SHOPLIFTING together with theft by employees is costing Scottish retailers more than £300 million a year – with meat, razor blades, condoms and power tools among the most frequently stolen items.

More than one in five retailers believe police should be doing more to help them deal with external and internal theft, according to the research from Martec International.

A third of all thefts are shoplifting while one fifth is theft by employees, according to the study which shows levels of theft in Scottish stores rose by 10 per cent last year – rising from 0.9 per cent of total sales in 2010 to 1 per cent in 2011.

Frances Riseley, deputy managing director of Martec International, said: “We believe theft and fraud cost Scottish retailers £306m last year, a significant sum of money as retailers continue to struggle to come to terms with the current recession.

“If retailers are to survive the current economic crisis, it is essential they reduce their losses and law enforcement can play a significant role in that battle. Whilst extra help from the police is essential for retailers, they could also benefit from developing strong internal cultures as theft by own staff remains a big problem accounting for nearly a quarter of all losses.”

A spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland said: “The police service works closely with the retail industry both in terms of preventing theft and other loss and in the investigation and reporting of alleged criminality. Shoplifting and the unauthorised removal of goods or materials by staff are theft and if the police are made aware they will investigate and where appropriate submit a report to the Procurator Fiscal. The relationship between the police and the retail security industry is a good one.”

PEOPLE travelling to the eurozone this summer could be missing out on millions of euros worth of holiday money by failing to shop around for the best currency deals.

New research carried out by foreign exchange specialist Moneycorp suggests travellers could miss out on €215 millions (£170m) this summer by not shopping around for the best deals

Ordering currency online before travel gets you the most euros for your money – while buying currency from an airport is the most expensive option.

According to the latest research, changing £500 at the airport will typically buy you around €567.35, while online converters could offer you up to €622.10 for the same amount. Changing money on the high street is also expensive – with £500 typically fetching €604.17. Buying a prepaid currency card is a good option – with £500 typically fetching €621.31.

According to the Office for National Statistics, 10.7 million people may travel to the eurozone between July and August with an average of £561 of foreign currency.

Olann Kerrison, currency expert at Moneycorp said: “People will spend a serious amount of time thinking about their holiday to get the best deal. Yet when it comes to exchanging their money, people potentially throw out all that hard work by not shopping around for the best rates.”

Private-sector tenants are bidding to recover more than £100,000 in unlawful letting agent charges after a Shelter Scotland campaign against the fees attracted more than 800 claims in just two months.

The housing and homelessness charity launched www.reclaimyourfees.com in May in a bid to raise awareness of the illegality of upfront fees charged by some letting agents in Scotland.

The Rent (Scotland) Act 1984 makes it unlawful for tenants to be charged a “premium” covering administration charges, reference checks and other costs, although some letting agents are open about levying such fees.

Shelter has revealed that some 870 people who visited the website are now in proceedings to reclaim £100,998 in unlawful fees.

Graeme Brown, director of Shelter Scotland, said: “Despite the fact that premiums charged to tenants have been illegal in Scotland for almost 30 years, the nature of what is and isn’t a premium has been long-contested by some, to the detriment of tenants who are still being asked to pay these charges.”

Banks will be forced to ensure customers are eligible for the benefits sold with packaged accounts, under a new crackdown aimed at tackling the mis-selling of the products.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has warned that some people with bundled or packaged accounts are throwing “money down the drain” because they are paying for perks they either do not or cannot use.

One in five adults has a packaged account, paying an average of £14 a month in return for benefits including insurance, commission-free currency and favourable overdraft terms.

However, complaints about the accounts to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) are rising. It reports claims of customers being moved into the accounts without their knowledge. The most common complaint is from people who have made claims on an insurance policy included in a packaged account, only to find that the cover is limited or pays out only in certain circumstances.

The City watchdog yesterday moved to clamp down on mis-selling by telling banks to make sure customers are eligible to claim the insurance offered as part of fee-based bank accounts.

The rules – proposed last October and to come into force by the end of March 2013 – will see users of packaged accounts receive annual statements reminding them to check the benefits are still suitable for their needs.

Sheila Nicoll, director of policy at the FSA, said: “These products are often referred to as upgraded accounts but if you end up paying for an element you can’t claim on, it’s money down the drain.

“We are closely monitoring the promotion of packaged bank accounts and the new rules will make sure customers know what they’re buying and that they can rely on the product or have the limitations explained before buying.”

