Business

Business confidence in Scotland fell three points during December to 24%, according to the latest Business Barometer from Bank of Scotland Commercial Banking.

Addleshaw Goddard’s corporate team is seeing a busy year end for deals which has created confidence that even with the challenges brought about by recent COVID developments, activity levels in the market will sustain as we enter the new year. Deals across the technology, digital innovation, tr

A £500,000 project to develop two new business units in Scalsaig, Isle of Colonsay in Argyll, has secured up to £145,000 from Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE). The project is being taken forward by the Colonsay Community Development Company (CCDC) following a feasibility study to a

A significant new funding package from Royal Bank of Scotland has helped to enable Scottish building firm the Donaldson Group to acquire timber frame manufacturer, Stewart Milne Timber Systems (SMTS). The Donaldson Group is a family of eleven businesses specialising in the processing, manufacturing,

Lettings and estate agency Lomond Group has become the largest lettings and estate agent in Scotland after acquiring DJ Alexander. The move, which was supported by Lomond Group’s private equity partner LDC, brings Lomond Group’s portfolio of managed properties to 9,500 in Scotland, and s

Dundee-based commercial insurance technology start-up Broker Insights has raised more than £6 million in a Series A funding round led by Mercia Asset Management. Chroma Ventures, which first backed Broker Insights with seed funding in 2018, made a follow-on investment in this round, along

Dentons has advised the shareholders of Axle Group Holdings Ltd (National) on the sale of National to Halfords Group plc for circa £62 million. Halfords is the UK's largest retailer of motoring and cycling products and services.

East Renfrewshire-based Ocean Plastic Pots, a business that specialises in sustainable plant pots, made from end-of-life rope and finishing net increased business operations substantially following support from Business Gateway. Founded by former North Sea Saturation diver Ally Mitchell in January 2

Knight Frank has appointed Harry Hawksby to lead its new trading business valuations service in Scotland, enhancing its experience across a wide range of leisure property and expanding the capabilities of its hotel, leisure and trading real estate teams. Mr Hawksby joins the independent commercial p

Cytochroma, a life sciences company that provides ethical, sustainable and accurate alternatives to animal testing in drug discovery and development, has secured nearly £1 million to further commercialise its business. This follows a successful investment round led by Angel Academe alongside f

Clyde Gateway, Scotland’s biggest regeneration programme, has completed the sale of a further office development in Rutherglen town centre.

Total sales in Scotland increased by 2.6% compared with November 2020, when they had decreased by 10.2%, according to the latest Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) & KPMG Scottish Retail Sales Monitor.

ERM, the world’s largest pure-play sustainability advisory firm, has acquired Aberdeen-based OPEX Group (OPEX) – a specialist software company delivering AI & data science solutions that help carbon-intensive industries to reduce emissions. This acquisition will further enhance ERM&r

Edinburgh-based Label Ventures is launching a new payments innovation accelerator to help innovators around the world pioneer the future of payments and make good on their resolutions to bring innovation to market in 2022. The result of a partnership between Label Ventures and Hunch, the foresight a

Anderson Anderson & Brown (AAB), the tech-enabled business-critical services group, has appointed Alejandro Alcala-Canales, an experienced engineer, to join their innovation tax team. Alejandro Alcala-Canales joins AAB following a successful engineering career and will be applying his secto