News

Aberdeen-based accountancy firm Hall Morrice has announced a record number of graduates recruitments.

While this summer’s weather has left the country largely underwhelmed, two separate reports published today have described a Scottish economy that is looking bright. The Bank of Scotland’s latest Private Market Index report has revealed private sector companies reported further growth of output

Glasgow-based temporary power firm Aggreko has said it expects trading to remain difficult for the rest of the year, with margins and returns likely to be lower. The firm said it is targeting £80m of cost savings after half-year results to 30 June revealed pre-tax profits had fallen 21 per cent to

The pricing of two issues of contingent convertible bonds, or Cocos, has raised just under £2 billion to bolster Royal Bank of Scotland’s capital position. They will trade on the Irish stock exchange.

Scottish Equity Partners (SEP) has completed investments totalling £99 million during the first half of 2015. Funds under management at the firm, which has 40 partners and employees across its Glasgow, Edinburgh and London offices, now exceed $1 billion with further growth expected through to 2016.

Seasonal factors have been cited by motor industry bosses as the cause of a reversal in Scottish car sales last month. Latest data from the industry showed a 5.8 per cent year-on-year fall in new car registrations north of the Border.

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.