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…
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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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
Clydesdale shares soar after trading update
UPDATE 2 — Shares of Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank owner CYBG rose about 9% after it announced a positive trading update for the three months…
Aberdeen bond helps Brodies to record revenues
Scottish law firm Brodies LLP said its revenues grew 2.4% to a record £66.7 million in its financial year to April 30, 2017. Over the same…
Alliance Trust ‘encouraged’ by external manager start
Dundee-based investment firm Alliance Trust announced results for the six months to June 30 as it makes a transition to its new investment approach with…
Weir H1 revenue tops £1bn amid North America boost
Glasgow-based engineering giant Weir Group said its revenue rose 26% to £1.09 billion in the six months to June 30, 2017, “reflecting both the recovery in…
Aberdeen, Edinburgh to be hardest hit by Brexit
Aberdeen would be the British city hardest hit by Brexit, with Edinburgh not far behind, according to a new study by the think tank Centre…
‘Pollinator strategy’ to protect bees and butterflies
Scottish Natural Heritage is leading a “Pollinator Strategy” to make Scotland a “more pollinator friendly place by protecting indigenous bee and butterfly populations,” the Scottish Government…
Highland firms want single market, free movement
More than two-thirds of businesses across the Highlands and Islands believe membership of the European single market and free movement of people are important to…
Stan Life-Aberdeen merger approved by regulators
Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management said the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority “have confirmed their approval to enable the merger between…
Goals in North America venture with Man City owner
East Kilbride-based Goals Soccer Centres said it agreed a strategic 50:50 joint venture with City Football Group, which owns a number of football clubs including Manchester City, New…
Scots manufacturing orders hit 44 year high – CBI
Manufacturers in Scotland reported that new orders rose at the fastest pace in more than 40 years in the quarter to July, driven by record…
Board moves as Virgin Money H1 profit hits £128m
UPDATE 1 — Edinburgh and Newcastle-based challenger bank Virgin Money Holdings on Tuesday announced changes to its board and said underlying profit before tax rose 26%…
Law firm Maclay combines with global giant Dentons
Leading Scottish law firm Maclay Murray & Spens announced on Friday it is to combine with Dentons, the world’s largest law firm. The combination, expected…
£1bn Edinburgh City Deal to create 21,000 jobs
The £1 billion Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal has finally been agreed, with the Scottish and UK governments investing £300 million each in…
UK firms pay record £33bn dividends in Q2
UK companies distributed an all-time record £33.3 billion in dividends in the second quarter, beating the previous record of £29.1 billion set in Q2 last…
Grayling: ‘high speed rail benefits Scotland’
The UK government’s Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said Britain’s new high speed rail lines (HS2) between London and the North-West of England will also benefit Scotland….
Funding for £350m Aberdeen Harbour expansion
Scottish Enterprise is to contribute £11.7 million towards Aberdeen Harbour’s £350 million expansion, supporting the creation of 2,300 jobs by 2026. SE funding is in…
RBS share sale ‘value for money’ despite £2bn loss
A report by the UK’s National Audit Office (NAO) has concluded that the first sale of UK government shares in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS)…
Scotland, Wales ‘won’t support’ EU Withdrawal Bill
The First Ministers of Scotland and Wales said the UK government’s European Union (Withdrawal) Bill is a “naked power-grab” for which the Scottish and Welsh Governments…
Scots unemployment at record low of 3.8%
Scotland’s unemployment rate fell to a record low of 3.8% over the last quarter, down 0.7 percentage points, according to labour market statistics for March to…
Delay to £1bn Edinburgh City Deal hurts investment
Delays to the £1 billion Edinburgh and South East City Region Deal could cost the Scottish economy crucial investment, Economy Secretary Keith Brown has warned….
ScottishPower to invest £4m a day until 2020
ScottishPower said it will invest £4 million every day until 2020 as it celebrated the official opening of its new headquarters in St Vincent Street,…
Wood Group wins Maersk contract, creating 200 jobs
Aberdeen-based oil and gas services giant Wood Group said it was awarded a new contract by Maersk to deliver mechanical and management services for the…
61% of firms want single market, customs union
About 61% of Scottish businesses want the UK to stay in the European single market and the customs union after Brexit, according to a survey…
Scots job market has ‘best quarter on record’
The IHS Markit Report on Jobs for Scotland for June has indicated a “sharp improvement of labour market conditions.” “Steep growth in demand for both…
Menzies merger firm DX avoids ‘full investigation’
Courier firm DX Group, currently in the process of merging with the distribution business of Edinburgh-based John Menzies, said on Friday that the City of London Police “will not…
CBI: ‘Stay in single market until Brexit deal’
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has warned that the UK needs to stay inside the single market and customs union until a final Brexit…
Merkle buys Edinburgh data marketing firm Aquila
US marketing agency Merkle said it acquired Edinburgh-based data analytics firm Aquila Insight. Aquila Insight was founded in 2012 and also has offices in London and Derby….
