Video: Scottish Food Fortnight launches

It’s Scottish Food Fortnight, launched this morning in Dundee by Richard Lochhead, the Rural Affairs Secretary. But what’d the idea behind the event? Will it help the Scottish Government and the industry achieve their ambitious target of increasing the size of Scotland’s food exports from £10bn to £12.5 in about five years?

Video: Making venison dear to our hearts

Scottish Food Fortnight will be officially launched today. But Scotland’s venison producers decided to launch their campaign to persuade us all to eat more of the produce yesterday at the Glengoyne Distillery north of Glasgow. Despite fears that there might be a shortage of deer in the stalking season, there seems to be enough venison [...]

BBC DG calls for broadcasters to work together – and takes swipe at Sky

Delivering the MacTaggart lecture at the Edinburgh Television Festival, the BBC’s director general, Mark Thompson, said that all the best speeches had anger, “rage if you can mange it” but more importantly a “proper black-hearted villain”.
Most of the audience would have been forgiven for thinking the villain of Thompson’s speech would be James Murdoch, whose [...]

£15,000 ‘Facebook bursary’ for innovative students

t’s not long before the start of the new academic year. A lot of new students – and probably their parents – will be wondering how to fund the next three or four years of relevant, mind-broadening study.
Help for a select few may be at hand from HSBC. It’s launched a search on Facebook [...]

Audio: ‘Every business is struggling and needs to learn’

What does a successful entrepreneur do when she’s made her fortune? Some go on to become serial entrepreneurs but not all. Liz McAreavey moved from Wales to Scotland in her early 20s, settling in Edinburgh. In “le Bistro”, she built up one of Scotland’s most successful catering businesses, with an annual turnover of around £7m. [...]

Leading Scottish call centre company taken over by French firm

One of Scotland’s leading contact centre companies, beCogent, has been taken over by the French firm, Teleperformance, in a deal said to be worth around £35m. The deal makes the new group the second largest operator of outsourced contact centres in the UK.
Until now, Teleperformance didn’t have any presence in Scotland so it will [...]

Barra among world’s scariest airports – report

hat do Barra, Gibraltar and Guatemala City all have in common?
A website called smartertravel.com has named them all in its top ten of the scariest airports in the world. Given the company it’s with, Barra’s beach landing strip seems mild by comparison. Judge for yourself from the selection.
1. Toncontin International Airport, Honduras [...]

Edinburgh’s Tram Project, not all work has stopped

All the headlines about Edinburgh’s Tram Project have been on the problems in the centre of town. Certainly, the dispute over part of the contract with Billfinger Berger has still to be resolved. But that doesn’t mean to say that all work has stopped. It’s continued throughout on the section from Haymarket, out to the [...]

‘Large rise’ in company directors taking illegal loans

New figures suggest there’s been a massive growth in the number of directors taking illegal loans and dividends from their businesses. They come to light when the firm goes bust and insolvency practitioners are called in. But it has serious implications for creditors, especially the tax man.
The problem’s been highlighted by accountancy firm, Wilkins [...]

FSB report calls for radical reform of parental leave

or the past 50 years or so, the question of maternity (and then paternity) leave has provoked often sharp debate. Politicians of the left have tended to promote the idea to encourage “family values”; those on the right have resisted, claiming it would harm business.
The driver for actual reform however has often come from [...]

Opinion: Small businesses key to job creation

strong>By Colin Borland, Federation of Small Businesses
It’s too early to tell if the Westminster government’s strategy of cutting the deficit now to stimulate a private sector led recovery is going to pay off.
Experts are understandably wary about reading too much into the initial signs. The latest UK GDP figures were surprisingly positive, but economists [...]

Work finally begins on EICC extension

t’s been a long time coming. The planning process seems to have gone on for ever. But this morning, work finally began on the extension of the Edinburgh International Conference Centre. It will cost £85 million and take 30 months to complete. But it will provide the city with one of its most flexible venues. [...]

Interview with Iain MacMillan on CBI industry survey

CBI Scotland has just published its quarterly Industrial Trends Survey. It shows that output has continued to grow slowly but steadily over the past 12 months. That’s expected to continue for the rest of the year. Exports in particular were up on the previous quarter but demand at home was fairly static. Employment went [...]

Interfacing business with academia

A recession can often be the best time for a new business to start or an established one to change direction. But one problem for both is how to turn a good, innovative idea into a profitable product. For the past five years, an organisation called Interface has been helping them do just that.
In many [...]

Scottish house prices up by 0.4%

In the latest four week period available the Scottish average house price has increased by 0.4% to £150,912 and the volume of sales in Scotland has increased by 18.5%.
The map below lets you find out what’s happening to house prices in your area.

You can get the 52 week version of this map at ros.gov.uk. You [...]

Scottish entrepreneurs pitch in nationwide competition

The Pitch 2010 is a nationwide business competition. Today, the Scottish heat took place at the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh. They were pitching for the chance to go to the London Finals in November and a £50,000 prize. David Calder went along to find out more from one of the organisaters, Dan Martin [...]

