Search: financial focus

The Scottish Government recorded a £1 billion underspend in 2024/25 but still needs to move away from short-term measures to address a stark forecast gap between its spending plans and funding, according to Audit Scotland. The watchdog's 2024/25 audit of the Scottish Government's Consolidated

Borrowing by Scotland’s social housing providers has surged over the last year, with total available debt facilities exceeding £7 billion for the first time, the Scottish Housing Regulator has revealed. A new report from the regulator reveals a significant rise in lending, signalling gro

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) has accredited The Open University’s (OU) BSc Accounting and Finance degree, marking the first time a distance learning programme has ever been formally recognised by the professional body. This milestone partnership with the UK’s

Clark Contracts director John Mooney has marked 30 years at the company, having joined in 1995. John began his career training as a Chartered Accountant at Ernst & Young between 1985 and 1989, before spending six years with a general contractor.

Santander UK has delayed the publication of its third-quarter results, citing significant uncertainty over a proposed compensation scheme for the mis-selling of car finance.

A mortgage price war has been initiated by four of the UK's six largest banks, which have cut their fixed-rate deals in response to positive news on inflation. Santander and NatWest reduced their rates on Tuesday, following similar moves by Barclays and HSBC last Friday. The reductions are a respons

Nort Sea oil and energy services firm Petrofac has entered administration – a “stark warning” of a wider crisis facing the North Sea supply chain, according to industry experts. The move, which puts thousands of jobs at risk, has intensified calls for urgent government action to st

Kevin Mapstone and Kenneth Robert Craig of Begbies Traynor have been appointed liquidators to Central Fife Sheds Ltd after the Glenrothes-based company ceased trading and entered liquidation on 16 October 2025. The move follows a number of complaints to Fife Council’s Trading Standards team fr

Big Four firm EY UK has announced a return to growth, with fee income rising by 2% to £3.78 billion in the last financial year.

A woman from Dumfries and her sister have been banned as company directors for seven years for their role in a scheme that put creditors at risk of losing over £67 million. Joanna Seawright, 54, of Mavis Grove, Dumfries, and her sister Karen Mortimer, 67, of San Miguel de Abona, Tenerife, 

An urgent call has been made for the UK government to scrap stamp duty on share trades, with investment bank Peel Hunt warning that its continuation risks a corporate exodus from the London Stock Exchange to New York. The warning is prompted by AstraZeneca's decision to upgrade its US listing. As th

Thousands of North Sea oil and gas workers are set to receive support to transition into the sustainable energy sector, following an £18 million funding boost.

RSM UK Holdings Limited and RSM US LLP are set to form a new transatlantic partnership, which will become effective on 1 January 2026. The new structure has received near-unanimous approval from partners at both firms.

Aberdeen-based Activpayroll Ltd posted pre-tax profits of £5.76 million, up from £3.3m the previous year. Its group results for the year ended 31 March 2025 recorded turnover of £57.4m, an increase from £52.2m in the previous year.

New official statistics published by Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB) for the second quarter of 2025 show a decrease in both corporate and personal insolvencies in Scotland. However, restructuring and insolvency body R3 has warned that the headline figures mask rising financial distress for businesses