News

The problem of late or slow payments continues to cause cashflow difficulties for businesses, and almost a third expect it will only get worse in the next six months, according to the latest in the Business in Britain series of reports from Lloyds Bank. The Edinburgh-based lender’s commercial bank

John Swinney The formation of a group tasked with designing a Scottish replacement for air passenger duty (APD) which ministers hope will increase air links when it is devolved, was announced yesterday.

Academics at Edinburgh University have developed a new system for judging whether or not a loan will be repaid. The university’s Business School says that its “intensity model” will benefit consumers with a strong credit rating.

Clare Foster Southend-on-Sea Borough Council has become the first local authority in England to secure finance from the Edinburgh-based UK Green Investment Bank plc (GIB) to replace its existing street lights with lower energy alternatives.

Richard Petrie Aberdeen-based accountants Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP (AAB) has announced the appointment of Richard Petrie as corporate benefits manager within their integrated employment solutions team.

Scotland has been revealed as a "smartphone society" after a new survey showed Scots are now using their phone more than any other platform to access the internet. According to the latest Ofcom communications market report, nearly four in ten (37 per cent) of internet users in Scotland cite smartpho

An employee at the National Museum of Scotland ordered over £14,000 worth of stamps before selling them online and keeping the profits. Joseph McGuire, 46, was found in 2013 after Royal Mail's criminal intelligence saw the stamps being sold on eBay.

Growth in UK house prices slowed during the first half of 2015, according to the country's largest mortgage lender. However, releasing its latest figures, the Halifax said prices were still rising "robustly", with an annual pace of 7.9 per cent registered last month.

Edinburgh-based Royal Bank of Scotland has sold a 51 per cent stake in Cairn Capital to Mediobanca. The deal includes the provision for the Italian bank to acquire the remaining 49pc of the Knightsbridge-based asset manager in three years’ time.

A new range of whiskies is being launched to mark the birth of Edinburgh Whisky Ltd, independent blenders and whisky merchants based in the capital. Themed around the city’s Old and New towns, the first to hit the shelves are ‘The Advocates Batch’ from the New Town Blends and two single malt c

Edinburgh-based Standard Life Investments has strengthened its macro investing capabilities with the appointment of Shayne Dunlap and Richard Marshall to its Absolute Return Government Bond Fund (ARGBF) team. SLI, the investment arm of insurance giant Standard Life, said both bring considerable expe

Scottish solicitors and members of the public are being warned to be on the alert for fraudulent law firms by the Law Society of Scotland after a law firm in Glasgow was targeted in an identity fraud scam. Qualified solicitors are increasingly being targeted by fraudsters using their details on fake

Charles Barnett Scottish football has finally got its finances in order according to the latest football survey by accountants and business advisers BDO.

Energy giant BP has announced plans to invest about £670m to extend the life of its North Sea assets. The news comes as a huge boost for the industry which was been under siege as a result of plummeting global oil prices.

New research from accountants KPMG has revealed that the amount of money lost in high-value fraud cases in Scotland has fallen sharply during the first half of 2015. The first six months of this year saw the total value of fraud north of the border hit £3.8m, compared with £6.2m for the same perio