John Swinney's government should learn from Alex Salmond's if ministers want to grow the economy and create jobs, according to a leading businessman.

In a rare interview the Greenock-based tycoon Sandy Easdale, who with his brother James has commercial interests in transport, property and investments, told The Herald that the SNP administration had to create a more business friendly environment if it wanted to create a more prosperous country.

The First Minister put growing the economy to deliver better public services and fight child poverty as among his central missions when he succeeded Humza Yousaf in April.

But six months on Mr Easdale said he could not yet see "any evidence" of an improved business environment in Scotland.

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"When Alex Salmond was in power there were a lot of business leaders around him. He was well liked in the business community," said Mr Easdale, who voted to remain in the UK in the 2014 independence referendum.

"He did put Scotland first. Lots of people didn't agree with him [on independence] but he was certainly business minded.

"John Swinney is a safe pair of hands for the SNP but I don't think there are any bright ideas in his government for business. I can't see any evidence of that yet."

Former First Minister, the late Alex Salmond, pictured in Glasgow in June this year. (Image: Colin Mearns) He added: "The current SNP could learn from Alex Salmond's engagement with business. He engaged with big business. He was always courting business, always courting foreign investors. He was always all over the world flying the Scottish fly for business, looking for investment for Scotland. We don't see that now."

Mr Salmond, who was SNP First Minister from 2007 to 2014, died aged 69 in North Macedonia on October 12 after suffering a heart attack. His private family funeral will be held in his home village of Strichen in Aberdeenshire on Tuesday. In 2021 he set up the pro independence party Alba which he led until his death.

Mr Easdale said he was pleased to see Sir Keir Starmer host a summit of business leaders after becoming Prime Minister in July and said he would like to see Mr Swinney do likewise.

As negotiations continue between the minority SNP government and other political parties in order to reach a deal to ensure the Scottish Budget, to be unveiled on December 4, is passed in Parliament, the entrepreneur cited a number of ways he believed current government policy was putting Scottish businesses at a disadvantage.

Firms in the hospitality, retail, and leisure sectors in England and Wales currently benefit from rates relief of 75%, up to £10,000 per business, under measures originally brought in to help companies recover from the pandemic.

However, that relief has not been provided in Scotland since 2022-23.

Mr Easdale said higher business rates in Scotland compared to other parts of the UK and higher income tax for higher earners, made it harder for businesses.

He also praised Sir Keir's ambition to speed up the planning process in England which he hoped the Scottish Government would replicate.

"We need to look at business rates...There is no incentive to open a business in the middle of Glasgow. Business rates are a big concern. For some of my manufacturing businesses, the business rates are crippling. Just being here costs hundreds of thousands of pounds a year." he said.

"Why should it cost more to run a business in Scotland than it does in Carlisle? It's unfair. It gives the UK an advantage over Scotland. It puts people off creating a business. That's why we have so many buildings empty in Glasgow. In Sauchiehall Street and other areas. The rates bill is sometimes more than the rent.

"It is one issue which is stopping people from opening businesses, not just shops but also small manufacturing plants. You have got to lower the cost of opening a business and to make it more appealing to open a business than elsewhere.

"If they want to attract people to Scotland they have got to make it cheaper to run the facility in Scotland than elsewhere. I am not talking cheaper labour but that the operational cost of the project is cheaper than it would be south of the Border. At this moment it is cheaper south of the Border."

Mr Easdale also took issue with the planning process pointing out his company had bought the Watt Brothers building in Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow in 2019 with the intention of turning it into a hotel.

However, five years on the development was still stuck in the planning process after the first application was rejected. A revised application was being submitted but the application process alone would cost nearly £600,000.

"If it gets the go ahead the building would have a new life and be refurbished," he told The Herald.

"But the more time it goes on, we'll probably make a loss on it. But if I thought about the loss I wouldn't continue."

Scots earning more than £28,850 already pay more income tax than those based in other parts of the UK, with Mr Swinney not ruling out freezing the higher rate thresholds which would bring more people into the higher bands.

Mr Easdale cautioned the Scottish Government against such a move saying that the higher tax regime for higher earners in Scotland was putting off higher earners from moving north of the Border.

"It is hard, that gap is widening, and if he makes the thresholds static it will widen the gap further," he said.

"Managers who are paid from £70,000 on average they are 10% to 15% better off in England."

He added that on a personal basis he "didn't mind" paying higher tax but believed it should also mean that public services are better in Scotland.

However, pointing to long NHS waiting lists and a fall in education performance in reading, maths and science in international league tables, he did not believe public services were performing well.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, chair of the Alba Party, said: "The contrast between Alex Salmond's support for and engagement with business and the current regime could not be starker.

"Whether it was business rates for small business, the speed of the planning process or investment in infrastructure Alex understood what was necessary to retain highly skilled jobs such as at Grangemouth and to attract investment to the country."

The Scottish Government was approached for comment.