Discover Scotland’s High-Growth Industries in 2025

In conjunction with our analysis of Scotland’s fastest-growing companies, in this article we now turn our attention to the industries commonly found in the Scottish high-growth ecosystem — and how you can find these figures on Beauhurst.

At the time of writing, Scotland is home to 280,000 active companies, and our data shows that almost 4,000 (1.42%) of these are high-growth companies. But firstly, it’s worth explaining specifically what we mean by high-growth.

How we define high-growth companies

On the Beauhurst platform, we use our unique Growth Signals data to mark high-growth companies. These are assigned to a company based on a selection of growth-specific attributes, including:

• Equity fundraising
• Debt fundraising
• MBO/MBI
• Accelerator attendance
• 10% scaleup
• 20% scaleup
• Acquired
• Made acquisition
• IPO
• High growth list feature

A high-growth company will possess at least one of these attributes. For more on Growth signals, check out our full breakdown on Signals.

Now, let’s examine some of the most prevalent industries — including the eight high-growth sectors in the UK Government’s Modern Industrial Strategy — and the companies that are underpinning Scotland’s high-growth ecosystem.

Scotland’s top high-growth industries

The most common industry among Scotland’s high-growth firms is Application software, accounting for 17% of all such businesses in Scotland. This is followed by Distribution and wholesale (9.6%) and Property development and construction (8.3%).

Our research also shows that 45% of companies in high-growth industries have at least one female founder. Amongst these Pregnancy and Parenting (48%), Beauty and cosmetics (43%), and Courses and educational material (36%) have the highest proportion of companies with female founders.

Almost a quarter (24%) of Scottish high-growth companies have attended an accelerator. The top industry for accelerated companies is again Application software (30% of companies), with Data provision and analytics (11%) and Online retailing (11%) companies coming joint second.

4.1% of high-growth companies in Scotland were spun out of an academic institution. Of these companies, again Application software was the most common industry (26% of high-growth spinouts). Pharmaceuticals came a close second (21%).

Now, we explore the top three high-growth industries in Scotland and the companies behind them.

Application software

Scottish Application software companies, which include SaaS platforms and AI companies, have collectively raised £1.06b in equity fundraisings since the start of 2021.

They have also generated over £2.37b in revenue over the last year, whilst the industry collectively employs at least* 22,700 people.

Application software companies are primarily based in Edinburgh (267) and Glasgow (168), with Aberdeen (49) the closest local authority behind.

Notable application software companies

Distribution and wholesale

As a traditional sector, with more established businesses, companies in distribution and wholesale typically raise lower amounts in equity fundraising, whilst generating greater amounts of turnover and employing more people.

We see this in the data where companies in distribution and wholesale have generated over £12.3b in revenue*, and employ at least 51,000 people. Equity fundraising levels meanwhile are less than a quarter of application software companies, with £233m raised since the start of 2021.

Notable distribution and wholesale companies

Property development and construction

As with distribution and wholesale, property development and construction industries possess a higher proportion of established companies. With this in mind, figures around fundraisings, turnover, and employment track similarly.

According to our data, company turnover across the Scottish property development and construction industry sits at £11.2b, whilst these businesses employ at least 62,500 people. Since the start of 2021, companies in this industry have raised £98.3m.

Notable property development and construction companies

Scotland’s role in the UK’s industrial strategy

As part of Invest 2035: the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, the UK government outlined eight high-growth industries (IS-8) that it expects to make the largest net positive impact on the UK economy.

These industries are:

• Advanced Manufacturing
• Clean Energy
• Creative Industries
• Defence
• Digital and Technologies
• Financial Services
• Life Sciences
• Professional and Business Services

Mapping Scotland’s innovation economy

Here we’ve examined the distribution of companies, both across the Scottish high-growth ecosystem, and all active companies in Scotland more broadly.

Amongst Scotland’s high-growth companies, the top IS-8 sectors are Digital technologies, Professional and business services, and Creative industries.

Widening our gaze to every active company in Scotland, the top three remain the same, but Professional and business services comes out on top, with digital technologies moving down into second place. Creative industries remain in the third spot, though we see a leap from 13% of companies to 20% in their distribution.

How to find high-growth companies using Beauhurst

Finding high-growth companies on Beauhurst is straightforward. Firstly, launch Advanced Search and search by ‘companies’.

Specify that these companies are based in Scotland, and ensure that their Companies House status is selected as ‘active’. This will ensure you only return companies that are still operating.

The next step is crucial. Select ‘Signals’ and check the ‘Growth’ box. This will show every Scotland-based company that has at least one of the growth criteria we outlined earlier in this article.

Or, to use our new natural language search, simply type in ‘companies in Scotland with a growth signal’ to the search bar at the top of Advanced Search and hit enter.

The search will then automatically populate with the right criteria, ready for you to analyse or refine your search further.

From here, you have a number of options.

Refine your search

Perhaps you want to only find recently established companies, or maybe companies in a specific industry.

You can also drill down into a specific city, local authority, or region in Scotland. Add any (or all) of these, amongst other criteria, to find the precise information you need on high-growth Scotland-based businesses.

Create a dynamic list

Once you’ve settled on your search, and you’re happy with the results, you can begin adding these companies to a Collection. On Beauhurst, Collections are lists of businesses that you want to keep track of. This list can either be static for a snapshot in time, or you can make it dynamic where companies are added and removed based on a set criteria. The choice is yours.

Add to your CRM

Want this information in your CRM? If you have HubSpot or Salesforce, you can sync Beauhurst data with your own CRM to either enrich or replace your existing records.

This gives your team intelligence, and added context, to act on new opportunities or to assist with reporting.

Want to find high-growth companies in Scotland?

Scotland’s high-growth companies play a vital role in the UK’s wider innovation economy — whether that’s through job creation, turnover generation, or international expansion.

Our analysis shows that industries such as application software, distribution and wholesale, and property development and construction are particularly well represented — with companies in these industries raising significant sums, generating billions in turnover, and driving employment across the country.

Many of these companies also sit within the UK Government’s strategic IS-8 sectors, reinforcing Scotland’s importance to the national economy and its role in future-facing industries.

With Beauhurst, it’s easy to explore this landscape in more detail — from identifying key players in each industry to building dynamic lists of high-growth companies across Scotland. Whether you’re prospecting, researching, or tracking industry trends, Beauhurst gives you the data and tools to take the next step.

Want to see the data in action? Take a quick online tour of the platform. Or fill in the form below to talk to us today.