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Accountancy firms Johnston Carmichael, PwC, EY and KPMG, have responded to the 2022-2013 Scottish Budget announced by finance secretary Kate Forbes yesterday.  The finance secretary stated that ending Scotland’s contribution to climate change, tackling inequalities and investing in the ec

It takes guts and confidence to launch a business a few months into a global pandemic, but that's what experienced civil engineer Andrew Loughlin decided to do when he set up 360 Bid. 

The North American Income Trust Plc, a company managed by abrdn (formerly known as Standard Life Aberdeen), has posted Net Asset Value (NAV) total return of 19.8% for the six months to July 31 2021, compared to a NAV of 5.7% in the year ended 31 January 2021. This means that the company ou

Spending by UK businesses is set to surge in the coming months, according to Deloitte’s UK CFO Survey Q2 2021. In a shift away from last year’s top priority of cost reduction, over three-quarters of CFOs (71%) expect rises in capital expenditure and 76% anticipate increases in hiring ove

Standard Life Private Equity Trust plc, a company managed by Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) has posted strong six month results despite a volatile year for capital markets.  The company’s NAV total return was 14.9%, compared to the 11.7% reported on 30 September 2020, versus 18.

As lockdown restrictions in the UK begin to ease, a new report suggests the realities of Brexit for many businesses are only now beginning to bite as the full impact of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) becomes clear. The report by law firm Irwin Mitchell and the Centre for Economics and Bus

Benjamin Wiles, managing director, restructuring advisory at Kroll, examines the state of the economy with respect to insolvency and the M&A market as the UK emerges from lockdown. The scale of the shock to the UK economy as a result of Covid is now clear following the Chancellor’s Budget.

A new New SME Recovery Report from NatWest has revealed that targeted support for SMEs could unlock £140 billion of additional GVA growth by 2030 equivalent to creating around 3.2 million new jobs across the UK. As part of its commitment to remove barriers to enterprise and help the econo

Dean Ward, managing director of the DCW Group, a professional residential and commercial development consultancy, outlines the benefits of combining the fintech and proptech markets. There are numerous trends which are predicted to define the property sector’s growth in 2021; from virtual view

Neil Francis, interim managing director of Scottish Enterprise, explains how Scotland’s commitment to inclusivity and net-zero can be shared via our trading relationships. As March begins and with spring on the horizon, it has been a very busy start to the year for international trade and

Neil Woodford has broken his silence on the collapse of Woodford Investment Management and revealed he plans to start all over again in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph. Speaking publicly for the first time since his business collapsed in October 2019, exclusively to The Sunday Telegraph, Mr W

Neil Francis, interim managing director of Scottish Enterprise, looks ahead to the trade and investment environment in Scotland in 2021. The recent announcement of a further national lockdown due to COVID-19 was a difficult start to 2021 for many, including those involved in international trade and

Significant parts of the Scottish economy face worsening conditions due to the pandemic before restrictions are set to ease this year, according to the Scottish Chambers of Commerce (SCC) Quarterly Economic Indicator (QEI).

UK banks lent twice as much to small and medium-sized businesses in the first three quarters of 2020 as in the whole of 2019 with gross lending to SMEs reaching £54 billion between January and September. According to UK Finance, over 1.5 million businesses have drawn on government-backed

Scottish business organisations have responded to Chancellor Rishi Sunak's Spending Review statement, with some calling the announcement "disappointing". The chancellor announced that public sector pay will be frozen with the exception of NHS staff and those earning under £24,000. He also anno