After £370m bond, Aberdeen hires markets experts
Following its sale of a £370 million bond, Aberdeen City Council said it has recruited three markets specialists with extensive experience to form the council’s…
August 2017
SSE’s €600m green bond biggest ever by UK firm
Perth-based energy giant SSE said it sold the biggest ever green bond by a UK company. “The €600 million bond is the first of its kind…
Sturgeon unveils £45m business R&D investment
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on Thursday revealed plans for a 70% increase in Scottish Government funding for businesses to conduct new research and development (R&D)…
STV cheers shareholders despite revenue, profit fall
Glasgow-based media firm STV Group said it would return £10 million to shareholders over the next 18 months and increase its dividend despite revenue slipping 3%…
Menzies Distribution buys all-electric Gnewt Cargo
Edinburgh-based Menzies Distribution said it acquired London-based Gnewt Cargo, the all-electric delivery firm, for an undisclosed sum. Gnewt, founded in 2008, provides final-mile delivery services…
Nora Senior to chair new Enterprise and Skills board
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed that Nora Senior, chair of UK regions for global PR firm Weber Shandwick, will chair Scotland’s new Strategic Board for…
Retail blames rates, regulation for 6,400 job losses
The Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) has blamed a “toxic cocktail” of rising rates and regulatory costs from the Scottish Government for the loss of 6,400 jobs…
Total starts gas production at West Shetland fields
Total said it has started production from the Edradour & Glenlivet gas and condensate fields located in about 300 to 435 metres of water in…
Scots product sales up 33% at Co-op
Figures released by the Co-op show that sales of Scottish products across its 350 stores are up 33% year-on-year. The biggest increase has been seen on…
Scottish Salmon Co. H1 revenue at record £72m
The Scottish Salmon Company (SSC) said its harvest volumes in the first half of 2017 fell to 11,617 tonnes from 13,123 tonnes for the same…
Holyrood permission for Judy Murray tennis centre
The Scottish Government said it intends to grant planning permission in principle for Judy Murray’s proposed tennis and golf centre at Park of Keir in…
BrewDog to give 20% of profits to staff, charities
Aberdeenshire-based craft beer company BrewDog announced that it will in future give away 20% of its profits every year via a “Unicorn Fund.” The Ellon-based…
Forth Ports in Dundee port decommissioning deal
Forth Ports Limited and AF Offshore Decom announced the signing of a heads of agreement with the intent to establish a new joint venture called…
Scotch applies for New Zealand IP protection
Scotch Whisky was one of the first applications to be listed on New Zealand’s register of geographical indications (GIs) — a sign used on wines…
Record 2.7 million attend Festival Fringe shows
More people than ever attended shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this year. By Monday afternoon, with hundreds of performances still to take place, an…
1,400 NHS jobs to be created in Scotland
The Scottish Government said the number of NHS staff in Scotland is expected to increase by more than 1,400 whole time posts in the 2017-18…
Russell: UK must rule out unthinkable Brexit no-deal
Scotland’s Brexit Minister Michael Russell said on Monday the UK Government must rule out an “unthinkable” Brexit no-deal. Russell called on the UK Government to commit to…
New film and TV school to open in Scotland
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced a Scottish Government investment to support the National Film and Television School’s (NFTS) plans to set up a base in…
EnQuest shares fall further amid North Sea setback
Shares of North Sea-focused oil producer EnQuest fell for a second day following its update on Wednesday that cut its full-year production forecast amid a slower…
Macfarlane first-half sales up 10% to £89.8m
Glasgow-based packaging firm Macfarlane Group said its first-half sales rose 10% to £89.8 million and profit before tax soared 27% to £2.5 million as recent acquisitions boosted…
Scotland’s deficit falls to £13.3bn – 8.3% of GDP
Scotland’s notional deficit fell by £1.3 billion to £13.3 billion in 2016-17 to stand at 8.3% of GDP — about triple the UK figure of 2.4%….