The regulator is looking into potentially misleading promotion of packaged accounts where the monthly costs are advertised alongside annual benefits.

The number of packaged accounts available has virtually doubled over the past five years as banks have sought to recoup revenue no longer pouring in from excessive overdraft charges and payment protection insurance (PPI) sales.

Marks & Spencer Money last week revealed that its first current account, to be launched in October, will cost £20 a month in returns for benefits including store discounts.

However research by consumer group Which? last year found that despite the monthly charges, just three in ten people with packaged accounts regularly use the benefits they’re paying for. Two in ten have never used the benefits at all.

Kevin Mountford, head of banking at MoneySupermarket, said: “No doubt better deals can be found by sourcing the add-ons individually, but in a world where many are time poor, a one-stop-shop solution can be attractive. It is therefore essential that consumers make the most of the benefits on offer otherwise they will be paying far more than needed.”

But the FSA’s new rules could accelerate the demise of free banking as banks look for new ways of generating money from current accounts, said Michael Ossei, personal finance expert at uSwitch.com.

“But one thing is very clear, these rules are not just to protect consumers – they will also protect the banks,” he said.

“With so much scrutiny over the 
mis-selling of financial products, these rules will now help the banks to 
ensure that they are promoting packaged 
accounts in a consumer-friendly and 
appropriate way.”

Almost two-thirds of Scots think bankruptcy is too easy and 
allows people to get away with reckless spending, according to research out today showing a hardening of attitudes towards insolvency.

It was revealed this week that Scottish insolvencies are at their highest level since the end of 2009, with 430 people going bust every week.

But 63 per cent of Scots claim that most people could avoid bankruptcy if they were more prudent in their spending, a survey by insolvency trade body R3 found.

More than eight in ten of those questioned believe people take advantage of easy access to bankruptcy to clear debts caused by reckless spending. Almost six in ten said that if bankruptcy lasted longer than a year, people would be more careful with their cash.

John Hall, Scottish council member for R3, said: “There is clearly broad support for a move to distinguish the genuine hardship case from the reckless spender.”

THE recent case of Gow v Grant in the Supreme court seemingly rubber-stamped Scottish laws giving non-married cohabiting couples more claim on each other’s financial assets in the event of separation.

As always, it’s better to consider what should happen with the division of assets in the event of a split rather than face expensive litigation. Cath Karlin, partner and accredited specialist in family and child law at bto solicitors, shares her tips on protecting your financial assets if things don’t work out.

1 Think ahead

Before you decide to cohabit, think about how you will untangle your affairs if the relationship doesn’t work out. Section 28 of the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006 provides couples who cohabit with rights against the other in the event of separation or death.

2 Put it in writing

If your partner is moving in to your property, make sure that you have a clear written agreement in relation to who is paying for what. Try not to let your partner spend money on home improvements without a clear written agreement as to how they will be reimbursed if you separate. If you do not, you could end up with your partner making a claim against you in court.

3 Moving in

If you decide to buy a property together, try to pay identical deposits, take title in joint names and pay equal amounts to the mortgage. If that is not possible, you should enter into a cohabitation agreement which will detail your respective deposits.

Make sure that there is an opportunity for one of you to buy the other out in the event of separation. If you are paying disproportionate amounts of the mortgage, document that and record how this imbalance will be refunded, if at all, on separation.

4 Not the marrying kind?

If you have no intention of marrying and intend to cohabit long term, think about pension provision. Don’t assume that you will automatically receive your partner’s pension on death. Make provision individually for pensions.

5 Where there’s a will…

If you do not make a will, your partner would have to make a claim through the courts to secure a portion of your estate. This is expensive and can be traumatic. Your partner could potentially be thrown out of their home by your family after your death.

Discuss what you want to happen on death with your partner and your family. Make mirror wills. If you want your partner to remain in the house for example, document this both in your wills and in the title deeds.

6 Think about the kids

Conversely, you may not want your partner to inherit your estate. If you are cohabiting relatively late in life, you could ring fence your assets so that they will be inherited by your children for example.

If you do not make a will, your partner could end up with the majority of the assets, leaving your children with nothing. If you have been married and have not entered into a separation agreement or divorced, your estate could potentially be exhausted by your estranged spouse and your partner both making claims.

7 Know your rights

Don’t assume that on separation you will end up with half of the assets. The rights of cohabitants are very different to those of married couples even if you have children together. You may end up with nothing or very little.

