Research finds employment numbers in West Lothian are lower than national average
Less than three-quarters of people in West Lothian are in employment, according to research into UK business hotspots.
Business energy expert Utility Bidder analysed a range of factors to determine which areas are the best for new businesses in 2025.
They considered GDP, business survival rates, transport links, education rates, employment rates and office efficiency ratings to reveal the best and worst local authority areas for Scottish entrepreneurs to start their businesses.
The data revealed that West Lothian finds itself at joint-eighth place of local authorities in Scotland with the lowest employment rates.
Clackmannanshire fared worst of all with less than two-thirds of people in employment, 64.4 per cent, followed by North Ayrshire at 64.9 per cent.
West Lothian's 72.3 per cent rate is better than both Glasgow City and Dundee City on 66.1 per cent and 66.6 per cent respectively, but over 10 per cent behind the highest rate in Scotland – 83.6 per cent in Aberdeenshire.
The employment rate for West Lothian is just 1.7 per cent below the Scottish average of 74 per cent, which compares to the national average in England of 76.8 per cent, and Wales at 73.2 per cent.
The research found that Edinburgh City has the highest GDP per capita of more than £60,700, and is the best place in the country to start a new business in 2025.
However, on a more cautious note it recorded a five-year business survival rate of only 38.6 per cent. The Shetland Islands has the strongest five-year survival rate of 57.1 per cent.
Chris Shaw, CEO at Utility Bidder, said: 'Small businesses, the lifeblood of Scotland's economy, accounted for 98 per cent of all enterprises across the whole of the United Kingdom at the start of 2024. Scotland is a great place for new businesses to flourish.
'We considered everything from internet speeds and local qualification rates to the proportion of new businesses that survived the last five years, as well as employment rates across Scotland.
'From our study findings, we found that whilst the average employment rate across Scotland's local authorities is 74 per cent.'
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