George Iordanov-Nalbantov

It has been a privilege to spend those years immersed in the stories of Scotland’s business and financial community. The role brought together my background in business, accounting, finance, technology and investing, and taught me an enormous amount about the developments shaping this country’s economy – and about its considerable potential.

Few subjects have been more fascinating to follow than the rise of artificial intelligence across the accounting profession and the wider financial services sector. AI is already reshaping how these professions work, and perhaps most profoundly how the next generation will learn: as simpler tasks are handed off to machines, the traditional route by which juniors cut their teeth is narrowing.

Perhaps unfortunately, AI is here to stay, and its impact will extend far beyond finance to jobs, economies and society at large. I will admit to finding the pace of development worrying at times. It is an area that would benefit from a more measured approach, and from better regulation.

I am proud of what the publication has achieved over these four years. Our readership has grown steadily, both through our daily newsletter and in traffic to the website, and our following on LinkedIn has expanded around ten-fold. It means a great deal that so many professionals across Scottish financial services have made us part of their daily reading.

This is also a time of change for SFN itself. Following the acquisition of our company by the newly formed Hero Media & Entertainment, we have partnered with our new sister publication, Daily Business, to bring news to our readers in a more focused way – with SFN narrowing its attention to financial services matters while Daily Business covers business news and political developments.

Our Financial Focus segment continues to go from strength to strength, with the most recent interview featuring Tom Faichnie, co-founder of Quantify Advisors. These conversations owe a great deal to Colin Cardwell, who conducts them so expertly.

None of this would have been possible without the dedication of everyone I have worked alongside over the years, and a special mention must go to our advertising manager, Jeff Anderson, as well as the many PR and communications professionals whose efforts have made the breadth of our coverage possible.

I am delighted that I leave the publication in the safest of hands. Lauren Cochrane, who previously edited SFN before moving to a part-time role supporting our other titles while pursuing her PhD in History, will return as editor. I wish her and the whole team every success.

You can continue to share news with the SFN team at newsdesk@scottishnews.com, and advertising and commercial partnerships can be discussed with Jeff at jeff@scottishnews.com. Anyone who wishes to stay in touch with me is welcome to connect on LinkedIn.