News

Alistair Black Future increases to the National Living Wage (NLW) could affect up to 20 per cent of the workforce within four years, and the full impact may not have been considered by Scottish businesses unaffected by recent changes, according to accountants Johnston Carmichael.

Aberdeen-based accountancy firm Anderson Anderson Brown has been shortlisted for the 2016 Scottish Accountancy & Finance Awards in the categories of 'Tax Team of the Year' and 'Accountancy Firm of the Year'. The firm will be going for its third consecutive tax team win at the awards ceremony to

Investment manager Brewin Dolphin, which has more than 100 staff, including 47 ­investment managers and ­financial planners based in Edinburgh, has reported a 42 per cent drop in its profits, as it completes restructuring to a discretionary wealth management focus. The firm's latest half-year resu

Standard Life has said about £90m worth of unclaimed shares left over from its demutualisation 10 years ago could be made available to charities through a new foundation. The Edinburgh-based pensions group announced the initiative at its AGM this week and would see it is to set up a multi-million p

The Council of Mortgage Lenders estimates that gross mortgage lending reached £18.5 billion in April. The total is 29 per cent lower than March’s lending total of £26.2 billion, but 16 per cent higher than the £16 billion lent in April last year.

Mortgage arrears in Aberdeen are running at double the UK average rate and triple what they were in 2012, according to credit rating agency Moody’s. The firm said plummeting oil prices and contagion from rising unemployment in Aberdeenshire has spread to the housing market.

Sir Gerry Grimstone The Spring of shareholder discontent continued yesterday after more than a fifth of Standard Life shareholders voted against the company’s remuneration report at its annual meeting in London.

Unemployment in Scotland has risen for the third consecutive quarter, according to official figures. Latest figures released today by the Office for National Statistics showed that the jobless total went up by 8,000 between January and March to stand at 169,000.

The Treasury has announced that it has received a further dividend of £130m from its Lloyds Banking Group shares. The news means the amount the government has now received £318m in dividends from the bank it bailed out at the height of the financial crisis at a cost of £20.5 billion.

The number of house sales across Scotland has increased by more than a fifth in a month as landlords rushed to buy up property ahead of changes to the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT). The House Price Index for Scotland by Your Move/Acadata found home sales rose by 21 per cent between Febru

David Lonsdale Scotland’s clothing and footwear retailers saw sales fall to their lowest rate in eight years last month as total sales across all categories dropped by 3.2 per cent year-on-year, according to latest industry data.

Average house prices across the UK have increased 5.1 times faster than average weekly earnings over the last five years, new figures have revealed.

The City of Edinburgh Council has agreed to a 10-year concession contract with intechnologyWiFi to bring free WiFi coverage and improved mobile coverage to Edinburgh city centre, which the authority says will provide residents and visitors with access to free, high-speed internet connectivity, 24/7.

Oil prices continued to surge today, reaching a six-month high, as BP doubled its stake in one North Sea field and the boss of one the world’s largest oil companies declared UK oil and gas production does have a future. Patrick Pouyanne, chief executive of Total said "There is a future for the Nor

Independent SME funder, Bibby Financial Services has appointed Scottish Chartered Accountant Mary Sharp as commercial director – north and Joanna Cashmore as head of sales for Scotland as it looks to significantly grow its business north of the border. UK Commercial Director, Edward Winterton said