News

Nearly two thirds (63%) of Chartered Accountants are urging Chancellor John Healey to prioritise tax certainty in next week’s Budget and avoid further pressure on businesses. A new ICAS survey found just 3% of members support higher taxes on businesses or employers.

More than four in five (82%) finance leaders in the UK and Ireland say they feel under pressure to adopt AI in their finance function faster than they are currently comfortable with, according to new research. According to a survey carried out by AccountsIQ, which delivers cloud accounting software

Chancellor John Healey will not increase capital gains tax in next week’s Budget despite pressure from some of his Cabinet colleagues. Wes Streeting and Louise Haigh have been among those wanting to see a rise in the tax imposed on the profit made when an asset has been sold, such as shares in

The Royal Bank of Scotland has named Robert Begbie as Executive Chair, Scotland and Senior Advisor, Commercial & Institutional. He takes on the newly-created position from 1 January 2027. 

Adam Maitland has been appointed head of Cooper Parry's national Corporate Finance business, leading one of the UK's fastest-growing advisory teams from the firm's Scottish hub in Aberdeen. Mr Maitland, who takes on the role from Andy Parker, joined Cooper Parry following its 2025 acquisition of Hut

UK traders are increasingly shorting the big four British banking stocks ahead of the Autumn Budget, with short-selling activity surging 69% week-on-week according to new data. The figures are from investing and trading platform IG, with the rises coming amid speculation that Chancellor John Healey

Beeks Financial Cloud Group, the Renfrewshire-based markets technology enabler, has reported a record performance driven by momentum across its product range. The company, which is quoted on the Alternative Investment Market, has also announced positive first quarter momentum.

The Scottish Government is exploring new ways to privately finance major public infrastructure projects, with the Scottish Futures Trust leading work on alternative funding models as pressure on public finances constrains capital spending. The trust is working with the market on a revised approach t

Scottish Building Society has become the first UK lender to go live on a new artificial intelligence platform that lets it run generative AI without customer data leaving its own environment, according to the financial technology provider SBS. The society, a long-standing SBS client, runs the SBS AI

Fidelity Asian Values saw its discount to net asset value (NAV) narrow, but its NAV total return of 6.1% trailed the 9.1% return of its benchmark, the MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index, after missing out on the AI rally in the year to 31 July 2026. The share price total return for the y

JPMorgan UK Small Cap Growth & Income (JUGI) trailed its benchmark for a second successive year, returning 7.2% on net assets against 9.8% for the index in the 12 months to 31 July. Shareholders vote on 23 November on whether the trust should continue, as the company prepares to absorb Aberdeen

Andrew Bailey has warned that British businesses are cutting costs and eating into their profit margins to cover rising energy costs. The Governor of the Bank of England said many businesses were reducing their headcount to avoid passing higher energy costs on to their customers.

Chancellor John Healey is set to increase taxes on Britain’s banks to help plug a hole in the UK Government’s finances caused by rising borrowing costs. Mr Healey is considering options for raising more revenue from Britain’s financial institutions ahead of the Budget on 28 October

Accountancy and business advisory firm BDO has appointed Angela Banerjee as a tax director specialising in R&D tax relief. She has more than  15 years’ experience across a number of advisory firms as well as expertise in advising innovative businesses on the patent box regime, where p

The UK Government has announced Edinburgh will host the G20's annual finance meeting next summer. Central bank governors and finance meetings will meet at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre on July 8 and July 9, as part of a series of events around the G20 Leaders' Summit in Manchester in