There has been plenty of negative reaction to Nicola Sturgeon’s newly published memoir, Frankly.

And much of this has been emotive.

I have not read the memoir - time has not permitted. And the noisy reaction from some quarters has been of no real interest – it has not triggered any impulse to delve deeper to find out what the fuss is about.

All of this sound and fury is to be expected, and much of it has come from people with political views very different to those of the former first minister or from those at odds with Ms Sturgeon on particular issues.

The publication of the memoir has, however, also led to assessments of what Ms Sturgeon achieved during her long time as first minister, from November 2014 to March 2023.

And this, from a personal perspective, is a more interesting aspect.

It has seemed that many people have been almost falling over themselves to flag their withering opinions on this front, with a black-and-white view that “nothing” or close to nothing was achieved.

From a business and economic perspective, and from a societal point of view, that seems like a most unfair conclusion. Thankfully, some assessments have been more positive, but these seem to have been drowned out somewhat.

Ms Sturgeon’s relationship with the business community, certainly from the perspective of the latter, seemed to deteriorate significantly amid the coronavirus pandemic.

What is often forgotten is the period before that, when you could have taken the view that business was surprisingly positive about Ms Sturgeon. After all, many company leaders were and are vehemently opposed to independence, not infrequently because of personal political or ideological views but also for some because of fears about the effects of constitutional change.

Touching briefly on the pandemic, you might have thought Ms Sturgeon’s approach would have been appreciated by more........

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