Business Briefs - 29 July

Perth-based energy giant SSE has announced that it is to buy a minority stake in French oil and gas giant Total’s West of Shetland operations.

Under the £565m deal, SSE will take a 20 per cent stake in the Greater Laggan Area development, which includes the Glenlivet, Laggan, Tormore and Edradour gas fields.

It will also hold a 20 per cent share in the Shetland Gas Plant at Sullom Voe.

Rolls-Royce invests £60m in Scottish plant

Engine and turbine maker, Rolls-Royce, is to invest up to £60m in its Renfrewshire manufacturing plant.

The company is to make Inchinnan, near Glasgow Airport, a Centre of Competence for making aerofoils and engine shafts.

The specialist unit will provide parts for aero-engines which have gone out of volume production, meaning it requires flexible skills in making bespoke items.

It is expected that 130 roles will be created.

The company said this would partly offset the loss of almost 190 jobs announced in March.

Wood Group to shed 200 jobs

About 200 jobs are set to go at

Aberdeen oil services firm Wood Group PSN is to cut 200 from its workforce.

The company is beginning consultation with 750 workers on its Talisman Sinopec contract, following a move to a three-week shift pattern.

Onshore and offshore posts are at risk among security staff, radio operators, riggers, pipefitters and welders.

Earlier, Total confirmed it intended to follow companies such as BP and Shell, in moving to a three-week shift pattern for its offshore workers.

The oil and gas industry has been looking to reduce costs in the wake of the oil price downturn.

In April, Wood Group announced it was shedding up to 80 jobs, following a review of its operations.

Two months later, the company said it was delivering savings “significantly in excess” of original cost reduction targets.

Scottish fantasy sport leader eyes expansion with capital flit

One of the big hopes for Scotland’s digital sector is to expand into an office which could see its workforce multiply up to five-fold.

Scottish digital firm FanDuel has signed up for new accommodation being built at the Quartermile, on the site of the former Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

The company, which is a leading player in the US fantasy sports business, said that by the end of 2015 it will employ 90 people in Scotland and 150 in the US.

Its new office will have capacity for 500 Edinburgh staff, and it is also opening a Glasgow base.

FanDuel currently boasts more than 40m followers.

Dunblane pharma firm bought for £7.3m

Dunblane-based laboratory testing company, Select Pharma, has been acquired by main market listed Source Bioscience in a deal worth up to £7.3 million.

It represents a £5m windfall for majority shareholder David Clapperton whose wife Morag is also on the board, and a £1.8m payout for Gerald Higgins, chairman since 2013.

Privately-owned Select, founded in November 2009, provides stability storage and testing laboratory services, and three years ago it moved its testing facilities to the BioCity Scotland business incubator site at Newhouse in Lanarkshire.

The company doubled revenues to £2m and net assets to £1.3m over the two years to March 2014, and lifted pre-tax profit from £453,000 to £578,000. Its cash flow from operations more than doubled to £643,000 between 2013 and 2014, and it is debt-free.

Scots bio firm secures £2.3m funds boost

Life sciences firm Lamellar Biomedical has raised just over £2.3 million to help with the treatment of a number of conditions and diseases including cystic fibrosis.

The firm, which is based in Bellshill near Glasgow, said the equity investment round was subscribed entirely by existing shareholders.

Participating investors included funds managed by Invesco Asset Management, the Scottish Investment Bank, Barwell, members of TRI Cap and a number of other private investors.

The firm is developing patentprotected medical devices that can aid in the treatment of dry mouth, dry eye and cystic fibrosis – conditions it argues are poorly served by currently available medications.

The funding raised will be deployed to further develop the devices. A clinical study of one them is due to commence later this year at the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre, while another will follow at Glasgow Caledonian University’s eye clinic.