Opinion

Andrew Pollard, director of Falkirk-based Ahead Business Consulting, offers practical tips to businesses to avoid cyber attacks. What do Hackney Council, Amex, Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, Foxton's Estate Agent, Mersey Rail, Furniture Village and the Salvation Army all have in common? T

Mark Sterritt, UK network director, Scotland at the British Business Bank, discusses the growing appetite for equity finance among Scottish small businesses. It can be a difficult experience for any entrepreneur to sell part of the company they have built over years and decades of hard work. Yet, by

Jack Anderson, financial and professional services consultant at Core Asset Consulting, discusses the importance of transferable skills. Sometimes overlooked, transferrable skills are a key part of your development and career – and often you have far more to showcase in your CV or at an interv

John Rodger, partner and property specialist at accountants Chiene + Tait, discusses the potential consequences of the new Residential Property Developer Tax (RPDT). As the inquiry into the 2017 Grenfell fire continues, so too do financial repercussions from the tragedy which left 72 people dead.

Michael Reid, insolvency practitioner and managing partner Aberdeen-based chartered accountants Meston Reid & Co, puts the spotlight on wrongful trading. When the Insolvency Act 1986 became the principal law applicable to corporate insolvency in April 1986, there was much discussion around secti

Richard Douglas-Home, senior associate at Turcan Connell, discusses the additional recommendations the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) has made to the Chancellor for the simplification of Capital Gains Tax (CGT). In July 2020 the Chancellor requested that the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) ca

Stuart MacPherson, senior business services manager at Aberdeen chartered accountancy firm Meston Reid & Co, details the next stage of HMRC's digitalisation programme. The next stage of HMRC’s digitalisation programme is on the horizon with the second phase of Making Tax Digital for VAT -

Katy Wedderburn, head of MacRoberts LLP's employment team, discusses the UK Government's proposal to introduce a mandatory duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment. The UK has had legislation making sexual harassment unlawful towards employees, workers carrying out work personally and job appl

As central banks race to pilot ‘national digital currencies’, Luke Bartholomew, senior monetary economist at Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) discusses the implications and asks, will we see a UK ‘Britcoin’? Some of the best economic and banking brainpower is currently bei

It was inevitable that the impact of the global pandemic on the world’s economy would once again throw a spotlight on the revenue-raising potential of inheritance and gift taxes, writes Lindsay Bryce Mackay, an associate at Gillespie Macandrew. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation an

Hazel Jane, convenor of the CanDo Collective, discusses how we must ensure the pandemic serves as a catalyst for increasing the level of female-founded businesses in Scotland. Scottish innovation and entrepreneurship has been put to the test since the onset of the pandemic. With many sectors being s

Sue Gilchrist, legal director at Pinsent Masons, considers the impact of the latest public health guidance on Scottish business.  Scottish business, just as much as our English counterparts, was switched on to review the UK government guidance issued on working safely during coronavirus in Engl

As Hugh Young, manager of Aberdeen Standard Asia Focus PLC, marks 35-years of managing Asian equities, he discusses whether his 10 golden rules for equity investing still hold true today, even as the world grapples with the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. These 10 golden rules, which Mr Young admits have

Betsy Williamson, founder and managing director of Core-Asset Consulting, highlights the increasing importance of sustainable investing, spurred by the pandemic, and is urging those within the sector to upskill, or risk becoming defunct. Sustainable investing has “come of age” thanks to

Susannah Donaldson, legal director at Pinsent Masons, considers the impact of the pandemic on gender pay gap figures reported by large construction businesses. The Covid-19 pandemic has somewhat skewed gender pay gap (GPG) figures reported by large construction businesses for the year 2020