History brings 16m visitors to Scotland
HISTORIC tourist attractions across Scotland generated a total £2.3 billion and brought around 16 million visitors to the country last year, according to an audit. The industry also supported more than...
View ArticleParliamentary commission calls for stronger “electrified” fence between...
Plans to protect banks’ deposit-taking operations from their riskier investment activities may not be tough enough to prevent another financial crisis, according to a report that today calls for an...
View ArticleTotal signs up to Plexus project
French oil giant Total has signed up to Aberdeen-based engineering firm Plexus’ project to design well-heads that will help prevent the types of blow-out that caused the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.Shares...
View ArticleComment: Shale may not be a panacea for gas shortages
SHALE gas was a big winner in the Autumn Statement when the Chancellor provided tax incentives to encourage more development.It is seen as a potentially plentiful source of new energy and does not...
View ArticleMike Park: So far, so good for Britain’s fishing fleets
GIVEN what we were faced with, this outcome is about as good as could have been delivered. It halts this ridiculous annual decline in the number of days that vessels can spend at sea which eventually,...
View ArticleNFU Scotland gives cautious welcome to latest CAP plans
NFU Scotland has given a guarded welcome to proposed amendments to the European Commission’s proposals for reform of the Common Agricultural Policy tabled by the European Parliament’s agricultural...
View ArticleWorst Scottish harvest since 1985 is officially confirmed
FINAL estimates of this year’s harvest from the Scottish Government’s chief statistician, published yesterday, have confirmed that Scottish farmers have been hit hard by the worst harvest since...
View ArticleBAE wins £2.5bn jet contract from Omani air force
Defence contractor BAE Systems has won a £2.5 billion contract to supply 20 jets to the Sultanate of Oman.The group said it will supply 12 Typhoon and eight Hawk trainer jets for the Royal Air Force of...
View ArticleSales reach new record at John Lewis, but Edinburgh trails
Department store group John Lewis has reported an 11.1 per cent rise in weekly sales, with a record £147.8 million ringing through its tills as customers snapped up Microsoft’s new Surface tablet.The...
View ArticleFaroe secures new loan facility to expand Norwegian exploration
Faroe Petroleum, the Aberdeen-based oil and gas explorer, has agreed a new loan package with its banks to support its growth plans in Norway.The firm said it now has about £110 million available...
View ArticleScottish Business Briefing - Friday 21 December 2012
WELCOME to scotsman.com’s Scottish Business Briefing. Every morning we bring you a comprehensive round-up of all news affecting business in Scotland today. INDUSTRYLittle prospect of building a...
View ArticleComment: The UK’s economic engine is running on empty
DESPITE acres of newsprint and millions of words of analysis being expended in pursuit of an answer, it is easy to sum up the ailment from which the UK economy is suffering: there is nothing to drive...
View ArticleRegus back with £40m Business Exchange bid
OFFICE rental firm Regus has tabled a £40 million bid for London’s largest serviced-office provider.The deal to buy MWB Business Exchange will add 64 business centres across the UK to its...
View ArticlePublisher DC Thomson eyes end of final-salary pension scheme
DC THOMSON, the cash-rich media group behind the Press & Journal, the Beano and the Friends Reunited website, has become the latest company to look at closing its final salary pension scheme.The...
View ArticleAdrok adds jobs with £1.8m plan
TECHNOLOGY firm Adrok unveiled a £1.8 million expansion plan yesterday that will include doubling its headcount in Edinburgh and opening an office in Houston, in the United States.The company’s device...
View ArticleOptical Express parent suffers loss as it is hit by high street gloom
THE tough retail trading environment has taken its toll on David Moulsdale’s high street healthcare empire, pushing the group to a hefty loss.DCM (Optical Holdings), the Cumbernauld-based company...
View ArticleWatchdog levies record fines in its final flurry
FINES handed out by the City watchdog reached a record £312 million this year as banking giants Barclays and UBS were punished over their part in the manipulation of key benchmark interest rates.The...
View ArticleDon’t bet on it: William Hill takeover plan ‘complicated’
WILLIAM Hill has rejected a claim by joint venture partner Playtech that it should share in the benefits of a planned takeover of online gambling group Sportingbet.The intervention by software firm...
View ArticleAggreko bosses snap up shares after price slumps on warning
DIRECTORS at some of Scotland’s most high-profile listed companies have dipped into their own pockets to snap up shares in their firms during the run-up to Christmas.Aggreko chairman Ken Hanna snapped...
View ArticleAviva to sell US arm in £1.1bn deal that will lift share price
INSURANCE giant Aviva is to quit the US life and pensions market after agreeing a $1.8 billion (£1.1bn) disposal – the biggest so far in a restructuring aimed at boosting its flagging share price.The...
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