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A former office worker jailed for defrauding two construction companies has been ordered to pay back more than £80,000 under Proceeds of Crime laws. Stephanni Houston, 41, of Ayr, was sentenced to 38 months in prison in November 2023 for embezzling over £516,000 from two construction com

East Renfrewshire Council has approved a proposal to re-establish a credit union presence within the area, providing initial seed funding to support its implementation.

Business confidence in Scotland rose 12 points during May to 52%, according to the latest Business Barometer from Bank of Scotland. While companies in Scotland reported lower confidence in their own business prospects month-on-month, down four points at 57%, firms’ optimism in the economy rose

Edinburgh-based creative and marketing agency the Union Group has transitioned to employee ownership.

Fraud is prevalent across UK regions, with the value of fraud reported outside of London and South East totalling £117 million in 2024, according to BDO’s latest FraudTrack survey. Key hotspots outside London and South East include the North West and Midlands. Total reported fraud in the

The number of overdue invoices on the books of Scottish businesses dropped to the lowest level in 2025 so far in April, according to new research from R3, the UK’s insolvency and restructuring trade body. R3’s analysis of data provided by Creditsafe shows Scottish businesses had a total

Armstrong Watson has been named in the official ‘The Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2025.’   This nationwide workplace survey, in partnership with leading employee experience platform, WorkL, honours and celebrates the UK’s top employers.

Dr Brian Williamson, chief strategy officer at Kreoh, specialising in the application layer of AI, discusses the Research and Development (R&D) tax credit system.  Our role in society is to work with lawmakers, not against them. This principle is particularly relevant when it comes to the R

Next week, on Thursday 28 May, the Highland Council's Economy and Infrastructure Committee will determine the allocation of over £3 million in UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) monies for the upcoming 12 months. The funding, provided by the UK government, is intended to deliver a positive impa

The Artisanal Spirits Company, owner of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS), Single Cask Nation, and J.G. Thomson, announced a positive trading update at its AGM. The company has achieved double-digit revenue growth in the first four months of the year, leading to improved year-on-year profitabili

A woman who embezzled £1.5 million from a family scrap metal business in Aberdeen has been ordered to repay almost £670,000 under proceeds of crime laws. Coleen Muirhead, 57, of Aberdeen, was jailed for three years and four months in September 2023 after she admitted a charge of embezzle

A former local authority employee who embezzled more than £1 million from Aberdeen City Council over a 17-year period has been ordered to repay more than £165,000 under proceeds of crime laws. Michael Paterson, 60, was imprisoned for four years at the High Court in Edinburgh last July af

Scottish accountants are demonstrating a notably positive stance towards Artificial Intelligence (AI), embracing the technology more readily and with less concern than their global counterparts, according to new data from the ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants). The 2025 Global Tal

Glasgow-headquartered Macfarlane Group Plc has reported that its expectations for the full year remain unchanged, despite a mixed first quarter in 2025. Sales in Q1 2025 saw a 14.2% increase compared to the same period in 2024. This growth was attributed to the benefit of acquisitions, emerging orga

Thousands of high-value Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) from the Nike-backed CloneX RTFKT collection temporarily disappeared from the internet, replaced by a service restriction notice from Cloudflare. The incident, attributed to a service migration to a free account, has reignited concerns about the per