Just 20 foreign businesses in Perthshire

Only 0.3 per cent of businesses in Perth and Kinross are owned by foreign companies.

Out of 6135 businesses in the region, only 20 are not registered with companies from the UK.

Of that 20, 10 are from the EU with a further 10 from elsewhere in the world.

That means just one business in every 307 setting up in the region are foreign owned.

The figures relate to enterprises, which can be thought of as the overall business - they do not include local sites such as factories or shops that are associated with an enterprise.

In comparison, one in every 32 businesses based in Aberdeen are owned by foreign companies, or 275 in total.

At the other end of the spectrum, six council authorities have no foreign-owned enterprises within their borders - Clackmannanshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Na h-Eileanan Siar, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands.

Across Scotland just over 1200 businesses, or one in every 143, are foreign owned, with 550 coming from the EU. A recent survey from the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply revealed that one in seven businesses from EU countries with a presence in Britain has already moved parts of their business out of the country because of concerns about disruption after Brexit.

Perth and North Perthshire MP Pete Wishart said he was“alarmed”at the figures. He added:“Whilst last year was a record year for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Scotland, there is only so much the Scottish Government can do to promote Scotland as a destination to do business in whilst the government in London seem intent on pulling up the drawbridge.

“This will inevitably have an impact on businesses in my constituency and I am in constant dialogue with local business sectors about their concerns.”