Scottish Business Briefing - Thursday 15 July, 2010

Published on Thursday 15 July 2010 09:46

WELCOME to scotsman.com's Scottish Business Briefing. Every morning we bring you a comprehensive round-up of all news affecting business in Scotland today.

ECONOMY

Scotland to suffer years of jobless misery

THE rate of unemployment in Scotland has now surpassed the UK average and is set to remain that way for an "extended period" as a result of a major squeeze in public-sector spending, experts have said (Scotsman). Official figures, published yesterday, revealed that the Scottish jobless total soared to 8.1 per cent compared to a UK-wide figure of 7.8 per cent.

Warning of threat to Scotland's fragile economic recovery

RISING costs are expected to stifle Scotland's manufacturing-led recovery, according to a report published today (Scotsman). Modest growth in the manufacturing industry during the past three months is unlikely to continue in the short-term because of increasing cost pressures, the Scottish Chambers of Commerce's (SCC) quarterly business survey warned.

Read all today's economics news from scotsman.com

ENERGY & UTILITIES

Oil group Fairfield's float hangs in balance

ONE of the biggest flotations of the year was hanging in the balance last night as oil and gas independent Fairfield Energy scrambled to drum up last-minute interest from investors (Scotsman). Fairfield, which aims to raise as much as 337 million, was looking for orders at the bottom of its price range as yesterday afternoon's deadline for orders loomed.

Read all today's energy and utilities news from scotsman.com

BANKING & INSURANCE

Customers hit by 'death blow' in bid to sue banks

Banks are said to have delivered a "death blow" to thousands of Scots attempting to sue them over unfair overdraft charges (Herald). In a landmark case, high-street giant Santander yesterday convinced a Glasgow sheriff that such actions were too complex for consumer-friendly small claims courts.

Read all today's banking news from scotsman.com

RETAIL

Sales fall puts the bite on Thorntons

CHOCOLATE retailer Thorntons yesterday warned that falling sales had worsened in recent weeks as it announced a head office jobs cull to cut costs (Scotsman). Like-for-like sales at its 377 stores fell 6 per cent in the ten weeks to 26 June - deepening from the 4.6 per cent drop posted in the previous quarter - as the hot weather hit trading.

Mothercare lifted by global trading as UK sales slide

Mothercare has continued to see strong growth in its international business but its sales in the UK fell in a "challenging" market, the company said (BBC). Global sales rose 8% in the quarter ending 10 July compared with a year ago, boosted by a 20.3% increase in international sales. But in the UK, like-for-like sales, which strip out the impact of new store openings, were down 4.1%.

Read all today's retail news from scotsman.com

Entrepreneur

Be inspired and communicate with other Scottish entrepreneursat http://entrepreneur.scotsman.com. Features includeupdates from The Scotsman's Executive Editor Bill Jamieson, a diary of forthcoming company announcements and networking events and videoadvice on how to succeed with your new business start-up.