Nicola Sturgeon and Rishi Sunak have been urged to form an “economic coalition” with business to give the country leadership and long-term thinking.

Stephen Leckie, president of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, told a gathering of business leaders that the cost-of-living crisis has “switched to a cost-of-doing-business crisis” and “the consequences of getting policy choices wrong now could resonate for years.”

Stressing the need for cross-border collaboration, Mr Leckie said: “I urge the First Minister and Prime Minister to forge an economic coalition with the business community and place the economy, business and jobs to the top of the political agenda.

“We want more investment in Scotland, we want more businesses to be here, and for people to be attracted to come and live here.

“We want it to be a known fact that Scotland is one of the best places in the world to do business. It hasn’t always felt like that in recent years. We must restore it.”