Search: financial focus

Scottish factoring firm Newton Property Management has launched an industry-first loan scheme for staff to help provide interest-free access to funds if they need it. The company, which has offices in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness, has pledged a six-figure employee benevolent fund to provide finan

Emergency funding schemes launched in reaction to the coronavirus pandemic led to gross bank lending to small and medium-sized companies rising by 82% last year to £104 billion, fuelling concerns amongst UK firms about business debt.

RSM’s corporate finance practice in Scotland has seen a doubling in deals activity when compared to last year - despite an unprecedented economic landscape due to the impact of COVID-19. The Scottish corporate finance team has advised on over 40 transactions in the last 12 months, including th

Women living or working in Scottish agriculture will benefit from £115,000 of extra funding from the Scottish Government for a wide range of practical training courses including tractor and trailer driving. The financial package, announced by rural economy secretary Fergus Ewing on Intern

Anderson Anderson & Brown (AAB) has announced that partner Brian McMurray will join the firm’s Business Advisory Group in a new role to boost the support it provides to its extensive SME client base. Mr McMurray's new role as business advisory partner follows an unprecedented rise in deman

Lanarkshire-based sausage skin maker Devro has published promising annual results after its underlying profits for 2020 increased by 4% to £40.8 million.

The contactless payment limit in shops is to rise to £100. The Treasury has said that the change from the current £45 limit would make transactions easier than ever and would provide a big boost to the UK's struggling retail sector.

Banks should be encouraged to extend loan repayment periods to help struggling businesses recover from the coronavirus pandemic, according to Benny Higgins, an adviser to the Scottish Government. In September last year, Mr Higgins was asked by economy secretary Fiona Hyslop to provide a review of ho

The Insolvency Service paid out £453.4 million in missing wages and benefits to former employees at firms that went bust in 2020. According to new data released by the government agency, the payments were at the highest levels in a decade, although the various financial lifelines provided by t

Royal Bank of Scotland is launching a new savings competition to help encourage first-time savers. The £1000 competition begins on 1 March 2020 with ten customers each being awarded £1000 for opening an account and saving regularly.

Jim Harra, the chief executive of HMRC, has revealed that he received a call from fraudsters pretending to be the taxman. Mr Harra issued a warning on Twitter revealing that the HMRC had seen an increase in reported scams.

Bank of Scotland owner Lloyds Banking Group is set to cut its space by 20% over the next two years as working from home looks to become a permanent lifestyle change. Lloyds decided to cut its office space after 77% of its 68,000 employees said they wanted to work from home for three or more days a w

UK consumers are set to put away a total of £164 billion worth of savings and investments this year in a sign that coronavirus has permanently changed the nation’s savings habits.

Financial services specialist Caroline Stevenson has joined Burness Paull as head of its dedicated FS regulatory team. The firm said it recruited Ms Stevenson to take advantage of a market in Scotland that has continued to perform strongly throughout the pandemic, but it is facing a new regulatory l

All £8.6 billion of consequential funding guaranteed to the Scottish Government for 2020-21 has been allocated to tackling the pandemic, a new budget update has confirmed.