Insurance firms ‘forcing car repair shops to cut corners’
THE owner of a vehicle repair shop claims that insurance companies are forcing garages to cut corners, putting drivers at risk.Bob McLaren says the restrictions on time and cost being imposed by...
View ArticleClaire Smith: Aussies revel at ‘Edinburgh Festival’ Down Under
SOMETIMES social networks like Facebook make you feel much closer to people. Other times it can make you feel further away.This week my Facebook feed has been full of pictures from Adelaide – where Mad...
View ArticleSamsung patents payout to Apple slashed
A US judge has slashed the $1 billion (£664 million) damages award a jury ordered Samsung Electronics to pay Apple after a high-profile trial over the rights to the design and technology running some...
View ArticleMatchmaker spurns web for real dates
A HEADHUNTER has given up her day job to become a recruiter for love.Linda Allan has launched Indigo Intro to tap into the market for professionals who want to meet a prospective partner face to face...
View ArticleInternet investors to expand domains
TECHNOLOGY group Top Level Domain Holdings recently struck a funding deal to give it significant firepower as it competes to build its business.The Aim-listed company is focused on the expanding market...
View ArticleEntrepreneurs school wants 1,000 students
A SCHEME that enables Scots entrepreneurs to study at one of the world’s top-ranked business schools is to boost its intake in a bid to create a 1,000-strong pool of talent.The Saltire Fellowship is...
View ArticlePeter Grant’s social bank to target start-ups
IT SEEMS to have proved popular in Burnley, Lancashire. Now an Edinburgh-based entrepreneur wants to emulate the “Bank of Dave” by setting up a similar lender to help small firms raise money.Property...
View ArticleStandard Life investors seek windfall divi
STANDARD Life shareholders are hoping to be rewarded with a special dividend on the back of bumper profits and windfall gains that have significantly bolstered its balance sheet.Analysts at Exane BNP...
View ArticleBillions in tax relief to dismantle oil rigs
CHANCELLOR George Osborne is set to unleash a fresh wave of corporate activity in the North Sea if he uses the forthcoming Budget to cement proposed tax breaks on oilfield decommissioning.The measures...
View ArticleShale and renewables can form ‘symbiotic’ links
DEVELOPING shale gas will not kill off Scotland’s burgeoning renewable energy industry, a Citigroup analyst will tell a major conference in Edinburgh this week.Recent research has suggested that the...
View ArticleJeff Salway: No interest in Britain’s savers
IT’S not going to be much of an “Isa season” for cash savers this year. Or next year, or indeed for the foreseeable future. If that sounds negative, well, that’s quite apt.Just days before we mark four...
View ArticleIndigoVision focus on growth after failed takeover
CCTV systems maker IndigoVision is set for an “interesting year” ahead, according to analysts, as the Edinburgh-based technology outfit tries to put a failed takeover bid by founder and former chief...
View ArticleCity keen to see if Bell rings changes at Menzies
ANALYSTS are hoping Paula Bell will put in an appearance when John Menzies presents its full-year results on Tuesday, even though the group’s incoming finance director won’t officially take up her new...
View ArticleProperty portal eyes £1bn boost
A NETWORK for property professionals is set to deliver a £1 billion boost for the sector with the launch of an online portal for development funding.UK Property Professionals (UKPP) – which has...
View ArticleCash down the drain as sneaky IFAs pocket money
MANY financial advisers are raking in thousands of pounds a year from investors they no longer serve, thanks to a gap in new rules banning commission.New commission payments from fund providers to...
View ArticleWelder spots an opportunity in micro-breweries
AN ENGINEERING firm that has carried out work for the Belhaven and Tempest breweries is building a plant in the north of England as drinkers continue to show a thirst for craft beer.Scotia Welding...
View ArticleComment: Taxpayers to share ‘pretend profits’
THE old adage about “lies, damned lies and statistics” was barely more evident last week than in the fixing of the “break-even” price for the taxpayers’ stake in Lloyds Banking Group.The target price...
View ArticleSIB aims to make firms finance-ready
THE new head of the Scottish Investment Bank is broadening its role to help small firms become more investor-ready.In her first interview since being appointed to the post, Kerry Sharp told Scotland on...
View ArticlePelamis closing in on funding
WAVE power developer Pelamis expects to seal a funding deal before the end of the year to commercialise its “sea snake” technology.Per Hornung Pedersen, chief executive of the Edinburgh-based firm,...
View ArticleBill Jamieson: Why Scotland needs to get building
OF ALL the sectors in Scotland that took a battering in the aftermath of the financial crisis and recession, construction and property were the most severely impacted – commercial property in...
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