Glasgow
Tobacco Lords (1760s) → shipbuilding empire (20% of world's ships) → financial services hub. Second City of Empire now £4bn tech ecosystem. 2026 tests if new economy avoids old boom-bust.
Glasgow's position on Scotland's west coast put it closer to the American colonies than London, Bristol, or Liverpool. After the 1707 Act of Union gave Scottish merchants access to colonial trade, a small group of entrepreneurs exploited this geographic advantage ruthlessly. By the 1760s, Glasgow's Clyde ports imported more tobacco than all English ports combined. These 'Tobacco Lords' reinvested their profits in industrial development, constructing the monuments that still define the city center.
When the American Revolution ended the tobacco trade, Glasgow pivoted. The 1770s de-silting of the Clyde allowed larger ships to navigate further upstream. Abundant coal and iron in nearby Lanarkshire provided raw materials. Shipbuilding absorbed the merchant capital. By 1870, half of Britain's shipbuilding workforce was based on the Clyde, producing half of Britain's tonnage. Over the 19th and early 20th centuries, Clyde shipyards built 30,000 vessels—20% of the world's shipping—including the Cutty Sark and RMS Queen Mary. Glasgow's population grew 900% in the 19th century, more than Manchester or Birmingham. It called itself the 'Second City of the Empire,' and the claim was hard to dispute.
Decline came with the same logic that created prosperity: when labor became cheaper elsewhere, shipbuilding followed. Japan emerged as a shipbuilding power; Clyde yards closed. But the infrastructure of empire found new tenants. The financial district that once served shipping now hosts JP Morgan (2,600 employees in a new 270,000 sq ft building), Barclays (5,500 staff), and Morgan Stanley.
Today Glasgow's tech ecosystem is valued at over £4 billion, the UK's third-fastest-growing for venture capital investment. Between 2013 and 2023, £3.06 billion in foreign direct investment created 13,342 jobs. Three innovation districts cluster around precision medicine, fintech, and advanced manufacturing.
By 2026, Glasgow will test whether its pivot from ships to services can avoid the boom-bust pattern that has defined the city since the Tobacco Lords. The buildings they constructed still stand; the question is whether the new economy will prove as durable.