Try to have a frank discussion with your partner around these issues and think about entering into an agreement in the event of separation, and wills in the event of death.

8 Equal parents

Similarly, don’t assume that just because you are unmarried, the mother has the full gamut of parental rights and responsibilities over the children. Since 2006, as long as a father is named on a child’s birth certificate, he has the same rights as the mother even if they do not live together.

9 Joint assets

Bear in mind that household goods are deemed to be jointly owned even if they are bought individually.

10 No maintenance

Unlike spouses, there is no right of continuing support against the other. Don’t take for granted that you will be looked after financially post separation.

Sometimes the answer in difficult financial times lies close to home. In many cases, it lies in the spare room.

The number of people letting out rooms in their homes has grown rapidly over the past two years. Yet while rent from a lodger can be a valuable way to supplement your income, a nasty surprise may lie in store – thanks to HM Revenue & Customs.

If you let a furnished room or rooms in your own home, some or all of the income may be exempt under the “rent a room relief” provisions.

To qualify for the relief, you must occupy the property as your main home at the same time as the tenant for at least part of the tax year. The relief is available for owner-occupiers as well as tenants, although the latter should check their lease allows them to sublet the property. For homeowners it’s important to advise your mortgage provider and insurer if you are taking in lodgers.

The relief does not apply to rooms let as an office or for other business purposes.

No tax is payable where the rental income in a tax year, before deducting expenses, does not exceed £4,250. Rental income includes rents and any income from the provision of services such as meals or laundry.

If the rental income is split between a couple the relief is £2,125 each, although if there are more than two individuals they would each be entitled to £2,125.

Where the rental income for the tax year exceeds £4,250 ,you can choose to pay tax on the excess over £4,250 or on the rent less
allowable expenses, whichever is most beneficial.

Allowable expenses are those that are revenue rather than capital in nature and are wholly for the purpose of the letting. These include council tax, insurance, advertising for tenants, loan interest, repairs and maintenance.

You can claim for the rent a room relief not to apply for a particular year if your expenses exceed your rental income, as you can claim relief for the rental loss. It should be noted that the use of a rental loss is limited and can only be used to reduce other rental income in the tax year or can be carried forward against future rental profits.

If you don’t normally prepare a tax return and your receipts are below the tax-free threshold, the tax exemption is automatic and no tax return is required. If your receipts are above the limit or you wish to disclaim the relief, you will need to complete a tax return.

The capital gains tax (CGT) relief available on the sale of your main residence will not be affected by taking in lodgers if the letting takes the form of boarders who effectively live as part of the family.

If this is not the case, the last three years of ownership will be exempt from CGT under the normal Principal Private Residence (PPR) rules. If the letting occurred outside the last three years, PPR lettings relief will be available. Lettings relief exempts the lower of £40,000, the pro-rata gain arising on the gain attributable to letting or the gain exempt under PPR.

• Ronnie Ludwig is a partner at Saffery Champness chartered
accountants in Edinburgh

I READ a brilliant story the other day about a dog with a talent for investment. His owner, who was an avid watcher of stock market news on the financial channels, noticed that the dog would bark whenever certain companies were mentioned.

Listening more closely, he found that some names got one bark while others got two. He then started to follow the prices of those stocks and, to his astonishment, all the two-bark stocks outperformed by 20 per cent or more, while the one-bark stocks underperformed by a similar margin.

On the strength of such a track record, this canine genius could name his price at any investment firm in the world, or he could set up his own highly lucrative hedge fund partnership. The markets would hang upon his every woof, and he would hold the fate of mighty commercial empires in his paws.

Investors across the world would pour countless billions into his flagship Dog Fund and its devastatingly effective
strategy.

Enterprising outsiders would try to cash in on the craze by publishing books and articles claiming to reveal the secrets of the sagacious hound. How to Invest Like a Dog titles would dominate the business books section, sprinkled with cheesy imagery of the “sniffing out bargains” variety.

The belief that there is a short cut to success is deeply rooted in human nature, and this fanciful story of the investing dog has many echoes in real life.

Whether you want to lose weight or learn French, there is someone to tell you it can be done without the tedium of diet, exercise, and irregular verbs.

The other variant is the belief that success depends on mastering a secret technique, a magic key or a silver bullet, known only to a few, but which a few lucky outsiders such as yourself can buy for the price of a book or a magazine, or an investors’ seminar in a suburban hotel.

