Scottish Business Briefing – March 12th 2010

Published on Friday 12 March 2010 08:47

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.

INDUSTRY

30m Edinburgh business park plans unveiled

PLANS are today due to be unveiled for a 30 million business park and hotel development on the outskirts of Edinburgh. The complex will be developed by a consortium led by Mike Rutterford, the millionaire property magnate, and will comprise three office buildings and a 120-bedroom six-storey hotel. To be named Lothian Park, it will be built on 12.4 acres of land at the eastern end of the city bypass, adjacent to the Old Craighall junction and A1. It is hoped the development, which has already secured outline planning consent, will create up to 800 jobs.

Deloitte hopes to lift property sector

Deloitte's takeover of City-based property consultancy Drivers Jonas will help to get the Scottish commercial property sector back on its feet, according to its Scottish boss. Jim Baird, senior partner for the accountancy giant in Scotland, said that he saw no signs of a recovery in the sector in Scotland despite a recent flurry of demand from cash-rich pension funds for premium properties.

Read all of today's industry news from scotsman.com

MEDIA & LEISURE

Johnston losses narrow as revenue stabilises

JOHNSTON Press, the owner of The Scotsman and Britain's biggest publisher of regional newspapers, yesterday told investors that it is well-placed to benefit from an economic recovery after cutting debt and seeing advertising partly stabilise. The group, which runs more than 300 titles, said advertising revenue fell 26.5 per cent in 2009 but that the trend had improved since the second quarter. It was down 11.2 per cent in the final quarter of 2009 and just 7.3 per cent lower in the first nine weeks of 2010. John Fry, chief executive of Johnston Press, said: "The year ended with the group in a much stronger position than it began."

Read all of today's media and leisure news from scotsman.com

RETAIL

Partnership reaps rewards as John Lewis shares out 151m

TENS of thousands of John Lewis staff will share a 151 million bonus pot as the retail bellwether continues to power through the recession, posting bumper profits for 2009. Partner bonuses will equate to 15 per cent of salaries, or nearly eight weeks' pay, averaging about 2,100 per person. The firm, which also owns Waitrose, yesterday posted a 9.7 per cent rise in profits before tax and bonuses to 306.6m for the year to 30 January.

Morrisons outperforms market yet again with turnover of 15.4 billion

MORRISONS yesterday hailed "another good year" with profits climbing 21 per cent and sales hitting record levels as the UK's fourth-largest supermarket chain "continues its journey from national to nationwide". The group opened 43 outlets in the year, taking its total to 425, and it plans to keep expanding its store base. Morrisons now estimates that seven million households are within a 15-minute drive of its stores.

Read all today's media and leisure news from scotsman.com

TRANSPORT

Highland Airways looks to slim down operations following pre-tax losses

Highland Airways has underlined the tough conditions facing the business and confirmed that its directors are talking to potential backers of a slimmed-down operation. The latest accounts for the airline indicate that the recession, combined with the increased cost of fuel, have taken a heavy toll on the business, which links the mainland with islands such as Lewis. The accounts, for the year to December 2008, show that Highland made a pre-tax loss of 492,000, compared with a profit of 471,000 in the preceding year.

Read all today's transport news from scotsman.com

Scotsman Business Club

Get to the heart of the issues affecting Scottish business at www.scotsman.com/businessclub. Features include blogs from The Scotsman's formidable team of business writers - including Bill Jamieson, Martin Flanagan, Peter MacMahon and Scott Reid, a diary of forthcoming company announcements and networking events and video interviews with leading business experts covering a wide range of useful topics."

Scotsman Conferences

Following the successful launch of Scotsman Conferences at Edinburgh: The Next Five Years on 22nd February,the debate is movingon withtwo new events.On 24th May Can the Green Economy Deliver for Scotland, in partnership with Scottish Enterprise, will investigate whether thegreen economycandeliver the tens of thousands of jobs promised. The conferencewill be followed by the announcement of The Green List, a roll-call of the environmental heroes who are making a genuine difference to Scotland.

Then, on1st June, Shopping for Growth,in association with the Scottish Retail Consortium will examine the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead forthe retailsector which accounts for 10% of the Scottish workforce.

Find outhow Scotsman Conferences can bring you and your organisation to the heart of the debate at www.scotsman.com/conferences.