Scottish Business Briefing - Friday 13 September, 2013
MANAGEMENT
MEPC buys Rolls-Royce site in £50m estate plan
THE majority owner of Scotland’s oldest and largest business park is to spend up to £50 million on expanding the estate amid signs of improving economic activity. Commercial property group MEPC has bought the site of the former Rolls-Royce engine factory at Hillington Park for £2.85m in a move that means it now owns about 70 per cent of the 419 acre park (Scotsman).
ENERGY
Biofuel firm in good health
BIOFUEL maker Argent Energy has reported a 57% hike in profits for the financial year before it was sold in a deal thought to be worth £80 million. The company, based at Newarthill, near Motherwell, saw its turnover rise 7.4% from £47.2m to £50.7m in 2012 (Herald).
FOOD, DRINK & AGRICULTURE
Scottish fishermen numbers hit record low
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Hide AdTHE number of fishermen employed in Scotland’s fishing industry has fallen to the lowest level in the industry’s long history, it was revealed today. Last year another 249 crewmen left the Scottish fleet, bringing the total number of fishermen employed on Scottish based vessels down to 4,747 - almost half the number of crewmen employed in Scotland 30 years ago (Scotsman).
Wetherspoon profits rise but sales growth slows
Pubs operator JD Wetherspoon today reported a 6.3 per cent jump in annual profits but pointed towards a slowdown in its sales growth in recent weeks. The group, which has more than 880 outlets, posted a pre-tax profit before one-off items of £76.9 million for the year to 28 July, up from £72.4m the previous year, on revenues 7 per cent higher at almost £1.3bn (Scotsman).
(http://www.scotsman.com/business/food-drink-agriculture|Read all today’s food, drink and agriculture news from scotsman.com|Click here}
TRANSPORT & INDUSTRY
Miller profits soar on recovery at housing arm
Housebuilder Miller Group has delivered a ten-fold increase in half-year profits, boosted by a “marked improvement” in the property market. The Edinburgh-based firm said UK government initiatives such as Help to Buy – which offers loans to allow people to buy new-build homes with a deposit of just 5 per cent – was helping to drive up confidence, while the Bank of England’s Funding for Lending scheme (FLS) has led to a rise in mortgage approvals (Scotsman).
Webhelp Group eyes UK acquisitions
The parent company of a major Scottish call centre employer has announced plans to invest up to £84m in acquisitions, mainly in the UK. French-owned Webhelp Group said the move was aimed at consolidating the fragmented call centre market. Earlier this year, it bought Falkirk-based HEROtsc from India’s Hero Group (BBC)