This view of investment is a bit like the Hollywood version of science, a dramatic tale of lone genius startling the world with brilliant inventions conjured out of thin air. In reality, both activities are much more incremental and collaborative.

All honour to Professor Higgs for speculating about the boson; but it has taken nearly 50 years of effort by thousands of others, and huge amounts of money, to prove him right. James Watt, Thomas Edison and John Logie Baird get the glory for the steam engine, the lightbulb and the television, but they and their teams were the first across the line in races with many competitors.

So it is in my world, with a few flashes of genius against a background of steady, painstaking routine work by obscure armies, poring over financial reports and other arcane data, nudging and tweaking as they edge forward. Instead of complete triumph or total disaster, we move between modest success and minor setback, learning a little more from both. I once read that ten thousand hours of practice is what it takes to be a genius. It’s the equivalent of just under five years of full-time work, which seems right to get to a basic level of competence.

So far, we’ve looked mostly at “inputs”, what investment managers actually do. However, what the client is interested in is the “output”, how does all this relate to the performance you can expect from your investments?

Here again a doggy comparison will help us. If you train your dog thoroughly you will be able to make it do basic things like sitting on command or walking to heel. What you won’t be able to do is teach it to play the piano. Similarly, an investment manager can put a portfolio together which over a period of several years has a good chance of giving you a decent return. What he can’t do is recreate the lost bull market conditions of the 1980s and 1990s, when the markets seemed to move steadily upwards in an effortless and virtually uninterrupted curve.

So, no miraculous dogs, no short cuts, no guaranteed get-rich-quick schemes, just diligent efforts and moderate expectations.

l Gareth Howlett is fund
manager director at Brooks
Macdonald Asset Management

FOR people either approaching retirement or there already, consideration of financial legacy and what support they can leave for the generations that follow are often front of mind.

With most people, their legacy often centres on their home. Over the years equity has been built up in property that, in turn, has (more often than not) seen an increase in value and subsequently a good return on investment that serves as an ample family inheritance.

The difficulty, however, is that, with people living longer, inheritance doesn’t usually come through until the recipients are well into their 40s and 50s, when in fact, for many people, their 20s and 30s are the decades where spare cash can have the biggest impact.

Paying school and university fees, covering rents, buying a property, getting married and having a family. These are just some of the many financial commitments in most people’s lives where parents and grandparents would like to be able to offer support but have all their money tied up in their home.

Not having enough money at these points could have a knock-on effect to how successful and comfortable you will be later in life and, as a result, people are increasingly looking to equity release products to help free up money and produce the necessary cash flow when it is needed, rather than when it is thrust upon them.

However, the difficulty is that the perception of equity release products in previous years has been difficult to shake off. Happily, though, the problems associated with unregulated equity release products sold during the 80s and 90s are now becoming a distant memory. Equity release is undergoing a change and making consumer protection a greater priority to allay some of the doubts and fears previously associated with these products. Indeed, equity release products can now be considered a solution to many of the problems that are being faced by our ageing population who want to support their family while they are still alive, and are able to see their support mean something to the younger generation.

One of the main concerns surrounding equity release in the past has been that people thought there was a chance they could lose their home. That isn’t the case – well certainly not any more. All plans carry the right to remain in your property for life and the more attractive plans allow you to keep the deeds to your property and retain 100 per cent home ownership. Interest rates are around 6 per cent and are fixed for life whilst plans are portable to other suitable properties should the policyholder decide to move.

Products are also designed with the family in mind, with some offering the ability to ring-fence a portion of the property from any effect of borrowing against it. An inheritance can be guaranteed to the estate and can be set at specific amounts such as 50 per cent. This “protected equity guarantee” has become popular as families want to leave a legacy but have more pressing current needs; allocating half of the property to each cause is seen as the best of both worlds and a fair compromise.

Whilst the more popular equity release plan is called a lifetime mortgage, don’t be fooled by the word lifetime. Advancements in these plans recognise that people are living longer and don’t want to be trapped in their home or tied to a mortgage. This year saw the introduction of a flexible plan that allows the homeowner to downsize without penalty, or pay off chunks of the plan should they come into money or find themselves with some spare cash at the end of the year. Innovation really is making equity release a product for all generations.

