Scottish Business Briefing - Friday 13 May, 2011

Published on Friday 13 May 2011 09:03

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

Industrial figures blow for hopes of recovery

Weak manufacturing data dealt a blow to Britain's recovery prospects yesterday, and lowered the chances of an upgrade to first-quarter GDP growth (Scotsman)

Read all today's economics news from scotsman.com

ENERGY & UTILITIES

Cross plans North Sea acquisitions

OIL millionaire Tom Cross expects to make a number of North Sea acquisitions "within weeks" after yesterday unveiling his first major deal at Parkmead since he joined in November (Scotsman)

Scottish energy projects from Islay to the Pentland Firth chase 3.9bn EIB funding

SEVEN Scottish projects are among a dozen UK energy schemes in the running for €4.5 billion (3.9bn) of funding from the European Investment Bank (EIB), it was revealed yesterday (Scotsman).

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

INDUSTRY

Union Estates plans sell-off as debt troubles mount

LOUIS Goodman's property empire has breached the covenants on loans of tens of millions of pounds and is embarking on a sales programme to reduce its debt pile, accounts obtained from Companies House reveal (Herald).

BPI positive despite raw material costs soaring

Scottish packaging maker British Polythene Industries (BPI) said its positive start to the year continued in March and April despite raw material costs rising to "unprecedented" levels (Scotsman)

Read all today's industry news from scotsman.com

TRANSPORT

Western Ferries gets 3m tax bill

WESTERN Ferries has lost its long-running war with HM Revenue and Customs and has now been landed with a 3 million-plus tax bill, more than double its annual profit last year (Herald).

Read all today's transport news from scotsman.com