Business Briefs - 10 April

The German bank is in negotiations with agencies in the UK and US to settle the allegations in which a Deutsche Bank subsidiary could also plead guilty as part of a deal, the Financial Times has reported.

Retailer Majestic Wine is to take over its smaller online rival Naked Wines in a £70m deal.

The move will also see Naked Wines founder, Rowan Gormley, taking over as chief executive of the overall company.

Majestic’s previous chief executive, Steve Lewis, left the post in February.

Majestic said the £70m deal would combine Naked Wines’ online and e-commerce skills and Majestic’s national store network.

An important stage has been reached in the preparation of the next Aberdeen Local Development Plan.

Views on the proposed plan are now being welcomed.

The plan is Aberdeen City Council’s view on what should be included in the next adopted Aberdeen Local Development Plan.

The plan influences public and private investments in homes, businesses and shops.

The proposed plan is to support the improvement of Aberdeen city centre, such as infrastructure and its facilities. The plan is also promoting regeneration in brownfield site areas for housing, whilst also seeking to protect and enhance the urban greenspace and its subsequent networks.

Supported by a proposed action programme, the proposed plan stipulates what needs to happen to make the plan work. Proposed supplementary guidance will provide details on how the City Council will deal with the proposals for development. In accordance with this, an environmental assessment has been undertaken.

The publication of the documents marks the beginning of a 10 week period in which anyone can submit a representation on the plan and its supporting documents. Representations can include suggestions as to what changes should be made to the plan. The deadline for representations is Monday 1st of Jun 2015.

The plan is due to be implemented in 2016.

Persimmon Homes East Scotland has started work on a 20 acre housing development in South Gyle, Edinburgh and is poised to begin a £17.6 million housing development in Larbert.

In Edinburgh, Persimmon has started building 204 properties at its £24 million development named Station Mews at the historic St Augustine’s School site.

The builder said the site will feature a mix of homes, offering two, three, four and five-bedroom homes along with a range of two-bedroom apartments.

The development is set to launch on 28th March with the first properties to be completed in November 2015.