If music be the food of profits…
OLDER generations may remember the radio programme Music While You Work. Now it seems there is money to be made from it.Eighty per cent of Scots small business owners believe music in the workplace...
View ArticleDirector Dealings: Inspired decision to up chiefs’ holdings
SHARES in gas and electricity procurement company Inspired Energy rose last week after three directors went into the market to up their stakes.Managing director Jane Thornton, sales director Matthew...
View ArticleGrowth fund for entrepreneurs set to increase Scottish investment team
THE Business Growth Fund, backed by the big five banks, is looking to almost double its team of Scottish investment managers in a sign that companies are showing a greater appetite for equity to...
View ArticleBill Jamieson: Shovel-ready projects may dig us into a hole
SHOVEL-ready projects: when it comes to popularity these days they are up there with Adele, supermarket ready-meals and designer stubble. The Scottish Government, wishing to be at least as popular,...
View ArticleSumming up: We need alternatives to payday loans
THAT the Wonga brand is to adorn the mono shirts of Newcastle Football Club seems apt, such is the black and white nature of the storm over payday lenders.The breathless moralising over payday loans...
View ArticleOmbudsman rules against S&N pensioners’ claim
THE UK Pensions Ombudsman has ruled against a campaign by tens of thousands of pensioners of former brewing giant Scottish & Newcastle who alleged they got “a raw deal” following S&N’s takeover...
View ArticleNew plant could be key to AG Barr-Britvic link-up
SOFT drinks firms AG Barr and Britvic may be considering whether to ramp up production at AG Barr’s new Milton Keynes facility as part of their merger plans, according to analysts.The market will be...
View ArticleComment: Setback for Hester as road to recovery gets bumpier
STEPHEN Hester must feel like a child learning to ride a bicycle. Just when he’s got a bit of momentum he suffers a wobble and falls off.His recovery plans for Royal Bank of Scotland were boosted last...
View ArticleScots airports miss out on United routes
UNITED Airlines, the biggest in the US, has snubbed Scottish airports in favour of expanding its markets in Ireland, the Netherlands and Nigeria.However, United confirmed its commitment to maintaining...
View ArticleQuayle Munro mulls ‘less Scottish’ name and office move
QUAYLE Munro Project Finance is searching for a new name and smaller offices as it asserts its independence from its parent company.The firm, formed as a result of a buyout by four former directors of...
View ArticleSoftware company to open office in England
A FIFE software company that counts BAE Systems, BSkyB and Bristow Helicopters among its clients is to expand its workforce and push south after seeing profits more than double last...
View ArticleJeff Salway: Scots are increasingly keen to focus on ethical concerns
WE’RE fond of telling banks to focus on principles as well as profits – and it seems Scots are increasingly willing to walk the talk and put their money where their morals are. Investors in Scotland...
View ArticleBAE looks east after failed merger
DEFENCE firm BAE Systems is expected to turn to wealthy customers in the East as it tries to bounce back from the collapse of its merger with Airbus manufacturer EADS.The group, which has an...
View ArticleImproved margins help performance at Scotia Homes
PROFITS at Scotia Homes recovered last year as the group improved margins despite shrinking sales.Accounts filed with Companies House show the Peterhead-based company showed turn-over fell to £21.2...
View ArticleBig bit parts: confidence back in North Sea
CONFIDENCE is returning to North Sea investment decisions, with drilling activity in the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) in the first nine months of 2012 ahead of the same period last year, claims a report...
View ArticleWaveblade in the vanguard as Kelvin Capital plays angel to eight innovators
KELVIN Capital, the Glasgow-based “business angel” syndicate, is to invest £3 million in eight new Scottish businesses.The group, which was co-founded by John McNicol and Jim Hall in 2009, finalised...
View ArticleMore than two thirds of Scots say recession has damaged their careers
More than two thirds of Scottish workers think that the recession has held back their careers, with many feeling they have moved backwards in the past two years.A survey by Change Recruitment Group...
View ArticleMajor shareholder puts BAE on spot with buyback call
BAE Systems is being pressed by the defence giant’s biggest private investor to launch a substantial shares buyback following its derailed £28 billion merger deal with European aerospace group,...
View ArticleTaxi maker Manganese Bronze talks rescue with Chinese partner
GEELY, the Chinese carmaker, is weighing up a rescue bailout for troubled Manganese Bronze, the manufacturer of the iconic British black taxi.Executives from the Chinese firm, which has a 20 per cent...
View ArticleVirgin Money circles as RBS takes stock of aborted Santander deal
ROYAL Bank of Scotland (RBS) could lose out on hundreds of millions of pounds on any eventual sale of 316 branches, with Virgin Money understood to be hovering following the breakdown of talks with...
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