Scottish Financial Review

Closed life and pension fund consolidator Phoenix Group Holdings plc, owner of the “old” Standard Life Assurance, announced the appointment of entrepreneur Maggie Semple as an…

Wheatley Housing Group Limited — Scotland’s biggest social landlord — announced that group director of finance Steven Henderson will be its new chief executive. Henderson will take…

Scotland’s food and drink exports rose 14.6% in 2021 to £5.7 billion, recovering significant lost ground, but were still down 5.6% on 2019, according to research…

By Mark McSherry The Scottish Government said that First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will “underline Scotland’s key interests in global issues” when she visits the United…

Abrdn-owned investment platform Interactive Investor said it has hired Santander executive Saj Arshad as Chief Commercial Officer. “Saj brings a strong track record of driving business…

Venture capital investment in Scotland’s fast-growth businesses soared to £181 million in first quarter of 2022, according to KPMG’s Venture Pulse Survey. Scottish scaleups saw…

Archangels, the Edinburgh-based business angel investment syndicate, has appointed former investment analyst and fund manager Ian Macleod as the new chair of its board. Macleod takes…

The board of McColl’s Retail Group said on Friday it has placed the company in administration with PriceWaterhouseCoopers “in the expectation that they intend to implement…

The Scottish National Investment Bank said on Friday that £194.4 million of investment has been committed so far across 14 “mission-aligned” investments in projects and businesses…

McColl’s Retail Group said on Thursday it may soon be placed into administration “with the objective of achieving a sale of the group to a third-party…

Scotland’s Anderson Anderson & Brown (AAB) has announced a merger with FPM, an all-Ireland independent accountancy and business advisory firm. AAB Group has grown rapidly…

A £30 million transformation programme has been unveiled by Bruntwood SciTech after it acquired Glasgow’s Met Tower — the old City of Glasgow College building —…

Virgin Money, the Glasgow-headquartered banking group formerly known as CYBG, on Thursday posted a pre-tax profit for the six months ended March 31 of £315…

The UK central bank on Thursday raised interest rates to their highest since 2009 — hiking borrowing costs by a quarter-point to 1% to fight…

The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced its biggest hike in interest rates since 2000 and announced it would start shrinking its $9 trillion balance…

Schroders Capital’s private equity team has been appointed by UK pension scheme Nest to manage its private equity allocation. Nest was set up by the…

Equity investment into smaller businesses in Scotland’s technology industry reached £163 million by the end of the third quarter of 2021, 36% higher than 2020’s…

All sectors of the Scottish economy recorded “large and positive net balances” for their volume of business in the first quarter of 2022, with this…

Edinburgh-based house builder Miller Homes has raised £815 million in a bond sale, but banks had to offer investors a higher yield than originally planned, Reuters reported. The deal…

James Watt, CEO and co-founder of Aberdeenshire-based craft brewing firm BrewDog, said he will give up to £100 million of his personal shareholding in the firm…

HSBC Holdings plc has seen its share price rise more than 4% in the past few days after its largest shareholder, Chinese insurance giant Ping An, urged…

McColl’s Retail Group announced on Tuesday it expects to request that its shares be temporarily suspended from June 1 after confirming “it will not be in…

Industry body Scotland Food & Drink announced that its CEO James Withers has decided to step down after nearly 11 years in post. Withers said…

Russian Premier League winner Zenit St. Petersburg’s place in the next UEFA Champions League group stage will go instead to the champions of Scotland, according…

Kintore, Aberdeenshire-based oil and gas pipeline specialist STATS (UK) Limited has confirmed that a deal announced in December to sell 100% of its issued share…

UK government business minister Kwasi Kwarteng has written to the North Sea oil and gas industry asking it to set out a clear plan to…

Edinburgh-based ready meals firm Parsley Box Group plc announced that, as it moves to the next phase of its development, co-founder Adrienne MacAulay has decided to…

Chivas Brothers, the Scotch Whisky business of Pernod Ricard, has announced an £88 million investment into major expansions at Aberlour and Miltonduff, two of its…

Shares of NatWest Group, the bank formerly known as RBS, fell as much as 5% on Friday despite the company announcing that its first-quarter operating…

The chairman of NatWest Group, the bank formerly known as RBS, told shareholders at the company’s AGM in Edinburgh on Thursday that the company “deeply…

Scottish tech businesses bounced back in 2021, with 72% of companies reporting increased sales, according to new research from ScotlandIS. This marks a return to…

Edinburgh and Glasgow have both risen in the ninth edition of the widely-watched Global Green Finance Index (GGFI) from London thinktank Z/Yen. Edinburgh climbed four…

Two managers of Baillie Gifford’s flagship fund, the £17 billion Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust plc, have said the Edinburgh investment firm is in the business…

Glasgow-based global engineering and mining giant Weir Group said on Thursday it enjoyed record first-quarter orders with a 15% rise. However, Weir said the suspension of…

Scottish Friendly has announced its assets under management rose to £5.4 billion in 2021 and the mutual financial firm’s membership increased by 31,000 to 776,000….

