Business Briefs -April 23

The figure was 21 per cent higher than February (£13.6 billion), and 7 per cent higher than March last year (£15.4 billion).

Gross mortgage lending for the first quarter of this year was estimated at £44.9 billion.

CML chief economist Bob Pannell said: “The underlying lending picture is stabilising. Sentiment and activity are showing early signs of improvement, and should be further supported by the effects of stamp duty reform. We expect to see lending strengthen over the next few months, albeit from a relatively sluggish start in 2015.”

Property firm Savills has agreed a deal to buy rural specialist Smiths Gore, which operates five offices across Scotland, for an undisclosed fee.

Smiths Gore, founded 168 years ago, operates as a partnership with 532 staff across 45 offices including Dumfries, Edinburgh, Haddington and Perth.

All of the offices will transfer into Savills rural energy and projects division or its country residential agency business.

Savills said the acquisition of Smiths Gore, which specialises in the management of rural property for private clients, institutions and the public sector, complements its existing rural business, focused on private client and charitable sectors together with transactional advice.

Mark Ridley, chief executive of Savills UK and Europe, said: “This acquisition is in line with our strategy to improve the Mark Ridley welcomed the acquisition of Smiths Gore strength and depth of skills and expertise in our rural business, as well as expanding our geographical reach to provide a truly national service.

“Our strength and success is as a result of our commitment to ensuring that we can advise our clients on all aspects of property, across all sectors.”

A plan to build hundreds of flats for rent on the banks of the Clyde has been given the go-ahead.

The development by Kippax, part of the Dandara Group, is part of the Glasgow Harbour development.

City councillors were told the multi-storey will be phase three of the GH²O scheme which has been moving west along the river.

Phases one and two involved five blocks of flats which are all completed and occupied.

The first plan for phase three would have resulted in a further three blocks being built on a site opposite Sawmill Road at Castlebank Street.

They would have contained 770 properties with the tallest soaring to 22 storeys high.

The new planning permission is for a total of 342 flats of which 78 will be studio flats, 134 one bedroom flats and 130 two bedroom flats.

Shops, offices, food and drink outlets and a gymnasium are planned for the ground floor level.

The flats, which will be in a block ranging in height from 12 to 16 storeys, will not be for sale but will all be available for rent.

Edinburgh-based brand agency Tayburn, has posted its best financial data in a decade.

The company, whose clients include Standard Life, Crosse & Blackwell, Heineken and Toshiba, was buoyed by growing business outside Scotland.

Gross income was up by 11 per cent to £2.7 million in the year to March 31.

The agency highlighted its growing presence south of the Border, notably in the north-west, south-east and in London, with 60 per cent of gross income now generated in Scotland.

However, it insisted that Scotland remains a vital market, noting that it had won new clients in the shape of The Caledonian Brewery and Axcess Financial over the period.

Tayburn, which began trading in 1979, said gross income offers a more accurate measure of its performance than turnover.

That remained steady at £3.1 million, which the agency said reflected its continuing shift into brand consultancy and digital communications briefs. The company increased its headcount by two to 39 staff.

Budget airline Ryan Air is set to slash its fares by 15 per cent on the back of falling oil prices and tax rates.

Speaking at Edinburgh airport yesterday, chief executive Michael O’leary predicted the number of passengers flown by Ryanair on Scottish routes will double in three years on the back of the developments.

Travellers would further benefit from a promised halving of air passenger duty, from the current minimum of £13 per person per flight for the shortest routes, he said.

The forecast came as Mr O’leary announced Ryanair’s biggest-ever Scottish winter schedule, with more flights on seven routes from Edinburgh from this autumn, including extending its Santander and Frankfurt Hahn links year-round.

More frequent flights will operate to Alicante, Krakow, Stansted, Malaga and Tenerife among Ryanair’s 18 routes from the capital this winter, compared to 16 last winter.

It is operating 32 routes from the airport this summer, which is unchanged on 2014.

Glasgow will have eight Ryanair routes this winter, including a new link to Berlin. This compares to seven last winter – when the airline launched flights there – and nine this summer.

However, Ryanair will further reduce its winter routes at Prestwick, from seven to six.

Betting firm Ladbrokes has announced a sharp fall in quarterly profits on the back of lucky streak for punters and the introduction of new taxes.

The second biggest betting firm in the UK, which runs 2,194 shops, said earnings in the three months to March 31 fell 22.3 per cent to £14.3 million after gamblers enjoyed three winning weeks when favourites won on Premier League football and had a good Cheltenham Festival.

The firm put its Irish business, which runs 196 shops and employs 840 staff, into examinership allowing it to restructure the loss-making business.

New, Glasgow-born boss Jim Mullen, who took over a few weeks ago, said he will bring forward the presentation of his turnaround plan by two months to June.

The business was impacted by the March 1 increase in machine gaming duty from 20 per cent to 25 per cent and the recent levy of a point of consumption tax. It has also withdrawn from unregulated digital markets.

It added it had suffered “significant single digit millions” of losses from a small number of high rolling gamblers. The firm said its win margin was “well below” its target of 16.5 per cent to 17 per cent. The firm closed 15 shops during the period, and is on track to close 60 in the year.

Mr Mullen said: “In the first quarter many of our customer metrics are encouraging but results have favoured customers and profits are materially down.

“These results demonstrate the challenges we continue to face. We need to change the way we run the business, build scale, primarily in digital.”