Voters opposed leaving the UK, with 55% of votes cast against independence and 45% cast in favour with a record turnout of around 85% of voters, the highest ever in a Scotland-wide national vote.
UK prime minister David Cameron said this morning that Leader of the House of Commons William Hague and Lord Smith of Kelvin would lead the process of devolving further powers to the Scottish Parliament, as promised by the leaders of the UK's three main parties in the closing stages of the campaign.
Cameron also promised changes to the way the rest of the UK is governed.
"[Lord Smith] will take forward the devolution commitments with powers of tax, spending and welfare agreed by November and draft legislation published by January," he said outside 10 Downing Street this morning. "Just as the people of Scotland will have more power over their affairs, so if tollows that the people of England Wales and Northern Ireland must have a bigger say over theirs."
"These changes will not be immediate but businesses should be aware of the areas most likely to be affected once the detail is negotiated," said public affairs expert Alastair Ross of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, in the firm's analysis of the outcome.