Scottish Financial Review

The Scottish labour market saw an unprecedented surge in hiring activity during August — with an “unprecedented rise in permanent starters’ salaries” — according to the…

Glasgow-based media firm STV Group said on Thursday its first-half revenue was £60.3 million, up 35% on 2020 and up 10% on 2019. Adjusted profit…

UK pension schemes are exposed to losses of £200 billon because of their approach to securing inflation-linked returns on assets, according to PwC analysis. “Defined…

Shares of Edinburgh-based ready meals firm Parsley Box Group plc fell about 15% on Tuesday despite the firm reporting that its revenue rose 26% to £14…

David Ferguson, founder of Edinburgh funds platform Nucleus Financial Group, is to leave the firm following the £145 million acquisition of Nucleus by James Hay. Barry Neilson,…

Edinburgh-based oil and gas company Cairn Energy pledged on Tuesday to return up to $700 million to shareholders through a special dividend and a share…

Glasgow-based packaging, design and distribution firm Macfarlane Group has announced the appointment of former Eversheds Sutherland executive and corporate governance expert Aleen Gulvanessian as a non-executive…

The £460 million Standard Life Investments Property Income Trust (SLIPIT) has announced the acquisition of land in the Cairngorms National Park that will be used…

Investors poured £295 million into funds investing in UK companies in July in the second consecutive month of inflows to the UK All Companies sector….

Edinburgh investment giants abrdn and Baillie Gifford are among 125 firms that have been endorsed under the UK’s tougher stewardship and best practice code to…

Aberdeenshire-based craft brewing giant BrewDog has announced a major joint venture in Japan with Asahi Breweries ahead of a planned initial public offering (IPO) for…

Joanna Peteranna is to take up the role of interim area manager for Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) in the Outer Hebrides. Peteranna is a…

The Burrell Collection in Glasgow is to reopen in March 2022 following a major building upgrade and redisplay, the charity Glasgow Life has confirmed. As…

The Royal High School Preservation Trust (RHSPT) announced it has put forward detailed proposals to City of Edinburgh Council for the restoration of the Thomas…

Glasgow-based global engineering and mining giant Weir Group said on Friday that Charles Berry will retire as chairman at the firm’s AGM in April 2022 — and…

The UK Food and Drink Federation (FDF) announced that export sales of UK food and drink in the first half of 2021 were down £2…

Edinburgh investment firm abrdn has declined to comment on reports in the London trade press that it is planning to establish a new London headquarters…

Glasgow-based global intellectual property law firm Murgitroyd Group has continued its international expansion with the acquisition of Hanna Moore + Curley (HMC), one of Ireland’s leading European…

Scottish Government investment of £384 million will see the building of full fibre broadband connections begin in September 2021 to tens of thousands of rural…

Closed life and pension fund consolidator Phoenix Group Holdings plc, owner of the “old” Standard Life Assurance, announced it has acquired a portfolio of equity…

Edinburgh-based asset management giant Baillie Gifford has won the top prize at the FTAdviser Investment 100 Club Awards for a fifth year running. The judging…

Drinks giant Diageo has opened Johnnie Walker Princes Street, the eight-floor new visitor experience for the world’s best-selling Scotch whisky located at the western end of…

Scotgold Resources Limited, the Australia-based gold exploration firm focused on Scotland, announced it is looking to build the company’s workforce at its Cononish Gold and Silver Project…

Babcock, the international aerospace, defence and security company, announced it has completed the sale of its oil and gas aviation business to CHC Group, LLC…

A quarter of a million people in Scotland were setting up or running new businesses in 2020 despite the challenges of the pandemic, according to…

Crown Estate Scotland announced it will launch a new leasing process for offshore wind farms to help decarbonise Scotland’s oil and gas sector. The announcement…

Aberdeen-based global engineering group Wood plc has announced the appointment of Ken Gilmartin as its new chief operating officer (COO) and the latest member of…

John Menzies plc, the Edinburgh-based global aviation services business, said on Wednesday its revenue slipped to £415.8 million in the six months to June 30, 2021,…

The UK is facing a “stark energy choice” in which it must invest in its offshore oil and gas industry “to build energy security, jobs,…

British consumers are currently facing a £371 billion savings shortfall when it comes to feeling able to withstand a financial shock, according to Yorkshire Building…

Embattled Aberdeen-based bus and rail giant FirstGroup plc said on Tuesday it has signed a new £300 million sustainability-linked revolving credit facility (RCF) with a group…

Martin Gilbert’s investment firm AssetCo plc has announced that Lucy Draper will join the business as Director – Distribution. Draper was previously Director, Business Development…

Scottish Enterprise announced on Tuesday it provided “unprecedented support” for businesses in 2020-21 after investing over £568 million in Scotland’s economy. “The record level of…

An estimated £1.2 billion of Scotland’s buildings, transport infrastructure, and cultural and natural heritage may be at risk of coastal erosion by 2050, according to…

