Top ten most read stories of 2021

Our most-read story of 2021 revealed that the administrators of Rangers FC who were maliciously prosecuted have been paid more than £20 million. A total of £21 million had been paid to David Whitehouse and Paul Clark, and a further £3m had been given to them for legal expenses.

Our readers were also captivated by the announcement that BDO were suing the administrators of Old Co Rangers. BDO, which were the liquidators of the Old Co Rangers FC, were seeking £28.9 million from the club’s former administrators who were accused of failing to effectively manage the finances of the club.

Our third most-read story, was the announcement that Blair Nimmo was to head up Interpath Advisory.

KPMG confirmed that it had signed an unconditional agreement to sell its market-leading UK Restructuring practice to Interpath Advisory, a newly-formed company which is backed by H.I.G. Europe, the European affiliate of H.I.G. Capital, LLC.

Interpath Advisory would be led by Blair Nimmo, Will Wright and Mark Raddan, who has also led the transaction as three of the senior partners in KPMG’s UK Restructuring practice.

Coming in fourth place, was recognition for the Royal Bank of Scotland’s new £20 note. The note was recognised by the International Bank Note Society (IBNS) as one of the world’s best bank notes of 2020.

Our readers were also interested in the promotion of four Scottish partners into senior management roles at accountancy firm Azets.

The firm’s announcement that Chris Horne, Peter Gallanagh, Greig McKnight and Bernadette Higgins moved into senior management roles brought the story in at fifth place.

Coming in sixth place, was Stellar Omada’s £10 million revenue announcement. The Edinburgh-based technology start-up recorded revenue of £10.2 million in the year to 31st December, quadrupling sales in its second financial year while growing headcount from 6 to 50 during 2020.

In seventh place, was Azets Aberdeen’s acquisition of 25% more office space.

The Aberdeen office of regional accountancy firm Azets took up a further 2000 sq ft of space at its Albyn Place offices with capacity for a further 20 staff as the firm responded to rising demand from businesses across the North-East of Scotland.

Azets also strengthened its corporate tax team with the appointment of Jenna McDonald and Chelsea Robertson.

Another Azets story came in at eighth place, announcing the appointment of James Fennessey as a new restructuring partner and restructuring partner Blair Milne to the senior leadership team for Scotland.

Bringing up the rear at number nine, was the story of a Fife hotelier who was jailed for two years after committing VAT fraud worth £380,000.

In tenth place, was the announcement that Murray Capital, the private investment office of the Murray family, had led funding rounds for two Scottish start-ups.

The funding rounds saw Murray Capital reinvest in two of its existing portfolio companies – Zumo and Blackford – with the support of the UK Future Fund and other co-investors.

SFN will return with a full daily news service on January 5.