The interest-only option is the type of product that is becoming increasingly appealing to older family members who want to help out their children and grandchildren but don’t have any other means to offer assistance. Taking out an equity release plan should be a decision involving the whole family, and often, as part of the family decision, the children or grandchildren want to make a contribution by paying the interest payments to avoid eroding the equity in the property.

You don’t incur any charges or interest while the money is still in the reserve and you don’t have to take it all at any one time. There is less financial commitment with these plans and some reserves come with the guarantee to be there for at least 15 years.

So if you are looking for a way to provide an early inheritance at a time when it is arguably needed most, if you want to make the most of your inheritance tax benefits and, if you want to get the pleasure of seeing your gifts in action, then consider equity release. The equity release industry has grown up, shaken off its bad reputation and innovated to address a growing need from an ageing population to help deliver their legacy.

• Steve Wilkie is managing director at equity release specialist Responsible Equity Release

Q: I AM writing with reference to the company EasyLife which caused us major problems last year.

In July 2011, we put in a mail order for goods to the value of £65.23 and a cheque. By October, nothing had arrived, so I telephoned and that call was dealt with to my satisfaction.

I was told I would receive a call with 48 hours – nothing, so I called again. I was told no supervisor was available and I would just have to wait. Again nothing happened, so I wrote on 26 November and on 5 January with no response.

As a result of excellent advice from Consumer Direct and telephone intervention from Trading Standards, EasyLife responded within three hours. Our problem was resolved but only because of our persistence After the intervention they refunded our money but their lack of customer response was disgraceful.

MW , Midlothian

A: THE Scotsman contacted EasyLife to give the company the chance to answer MW’s complaint and the first port of contact was a call centre. The call centre supplied the number for the head office.

The Scotsman contacted the head office of EasyLife and explained that we wanted to offer the company the chance to respond to a complaint from one of their customers.

After several days, a person from the head office of EasyLife rang The Scotsman and asked for an explanation of our request. The Scotsman explained the difficulty MW had had and said it was our policy to give the company a right to reply. We e-mailed the text of MW’s letter to the office for consideration. Several days later another person from EasyLife rang and assured us that the company was looking into the complaint in order to find out what had happened in this case. That person promised a reply. We are still waiting.

• If you have a consumer issue that you would like tackling, contact Claire Smith on 0131 620 8511 or e-mail csmith@scotsman.com.

TEMPORARY power supplier Aggreko shared in Britain’s golden Olympic glory today as it basked in the glow of its London 2012 contract.

The Glasgow-based firm jumped 5 per cent – closing up 105p at 2,205p – a day after posting a 23 per cent rise in profits to £148 million, with the Olympics alone bringing in some £55m of additional revenues.

Insurers were also in demand ahead of next week’s reporting season, with Aviva up 7.4 per cent or 21p at 306.2p and Prudential 6.1 per cent higher, up 45.5p at 791.5p. Aviva also received broker upgrades from both Credit Suisse and Investec.

Royal Bank of Scotland’s shares were 6 per cent higher, up 11.5p to 216p, after its interim results were in line with City expectations. Fellow banking stock Barclays climbed by 9.1p to end the day at 171.4p.

The wider FTSE 100 index soared 2.2 per cent or 124.98 points to close at a three-month high of 5,787.28 after up-beat jobs data from the United States.

Chris Beauchamp, a market analyst at IG Index, said: “After three consecutive misses for non-farm payrolls, the July report breezed past forecasts.”

Only two stocks were left on the Footsie fallers’ board, with defensive stock Diageo – Scotland’s largest whisky producer – ending the day down 10p at 1,707.5p and British Airways-owner International Airlines Group nose-diving 5.2 per cent or 8.3p to close at 151p.

IAG was dragged down by interim losses at Spanish carrier Iberia, which prompted chief executive Willie Walsh to launch a restructuring programme.

Among the Scottish stocks, Peter Gyllenhammar, the veteran Swedish value investor, emerged as one of the largest shareholders in troubled Stirling-based insulation maker ­SuperGlass. He has acquired an 8.2 per cent stake in the company, whose shares closed up 11.1 per cent or 0.5p at 5p.

In New York, stocks moved sharply ahead in early trading today, after the White House revealed a sharp rising in hiring by employers in July. The Dow Jones rose 244 points to 13,123 shortly before noon.

US markets had been down all week after central banks in the US declined to take action to stimulate growth, as hoped for by investors.

ROYAL Bank of Scotland boss Stephen Hester yesterday attempted to placate critics by insisting his five-year restructuring plan remains on track.

