‘Guinea pig’ bank ready for launch
A NEW private bank could open its doors in Edinburgh as early as this year as regulators look to ease rules to boost the number of entrants to the market.Ray Entwistle, chairman of the fledgling...
View ArticleMarket watch: Analysts anxious over cost of BT’s television battle with BSkyB
FIGURES this week will shed further light upon the extent of the inroads being made by the beefed-up BT Vision into Sky’s dominance of UK market for paid television.BSkyB’s half-year results on...
View ArticleMums sink their teeth into bib market
THE world’s first baby bib with built-in “teether” will be launched in London next month by a pair of enterprising mothers from Edinburgh.Amy Livingstone, a business development manager at Hotel du...
View ArticleRevamped tourism body targets links to other sectors of economy
A RESURRECTED tourism body is drafting in three senior figures from outside the £11 billion holiday sector as it tries to forge closer links with other parts of the economy.The Scottish Tourism...
View Article‘Patent box’ opened up for tax breaks
A SCOTTISH accountancy firm has devised a method to help small businesses use the “patent box” introduced by former chancellor Alistair Darling, which gives tax breaks for profits made on ideas and...
View ArticleOptima founder Jamie Oag to take helm at Spex
ENTREPRENEUR Jamie Oag is returning to the oil and gas industry’s frontline by taking over as chief executive at engineering firm Spex Group, less than a year after selling his last company for £40...
View ArticleEdinburgh bar group Montpeliers toast profit rise
THE company behind some of Edinburgh’s best-known bars is toasting a 15-fold jump in profits thanks to “excellent” profit margins at its nightclubs.Montpeliers – which owns bars and restaurants...
View ArticleBarclays to seek £3bn in ‘coco’ bond issue
BUOYANT bond markets have put a possible major capital-raising programme by Barclays using innovative so-called “cocos” firmly back on the table, it is understood.The bank, which has seen most of its...
View ArticleThe week ahead: BT and BSkyB set for the spotlight
OIL giant Shell and media firms BT and BSkyB take centre-stage this week in the calendar of company results.BSkyB’s quarterly figures on Thursday are likely to show that its drive for high definition...
View ArticleComment: Monthly Isa plans have made most of FTSE rally
WHAT goes around, comes around. And today the world is presenting an all too familiar mystery: how is it that, with so much bad news and fretting about a return to recession, the stock market has been...
View ArticleWindfarms generate £165m before they start turning
OFFSHORE wind farms have already generated £165 million for Scotland’s economy despite many projects having only just entered the planning system, according to figures released today ahead of a major...
View ArticleEasyjet chairman Sir Michael Rake to step down
BUDGET airline EasyJet will confirm to the stock exchange this morning that City grandee Sir Michael Rake is quitting as the firm’s chairman this summer after three years of crossfire with major...
View ArticleFTSE 100 execs to land smaller bonuses
MANY executives in Britain’s biggest companies will get no increases in their annual bonuses in 2013, partly due to the success of last year’s “shareholder spring” of remuneration activism, a new...
View ArticlePeople: Marchant signs off from SSE with trip to the jungle
Days after Ian Marchant announced his retirement, the chief executive of SSE seemed to be demob happy.Never one previously known for startling audiences with his public speaking, Marchant veered...
View ArticleInterview: Courtnay McLeod, Scottish Media Academy
DRIVEN to “do something different”, Courtnay McLeod is seemingly locked in a race to create a unique feature in a media landscape caught in the vortex of new technology.Launched in the middle of last...
View ArticleFarming: Plenty of changes – but will any have long-term benefits?
SOMETIMES my old art teacher told me I was too close to what I was trying to draw and I lost perspective. Ever since then I have tried to stand back a little from the action to get a wider view and...
View ArticleGlasgow’s Document Outsourcing on course to double sales
WINNING a string of contracts with local councils in England has put Glasgow-based Document Outsourcing on course to double its turnover to £30 million in 2015. Local authorities in Gateshead, Rochdale...
View ArticleClyde Corrosion Control to double headcount
A SCOTTISH industrial coatings firm has forecast “exponential” growth using the springboard of a £50,000 investment and the acquisition of a division of Doosan Babcock completed just before...
View ArticleBusiness news in brief: Blackstone | FSA | Scottish Friendly
AMERICAN private equity giant Blackstone is reportedly poised to sell its half-share in one of the City of London’s most iconic office and leisure complexes, Broadgate, for up to seven times what it...
View ArticleScots law firm McClure Naismith sees profits fall
PROFITS at Scottish law firm McClure Naismith fell for the second year in a row after a rise in costs – the first time that the practice’s profits have been made public.Turnover edged up to £13.1...
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