Aberdeen’s economy is forecast to grow faster than any Scottish city this year, outstripping Edinburgh and Glasgow.
The Centre for Economics and Business Research has predicted a 1.7 per cent rise in employment — the equivalent of 3,100 more people in work.
Such positivity encourages Nicoll to confess to being the rarest of creatures in a city that clings to its post-Presbyterian dourness like a barnacle on a North Sea trawler. “I am an Aberdonian who believes the glass is half full, not half empty,” he says.
“We have a highly skilled workforce and companies that are hugely innovative. We are ideally placed to harness the renewable energy revolution. It will lead to a new era for the city and I’m really optimistic about it.”
Time will tell whether this thrawn maritime city will hold steady or veer off on a new course as it holds its breath and awaits the arrival of a green energy bonanza.