News

Philip Hogg The Help to Buy (Scotland) scheme is nearly fully subscribed due to a bumper level of sales reservations leading to calls from eager homebuyers and anxious builders to provide yet more funds.

Members of the public are being invited to view the latest stage of development plans for the expansion of Aberdeen Harbour as fresh images of the expansion are revealed.

More than 6,000 tax defaulters were referred to a special HMRC monitoring unit in tax year 2014/15, up 30 per cent on the year before, in a sign that the taxman is getting much tougher on those who deliberately seek to default on their tax liabilities. The figures, published in response to a Freedom

The UK Consumer Prices Index has fallen year-on-year for first time since official records began in 1996 and marking the first year-on-year fall since 1960. According to latest Office for National Statistics data, the CPI fell by 0.1 per cent in the year to April 2015, compared to no change in the y

First time buyers are having to wait longer than planned to take their first step onto the property ladder, according to new research from Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks. The Banks’ Annual First Time Buyers (FTB) Survey found that almost two thirds (65 per cent) had to wait longer than they hoped

Nitesh Patel Homeowners in the Shetland Isles have seen the value of their property increase by £39,311 (31 per cent) since the trough of the last housing market cycle in 2009 on the back of having the highest employment rate in Scotland, new research by Bank of Scotland has found.

Stephen Welton The Business Growth Fund (BGF), an initiative designed to pick up the slack in funding for small firms since the financial crisis, has committed £100 million in Scotland, and a total of £500 million, since its inception four years ago.

Martin Darroch Law firm Harper Macleod has revealed plans for expansion after announcing that its fee income for the latest financial year hit £22 million.

Paul Hilton The average price of a house in Edinburgh, Fife and the Lothians has risen by 18 per cent in the last 12 months, while prices in the centre of Edinburgh rocketed by 26 per cent over the same period, according to the latest House Price Report from Capital estate agents ESPC.

Fife-based Glen Housing Association (GHA) has secured a £5.7 million loan from Triodos Bank. The finance package has enabled the housing association to purchase and develop 13 new properties in Leven, Fife, and will be used to facilitate more developments.

A new report by the Bank of Scotland shows growth in permanent jobs continuing in Scotland last month, but at the slowest rate for almost two years. The Bank of Scotland Report on Jobs found increased demand for staff and a continued rise in starting salaries. The most significant rise in demand for

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is expected to issue Barclays with its biggest-ever fine as part of the penalties meted out to banks involved in a currency rigging scandal. The fine will pale in value against the massive payments to be made to US institutions.

Former business banker Ian Donaldson has been appointed as client engagement manager dedicated to oil and gas at R&D tax relief specialist Jumpstart. Donaldson spent fourteen years with the Royal Bank of Scotland and Clydesdale Bank before going into the new Aberdeen-based role, which will see h

The Royal Bank of Scotland and James Donaldson & Sons Ltd (JDS) have forged a new banking relationship that will see RBS provide strategic funding services across the Fife-headquartered JDS Group. The agreement will benefit all four companies in the JDS Group: James Donaldson Timber Ltd, Donalds

Terra Firma Chambers has announced that Michael Howlin QC has joined the stable with immediate effect. Mr Howlin called to the bar of England & Wales in 1982, serving company-law and chancery pupillages in Lincoln's Inn before coming to practise in Scotland.