Opinion

Joanne Gillies, partner and insolvency disputes specialist at Pinsent Masons, discusses the impact of a ruling by the Court of Session allowing banks to claim debtors' PPI cash payouts.  Banks will be able to reduce the amount of compensation paid to customers who claimed they were mis-sold pay

Stuart Law, payroll director at Anderson Anderson & Brown (AAB), discusses the importance of payroll technology in a business. Rapidly advancing technology in the digital age means organisations are increasingly moving their technology away from Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)-based systems t

Ian McMonagle, tax specialist at Russell & Russell Business Advisers based in Glasgow, is predicting a fresh spate of late notice penalties in the wake of changes made at the start of this tax year to how and when residential property owners pay tax on the sale of a home. The changes to the

Property developer Andy Hadden, founder and director of The Lighthouse Business Centres and founder & CEO of Wavegarden Scotland, discusses the potential revolution of the UK's workplaces amid the COVID-19 pandemic. What do you really want from your life? Pre-pandemic, this was a question that m

David Alexander, joint chief executive officer of apropos by DJ Alexander, discusses how extending the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) holiday beyond the end of March would increase revenues. Mr Alexander said that the Scottish Government’s’ latest figures show that LBTT revenu

Murdoch MacLennan, banking partner in Scotland with accountancy firm Azets, has warned that 'Bad Bank’ – the term coined for the specialist units within banks where businesses showing signs of financial distress are transferred – is likely to make a return to the UK’s busines

Andrew Foyle, solicitor advocate and joint head of litigations (Scotland) at Shoosmiths, discusses how new regulations will introduce conditions designed to uphold creditor confidence in the pre-pack administration process. While there is no definition of a pre-pack administration in the insolvency

Jonathan Smith, an Aberdeen-based coach and facilitator with peer-to-peer business networking platform The Alternative Board (TAB), discusses how businesses could benefit from 'free' training for their staff. Most learning comes from real-life, on-the-job experience and that presents a big opportuni

Martin Keenan, a cross-border VAT specialist with Azets in Scotland, has warned that the recent description of the problems faced by Scottish Seafood businesses trying to deliver their products to EU customers as “Teething problems” significantly understates the complex and challenging i

Neil Francis, interim managing director of Scottish Enterprise, looks ahead to the trade and investment environment in Scotland in 2021. The recent announcement of a further national lockdown due to COVID-19 was a difficult start to 2021 for many, including those involved in international trade and

According to a recent survey, post-Brexit Britain is considered a prime real estate proposition by investors, developers and asset managers from across Europe, China and the US. Notably, it ranked the UK highest for future residential property investment. The UK property sector reportedly attracts i

Neil Norman, head of entrepreneurial tax and senior tax partner at Chiene + Tait, discusses the issues surrounding potential changes to taxation in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Murdoch MacLennan, a partner with Azets and a specialist in banking, is urging lenders to continue supporting businesses struggling with cash flow problems by extending for a further six-month term capital repayment holidays for debt that was arranged pre-COVID. Last March lenders moved swiftly to s

Jonathan Smith, an Aberdeen-based business coach and facilitator at The Alternative Board (TAB), provides advice on how to help managers in all business sectors in Scotland manage better. Countless managers have confided in me over the years that they find the supervisory element of their role chall

Sharon McDougall, part of Begbies Traynor's Scotland Debt Solutions Team, discusses how a personal debt crisis can be handled during the current COVID-19 pandemic. The coronavirus pandemic has been a testing period for workers across the country as work reduces, income halts and employees are placed