He said the bank, 82 per cent owned by the taxpayer, had “undergone huge change for the better” as it continued to tackle the legacy issues of the Fred Goodwin years and become a “safer and sounder” business.

Despite reporting a £1.5 billion pre-tax loss for the half-year, trading performance was robust. Underlying half-time operating profits fell slightly from £1.97bn to £1.83bn in a tough economic climate.

Hester said: “We can take some comfort from the fact that we did not expect the world to be as bad as it is but we remain on course on our clean-up of the bank. We launched our plan to change RBS in 2009 and it continues to deliver good progress along the path we set out.”

He said the recovery plan was about both “physical and cultural change”. It has forecast headline profitability by 2014.

And he added: “We also achieved an important milestone in completing full repayment of the huge liquidity support given to RBS by public authorities during the crisis. We navigated eurozone problems and a credit rating downgrade from Moody’s with no slippage in the balance sheet resilience painstakingly rebuilt in the first three years of our plan.”

He insisted that lending to businesses was rising and said the bank was the first to access the new Funding For Lending scheme.

The bank hopes to exit the asset protection scheme, the government’s insurance over toxic debts, by the end of the year, freeing up £500m a year.

Bad debt charges fell 34 per cent to £2.7bn as lending practices became safer, while the core tier one capital ratio – reserves held by the bank – rose from 10.6 per cent to 11.1 per cent.

A blot on performance was the high street banking division, which saw profits fall to £914m from £1.05bn as tough economic conditions reduced demand for unsecured lending.

Net interest margin – the difference between the money the bank makes on lending and pays on deposits – came under pressure, falling to 3.59 per cent from 4.06 per cent. Investment banking profits fell to £1.07bn from £1.35bn in difficult financial markets during the continuing eurozone crisis.

There was a recovery in the US banking business, however, spearheaded by Citizens on the east coast. Divisional profits rose to £331m from £237m in the gradual US economic upturn.

Hester stressed RBS’s commitment to Citizens, amid some speculation it might be for sale.

He said: “Citizens is much more valuable to our shareholders today than it was three years ago [at the start of RBS’s five-year turnaround programme]. I expect it to be more valuable to them in three years’ time.”

He admitted the sale of more than 300 branches to Santander, ordered by the European Commission in return for the taxpayer bailout, may slip due to complexities in the deal.

Hester said the parties were “working in earnest” to resolve technical issues, but when asked whether it would mean a reduced price would be paid for the assets, he replied: “It’s hard to know where that ends up.”

Analysts praised the resilient underlying performance of RBS, saying that was more important than the headline £1.5bn pre-tax loss.

Tesco Bank will launch its delayed push into the mortgage market next week with a deliberate targeting of the supermarket group’s army of shoppers.

Chief executive Benny Higgins hailed the launch as the end of “an epic journey”, attributing a series of postponements to his determination to get the product right and avoid problems.

Tesco will offer mortgages online or by phone to those with a minimum deposit of 20 per cent, but Higgins declined to provide targets for the number of customers it hopes to attract, suggesting that it expects business to build slowly in a difficult market.

The bank, run by 3,000 staff in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, has raised capital through its savings products and three retail bonds. The mortgage business will be serviced mainly by 100 staff at Atlantic Quay in Glasgow.

Higgins believes that entry into this market marks a key milestone in the development of a full service retail bank.

Tesco already provides credit cards, savings accounts and insurance and will launch cash ISAs before the end of the tax year. It plans to introduce current accounts once switching is made easier under changes being brought in next year.

Tesco is also offering an added incentive for those who do their regular shop at the supermarket, as shoppers with Tesco Clubcards will receive a point for every £4 spent on their monthly mortgage repayments.

Rachel Springall, spokeswoman for comparison website Moneyfacts, said: “As the only supermarket to bring forward a range of mortgages, it will be interesting to see whether new supermarket lenders bring out a range of their own in the attempt to compete with the high street banks.”

The jump into the mortgage market comes at a tough time for mortgage lending generally, as figures from the British Bankers’ Association showed that approvals slumped to their lowest level in at least 15 years in June.

Lenders have been tightening their borrowing criteria, and people with low deposits are expected to have a particularly tough time finding a deal in the coming months.

There have been some recent signs of a mortgage war between lenders competing to attract “less risky” homeowners – those with deposits of around 40 per cent.

