Business Briefs 8th April

Latest annual accounts for the iconic golf location filed at Companies House show turnover rose 12 per cent from £38.8m to £43.6m in the 12 months to June 30, 2014.

That underpinned growth in operating profit from £852,000 to almost £1.9m for the five-star luxury Perthshire resort.

Aberdeenshire craft brewer BrewDog has reported a sixth consecutive year of growth.

The Ellon-based firm has signalled its intention to continue building its worldwide portfolio of bars after revealing that earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation soared by 69 per cent to £4.9 million in the year ended December 31, up from £2.9m the year prior.

It had booked pre-tax profits of £2.4m on turnover of £18.1m in 2013.

Shortbread maker Dean’s of Huntly has cited soaring commodity prices as profits dropped in its latest financial year.

The Family-owned Highland firm booked pre-tax profits of £377,196 in the year ended June 30, down from £729,653 the year before.

The drop in profits came in spite of turnover edging up by 7.3 per cent, accounts newly available at Companies House have revealed.

Martin & Frost, the venerable Edinburgh furniture retailer, reopened this week following a £1 million refurbishment which has led to the creation of 35 jobs.

The firm said the store at the capital’s Fort Kinnaird site had now doubled in size. In addition to the furniture offering, it boasts a café and four new specialist departments – interior design, flooring, bathroom design and a homestore.

More than 100 jobs have been lost at two North Sea oil and gas contractors as depressed oil prices continue to force cutbacks in the industry.

Twelve jobs are to be lost at Caithness-based Forum Energy Technologies, which has closed its fabrication workshop at Lybster.

Production at the site is set to be transferred to other locations and affected staff are to be encouraged to apply for internal vacancies.

AKD Engineering in Lowestoft, Suffolk, meanwhile announced it is to shut in June, with the loss of 100 posts.

The firm said it was unable to cope with continued “substantial” losses having budgeted for an oil price of $80 but that has fallen fallen to below $50.

The City of Edinburgh Council is to spend at least £3.3 million to make private homes across the capital warmer, more environmentally friendly and cheaper to heat.

In a programme run in partnership with Home Energy Scotland, residents of Dumbiedykes, Moredun, West Mains, South Queensferry and Niddrie Mill will benefit from investment in cavity wall and loft insulation to improve their homes, reduce carbon emissions and lower their energy bills.

The investment is being delivered through Home Energy Efficiency Programmes for Scotland: Area Based Schemes (HEEPS: ABS), which is part of the Scottish Government’s programme to increase energy efficiency and tackle fuel poverty – two key elements of Edinburgh’s City Housing Strategy.