Scots economy rebounds to outpace UK growth
UPDATE 2 — Scotland’s gross domestic product (GDP) rose 0.8% in the first quarter of 2017 compared to the previous three months — outpacing the quarterly…
Atlantic salmon to be tagged in conservation move
Hundreds of Atlantic salmon are to be tagged and released back into the wild as part of a new study aimed at increasing the understanding…
Aggreko buys battery storage firm Younicos for £40m
Glasgow-based Aggreko, the world’s largest temporary power firm, announced a £40 million agreement to acquire smart energy and battery storage technology company Younicos. Based in Berlin and…
1,700 Scots jobs secured in £3.7bn warship deal
UK defence secretary Michael Fallon announced the signing of a contract worth £3.7 billion to start building the Royal Navy’s Type 26 Frigates. Fallon said manufacture…
Fraser of Allander: Growth returns to Scots economy
Growth will return to the Scottish economy in 2017 “with tentative signs of a more positive outlook for Scotland’s oil and gas sector and improving…
Scottish Equity Partners in Tilbury wind farm deal
Scottish Equity Partners (SEP) said it funded the acquisition of the 9.2MW onshore wind farm at the Port of Tilbury in London from SSE. SEP…
Bespoke acquires Roxburghe Hotel and Golf Course
Roxburghe Estates said it agreed terms for Bespoke Hotels to acquire its Roxburghe Hotel and Golf Course near Kelso in the Scottish Borders. Roxburgh Estates operates…
Stagecoach shares hit 7-year low as profits slump
UPDATE 2 – Shares of Perth-based rail and bus giant Stagecoach Group touched a seven-year low, falling as much as 10%, after it said statutory profit…
Scots fish farming now a £620m, 12,000-job industry
Fish and shellfish farming now contributes £620 million to the Scottish national economy every year, according to according to a new study commissioned by the…
£50m work to start on A96 Aberdeen-Huntly road
Transport Scotland announced the intention to award a contract worth up to £50 million to carry out route option assessment and detailed design work for…
Limited partnerships forced to reveal ownership
The UK Government’s Department for Business said on Friday that new laws from Monday, June 26 will force Scottish limited partnerships to disclose ownership and…
Audit Scotland warns on colleges’ financial health
The financial health of Scotland’s colleges has deteriorated, with overall income falling and the colleges’ underlying deficit increasing to £8 million, according to Audit Scotland’s annual…
FirstGroup, Stagecoach vie for HS2 high speed rail
Aberdeen-based FirstGroup and Perth-based Stagecoach are among the groups shortlisted in the bidding to run the new West Coast Partnership (WCP) rail franchise, which will…
Multi-million investment at Grangemouth port
The Port of Grangemouth, Scotland’s largest container facility, said it is ordering a new multi-million pound ship-to-shore crane from Liebherr as part of a major…
Lothian Buses profit £11.9m on £146m revenue
Lothian Buses said in its annual report that its revenue rose £4 million to £146 million in 2016, with profit up from £6.4 million to £11.9 million….
New enterprise agency for South of Scotland
The Scottish Government said a new enterprise agency will be created to meet the economic needs of communities in the South of Scotland. It said…
Regulator clears Standard Life-Aberdeen merger
Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management said the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced that it has cleared the £11 billion merger of the Scottish investment giants….
Better productivity ‘worth £25bn to Scots economy’
A new CBI Scotland report has claimed that improving productivity and unlocking growth across Scotland’s regions could be worth up to £25 billion to the…
Oil and gas industry ‘turning the corner’
Nearly 60% of businesses in the UK’s oil and gas industry expect to expand this year, while optimism has soared to 39% from 2% in…
Designs unveiled for new Princes Street pavilion
The final competing visions for Edinburgh’s Ross Pavilion, the £25 million new outdoor event space to replace the Ross Bandstand in West Princes Street Gardens, have been revealed…
HSBC to create 500 new jobs in Scotland
Banking giant HSBC said on Tuesday it is creating 500 new jobs in Scotland. HSBC will create new roles in its global risk business in…
Go-ahead for £8.9m Renfrew manufacturing centre
The Scottish Government said on Monday that a specialist centre to develop new manufacturing processes for lightweight materials for the aerospace and automotive industries is…
Scottish Equity Partners finance for wind farm
Scottish Equity Partners (SEP) said it provided project finance to fund the construction of the €8.7 million, 4.6MW Curraghderrig wind farm in the Republic of…
Shareholders OK Standard Life-Aberdeen merger
Shareholders of Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management both voted overwhelmingly to approve the £11 billion merger of the Scottish investment giants on Monday. About…
Motherwell’s MB Aerospace wins $1bn contract
Motherwell-based engineering firm MB Aerospace has signed a $1 billion contract to provide flight engine parts to Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies Corporation…
Investors hold key to £11bn Stan Life-Aberdeen deal
Shareholders of Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management will vote on Monday on the proposed £11 billion merger of the two Scottish investment giants. The transaction requires…