US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell stopped short on Friday of signaling the timing for any reduction in the US central bank’s asset purchases beyond…

The Scottish Fiscal Commission has published its latest forecasts setting out how Scotland’s economy is recovering from the pandemic and how the Scottish Government’s plans…

Shares of Glasgow-based packaging, design and distribution firm Macfarlane Group rose about 15% on Thursday after it said its sales rose 26.5% to £133.5 million and profit…

SSE Renewables announced it will invest almost £50 million over the next two years to repower the existing Tummel Bridge Hydro-Electric Power Station near Pitlochry…

Glasgow-based Smart Metering Systems plc (SMS) has announced it won a new domestic smart meter contract and secured an “additional grid-scale battery project.” SMS said…

The UK accounting watchdog said on Wednesday it fined EY £3.5 million for failing to challenge financial statements in its audit of Perth-based transport giant Stagecoach…

Scotland’s onshore gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.9% in June, according to statistics announced on Wednesday by the Chief Statistician. “Using the experimental monthly…

The Scottish Government has published its “NHS Recovery Plan” — committing more than £1 billion of targeted investment for the “recovery and renewal” of Scotland’s…

By Mark McSherry A manager of the Asia Pacific focused £410 million Aberdeen New Dawn Investment Trust plc has said that “capitalism is not dead in China”…

The Scottish Government said on Tuesday that hospital parking charges are set to end permanently in Scotland after agreements were reached to buy out two car…

Souter Investments, the private equity focussed family investment office of Stagecoach Group founder Brian Souter, announced it has continued its deal making during 2021 with…

Aberdeen-based global engineering group Wood plc said on Tuesday its order book rose 18% to $7.7 billion in the first six months of 2021 — news…

Global company shareholder dividends will rise in 2021 to $1.39 trillion — just 3% below their pre-pandemic peak — according to the latest Global Dividend Index…

easyJet plc said it has appointed former Royal Bank of Scotland CEO Stephen Hester as a director and chair designate. Hester, 60, will join the…

New analysis from KPMG shows that Scottish private equity investment rose considerably in the first half of 2021 “as investor confidence returned and vendors brought…

Shepherd and Wedderburn, the largest Scottish-headquartered UK law firm, has reported 4.1% turnover growth to £59.3 million in the year to April 30, 2021, with…

UK government borrowing for the first four months of its fiscal year stood at £78 billion at the end of July — the second-highest financial…

The Scottish Government said on Friday it has agreed to work with the Scottish Green Party Parliamentary Group over the next five years. This agreement…

ScotRail has announced that it is planning to cut about 300 rail services per day from May 2022 — proposing a new timetable to operate…

New research from Bank of Scotland shows that 25% of young people in Scotland say a lack of knowledge is a key barrier to home…

STV’s media studios and HQ facility at Pacific Quay, Glasgow, have been acquired as part of an £80 million property investment deal by real estate…

The average price of a home in Scotland in June 2021 was £173,961, an increase of 12% on June 2020, according to the latest provisional…

Edinburgh-based global aviation services business John Menzies plc has announced further expansion in Central America with the acquisition of Interexpresso, as well as additional contract…

Aberdeen-based global engineering group Wood plc said on Thursday it agreed a £430 million loan with UK Export Finance, the export credit agency of the UK…

The Scottish National Investment Bank has committed £50 million over five years to the creation of new woodland and forestry management in Scotland. As a…

Venture capital (VC) investors continue to deploy record amounts of money into Scottish scaleup companies with more than £322.3 million raised in the first half…

Perthshire-based natural source water producer Highland Spring Group announced that Les Montgomery has decided to retire from his full-time role as chief executive to become…

Scottish corporate and finance veteran Benny Higgins is to join Glasgow investment firm N4 Partners as chairman. Higgins will also chair the N4 Advisory Board, which…

Shares of Thurso-based battery cell developer AMTE Power, which went public in March, rose about 5% on Wednesday after it announced it is shortly expected to…

Edinburgh-based investment bank Noble & Co announced two senior appointments to help “increase the firm’s capacity to source prospective deals.” Noble has hired Susi Crawford…

The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA), currently looking for a new chief executive, has released export figures for the first half of 2021 which show some…

The latest estimates of the controversial and highly contested Government Expenditure & Revenue Scotland (GERS) statistics have revealed the full impact of the pandemic on…

Investment trust dividends slipped for the first time in a decade in the first half of 2021 — but have still outperformed the wider market “by…

The Scottish Government said on Tuesday it is taking the “first steps on the road” to establishing a Scottish Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG). Social Justice…

Aberdeen Standard Investments’ veteran Asia chairman Hugh Young told Bloomberg in an interview the Edinburgh-based asset management giant is sticking with its big China investments…

SOLASTA Bio, a Glasgow University spinout company specialising in the next generation of green insecticides, has secured seed investment of £1.3 million to support ongoing…