News

Joe Garner The chief executive of Nationwide has defended his £2.3m pay packet as the building society posted a fall in profits and warned of a “subdued” UK housing market in the months ahead.

Malcolm Buchanan Private sector companies in Scotland increased output to the greatest extent in four years during July, according to the latest Royal Bank of Scotland PMI report.

A National Basic Payment Support Scheme (NBPSS) has been launched by the Scottish Government with the aim of providing financial support for Scottish farmers following months of adverse weather conditions.

Barclays has begun registering its French, German and Spanish branches to its Irish bank, moving the operations from the UK, it has been reported.

The number of community-owned renewable energy projects in Scotland has increased by 62 per cent since 2011, with over 450 local communities now benefitting from green power initiatives.

Peter Lawson Independent commercial law firm Burness Paull LLP has reported a strong performance in its financial year ending 31 July 2018 - securing a ninth year of consecutive growth - posting an annual turnover of £57.6 million - up 7 per cent from £53.8 per cent the previous year.

Footfall grew by 0.5 per cent in Scotland in July, ending fourteen months of consecutive decline, latest figures from the Scottish Retail Consortium have shown, making Scotland one of only two UK regions to experience growth in July.

The beleaguered high street department store chain House of Fraser has today been rescued at the eleventh hour by controversial industry figure Mike Ashley's Sports Direct empire in a £90 million deal.

David Flint and Rebecca Henderson On 18 July the EU Commission handed Google a record fine of £3.8bn (€4.34bn) for abuse of its dominant position in relation to the Android operating system. David Flint and Rebecca Henderson of MacRoberts explain why the tech giant incurred the Commission's wrath

Alison Thewliss The SNP has called for the reform and devolution of inheritance tax following reports IHT raised a record £5.2 billion in 2017-18.

Liz Cameron UK GDP grew by 0.4 per cent in the second quarter, driven mainly by growth in services, and a positive contribution from construction.

This month sees a team of four accountants from William Duncan + Co undertake a gruelling “500 miles in 5 days” cycling challenge, from John o’Groats, along the north, and down the west coasts, via Skye and Arran to Ayr.

Katrina Lumsdaine Scottish insolvency practitioners may be able to use a decision of the Supreme Court in an English case on time limit in support of bringing claims against company directors, even if the claims are over five years old and, on the face it of it, are out of time, writes Katrina Lumsd

Paul Dounis The joint provisional liquidators of family-owned bakery Aulds have closed a further four stores to reduce trading losses as they seek a buyer for the remaining business and assets of the company's retail arm.

Steven Fyfe Investment into Scottish hotels in the first half of 2018 reached £389.67 million, according to international real estate advisor Savills, doubling the total annual investment volumes recorded in 2017 (£195 million).