News

A notorious mafia matriarch known as "The Godmother" has been arrested while attempting to flee Italy for Spain. Maria Licciardi, 70, was taken into custody at Rome Ciampino Airport as she was boarding a flight to Malaga, according to reports.

abrdn has hailed a 'strong start to the year' as profits rise by 77% to £163 million.  While the company also reported a drop in assets under management to £532 billion (FY 2020: £535bn), while its fee-based revenue was 7% higher during the six month period and adjus

Edinburgh-based start-up One Year No Beer (OYNB) which helps people transform their relationship with alcohol, has surpassed its £500,000 crowdfunding target. The Crowdcube campaign broke through the £500,000 barrier within minutes, swiftly raising 126% of its target to scale up operatio

The board of abrdn has announced that Hannah Grove will be appointed as a non-executive director on 1 September 2021 and that Melanie Gee, will stand down from the Board at the conclusion of her second three-year term of appointment on 31 October 2021. Hannah Grove brings more than 20 years of

Saffery Champness is advising farm businesses that provide accommodation services or catering to be alert to the changes coming on the reduced VAT rate from 1 October. In the 2021 Budget, the Chancellor advised that the temporary 5% reduced rate of VAT would be extended to September 2021 but that th

Aberdeen-based Red Kite Oilfield Services Limited has secured funding from UMI Debt Finance Scotland to help expand and diversify the business. Red Kite provides a wide range of licenced non-explosive, non-hazmat cutting and perforating services to the global oil and gas industry.

US-based packaging firm Novolex has acquired Vegware, an international provider of compostable foodservice packaging headquartered in Edinburgh, for an undisclosed sum. UK Vegware’s teams in both the UK and US are expected to join the Novolex family. The Vegware brand will remai

The average inheritance tax (IHT) bill in Scotland has climbed 8.5% towards £200,000 according to the latest figures released by HMRC. For the year 2018-19, the average inheritance tax bill in the UK was £209,502. In London, the bill stood at £271,820, while in Wales it was £

Ampla Finance has today launched its beneficiary and executor loans in Scotland. The loans are designed to enable beneficiaries to access their inheritance both pre and post-grant of probate, or executors to access the total value of the estate to pay inheritance tax or other estate liabilities.

Halifax has launched a new ultra-low two-year fixed-rate mortgage deal priced at 0.83%. The deal was made available to homebuyers via mortgage brokers yesterday and allows those wishing to take out a loan worth up to 60% of the value of their home.

The Scottish private sector continued on its recovery path into the third quarter, according to the latest Royal Bank of Scotland PMI. The seasonally adjusted headline Royal Bank of Scotland Business Activity Index - a measure of combined manufacturing and service sector output - posted 57.5 in July

Aldi is looking to hire over 490 colleagues in Scotland between now and Christmas. The UK’s fifth-largest supermarket is looking for people of all levels of experience to fill roles at its stores and distribution centres across the region.

Glasgow City Council has approved a list of new projects after the local authority was granted £537 million funding from the Scottish Government to deliver affordable housing over the next five years. Included in the budget is a record £120m for affordable housing in 2021/22, targets for

Projects aiming to help transform towns and neighbourhoods could apply to a new £10 million multi-year fund launched by the Scottish Government. The Scotland Loves Local Fund aims to encourage people to think local first, and support businesses and enterprises in their community. The fund will

A couple who purchased a home fully aware that bees were potentially living in the wall were shocked to learn that an estimated 450,000 of the insects had called the place home for almost 35 years.