Scottish business confidence ‘highest in UK’

here are growing signs that business confidence is returning to Scotland. A survey from the Clydesdale Bank suggests that it’s currently the highest in the UK. It comes the day after the Scottish Government released figures show the third successive quarter of growth for exports.
The bank’s business confidence survey found that more than half (56 [...]

Profile: Family firm that breaks the ‘three generation’ rule

amily-owned firms dominate Scotland’s economy. They range from very small businesses to others that are household names. But the consensus view is that most family firms last for three generations. After that, they’re either sold or die as family members lose interest in the project or want to cash in their inheritance.
So what makes [...]

Why Gates won’t do a Steve Jobs to save Microsoft

Who do you think runs Microsoft? Unless you’ve been paying really careful attention to corporate technology news over the last couple of years you’ll probably reply: “Bill Gates.” And you’ll be wrong. But Microsoft would dearly love to have him back.
Most of the world still thinks Gates is the boss of Microsoft and the company [...]

Business centres find silver lining in recession and Icelandic clouds

he recession has proved an unexpected bonus for at least one sector of the economy. Business at Scotland’s business centres has been booming – and it started almost as soon as the rest of the economy began to falter. Even now when commercial property is bouncing back, business centres are predicting healthy growth.
In the [...]

Ryanair increase flights from Edinburgh

Ryanair has announced this morning that it’s expanding its operations out of Edinburgh Airport. It’s increasing the number of flights to key destinations, three of them in Spain.
From November, it will have three weekly flights to Alicante and four each to Barcelona, Brussels, Frankfurt and Malaga.
According to Laszlo Tamas, the airline’s Sales & Marketing [...]

Scottish games industry levels up with award nominations

Three of Scotland’s leading computer games companies, have been shortlisted in this year’s Develop Industry Excellence Awards 2010.
The international awards recognise the most talented UK and European games developers for their creativity, teamwork, and innovation.
Realtime Worlds has been nominated for All Points Bulletin, its latest online title, as well as Best Independent Studio. Tag Games [...]

Waiting for the axe to fall on public sector ads

For advertising agencies these are difficult times as they’re faced with confusing messages about the future of the industry. On the one hand, one leading media buyer has predicted that revenues will soar in the coming year. On the other, agency bosses are waiting for the axe to fall on many public sector marketing budgets.
They [...]

Two-thirds of Scots SMEs miss out on exports

A report today from Bank of Scotland Commercial suggests that many Scottish businesses are losing out on international opportunities by not exporting. It says that only a third of Scots SMEs export their products or services. Concerns about doing business in a foreign language worry some, while 41% described fearing a lack of demand as [...]

Showcasing Scotland’s inventiveness to the world

The Scottish Technology Showcase in Glasgow is evidence of our continued role as one of the most inventive countries on the planet. From wave power to flexible electronic arrays, from a new generation of electric vans to new ways of helping organisations simulate developments decades into the future, there’s a lot of fascinating ideas on [...]

Tesla electric sports car makes European debut

This will be an exciting weekend for motor enthusiasts. Not only is the Scottish Motorfair being held at the Knockhill Racing Circuit, but it will also be the first chance to see the all-electric Tesla Roadster in action. The car’s expected to make a number of demonstration runs at the event.
The US-developed car will make [...]

All-Energy show opens with questions over renewables

The opening of All-Energy 2010 in Aberdeen this morning, described (despite its title) as “The UK’s largest renewables show”, focuses public and government attention on this important sector. Now in its tenth year, it’s attracted organisations from all over the world, not just the UK.
But it also comes at a time when the very [...]

How to hack a car

A staple of Hollywood movies has been the jealous spouse cutting the brake cables on the family car to fatal effect. Forget it. American scientists have revealed a multiplicity of ways to achieve the same result and more without even touching the vehicle. And it’s not that difficult to do.
The university researchers from Seattle and [...]

Government defends changes to business rates

The Scottish Government has defended its changes to the way business rates are assessed. It carried out an analysis to monitor the impact of the revaluation which came into effect last month. It published this today, with the report saying that Scotland’s small businesses were “significant beneficiaries of the Scottish Government’s decisions”.
In particular, [...]

What now for STV news?

ow that the new Government is in office, what is the future for news on STV? Earlier this year, the Labour administration agreed to put public money into funding a news service on ITV in Scotland, Wales and the North of England. But the contract had to be put out to tender.

New government warned: Housebuyers need your help

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has reported a drop in arrears and repossessions in England for the first quarter of the year. At the same time, it warned against complacency and joined the Building Societies Association and pressure groups, including the charity, Shelter, in writing to the new government asking it to help the [...]

Export awards success for Scottish textiles firm

The Scottish textiles industry has been under pressure for many years, though reports of its demise have been repeatedly exaggerated. Even so, the UK Fashion and Textile Association’s new “Let’s Make it Here” database only lists about 200 firms in the whole country. Those that succeed have carved an effective niche for themselves.
Three Scottish companies [...]

Sunday Times wields axe on Scottish edition

The Sunday Times is to all but close down its Scottish operation, leaving just a handful of journalists to cover the country.
Rumours had been circulating all this week but yesterday the managing editor, Richard Caseby, assembled the newspaper’s 20 or so Scottish staff and delivered the shock news.
In UK terms, between 20 and 30 jobs [...]

