Search: financial focus

Gordon Dean, partner at law firm Balfour+Manson, discusses the impact of an increase in authorised push payment (APP) fraud in recent years. There has been a huge rise in “authorised push payment” or “APP” fraud over recent years. The amounts involved in these scams can be si

Scottish businesses are more optimistic for the future now, compared to the end of 2020, according to the latest Addleshaw Goddard Scottish Business Monitor. The monitor, which is produced in partnership with the Fraser of Allander Institute indicates that more firms are optimistic about their

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has stopped Clydesdale Bank from forcing small business customers to open a business current account with it to get a COVID-19 Bounce Back Loan. The watchdog found that Clydesdale, which is owned by Virgin Money, was in breach of legal undertakings that pr

Law firm Simpson & Marwick has added Glasgow-based Alston Law to its stable, as part of its ambitious expansion across Scotland and across legal services. Alston Law has become part of the Simpson & Marwick brand following a successful acquisition by its parent company. The combined business

The board of housebuilder Barratt has decided to resume dividend payments to shareholders after the company experienced record sales over the past six months.

The final quarter of 2020 saw consumer confidence in Scotland fall by a further two percentage points, to -18%, as the country headed into the New Year under fresh lockdown restrictions, according to the latest Deloitte Consumer Tracker. With the exception of personal finances, all other measures of

TranSwap, a cross-border payment platform based in Singapore, has officially launched in Scotland – the company’s fifth market after Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Malaysia. The UK office and global R&D centre are in Edinburgh, where they expect to create 54 jobs over the next t

More than 150,000 job seekers across the UK will benefit from new employment support, helping them build their interview skills, find local vacancies and quickly get back into work.

Edinburgh-based start-up, Sustainably, voted Richard Branson's Start-Up of the Year in 2019, have announced the launch of their £300,000 crowdfunding campaign on crowdcube. The mother-daughter team are looking to raise the funds to enable them to market to new users and charities as well as im

Stuart Law, payroll director at Anderson Anderson & Brown (AAB), discusses the importance of payroll technology in a business. Rapidly advancing technology in the digital age means organisations are increasingly moving their technology away from Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)-based systems t

Edinburgh-based TSB has it will be closing 73 bank branches with 300 jobs set to be lost, despite appeals to save outlets in the remotest and most deprived areas of Scotland. While there has been continued resistance to closing the “last bank in town” the move means shutting down the fin

Activity across the Scottish commercial property sector ended a tumultuous year with industrial demand strengthening while retail and office vacancy rates rose at the strong rates in over a decade, according to RICS.

US banking giant JP Morgan plans to start a digital banking business in the UK, setting it against rival start-ups Monzo and Starling as well as Goldman Sachs. Yesterday, JP Morgan said that a mobile banking app for consumers will launch in the UK under its Chase brand in the coming months.

Cash machine use in Scotland has plummetted by more than a third during the coronavirus pandemic, renewing concerns about the future of cash. New figures released by Link have revealed that Scotland has seen the sharpest drop in cash machine us in the UK. The decline is thought to be linked to tough

Brewin Dolphin has announced a trading update for the three months ended 31 December 2020 revealing strong income growth of 7% in the quarter. The firm's total funds increased by 8.0% to a record £51.4 billion (FY 2020: £47.6bn) in the quarter, with total discretionary funds up 8.3% to &