The board of TSB Bank, with the support of Spanish parent company Banco Sabadell, has announce the permanent appointment of Glasgow-based Robin Bulloch as CEO….

Job vacancy numbers in Scotland continue to rise — but applications are on a continuous decline, according to new research from the Association of Professional…

Abrdn has invested £75 million in a sustainable private placement on behalf of its strategic partner Phoenix Group in The London School of Economics and…

Edinburgh-based house builder Miller Homes has hired investment banks for a $1.04 billion high-yield debt sale, Reuters reported. The deal would be the first high yield…

The National Pension Trust (NPT), a multi-employer master trust powered by XPS Pensions Group, is set to shift its default arrangement to a strategy that…

Edinburgh-based Circularity Capital, the “circular economy” European growth investor, has announced the oversubscribed final close of its second fund at €215 million. The firm said Circularity…

The British Business Bank has appointed a new Scottish representative to its UK Network team, with senior manager Barry McCulloch spearheading the bank’s presence north…

Caledonia Housing Association announced it has secured a “uniquely structured” £75 million private placement with support from NatWest to “further its commitment to both building…

London-based asset manager Schroders plc has announced proposals which it said “would lead to the enfranchisement of the non-voting ordinary shares” in the firm. “This will…

UK government borrowing was £151.8 billion in the financial year ending (FYE) March 2022, with the UK public sector net debt excluding public sector banks (PSND ex)…

Mark McSherry Twitter, Inc. announced on Monday afternoon it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by a private entity wholly owned by Elon…

The UK’s first full-sized autonomous bus will take to the roads of Scotland for the first time this week as Stagecoach starts live testing the…

Shares of McColl’s Retail Group fell more than 50% on Monday after the firm warned that although a “potential financing solution is under active discussion”…

Abrdn European Logistics Income plc, a fund that invests in modern continental European warehouses, said on Friday that 2021 was a stand-out year for the…

Abrdn’s £580 million Asia Dragon Trust plc is continuing to bet big on “quality mainland companies” in China despite the current period of “extreme volatility” amid…

Swedish residential real estate firm Heimstaden Bostad AB has agreed to fund and acquire UK build-to-rent (BTR) developer PLATFORM_’s 464-home residential project in Bonnington Road,…

The Scottish Government is developing an aggressive plan to recruit and retain skilled workers from the rest of the UK. As part of a “priority…

Scotgold Resources Limited, the Australia-based gold exploration firm focused on Scotland, said on Thursday its Cononish Gold and Silver Mine near Tyndrum has achieved record levels of…

Stewart Milne Group announced it is embarking on a sale process of its housebuilding business following the decision of founder, principal shareholder and chairman Stewart Milne…

Edinburgh-based private bank Hampden & Co said on Wednesday that deposits from clients rose 39% to £696 million in the year to December 31, 2021, while…

Aberdeen-based bus and rail giant FirstGroup plc announced that Graham Sutherland has been appointed as chief executive officer with effect from May 16. Sutherland is…

Aberdeen-based engineering giant John Wood Group plc announced that Robin Watson intends to retire as chief executive. “The process to appoint his successor will now…

SSE Renewables announced it entered an agreement with Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) to acquire its existing European renewable energy development platform for €580 million….

Abrdn’s investment platform Interactive Investor announced that the number of customers investing through its “regular investing” service rose by 19% in the first quarter of the…

The Scottish Government said that health boards in Scotland have recruited more than 1,000 new healthcare support staff and almost 200 registered nurses from overseas…

Farmland values rose by 31.2% in Scotland in 2021 against 6.2% across UK, according to a new report published by the Scottish Land Commission. The…

By Mark McSherry As fund manager James Anderson leaves Edinburgh-based investment giant Baillie Gifford after almost 40 years, he has shared more of his thoughts…

Legal & General Assurance Society Limited announced it agreed a £6.6 million full-scheme buy-in with Gordonstoun School Retirement Benefits Scheme, securing benefits for around 30…

By Mark McSherry Elon Musk has made a controversial “offer” to buy Twitter and take it private for $54.20 per share in cash in a proposed…

Abrdn-owned investment platform Interactive Investor has agreed a TV and digital sponsorship deal with Sky Media in the UK. “The partnership will feature Interactive Investor around…

Broughton Ales of the Scottish Borders and Keith-based Consolidated Craft Breweries have announced a merger. The deal brings together a portfolio of award-winning beers including…

Robertson Facilities Management (RFM) said it has been appointed by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) to deliver “hard facilities management services” across its…

Shareholders of Martin Gilbert’s investment firm AssetCo have voted overwhelmingly in support of the group’s takeover of fund manager River & Mercantile. On January 25, AssetCo…

Kevin Dorren, CEO of Edinburgh-based ready meals firm Parsley Box Group plc, has bought another 320,000 shares of the company to take his holding in Parsley Box to…

Glasgow-based global engineering and mining giant Weir Group announced it successfully completed the refinancing of its main banking facility with a syndicate of 11 global banks. The…