally. Scotland’s fintech SME community has matured significantly, supported by deeper partnerships across industry, academia, and the public sector — reflecting a shared commitment to collaboration as a driver of meaningful progress.
Innovation in practice has also taken a major step forward. The 10-year FinTech Research and Innovation Roadmap is now firmly embedded, with over 40% of recommended actions underway. Central to this has been the award-winning Financial Regulation Innovation Lab, which expanded its scale and earned national recognition for its collaborative, industry-led approach. In 2025, the cluster also launched its second priority innovation environment, The Centre of Excellence in Distributed Ledger Technology, focusing on digital assets, payments, and tokenisation, with digital trust at its core.
These successes reflect the collective effort and commitment across the ecosystem to drive responsible innovation and sustainable economic growth. They provide a powerful platform for the next phase. Thank you to all who have contributed — 2026 promises new opportunities, new collaborations, and continued progress for Scotland’s fintech community.
Together, these environments are enabling pioneering work and helping firms explore and commercialise technologies shaping the future of financial services. National and international engagement has matched this momentum. From strong representation at Money20/20 Europe to productive activity and engagement across North America, Canada, Hong Kong, and wider Asia, Scotland’s international presence has grown, supporting an increasing number of fintech SMEs entering global markets.
Nicola Anderson, Chief Executive at FinTech Scotland, said:
“These successes reflect the collective effort and commitment across the ecosystem to drive responsible innovation and sustainable economic growth. They provide a powerful platform for the next phase. Thank you to all who have contributed—2026 promises new opportunities, new collaborations, and continued progress for Scotland’s fintech community.”
Aleks Tomczyk, Chief Executive at FinTech Scotland, said:
“As I step into the role of Chief Executive in January, I do so with genuine excitement for what lies ahead. The foundations built over the past seven years including in 2025 create a strong foundation for the next phase of growth. Scotland’s fintech community is rich with talent, ambition, creativity, and a collaborative spirit that is widely admired – including internationally. I am energised by the opportunity to contribute further to this vibrant cluster, including its innovators, current and future strategic partners, and supporters in the ecosystem. Together, we will build on the momentum already achieved and shape a successful future in which Scotland continues to lead, influence, and inspire across the rapidly evolving fintech landscape.”
New fintech programme aims to help Scotland’s ageing population financially prepare for later life
FinTech Scotland is aiming to help address the growing link between people’s financial situation and their health in later life with the launch of a new initiative that will accelerate innovation through the development of new research, technologies, and services.
The Finance and Health Lab will bring together financial services firms, fintechs, academia, government, health specialists and policy leaders to enhance understanding of the drivers of later life financial vulnerability and to co-design solutions that could improve the financial wellbeing and resilience of people across Scotland. The programme is being enabled by funding from the Scottish Government and delivered in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh Innovations, its commercialisation service, leveraging their innovation and research networks.
By fostering collaboration amongst partner organisations, the lab will support the ideation of new ventures, prototypes, and pilot projects, strengthening Scotland’s innovation pipeline and competitiveness in the global fintech market. It will also generate research that will shape future service models, product development, and policy that support good financial and health outcomes.
Participating organisations will collaborate on solving a number of challenge areas, with end outcomes potentially including making digital financial services more accessible and supportive for older people, creating personalised tools that help individuals plan for health events in later life, and strengthening financial confidence and decision-making.
The four-month programme will include a National Conference on innovation in finance and health and calls for projects targeting high-priority issues related to later life and financial wellbeing. In addition, participants will have opportunities to showcase new prototypes, understand data, undertake research, produce policy papers, and exchange knowledge through a series of webinars, roundtables, and other platforms.
A range of studies have drawn a direct link between household wealth and the likelihood of poor health in older age. For example, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS)(2023–24), 54% of women aged 55–64 in the lowest third of the UK’s wealth distribution reported at least one mobility issue, compared to just 20% in the wealthiest third.
The UK has a longstanding retirement savings gap. Office for National Statistics figures suggest the average pension wealth in the UK for people between the ages of 65 and 74 stands at just under £146,000, equivalent to just over 4.5 years of ‘comfortable’ retirement income by the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Associations’ standards.
Aleks Tomczyk, Chief Executive at FinTech Scotland, said:
“The retirement savings gap is a longstanding challenge in Scotland and across the UK – and it is only going to grow in importance as more people live longer and, therefore, need more money to fund themselves in later life. The Finance and Health Lab will bring together the best minds from across different sectors to find different types of solutions – whether that is policy, research, or technology – and set out a way forward for ensuring people can have a good retirement, minimising the adverse impact that poor health or limited finances can have.”
Dr Andrea Taylor, chief executive officer at Edinburgh Innovations, added:
“Scotland is the ideal test bed for an initiative like the Finance and Health Lab, with a strong fintech ecosystem, globally recognised universities, and a thriving financial services sector. The solutions that emerge from the programme could make a significant difference to people’s lives and further cement our position as a world leader in collaboration and innovation between the public, private, and education sectors.”
A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said:
“Scottish Government committed £5 million this financial year to support the growth of our key innovation clusters as drivers of economic development in areas with huge value potential, including fintech and life sciences. This project, as an important element of a broader suite of cluster development projects, will strengthen cross-cluster collaboration and contribute to the enhancement of innovation and economic growth of these key clusters.”
Read more about the Finance and Health Lab.