IT and renewable energy lead the Scottish recovery

Scottish businesses are suffering under the weight of the recession, with redundancies, margin pressures and tighter credit all taking their toll, a report from the Scottish Alliance of Sector Skills Council will say this week.

But the report will show that large parts of the Scottish economy are tentatively recovering including financial services.

"What we can see very clearly is that some sectors are beginning to see the green shoots of recovery, while some are still struggling to get back on their feet," says Jacqui Hepburn, director of the Alliance of Sector Skills Councils in Scotland. "But, it seems too early to say that recovery is taking place."

"However, what is encouraging is that there are a few sectors that have expanded during the past six months, which just goes to show that while the recession has taken its toll on industry, there is a lot to be optimistic about in the coming months."

She says that Scotland's oil and gas sector is "clearly stabilising", as is the IT and the renewables industry.

"There is a lot to be optimistic about," says Ms Hepburn. "Work is ongoing to develop apprenticeship frameworks and initial figures indicate that there will be 13,000 jobs in the wind sub-sector by 2020."