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The head of the Church of Scotland has called for a debate on the creation of a new system of credit to help those unable to access regular loans. The Rt Rev John Chalmers said the poorest are "most badly served and most easily exploited" by the credit market.

The Scottish Loan Fund (SLF) has announced that it has committed £700,000 of funding to the event services and management business, ExecSpace, to support its businesses growth strategy. The investment will provide a significant boost to the business as it looks to widen its geographic reach into Lo

Britain's public finances improved in February leaving government borrowing down a third on a year earlier. Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed tax receipts from self-assessment were £4.2bn, up £1.8bn on last February.

Charter flights from Switzerland's largest city to Inverness are set to make a return. Swiss-based Falcon Travel is to operate weekly charter flights from Zurich from May.

George Osborne has delivered his sixth Budget as chancellor, and the last of the current Parliament. Below is a summary of the key points announced as compiled by Edinburgh-based accountants Chien + Tait:

Chancellor George Osborne yesterday finally responded to months of appeals from industry leaders to slash North Sea oil and gas taxes by announcing in his Budget statement that Petroleum Revenue Tax (PRT) would be cut from 50 per cent to 35 per cent. The existing supplementary charge for oil compani

The Scotch Whisky Association has welcomed Chancellor George Osborne’sannouncement yesterday to cut the duty paid on spirits by 2 per cent -the first cut in spirits duty for 20 years. The industry body, which has spent months lobbying for the break, said the move will benefit both producers and co

The annual tax to be raised from the value of all the debts in UK banks is to be raised from 0.156 per cent to 0.21 per cent following yesterday’s budget announcement. It is the ninth rise since the tax was first introduced in 2011 at a rate of 0.05 per cent.

Glasgow-based Clydesdale Bankhas announced that Ian Smith, its chief financial officer, (CFO) has been appointed as an executive director.

A new Accounts Commission report published today says Scottish councils need to make better use of information to clearly set out the impact of borrowing in the longer term to help councillors make informed decisions and undertake their scrutiny roles. The report says total councils' debt from tradi

Perth-based energy giant SSE has been hit with a £100,000 bill for overcharging fees at six of its power stations. Energy regulator Ofgem found the ‘Big Six’ supplier demanded excessively high payments to switch off its hydropower stations when the grid could not cope with their electricity.

A Scottish businessman has been found guilty of defrauding his dying friend out of nearly £500,000. Keith Cameron, 54, is facing jail after being found guilty at Edinburgh Sheriff Court of conducting a fraudulent scheme that involved him convincing a childhood friend who was terminally ill with can