Tesco Bank, whose customers hold 6.5 million accounts, was launched in 1997 as a joint venture between the supermarket giant and Royal Bank of Scotland. Tesco bought out RBS’s stake in 2008 for £950 million and the bank is now fully owned by Tesco.

Higgins said: “We have built a bank from scratch and which is under our control. I have resolutely sought not to get involved in what is happening elsewhere. There is still negativity in the sector, but I do think the mood music is changing.”

He said Tesco was unlikely to be interested in acquiring online bank Intelligent Finance which Lloyds has put up for sale following Co-operative Group’s decision not to acquire it in a parcel of assets. Higgins said: “We have the capability we need and we have the brand. It is not obvious what we would get from any acquisition.”

In the year to April, Tesco Bank made an underlying profit of £203m – up 29 per cent on the year before.

Stock markets rallied yesterday after better-than-expected jobs figures from the US helped investors shrug off disappointment about a lack of immediate action to tackle the eurozone debt crisis.

Employers in the world’s largest economy created 163,000 jobs last month – the highest number since February and well ahead of the 100,000 that had been predicted.

The figures settled investors’ nerves after markets fell sharply on Thursday when European Central Bank president Mario Draghi failed to announce concrete plans to stem the crisis, despite having raised hopes by promising to do “whatever it takes” to save the euro.

In Paris, the Cac 40 rose 4.4 per cent, Germany’s Dax gained 4 per cent and the Ibex 35 in Spain leapt 6 per cent. Spanish bond yields also fell below the 7 per cent level seen as unsustainable.

The FTSE 100 Index rose 125 points, or 2.2 per cent, to 5,787.30 despite fresh figures showing growth in the UK’s services sector – which accounts for about three-quarters of the economy – had fallen to its lowest level in 19 months in July.

The Markit/Cips services purchasing managers’ index fell to 51 last month from 51.3 in June, its lowest level since December 2010 and only marginally above the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction.

Paul Smith, senior economist at Markit, said the slower growth was “somewhat disappointing” because many economists had expected a bounce-back as demand recovered following the extra bank holiday for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight, said: “The survey reinforces expectations that the Bank of England will have to take further stimulative action to try to boost the economy.”

WOOD Group, the Aberdeen-based energy services firm, yesterday snapped up Texas-based engineering and maintenance company Duval to extend its presence in North America’s shale oil market.

Duval, which operates in the Eagle Ford shale region of Texas, posted sales of $32 million (about £20m) last year and had assets of $14m at 30 June.

Derek Blackwood, president-Americas of Wood Group’s production services network division, said: “The acquisition of Duval provides us with a robust platform for growth in the key Eagle Ford shale region and increases our overall exposure to the US onshore unconventional oil and gas markets.”

Duval has about 300 staff and will continue to be led by its existing management team.

Rene Casas, president of Wood Group Duval, as the new unit will be known, said: “We are pleased to be joining Wood Group. Duval has achieved strong growth over recent years and we anticipate the strong shale market, momentum in our business and the support of Wood Group will enable continued growth.”

RICHARD Smith, chief executive of Aberdeen-based driller Xcite Energy, yesterday announced his retirement after unveiling a positive drilling update from its Bentley field in the North Sea.

Smith, one of the entrepreneurs who founded Xcite to develop the Bentley field, will be replaced by chief financial officer Rupert Cole, another founder.

Stephen Kew, currently exploration and development director, is promoted to the new post of chief operating officer amid a raft of board and management changes.

Chairman Roger Ramshaw said: “We thank Richard for his important contribution.

“With the good progress being made in the current well operations, together with this strengthened management team now in place … the company remains firmly on track to deliver its strategic objectives.”

News of the management changes came as Xcite reported that the drilling tests in its Bentley field are “progressing well”.

Sam Wahab, an analyst at Seymour Pierce, said: “This is clearly encouraging news, suggesting that aquifer support is strong and consistent, which is a good indicator for longer-term productivity of the reservoir.”

Wahab said the drilling update also boded well for the company’s financial position, after it signed a $155 million (£100m) banking deal in June.

Five lenders have agreed to a five-year loan. Xcite has a deal with BP to sell oil from the field.

Wahab said: “A condition of the $155m reserve-backed loan facility was the company needed to achieve a cumulative volume of 45,000 barrels of oil during the flow test period to help ensure that the data gathering will be as effective as possible. This announcement goes some way to ensuring this important millstone is met. We expect the share price to strengthen.”

