Most Scottish businesses don’t know who represents their interests within government and opposition political parties, according to the latest results of a quarterly survey of senior decision-makers.

The tenth edition of the Understanding Business survey, conducted by Diffley Partnership and Charlotte Street Partners, asked bosses at more than 630 Scottish firms about the prospects for their own organisation, their outlook for the wider economy, and a range of other issues affecting their work.

The latest results highlight an enduring gap between industry and politics, with fewer than two-in-five respondents saying they know who the business/economy spokespeople for the SNP (38%) or Scottish Labour (37%) are and only one-in-four (27%) saying they know who the Scottish Conservatives’ shadow spokesperson is.

Nearly three-in-five firms (58%) are not familiar with the senior civil servants responsible for their sector and almost half (47%) of those expressing an opinion feel that civil servants do not understand their business much or at all.

The Scottish Government is still seen as more concerned with the needs of Scottish businesses than the UK Government (54% versus 39%), though the gap narrows when firms are asked about the extent to which each government is taking action to address their concerns (46% SG versus 36% UKG).

Just under one-third of businesses (30%) believe the SNP is the political party that best represents their interests, with a quarter reporting that Scottish Labour (25%) does and just over one-in-10 selecting the Scottish Conservatives (12%) and Reform UK (11%).

When asked to identify the political interventions that would do most to boost the growth of their business, reduced taxation (44%), increased support for business owners (27%), and reduced business rates (27%) were the most popular choices, although all three are down slightly on the previous quarter, by six points, one point and two points respectively.

“This latest wave of Understanding Business highlights the evolving pressures facing Scottish businesses, from recruitment challenges and rising costs to concerns about cyber threats,” Scott Edgar, Senior Research Manager at Diffley Partnership said.

“As we head into an election year, businesses will be looking to Holyrood for ideas that help create the conditions for navigating these challenges and driving growth. These findings offer vital insight for policymakers aiming to engage meaningfully with the business community.”

Following several recent high-profile cyber-attacks on UK businesses, the survey found cyber-crime (73%) to be the foremost crisis concern among firms, ahead of climate disaster (52%), staff malpractice (42%) and terrorism (41%).

However, more than half of firms report feeling prepared to deal with these issues, with the exception of terrorism (38%)

“It’s no surprise to hear that cyber-crime is the biggest potential crisis concern for firms, given the ongoing situation at Jaguar Land Rover and other high-profile attacks this summer on Marks & Spencer and The Co-op,” Malcolm Robertson, founding partner at Charlotte Street Partners, said.

“It’s encouraging that firms’ perceived level of preparedness for a potential cyber-attack (73%) matches exactly the scale of the risk, although our experience suggests firms typically overestimate their readiness for these situations and underestimate the extent of the operational and reputational challenges they present.”

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When asked to forecast general economic prospects, four-in-10 (39%) expect the economy to worsen over the next year, excluding ‘don’t knows’, which is one of the lowest levels recorded by this survey, while over one-third (35%) predict improvement, an increase of 10 points since March.

Turning to the outlook for their own firms, half of all businesses (50%) were confident that their turnover would increase over the coming year, continuing the steady uptick in positive sentiment from this survey over the past two years (Sept 2023: 36%, Sept 2024: 37%, June 2025: 47%).

Over the past three months, a quarter of businesses have seen their workforce grow, with 15% reporting a reduction in employee numbers during the same period. Around half of firms (48%) have been actively hiring staff, with the majority of those (52%) identifying applicants’ skill levels as the biggest barrier to recruitment.

Salary expectations (44%) and working arrangements (37%) are the other notable recruitment challenges, the latter factor having nearly doubled in significance in the last two years (20% of firms reported that “working arrangements” were a recruitment challenge in June 2023).

“Governments at both Holyrood and Westminster talk about economic growth being absolutely central to their ambitions,” Robertson said.

“And yet, there is still a clear sense of disconnect between the business leaders who will ultimately achieve that growth and the politicians who are relying on it.

“Businesses must have their voices heard at the cabinet table, but if most executives don’t know who is primarily responsible for representing their interests in those discussions, something is badly amiss.