Scotland and Wales to propose Brexit bill changes
First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon and First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones on Tuesday agreed to work together on potential amendments to the UK…
Cairn Energy shares up amid $313m H1 profit
Shares of Edinburgh-based oil and gas company Cairn Energy rose about 5% on Tuesday after it reported a half-year profit before taxation of $312.8 million versus…
Wood Group profit falls 87% amid deal costs
Aberdeen-based oil and gas services giant Wood Group said its profit for the first half of the year fell 86.7% to $6 million amid exceptional…
Total buys $7.45bn Maersk Oil in North Sea push
France’s Total is to buy Maersk’s oil and gas business in a roughly $7.45 billion deal which Total said would boost its North Sea operations and…
Virgin Trains’ Scotland-London business booms
Virgin Trains said it has witnessed an “historic shift” in travel patterns as more Scotland-London passengers “choose train over plane than at any time in…
Edinburgh’s Quartermile 2 sold for £28.5m
UBS Asset Management’s real estate and private markets business completed the acquisition of prime office building Quartermile 2 on the site of the former Edinburgh…
£220m Edinburgh Airport plan takes off
Work is under way on a three-storey extension to Edinburgh Airport’s terminal building — the start of a current £80 million investment plan to help…
RBS chief to tackle ‘too white, too male’ culture
Royal Bank of Scotland CEO Ross McEwan has pledged to help address a lack of diversity in British boardrooms by combating a “too white and…
Wheatley affordable housing funds up to £500m
Wheatley Group, Scotland’s biggest social landlord, said it secured a further £65 million of private investment and that it will return to the capital markets in the…
Whisky, salmon push UK exports to record £10.2bn
The UK’s Food and Drink Federation (FDF) said whisky, salmon and beer helped exports of all UK food and drink grow 8.5% to a record…
Royal London funds up 6% to £106bn
Royal London said its new life and pensions business rose 45% to just more than £6 billion in the first half of 2017, and funds…
Big changes as Macquarie seals Green Bank deal
Australia’s Macquarie Group said on Friday its consortium completed the acquisition of Edinburgh-based UK Green Investment Bank from the UK Government for £2.3 billion. Macquarie said…
RBS ‘close to selling £145m London office’
Royal Bank of Scotland has agreed to sell one of its London office buildings to a division of Quebec’s government pension manager for slightly less than the…
Scots employment hits record high
Scotland’s employment rate increased by 1.1 percentage points to a record high of 75.2% over the April to June quarter — meaning 30,000 more people…
Half of Scots ‘would decline cash-only purchase’
Research into payment trends carried out for business technology firm First Data has revealed that half of Scottish customers would walk away from a purchase if…
Green light for Scotland’s largest solar farm
Moray Council has granted planning permission for what will be Scotland’s largest solar farm. Councillors approved Elgin Energy’s development of the 47-hectare Speyslaw site near Urquhart,…
Union claims RBS to cut 880 tech jobs
The union Unite said Royal Bank of Scotland has told staff that it will cut a further 40% of permanent staff from its London IT…
Wood-Amec disposals may make merger ‘acceptable’
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said on Tuesday it is “considering proposals” to overcome its competition concerns about Aberdeen-based oil and gas services giant…
Menzies shares up amid positive outlook
Shares of Edinburgh-based aviation logistics and news distribution company John Menzies rose more than 3% on Tuesday morning after it said turnover increased 21% to £1.2 billion…
Scottish Widows ‘may buy Zurich platform’
Scottish Widows — part of Lloyds Banking Group — is considering buying Zurich’s platform, according to a report in Money Marketing. A deal would see Zurich…
Standard Life Aberdeen shares up on first day
UPDATE 2 — Shares of Standard Life Aberdeen edged 2% higher at the market open on Monday — the first day of trading for the…
STV hires ITV’s Simon Pitts as new CEO
Glasgow-based media firm STV Group said that Simon Pitts will join STV as chief executive officer on January 3, 2018. Pitts will join STV from ITV…
John Menzies and DX terminate merger plan
Edinburgh-based John Menzies said on Monday it terminated the merger talks between its distribution business and courier firm DX Group. “Notwithstanding the strong strategic and commercial benefits…
Scots salmon H1 exports leap 70% to record £346m
Scottish salmon exports reached a record £346 million in the first half of 2017 — a 70% increase on the same period last year, according…
Scots output growth surges to 33-month high
Scottish private sector output growth surged to a 33-month high in the third quarter of 2017, according to the latest Bank of Scotland PMI (purchasing managers’ index)…
£700m Cala sale talks may be revived – report