Asco Group, the Aberdeen-based energy logistics specialist, said yesterday that it was on track to double in size within five years after gaining additional financial muscle from last year’s sale to private equity.

The firm, which oversees the delivery of goods and materials destined for oil rigs and platforms around the world, is also eyeing twin acquisitions in Canada as it looks to step up its presence in North America.

It said it was hopeful of completing the deals – the biggest of which is for a liquids handling business worth about C$25m-$30 million (£16m-£19.3m) – by early September. An acquisition in Australia is also on the cards.

Newly-published accounts for the group show that earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) – the firm’s preferred measure of profitability – rose to £30.1m in 2011, from £29.2m a year earlier.

It is about half-way into a ten-year growth plan that should see Ebitda grow to more than £60m with its 1,600-strong global headcount likely to double.

Revenues last year rose to £626.5m from £516.7m. A large proportion of the group’s turnover varies with both the oil price and vessel supply market.

One-off charges related to last year’s acquisition by private equity firm Doughty Hanson pushed Asco to a pre-tax loss of £10.8m, compared with profits of £5m the year before.

Chief operating officer Derek Smith said the group had an acquisition facility of about £75m.

“The deal with Doughty has given us financial muscle,” he added.

Almost half of Asco’s workforce is based in Scotland.

BUDGET airline Ryanair said July passenger numbers rose 8 per cent on the same month last year, bringing the total number of flyers for 2012 to 77.7 million.

But load factor – the number of passengers as a proportion of the number of seats available for passengers – was 88 per cent compared with 89 per cent.

Last week, Ryanair reported a 25 per cent increase in profit after tax to a record €503 million (£399m).

LinkedIn connects to better sales

LINKEDIN, the professional networking website, has reported higher-than-expected quarterly sales and raised its full-year outlook.

Second-quarter revenues from the US company rose 89 per cent to $228.2 million (about £146.7m) as it increased the upper end of its full-year forecast to $925m from $900m.

The company’s online platform connects professionals, including many seeking jobs.

BoI extends Post Office contract

THE Bank of Ireland has agreed to extend its contract with the Post Office to provide banking services by three years to 2023.

The partnership will also move to a “direct bank/Post Office relationship” following the bank’s £3 million acquisition of the Post Office’s shareholding in Midasgrange, the current joint venture company. The arrangements

are expected to become effective in September.

Competition inquiry into Global deal

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) yesterday said it will look at the acquisition by Global Radio Holdings of the Real and Smooth stations, formerly owned by GMG Radio.

It said it will consider whether the acquisition could hit competition in the sector.

Media regulator Ofcom will also look into potential media plurality issues raised by the deal, which has already been completed.

DIFFICULT trading conditions at Kevin Doyle’s pubs, property and plant hire business empire contributed to a sharp fall in operating profits last year despite turnover rising to almost £40 million.

His Caledonian Heritable company, whose venues include The Dome in George Street and which also owns the Archerfield golf development in East Lothian, saw profits fall 21 per cent to £5.4m in the year to 31 October from £6.9m the previous year.

At the pre-tax level, profits more than doubled to £5m thanks to a £1.4m exceptional gain on disposal of assets and reduced interest costs. Turnover rose by 6.5 per cent to £39.5m and net assets increased to just over £50.2m from £46.8m.

The company said although the trading environment was likely to remain challenging the directors were satisfied that the company would remain profitable and that it hopes to continue to benefit from low interest rates.

The number of staff employed by the group rose to 796 from 785 with the highest paid director, assumed to be Doyle, receiving £201,163, down from £211,426.

Leith-born Doyle began his working life as a builder before establishing his own business.

shares in electronics group Sharp tumbled nearly 30 per cent yesterday, hitting their lowest closing level since 1976, as investors questioned whether Japan’s last major maker of televisions will survive.

A day after the century-old company warned of an operating loss of 100 billion yen (£81.5bn), Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s cut their credit ratings and rival Fitch warned that Sharp could lose investment-grade status unless a planned restructuring succeeds.

Sharp’s mounting losses – a symptom of Japanese TV makers’ increasing uncompetitiveness – leave it scrambling for a fresh cash injection.

Analysts say its future may hinge on whether Hon Hai Precision Industries, the flagship of Taiwan’s Foxconn Group, is willing to increase its investment in the ailing firm to 11 per cent, as was agreed in March.