Scottish Financial Review

Growth capital investor BGF has bolstered its Scotland team with the appointment of a new investor following a strong year of investments and exits in 2024.  Rory…

The North Sea Transition Taskforce has called on the UK Government to rapidly establish a long-term, integrated plan to deliver a just energy transition in…

Shares of London-based tabloid news publisher Reach plc fell as much as 7% after it announced that “by mutual agreement” its Scottish CEO Jim Mullen will…

Aberdeen Investments said it has appointed John McCareins as its new Chief Client Officer. He succeeds Xavier Meyer following Mayer’s recent promotion to CEO, Aberdeen Investments. McCareins joins the Aberdeen group…

Troubled Aberdeen-based engineering and consulting giant John Wood Group said on Monday its shares will be suspended from trading if, as it expects, it does…

Scottish businessman and investor Jim Rowan is to step down as CEO of Volvo Cars with immediate effect. Rowan, who has served as CEO since…

The majority of the Sleat Peninsula in the south of the island of Skye — about 19,208 acres — has been put up for sale at…

New York-based Blackstone announced on Friday that its infrastructure strategy for individual investors has agreed to acquire a minority stake of 22% in AGS Airports…

SSE plc, the Perth-based electricity infrastructure giant, on Friday announced the appointment of its chief commercial officer Martin Pibworth as chief executive designate “following a competitive recruitment…

The Scottish Government’s minister for further and higher education Graeme Dey has appointed Lorna Jack and Cara Aitchison as co-interim chairs of the Scottish Funding…

Smaller businesses in Scotland are the most likely to say they struggle to access finance among the UK’s devolved nations, according to new research from…

Edinburgh-based oil and gas firm Capricorn Energy said its 2024 revenue fell about 26% to $147.8 million and it made profit after tax of $11 million…

Los Angeles-based animation and visualisation company Halon Entertainment has announced plans to invest £28 million in a new Glasgow studio, creating up to 250 jobs…

Kelso Pharma, the growing specialty pharma business backed by Apposite Capital, announced that it has secured over £140 million of acquisition funding and appointed former…

Scottish Widows has revealed that 69% of employers in the UK now offer a responsibly invested company pension — but only 44% have it as their default…

Storegga said it has reached a critical milestone for its Speyside Hydrogen project with the appointment of Aberdeen engineering and consulting giant Wood to undertake…

Scotland’s onshore GDP grew 0.3% in January 2025, according to statistics announced by the Chief Statistician. This follows growth of 0.5% in December 2024. The…

Baillie Gifford’s $1.3 billion Schiehallion Fund said its net asset value (NAV) returned 12.9% and its share price returned 51% in the year to January 31,…

There was a 9% decrease in all sector housebuilding starts and a 7% decrease in completions between the end of 2023 and the end of…

Scottish Enterprise (SE) has announced a big investment team leadership change with Director of Entrepreneurship and Investment Kerry Sharp moving to a new position as…

A.G. Barr, the Cumbernauld-based owner of Irn-Bru, Rubicon energy drinks, Boost Drinks, Funkin cocktail mixers and MOMA foods, said its adjusted profit before tax rose…

Offshore Energies UK’s 2025 Business Outlook report launched on Tuesday says that “under the right business conditions” half of the 13-15 billion barrels of oil…

The UK’s Royal Academy of Engineering has published the fifth edition of its annual Spotlight on Spinouts report, which shows a reduction in equity stakes…

A higher number of takeovers and lower number of IPOs have caused London’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM) market to shrink to its smallest number of…

About 48% of Scots polled support the charging of university tuition fees “based on ability to pay, with students from lower income households paying less…

Troubled Aberdeen-based engineering and consulting giant John Wood Group announced that it will extend to April 17 the deadline for Dubai-based firm Sidara to come up…

UK government borrowing in the financial year to February 2025 was £132.2 billion — £14.7 billion more than at the same point in the last financial…

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) announced a funding package for the University of Dundee to address “immediate financial challenges.” The SFC said: “The University of…

New York-based alternative asset manager Apollo announced that funds managed by Apollo affiliates have agreed to acquire a majority stake in Aberdeen-based OEG Offshore from…

Additional investment of £24 million through the innovative Charitable Bonds programme to deliver affordable homes across Scotland will see total funding in the scheme reach…

Aberdeen, the Edinburgh-based investment giant, has strongly recommended that investment trust companies be excluded from proposed Consumer Composite Investments (CCI) rules on new retail disclosures, or…

Property developer Scarborough Group announced it has expanded its Scottish portfolio with the acquisition of the giant Grade A Younger Building, formerly an RBS office…

A new R&D development — hosted by the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) — that is designed to support the growth of semiconductor packaging has…

Edinburgh and Glasgow have boosted their positions as leading global financial centres, according to the latest Z/Yen Global Financial Centres Index, the leading measure of…

New University of Edinburgh spinout Forth Therapeutics (Forth Tx) has launched with a precision therapeutics platform focused on tackling fibrosis across multiple organ systems. The…

The EY 2025 Regional Economic Forecast reports that Edinburgh stands out with a robust forecast for GVA (Gross Value Added) growth in knowledge-intensive sectors, particularly professional, scientific,…

Glasgow-based mobile energy giant Aggreko plc — bought in 2021 by private equity firms TDR Capital LLP and I Squared Capital — has announced that, for the…

Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie (WJM) is planning to join forces with commercial law firm Davidson Chalmers Stewart. The move follows investment in WJM from Irwin Mitchell….

