AgriBank sows seeds for savings accounts
ANOTHER lender entered the UK market yesterday with the launch of AgriBank, which will offer savings accounts to the general public but will only hand out loans to farmers.Business Secretary Vince...
View ArticleLloyds fined £4.3m over delayed PPI payments
LLOYDS Banking Group was fined £4.3 million by the City watchdog today after up to 140,000 customers had their payment protection insurance compensation payments delayed.The customers were not paid...
View ArticlePendragon shareholders to get first dividend for five years
Britain’s largest car dealer has vowed to resume dividend payments for the first time since 2008 after unveiling an 18 per cent rise in annual profits.Pendragon, which operates under the Evans Halshaw...
View ArticleBusiness briefs: Dairy Crest | Danone | Optimus | McMillan Hotels
The owner of Cathedral City cheese has announced plans to overhaul its business structure in a move aimed at saving at least £5 million a year.Dairy Crest, which also makes Country Life butter and...
View ArticleLooking good: Sainsbury’s non-food sales hit £1 billion
Sainsbury’s hailed a “significant milestone” yesterday as non-food sales reached £1 billion a year for the first time.The group was helped by its best ever Christmas, when general merchandise sales...
View ArticleJim McColl wades into North Sea after buying US oil services outfit
Engineering tycoon Jim McColl will mark his return to the North Sea’s oil and gas industry today when he unveils the takeover of an American energy services firm along with his ambitious expansion...
View ArticleEU gender rule change drives insurance sales
A DEADLINE for an EU directive banning gender discrimination by insurers caused a “huge” 23 per cent boost in sales for two Scottish protection specialists.Bright Grey and Scottish Provident, the...
View ArticleIndian owner sells HEROtsc to French rival in £77m deal
Scotland’s largest call centre operator has been snapped up by French rival Webhelp in a €90 million (£77m) deal as it makes its first move into the UK market.Falkirk-based HEROtsc, which employs some...
View ArticleEurotunnel under scrutiny
Channel tunnel operator Eurotunnel could be forced to offload its ferry business after a watchdog warned its ownership may be anti-competitive.The Competition Commission said it feared passengers and...
View ArticleSmall firms brand business rates as ‘incomprehensible’
THREE out of five firms find business rates “incomprehensible” and one-in-five did not know they could appeal against their properties’ valuation, according to data published today by the Federation of...
View ArticleComment: PM’s RBS talk is political, not business
GO FASTER, jump higher. David Cameron has said he wants Stephen Hester, Royal Bank of Scotland’s chief executive, to turn the group round and improve its fortunes more quickly.Clearly – so the state...
View ArticleDavid Cameron visit may not solve Indian tax row
SCOTLAND’s second-biggest distiller has warned against the industry getting carried away with hopes of David Cameron’s trade mission to India heralding a near-term cut in duties on spirits.Pierre...
View ArticleAndrew Bailey steps up at the Bank to head new prudential financial regulator
A VETERAN Bank of England official has been named as its deputy governor and head of the new prudential regulation authority (PRA) starting 1 April.Andrew Bailey, who is currently head of prudential...
View ArticleMarkets: FTSE 100 charges to five-year high
The benchmark FTSE 100 Index surged to its highest close in more than five years tonight as eurozone cheer offset a hefty fall from blue-chip heavyweight Vodafone.A jump in German and eurozone economic...
View ArticleSLI to back Bumi board revival plan
Standard Life Investments, one of the largest shareholders in Bumi, said yesterday that it would support the coal miner’s board and vote against proposals from co-founder Nat Rothschild to oust 12 of...
View ArticleColin Borland: Small steps help improve the business climate
Describing business rates as “complicated” is a bit like describing the mood among the losers at Musselburgh Races as “jumpy”.Complicated really doesn’t come close to expressing the cat’s cradle of...
View ArticleEE’s brief monopoly on mobile 4G fails to bring home the bacon
Mobile phone operator EE’s ability to capitalise on its brief monopoly on 4G services was questioned yesterday after figures showed the company’s revenues shrank in the final quarter of last year.The...
View ArticlePD&MS wins BP contract
OIL and gas engineering consultancy PD&MS Energy has bagged a three-year contract with BP that is understood to be worth tens of millions of pounds.The Aberdeen-based firm will today unveil a deal...
View ArticleRedundancy has hit 1 in 7 since 2008
AROUND 3.7 million people have been made redundant since the recession began in 2008 – one in seven of all UK employees – according to a new study.Almost two-thirds of those losing their jobs were...
View ArticleWeir Group shells out £55m on trio of acquisitions
Weir Group has further extended its reach into emerging markets with a clutch of acquisitions valued at £55 million.The deals will give the Glasgow-headquartered engineer new production capacity in...
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