Edinburgh-based upmarket home builder Cala Group has engaged investment bank Lazard to revive talks about a potential £700 million sale of the firm just months after a takeover…
Busiest month ever at Edinburgh, Glasgow airports
Scotland two biggest airports had their business month ever in July with growth in international flights continuing to drive their expansion. Edinburgh Airport experienced the…
Prudential merges fund management, insurance
Prudential plc announced its intention to combine its asset manager M&G with insurance businesses Prudential UK & Europe (Prudential UK&E) to form M&G Prudential in…
Assets up to £151bn at Edinburgh’s Aegon UK
Edinburgh-based pensions, investment and insurance firm Aegon UK said on Thursday its “platform” assets reached £107 billion and total assets under administration hit £151 billion…
Co-op Bank sheds 25k customers amid £135m loss
Co-operative Bank said on Thursday its losses before tax narrowed to £135.2 million in the six months to June 30, 2017, from £177 million in…
Edinburgh trams may get £165m Newhaven extension
Councillors in Edinburgh are set to consider further the feasibility of extending Edinburgh Trams from York Place to Newhaven via Leith Walk. A report will…
Johnston Press, Trinity Mirror extend print contract
Johnston Press — the embattled owner of The Scotsman, the i newspaper and about 200 local newspapers and websites — jointly announced with Trinity Mirror an extension…
Stan Life H1 profit +6% to £362m ahead of merger
Edinburgh-based investment and insurance group Standard Life said its first-half operating profit before tax rose 6% to £362 million and assets under administration rose 1% to…
ScottishPower approved for mega offshore windfarm
ScottishPower Renewables said it received planning approval from the UK’s Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), Greg Clark MP, for the East…
Netflix buys Scots comic book firm Millarworld
By Mark McSherry UPDATE 2 — Netflix Inc. said it acquired Millarworld, the comic book publishing firm run by Scottish writer Mark Millar and his…
Builders ‘struggle to meet affordable homes target’
Scotland’s housebuilding sector is performing well — but may struggle to meet the Scottish Government’s ambitious target of achieving 50,000 affordable homes by 2021, according to…
Craft brewer Innis & Gunn turnover +22% to £14.3m
Scottish independent craft brewer Innis & Gunn said its turnover rose 22% to more than £14.3 million in 2016. The Edinburgh-based brewer said it also…
RBS makes £939m H1 profit; plans Netherlands move
UPDATE 1 — Shares of Royal Bank of Scotland rose on Friday after it posted an attributable profit of £939 million for the first half…
Swiss private bank Julius Baer to open in Glasgow
Swiss private bank Julius Baer said it is opening new offices in Glasgow, Manchester and Leeds and it has hired a number of experienced relationship…
Walking tourism makes £1.26bn for Scots economy
New research by VisitScotland has revealed that walking tourism generates up to £1.26 billion for the Scottish economy. The research found that in 2015, four…
UK vows it will work to reduce Scotch Whisky tariffs
The UK government said it will work to reduce export tariffs on Scotch Whisky and other Scottish produce as the UK prepares to leave the…
Devro H1 revenue rises to £125m, but profit slips
Glasgow-based sausage skin and collagen products firm Devro said its revenue rose 11% to £125.2 million in the six months to June 30 but underlying profit before…
Bridgepoint confirms £655m deal for Miller Homes
Private equity firm Bridgepoint confirmed it will buy Edinburgh-based Miller Homes in a transaction totalling £655 million from funds managed by GSO Capital Partners, a division of Blackstone….
Wood-Amec deal creates ‘competition concerns’
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it has found that Wood Group’s purchase of Amec Foster Wheeler “gives rise to competition concerns.” The CMA said…
Johnston Press: ‘digital growth offsets print decline’
Johnston Press — owner of The Scotsman, the i newspaper and about 200 local newspapers and websites — said growth in its digital revenues and at the…
Aggreko H1 revenue rises to £792m, but profit slips
Glasgow-based Aggreko, the world’s largest temporary power firm, said its half year revenue rose 16% to £792 million but profit before tax and exceptional items fell…
Barr expects first-half revenue up 8% at £136m
Cumbernauld-based Irn-Bru maker A.G. Barr said in a trading update its revenue for the 26 weeks ended July 29, 2017, is expected to be £136 million,…
Berlin’s Leonardo buys Edinburgh’s Portland Hotels
Berlin-based Leonardo Hotels said it acquired Edinburgh-based Portland Hotels, giving it five properties in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Perth and Aberdeen and increasing its UK portfolio to…
Bridgepoint ‘close to £655m deal for Miller Homes’
Private equity firm Bridgepoint is close to finalising a £655 million deal to acquire Edinburgh-based Miller Homes, according to a report in the Financial Times. Meanwhile,…