Retirement income insurance specialist Just Group plc said it has completed a £75 million buy-in for the Church of Scotland Pension Trustees. The deal insures…

Edinburgh and London-based private bank Hampden & Co announced it has relocated its Edinburgh headquarters from 9 Charlotte Square, where it opened in 2015, to a…

By Mark McSherry US exceptionalism is “fading” as policy uncertainty mounts and the economy slows, while Europe is on the verge of a “big loosening”…

Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has approved up to £10 million to support the development of Inner East Quay at the Port of Nigg in the Highlands….

Standard Life, part of Phoenix Group, on Monday reported a 13% growth in Workplace net fund flows of £5.3 billion in 2024, taking its Workplace…

Glasgow-based Beeks Financial Cloud Group plc, a cloud computing and connectivity provider for financial markets, announced that it signed a “significant” new Exchange Cloud contract…

The Scottish Government is hosting a major investment event in Edinburgh on Monday aimed at unlocking new private investment in the country’s growing offshore wind industry….

A public-private agreement has been reached to help expand operations and attract new investment at the Port of Montrose. A Scottish Enterprise grant of £3.2…

The Scottish Government announced that additional support is to be made available through the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) to support Scottish universities currently facing financial…

Glasgow-based whisky, gin and rum company Edrington — owner of The Macallan, Highland Park and The Glenrothes — announced the appointment of Patricia Huyghues Despointes and Edward…

Old College Capital (OCC), the University of Edinburgh’s £70 million venture investment fund, announced it is hiring a Head of Investment Operations. OCC is part of…

Accenture has agreed to acquire Soben, a Gasgow-based global provider of construction consultancy services. Soben has a team of 250 and serves clients in Western Europe…

Regulatory reform could potentially generate £400 billion of surplus capital in Defined Benefit (DB) pensions schemes, according to analysis by pensions and financial services consultancy…

Scotland’s historic attractions enjoyed a surge in visitor numbers in 2024 thanks to a rise in international visitors and booming film and TV tourism, new…

The board of Abrdn Asian Income Fund Limited announce that Isaac Thong is to be appointed lead manager of the fund, working alongside Eric Chan….

Glasgow-based BLK, the online market platform for commodities and raw materials trading, has confirmed a £50 million equity round from Nimbus Capital, a Panama based…

South Africa-based Acrux Sorting Technology (AST) has announced a strategic investment in SGZ Cononish Limited, the only commercial gold mine in Scotland, located near Tyndrum…

SSE plc, the Perth-based electricity infrastructure giant, said it successfully sold a new €600 million 7-year green bond maturing on March 18, 2032, with a coupon…

Global Ports Holding Ltd (GPH), the world’s largest cruise port operator, has signed a 50-year lease agreement with Clydeport Operations Ltd, a subsidiary of Peel Ports…

The University of Dundee has announced plans to cut 632 full-time equivalent jobs in a set of proposals “to address significant financial challenges and achieve…

The Johnnie Walker Princes Street visitor experience has announced the global launch of “Johnnie Walker Vault” in the Diageo whisky brand’s “most ambitious expression of blending…

Edinburgh-based Craneware plc, a provider of software for the US healthcare market, said its adjusted profit before tax rose 21% to $20.6 million in the six…

Glasgow media firm STV Group plc reported group revenue growth of 12% in 2024 to £188 million, driven by acquisition-related growth in its Studios business…

An independent review of the Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC) by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) concluded the SFC “continues to stand out…

The Royal Bank of Scotland Growth Tracker — a seasonally adjusted index that measures the month-on-month change in the combined output of the country’s manufacturing and…

BrewDog, the Ellon, Aberdeenshire-based craft brewing giant announced that its chief financial officer (CFO) James Taylor is stepping up to CEO and Lauren Carrol becomes chief operating…

The Scottish and UK governments have signed a £70 million investment programme with Argyll and Bute Council to deliver economic growth for the area. The…

Seagreen Wind Energy Limited (SWEL), a joint venture owned by SSE Renewables (49%), TotalEnergies (25.5%) and PTTEP (25.5%), announced that it has signed an agreement…

Blackford, Perthshire-based natural source water producer Highland Spring Group, said it will continue to invest in growth after completing a competitive process to refinance its business. The…

A new report shows there has been a shift in the ownership of investment trust companies away from wealth managers and towards institutions and private…

Glasgow-based Solasta Bio, an agri-biotech company specialising in the next generation of green insecticides, announced two significant developments which it said accelerate its path to regulatory…

Joe Griffin has been appointed Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government and will take up the post in April 2025. Griffin is currently Director General…