News

Aberdeen-based accountancy firm Infinity Partnership has been shortlisted for three accolades in a prestigious UK awards event for accountancy professionals. The practice, a five-time winner at the British Accountancy Awards, has been named a finalist in three categories at the 2021 Accounting Excel

A junior council worker who rejected and approved real planning applications, adding sarcastic comments in the process, in the belief they were testing a dummy website has learned that the decisions are now legally binding. One applicant, a charity boss at an animal sanctuary, was told by Swale

Accountancy firm Henderson Loggie has announced the appointment of Lucy Crow as head of agriculture and rural business in its specialist tax consultancy team. Ms Crow has over 15 years’ tax experience and has focused on farms and landed estates for most of that time, combining income tax and i

Professional services company SKSi has more than tripled its headcount in Scotland with a series of recent appointments, including Donald Scott joining as a senior manager. Mr Scott, a qualified chartered accountant and insolvency practitioner, brings a wealth of restructuring and insolvency knowled

Tidal energy pioneer Nova Innovation has secured £6.4 million from the Scottish National Investment Bank (SNIB) to fund manufacturing and distribution of its innovative subsea tidal turbines. The investment will see Edinburgh-based Nova, whose innovative 100kW tidal turbines have been deployed

Scottish fintech CrowdX has announced the appointment of Paul Atkinson as its chairperson. Mr Atkinson has a recognised track record of building value for companies in the technology and services sector. He is a founding partner of venture capital firm and EIS fund manager Par Equity, and chairman o

Standard Life Investments Property Income Trust (SLIPIT) has acquired 1,447 hectares of upland rough grazing and open moorland in the Cairngorm national park for £7.5 million. The site, acquired as part of the company's carbon strategy, supports 956 hectares for planting with natural broadleaf

Fraser Irvine Sheriff Officers LLP has appointed Melissa Rigby to the position of regional enforcement manager at its recently-opened Edinburgh office. Ms Rigby, who is responsible for service delivery, is a qualified and experienced messenger-at-arms and sheriff officer and joins from Scott & C

A biomass power generator built by Aviva Investors should be torn down because of planning irregularities, a council has ruled. Vale of Glamorgan Council said that it would issue a legal enforcement notice against the Barry Biomass site requiring that “the plant and all buildings are removed f

Glasgow-based not-for-profit lender DSL Business Finance Ltd provided over £5.6 million to Scottish SMEs and social enterprises in a record year despite the Covid-19 pandemic. The alternative finance provider saw its funding increase by nearly 25 per cent from £4.5 million in 2019 as it

There are signs of emerging economic recovery and renewed optimism in the Highlands and Islands, according to the latest Business Panel survey undertaken in the region. More than half (57%) of businesses in the Highlands and Islands are now operating at pre-pandemic levels or beyond.

Scottish fintech Origo has been appointed to deliver parts of the central digital architecture for the UK government's Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP). The contract for delivery of the PDP's central technical architecture has been awarded to Capgemini, which will partner with Origo to deliver th

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined Glasgow-based company DialADeal Scotland Ltd (DDSL) £150,000 for making more than half a million nuisance marketing calls. The unsolicited calls were about non-existent Green Deal energy saving schemes including boiler and window repl

Retail stores in Scotland are closing at a faster rate than Great Britain as a whole, largely because it spent longer in lockdown, according to new research by PwC and the Local Data Company (LDC). A total of 780 chain stores closed in the first half of 2021 compared with just 344 openings, a net lo

Stuart MacPherson, business services manager at Meston Reid & Co, considers the tax challenges for hospitality businesses emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic. The UK’s hospitality sector has been harder hit than most by the Covid-19 pandemic and its consequent restrictions.