News

By Graeme Hartop, chief executive at Hampden & Co  

The outlook for employment in the UK has fallen for the third consecutive month following half a decade of near sustained growth, according to a new report from accountants and business advisors BDO LLP. BDO’s Employment Index, which combines forward-looking employment intentions as well as th

FTSE 350 DB pension scheme deficits have fallen by nearly a third and a growing number of firms approach the financial position required to buyout their liabilities, according to the latest research from Barnett Waddingham.

Two brothers are keeping it in the family after purchasing an established Hamilton-based dental surgery with significant funding support from Barclays. Paul and Martin Allan have purchased the long-established Borland & Morton surgery from its retiring founding partners, after receiving a £

A shop on the uninhabited Scottish archipelago of St Kilda needs someone new to run it, its owners have said. Permanent habitation on the islands, which sit around 40 miles north west of its nearest neighbours in the Outer Hebrides, possibly extends back at least two millennia but probably

Nationwide has been told to refund £6 million to affected current account customers after it broke a legal order from the Competition and Markets Authority. The action comes after Nationwide was found to have broken Part 6 of the CMA’s Retail Banking Market Investigation Order 2017, whic

More than £7 million worth of fraudulent transactions have been prevented in Scotland in the last financial year (April 2018 – March 2019) as a result of the Banking Protocol a rapid response scheme aimed at preventing bank customers from falling victim to scams.

Insurance giant Aviva, which employs 2,500 staff across hubs in Perth and Bishopbriggs, has announced that first half operating profits rose 1 per cent to £1.4bn driven by a strong result in general insurance, which more than offset weakness in fund management and the lack of longevity re

The Co-operative Bank has posted half year results showing that it narrowed its losses in the first six months of the year, but warned that profitability is under pressure in the mortgage market. The bank recorded an operating profit of £14.9m, compared with an £84m loss in 2017.

The UK’s economy has unexpectedly shrank 0.2 per cent in the second quarter – its first contraction since the last quarter of 2012, when GDP fell by the same amount.

Professional services company Accenture has announced the appointment of Michelle Hawkins and Les Bayne as joint regional managing directors for Scotland. Bringing a diverse set of skills, the new joint leadership team will head up Accenture’s people and operations in Scotland, helping cl

Four in 10 Scottish homeowners could be £2,300-a-year better off by switching their mortgage, according to new research. With fixed rate mortgage offers remaining below 2 per cent, the number of Scots remortgaging to a better deal has reached a 10-year-high.However, a poll carried out on behal

Sixteen UK construction bodies have written to the British Government to share serious concerns regarding the implementation of reverse VAT charges which are due to take place on 1st October, and have called for a delay in implementing the new rules.

Alex Nicholson is VAT director for Armstrong Watson, accountants, business and financial advisers, warns Scottish construction firms to act now in preparation for the VAT domestic reverse charge From 1 October 2019, there will be a significant change to how suppliers in the construction industr

Danobe Securities Limited has acquired two prominent retail assets in Edinburgh, after securing a funding package from Royal Bank of Scotland. The business has expanded its strong portfolio of retail assets with the addition of Craigentinny Retail Park and established retail assets on George Street.