Scots car sales stall as UK dealers motor on for 39th month

Scottish car dealers suffered a year-on-year drop in sales last month while their colleagues south of the border enjoyed a modest rise, according to new figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

Published 5 June 2015

Scottish Chambers of Commerce endorses BoE’s decision to keep rate at record low

UK interest rates have been held at 0.5 per cent again by the Bank of England, a decision that has been welcomed by the Scottish Chambers of Commerce.

Published 5 June 2015

Majority of Scots SMEs call on MPs to make slashing red tape a priority

More than half of Scottish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have identified the slashing of red tape as the top priority for the new Westminster government for driving growth north of the border.

Published 5 June 2015

Bannatyne finance boss charged over £8m fraud

Christopher Watson, a finance director who worked for the Scottish businessman and star of the BBC's Dragons’ Den programme Duncan Bannatyne’s group of companies has been charged with fraud and money laundering totalling almost £8 million.

Published 5 June 2015

Lloyds fined record £117m for “unfairly rejecting” PPI complaints

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued its largest ever retail fine to Edinburgh-based Lloyds Banking Group for failing to treat their customers fairly when handling Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) complaints.

Published 5 June 2015

‘£170m Tory cut proposals do not respect election result in Scotland’ - Swinney

A savings plan announced yesterday by the UK Chancellor will see Scotland face a £176.8 million cut in public spending this year, a move that Scotland's Finance Secretary John Swinney said was an "unexpected and unwarranted" imposition of further austerity that was “completely and utterly unacceptable”.

Published 5 June 2015

Rent controls ‘could deter Edinburgh Festival tourists’

New controls over private sector rents would price visitors out of staying in Edinburgh during the festivals, letting agents have claimed.

Published 5 June 2015

Eurozone and North Sea woes see manufacturing confidence suffer sharpest drop in two years - BDO

Manufacturing firms reported the biggest decline in optimism this month since March 2013, according to the latest Business Trends Report by accountants BDO in Scotland.

Published 5 June 2015

M&A deals resurgent across Scotland and UK as private equity trades up -PwC

Transformational "mega deals" and ongoing availability of capital have helped boost total UK deal values by almost 100 per cent in the first quarter of 2015, according to the latest PwC Deals Index.

Published 5 June 2015

Designs revealed for new Portobello pier

Published 4 June 2015

Thorntons Investment Management appoints new Board member

An Aberdeen businessman has been appointed to the board of Thorntons Investment Management.

Published 4 June 2015

Lloyds fails in bid to buy back crisis-issued bonds early

The High Court has ruled against Lloyds Banking Group in its bid to save around £1 billion by buying back early bonds issued in the wake of its 2008 bailout.

Published 4 June 2015

£19,000 spent every second on UK cards

Consumers across the UK collectively spent more than £19,000 every second using their plastic last year as some 31.6million card payments were made every day, more than double the 15.7million a day in 2004.

Published 4 June 2015

Saltire Foundation launches ‘Talent Matching’ programme to aid innovative Scottish companies

Scottish companies are being offered a unique opportunity to tap into international entrepreneurial expertise and turbo-charge projects ranging from growth strategies to export drives.

Published 4 June 2015

Lowest number of homes on the market for years is driving house prices - Halifax

The number of properties on the market is at its lowest level for many years, according to the Halifax.

Published 4 June 2015