Snow and ash bury EasyJet in £78m half-year loss

Nature has thrown a range of spanners into the engines of Britain’s airlines. The latest bad news comes from the low-cost airline, Easyjet, which has reported a £78.7 million loss for the six months to the end of March.
It was hit by two natural catastrophes: the “exceptional” snowfall in December and January which cost it [...]

War of words over ‘wicked’ Wikipedia

Wikipedia, the font of all online knowledge, defines the word “controversy” as “a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of public opinion”.
This, as any student of the English language will confirm, is entirely accurate – which is more than can be said for some of the other three million entries [...]

BA price fixing trial collapses over undisclosed emails

he trial of four senior BA employees accused of price fixing collapsed in disarray this morning after prosecutors effectively abandoned their case.
The move followed the revelation at Southwark Crown Court that the Office of Fair Trading, which had brought the charges against the airline executives, had failed to disclose a mass of vital email evidence [...]

Dodgy drivers who put a company’s life at risk

More than 10,000 people are killed or seriously injured on the roads each year while driving at work. How many of these accidents involve people without a valid driving licence? Department of Transport figures suggest that as many as a million drivers are on the brink of losing their licence. Are they [...]

Charities’ anger at Lloyds decision to axe funding

The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations has launched a people’s petition calling on Lloyds Banking Group to reverse its decision to end its funding to the Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland.
It says that charities and community groups from across the country have joined forces over the campaign, arguing that the foundation is facing an uncertain [...]

Speyside distilleries showcase their recession-proof scotch

This is the weekend for whisky lovers. The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival has begun, with more than 50 distilleries, including some unusual ones such as Glenglassaugh, opening their doors, letting visitors see how some of the world’s most sought-after whiskies are produced.
From now until Bank Holiday Monday, the festival provides a wide range [...]

Companies see election as battle between Tories and Lib Dems

With a week to go to the election, a survey of British business confidence in the three main political parties has been published by the analysts, Lindsell Marketing. It contacted more than 1,000 companies around the UK because few recent opinion polls had canvassed their opinion, despite the fact that, it says, “business people [...]

Scots seafood producers chase £20m Expo sales record

cotland’s seafood industry expects to win more than £20 million of sales from the European Seafood Exposition which opened today in Brussels. Its record has been one of steady growth, from £16 million made in 2007 to just under the £20 million last year. Industry sources expect this to be a record year, [...]

Analysis: Building societies up against the wall

Britain’s building societies are, if not in dire straits, then at least in a parlous state. Here in Scotland, the Dunfermline collapsed and had to be taken over by Nationwide. Famous names like Abbey, Bradford & Bingley and (next month) Alliance & Leicester have been absorbed into Santander. In other parts of [...]

How a friendly chit-chat has replaced the hard sell

Human beings have been “networking” since rival tribes sat down around the camp fire in African savannah. So why is it that some people seem able to make quite a successful living teaching us how to network?
The answer may well lie in a book about networking called … and Death Came Third!. The [...]

Shop sales and factory orders show signs of upturn

There are signs that there are stirrings in the economy. Confidence appears to be returning among consumers, at least if the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics are correct. They show that the seasonally adjusted value of retail sales in March 2010 rose by 4.4 per cent compared with this time [...]

STV back to its roots with £1 sale of Pearl & Dean

It was once a fiercily ambitious Scottish company whose aim was to become a UK media giant. But now, with the sale of its cinema advertising offshoot Pearl & Dean, STV is finally back where it started, writes Allan Laing.
Just a few years ago, its empire included two commercial television stations, Scottish and Grampian, the [...]

Businesses looking for silver lining in the ash cloud

any businesses are offering services to help people cope with the Icelandic volcanic eruption. Some might argue that they’re cashing in on others’ distress; but there are very good reasons why firms should be thinking afresh about how they operate.
Take the financial print and media services company, Sterling. They were quick to [...]

Commentary: Business press counts the cost of a hung parliament

So, the first week of mud-slinging that passes for political debate in this country has come to an end. The political journalists relish it as they analyse every word of our wannabe leaders. What is more surprising is the way many business publications, even the highly technical, have jumped on the election bandwagon.
They are [...]

Boost for Branson’s banking dreams as RBS sell-off begins

The carve-up of parts of the Royal Bank of Scotland is under way. It is being forced by the EU’s competition authorities to sell 318 branches, mostly in England under the revived Williams & Glyn’s brand. The deadline for declarations of interest was today (Tuesday).
What’s made this auction suddenly all the more interesting [...]

Scotland’s businesses give £400,000 tartan ballyhoo a miss

Easter weekend sees the start of Scotland Week, described as promoting the country “…as a modern, dynamic nation with a wealth of business and investment opportunities by building on existing relationships and forging new alliances”.
If you live in Canada or certain states of the US, you will probably know all about it. The high [...]

How VAT changes will hit small businesses

s the Government trying to force the pace of technological change in business? One of the perhaps surprising facts about small business in Scotland is just how many don’t use IT.
A survey for the Federation of Small Business published last month suggested that 11 per cent of members here do not use the [...]

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