ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the most important Scottish companies in the period up to the First World War. The Scottish industrial revolution was centred on west central Scotland and was based upon textiles and heavy industry. Cotton had been the first growth industry and had led to developments in dyeing, calico printing and thread manufacture. The production of goods for export led to an early development of marine engineering and shipbuilding, and this industry in turn, in association with the growth of the railways, stimulated the development of the basic coal and iron industries. Scottish capital emerged in these industries, and firms began to grow in size mainly through the internal accumulation of capital rather than through bank credit. As Lancashire competition caused problems for the Scottish cotton industry, firms moved into wool and flax production.
