News

Par Equity has sold its stake in Edinburgh-based portfolio company Symphonic Software in an all-cash transaction for a headline price of $31 million US dollars. Par Equity achieved a blended 8.3x return across two rounds of investment for its EIS Fund, over a period of 6.8 years. Par Equity's e

Aberdeen-based IT provider ITWORX has announced its transition to employee ownership, with 17 staff given a stake in the business. Established in 2010 by Philip Mowatt and Jill Ross, ITWORX provides tailored IT and communications services and solutions to a range of clients. The firm is headquartere

South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE) has invested £690,000 in Hilltop Leaf Limited, a private medicinal cannabis cultivation and extraction business which aims to provide an alternative plant-based clinical treatment to synthetic pharmaceuticals.

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has said that auditors must redouble their efforts to remedy inconsistent audit quality in the wake of the unprecedented economic turbulence caused by COVID-19.  In its Developments in Audit 2020 report released today, the regulator reports audit quality re

Glasgow-based online product discovery platform Product Guru has secured funds of £330,000 to disrupt the traditional retail buying process by re-inventing how products end up on shelves. The investment of £230,000 from Scotmid Coop and Techstart VC, with a further £100,000 funding

Scotland exported £9.2 billion of financial and related professional services in 2019, an increase of 7.7% from 2018, according to a new report from TheCityUK. Financial services exports from Scotland accounted for 8.2% of Great Britain’s total financial services exports in 2018. Th

Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) has launched a range of sustainable index funds within a tax efficient Authorised Contractual Scheme (ACS) structure aimed at pension funds and other institutional investors. The sustainable index funds each track customised MSCI sustainable equity indices that ha

Demand remained strong in Scotland’s housing market last month, according to the October 2020 RICS Residential Market Survey.

Landlords, small business owners, investors and second-home owners are facing a rise in tax after a review ordered by Chancellor Rishi Sunak.   The chancellor is considering proposals by the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) to reform capital gains tax to help pay for the Covid-19 pandemi

The UK is facing a 'new and unprecedented debt crisis' in the wake of COVID-19 as the number of people affected by coronavirus who are in severe problem debt has risen to 1.2 million, according to a new report by debt charity Step Change. Step Change's Tacking the Coronavirus Personal Debt Crisis re

The Scottish Government’s budget will be published on 28 January 2021, finance secretary Kate Forbes has announced. It follows the UK Government’s decision to postpone its Autumn Budget until an unspecified date in the new year.

The UK's economy bounced back from recession with record growth of 15.5% in July to September, according to the latest figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

More than a fifth of retailers and wholesalers in Scotland were already stockpiling before the coronavirus pandemic in anticipation of Brexit, helping firms feel more prepared for COVID-19, according to a new report from Barclays Corporate Banking. The report found that while the retail and wholesal

A police force has deployed speed cameras disguised as portable toilets in a bid to catch speeding motorists.

The gender pension gap has closed to the narrowest point on record, according to the latest Women and Retirement report published by Scottish Widows. The report found that 59% of women are now saving enough for a comfortable retirement, compared to 60% of men.