News

Andrew Bailey In response to high-profile scandals involving major financial firms such as Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds and the Clydesdale Bank, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched a consultation on plans to give more small businesses access to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) has announced the opening of entries for its Top 100 Young CAs competition and is encouraging CAs to nominate peers under the age of 35 who excel and innovate in their field.

A long-running call by the Specialist Engineering Contractors’ Group (SEC Group) for the use of project bank accounts is now being backed by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).

Jamie Watt Jamie Watt, Partner and IP&T specialist at Scottish law firm Harper Macleod, looks at the business risks associated with cryptocurrency projects, and the potential for it to be a gamechanger

Computer scientists at the University of Edinburgh have identified security weak spots in gadgets that manage personal accounts crypocurrency Bitcoin and have called for improvement to provide better protection against hackers.

Billy Macleod Allied Irish Bank is launching £2 billion of lending funds for medium to large sized businesses across the UK seeking finance for growth.

John Hewitt Peer-to-peer lender Assetz Capital has announced the promotion of John Hewitt to head of its operations in Scotland, North East of England, Northern Ireland and Isle of Man.

Kevin Ellis The number of UK CEOs expecting the global economy to improve over the coming year has more than doubled, according to PwC’s 21st annual CEO Survey published at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

With total annual office take-up in Aberdeen in 2017 surpassing 400,000 sq ft (37,160 sq m) to double 2016 volumes, Savills anticipates 2018 leasing activity in the city will be driven by: infrastructure delivery; improved optimism in the local economy generally; and continued M&A activity in t

Graeme Davidson EQ The role of research and innovation in farming in an uncertain future is due to be explored at a major agriculture conference taking place in Carnoustie, Angus, on 8 February and chaired by Graeme Davidson, partner at Dundee-based EQ Accountants LLP.

Richard Gardiner Dunfermline-based accountancy firm Thomson Cooper has been appointed after Glenrothes-based kitchen manufacturer Murray and Murray Limited was placed into liquidation with the loss of almost 40 jobs.

The Crown Office and HMRC have ordered a former Perthshire potato merchant jailed for a £160,000 tax evasion to pay £76,500 back to the public purse.

Alasdair McGill Miigen, a Scottish-based social platform for senior life living with global ambitions, has strengthened its top management team as it moves towards a new £1 million fund-raising round with the appointment of entrepreneur Alasdair McGill as finance director.

Eighty-two percent of wealth generated across the world last year went to the richest one percent of the global population, while the 3.7 billion people who make up the poorest half saw their wealth flatline, according to a new report published today by Oxfam as political and business elites gather

Jason O’Shaughnessy Glasgow-based fintech firm Castlight Financial, which aggregates data from multiple sources to analyse disposable income and credit worthiness in real-time, has recruited internationally experienced business development entrepreneur, Jason O’Shaughnessy, as a non executive ad