MORTGAGE BROKER GLASGOW

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If you are looking to move to Glasgow from out of the area you may find the following information useful.

Glasgow (or Glaschu in Gaelic), is Scotland's largest city, on the River Clyde in west central Scotland.

Known as the commercial capital of Scotland, the City of Glasgow is a bustling, cosmopolitan city. It has a population of 612,000, down from its 1960s peak of 1.1 million, while approximately 2.1 million people live in Greater Glasgow : A 15 mile radius of the city centre known as the city of Glasgow and the greater metropolitan area.

The surrounding region of Strathclyde (meaning land area around the River Clyde) has a population of over 2.6 million, over half of the whole scottish population.

The name comes from the older Gaelic glas cu (compare modern Gaelic Glaschu), meaning green hollow. The "dear green place" (Glaschu) has been misquoted as a Gaelic translation for the city, but this was actually Daniel Defoe's description of the city when he visited in the early 18th century; he also claimed that Glasgow was "the cleanest and beautifullest, and best built City in Britain, London excepted". 

Glasgow is the third most popular foreign tourist destination in the UK after London and Edinburgh, and it also boasts Britain's second-largest and most important shopping district after London's West End.

Founding of the city Glasgow had hosted communities for centuries before Christ, with the River Clyde providing a natural location for fishing. The Romans later built outposts in the area and, to keep Roman Britannia separate from the Celtic and Pictish Caledonia, constructed the Antonine Wall, remains of which can still be seen in Glasgow today.

Glasgow itself was founded by the Christian missionary Saint Mungo in the 6th century. He established a church on the Molendinar Burn, where the present Glasgow Cathedral stands, and in the following years Glasgow became a religious centre.

George Square and Glasgow's City ChambersBy the 12th century Glasgow had been granted the status of what can now be called a city and the cathedral was the seat of the Bishops and Archbishops of Glasgow. While there may have been wooden buildings on the site, the first stone cathedral was consecrated in about 1136 and replaced by a larger one which was consecrated in 1197.

Extensions and alterations to the cathedral buildings have continued ever since. The most recent addition being the Millennium Window unveiled on 3 June 1999 by Princess Anne.

In 1451 the University of Glasgow was founded by papal bull and established in religious buildings in the precincts of Glasgow Cathedral. By the start of the 16th century, Glasgow had become an important religious and academic city and by the 17th century the university had moved from the cathedral precincts to its own building in the High Street.

Glasgow's City Chambers, ceiling of the ground floor LoggiaBy the 16th century, the city's trades and craftsmen had begun to wield significant influence and the city had become an important trading centre with the Clyde providing access to the city and the rest of Scotland for merchant shipping.

The access to the Atlantic ocean allowed the importation of American tobacco and Caribbean sugar, which were then traded around the British Isles and continental Europe.

The de-silting of the Clyde in the 1770s allowed bigger ships to move further up the river, thus laying the foundations for industry and shipbuilding in Glasgow during the 19th century.

The abundance of coal and iron in Lanarkshire led to Glasgow becoming an industrial city. Eventually termed "The Second City of the Empire". Cotton factories and textile mills became large employers in Glasgow and the local region.

Trading allowed great wealth to be generated for some in the city. The merchants constructed spectacular buildings and monuments that can still be seen today, and reinvested their money in industrial development to help Glasgow grow further.

In 1893 the burgh was constituted as the County of the City of Glasgow. Glasgow became one of the richest cities in the world, and parks, museums and libraries were all opened during this period.

Glasgow did not escape the effects of the Great Depression. But the period after the second world war saw the greatest decline in the industrial base.

Although ships and trains were still being built on Clydeside, cheap labour abroad reduced the competitiveness of Glasgow's industries. By the 1960s, Glasgow had gone into economic decline.

The major shipbuilders on the Clyde began to close down, but not before Clydebank had built one of its last great ships, Cunard's 'Queen Elizabeth 2'. As of today, only three major shipyards remain on the River Clyde, two of which are owned by BAE Systems and rely principally upon Government defence contracts to remain in business.

The 1970s and early 1980s were dark periods in the history of the city, as steelworks, coal mines, engine factories and other heavy industries went out of business.

This led to mass unemployment and high levels of urban decay. Since the mid-80s however, the city has slowly undergone a painful rebirth.

A financial district consisting of an number of new office buildings has sprung up at the western end of the city centre, and this has become home to many well-known banks, consultancy and I.T. firms, legal practices, and insurance companies, the city's burgeoning financial service sector grew at a rate of 30% from 1998 to 2001.

The City's Financial District is centred around it's FTSE Stock Exchange and dealing floor, forming the heart of a thriving business capital. In the suburbs, numerous leisure and retail developments have been built on the former sites of factories and heavy industries.

Glasgow is the premier site of call-centres in the UK. Critics argue however, that such new developments are fragile, owing to their dependence on the service sector rather than manufacturing.

While manufacturing has dwindled in its relative importance to the city's economy, there is still a strong manufacturing sector (the fourth largest cluster in the UK, accounting for well over 60% of Scotland's manufactured exports) particularly in the areas of engineering and shipbuilding, chemicals, food and drink, printing, publishing and textiles, as well as new growth sectors such as software and biotechnology, 20% of the UK's biotechnology sector is based in and around Glasgow which forms the UK's third Biotechnology cluster after Cambridge and London.

Glasgow also forms the western part of Silicon Glen which produces over 30% of Europe's PCs, 80% of its workstations, and 65% of its ATMs. A growing number of Blue Chip companies are basing major operations or headquarters in Glasgow, including BT, Abbey, National Australia Group Europe, Royal Bank of Scotland, HBOS, Scottish Mutual Assurance, Scottish Power, JP Morgan, Barclays Bank and Lloyds TSB.

Glasgow-based Scottish Power is one of three Scottish companies to be included on the Fortune Global 500 rankings. These names rub shoulders with the more well established firms, which represent traditional sectors of Glasgow's economy, including; Diageo, Allied Domecq, AG Barr, Tennent Caledonian Breweries (Tennents), Whyte and Mackay, Justerini and Brooks Whisky, House of Fraser, MacFarlane Group, HarperCollins, John Menzies, BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce Aero Engines, Imperial Chemical Industries, Weir Group, and Aggreko Engineering.
 
Glasgow boasts the largest contemporary arts scene in the UK outside of London, which is centred around the annual 'Glasgow International' arts festival.

The city's riverbank has been particularly transformed - from industrial dereliction caused by the decline of shipbuilding into to a centre of leisure and trendy residential building.

Recent years have seen a regeneration of Glasgow's river banks. Salmon have now returned to the ClydeRedevelopment of residential areas, combined with the increased cultural activities, has contributed to a better environment. With this, the City Council has been successful in attracting tourists, conferences as well as major sporting events to the city.

Public housing, previously administered by the Glasgow City Council, was transferred to the not-for-profit Glasgow Housing Association in 2003. This affected some 80,000 properties and created Britain's largest social landlord in an innovative tenant-led organisation.