News

George Osborne Chancellor George Osborne’s Budget announcement yesterday included a series of measures affecting Stamp Duty Land tax (SDLT), both on commercial properties and residential properties that could provoke a rethink of similar charges north of the border, according to the Chartered Inst

UK chancellor George Osborne said yesterday that he had "effectively abolished" the Petroleum Revenue Tax (PRT) as he used his Budget statement to announce a major overhaul of the North Sea tax regime in the wake of languishing global oil prices. The steps taken by Mr Osborne were largely welcomed b

Royal Bank of Scotland has revealed that it is to axe a further 448 jobs at its UK corporate and institutional bank. Under its chief executive, Ross McEwan, RBS has been shrinking the bank’s transaction management and operations division to focus on its personal and small business operations in t

Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures for November 2015 to January 2016 show that Scotland continues to outperform the UK on employment and inactivity rates. This month’s Labour Market Statistics also show that over the quarter, Scotland’s overall employment rate increased to 74.5 per cen

Lufthansa maintained passenger numbers in Scotland in 2015 despite the significant drop in travel from within the offshore industries, the German airlines group has said. More than 436,000 people used the Lufthansa Group services at Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

Councillors in Edinburgh have revealed proposals to overhaul Edinburgh’s parking following a period of public consultation that could include introducing a charge for parking on a Sunday. Members of the authority's Transport and Environment Committee will now hear another report on Parking Action

Scottish shops have enjoyed their strongest month over the past year outside the festive seasons but high street sales are still declining, latest figures have revealed. According to the report from the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) and KPMG, February saw total Scottish sales decreased by 0.7 per

One and two bedroom flats in Edinburgh have seen a notable increase in average property prices in the last three months, according to the latest house price report from ESPC. The latest figures, which cover the period from December 2015 to February 2016, reveal that while average property prices acr

Sarah Hardy Edinburgh-based business angel syndicate, Archangels, has appointed Sarah Hardy as its chief investment officer.

Aileen McLeod A £10 million annual fund to help communities buy the land they live and work on has been announced by the Scottish Government as the Land Reform Bill reaches its final stage of the parliamentary process.

Soaring rents are making the prospect of having children financially prohibitive for young families in two-thirds of the UK, according to new figures. The Guardian, in conjunction with Generation Rent, has found that Birmingham, Edinburgh, Bristol and all of south-east England rank among areas where

The ‘No’ result of the independence referendum was worth almost £9 billion to Scotland last year, research commissioned by an anti-independence campaign group has claimed. Scotland in Union hired finance consultants Europe Economics to examine the fiscal position of the country based on the lat

1825, Standard Life’s wholly-owned financial planning business, has today announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Almary Green with assets under advice of around £400m. The Edinburgh-based insurance giant launched 1825 in February 2015 in response to fundamental regulatory and marke

Accountancy firm, Scott-Moncrieff, has announced that it has been named in the recent Audit Scotland external audit tender, as the only firm to secure appointments in all four lots. Overall, seven firms secured a place on the framework, winning the opportunity to undertake work in one or more lots o

A Royal Bank of Scotland cashier who worked at one of the bank’s Edinburgh branches has admitted that he collaborated in a raid on the building during which he handed over £8,000. Mazahir Abbas Sheikh, 38, admitted that he had secretly planned the robbery with thief Kerr Somerville, 33, who hit t