Scottish Business Briefing - Monday 16 May, 2011

Published on Monday 16 May 2011 10:03

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

Forty people fight over every vacancy in jobs blackspot

SOME of Scotland's traditional industrial heartlands now make up two-fifths of Britain's worst unemployment blackspots, a new report has today found.

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Recovery gets a boost as Scottish firms hire at fastest rate since 2007

SCOTTISH firms hired staff in April at the fastest rate in 42 months, hitting levels not seen since well before the economic crisis, research out today shows.

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Read all today's economics news from scotsman.com

MEDIA & LEISURE

BSkyB in quest to fill finance posts

Media heavyweight BSkyB is recruiting for 50 finance jobs at its new Watermark building on the Alba campus in Livingston.

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Live music events 'contribute 1bn' to UK economy

Large-scale live music events in the UK contribute almost 1bn a year to the UK economy, a major industry survey of festivals and concerts suggests. At least 7.7 million visits to events in 2009 resulted in 1.4bn being spent, equivalent to a positive contribution to the economy of 864m, UK Music said.

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

RETAIL

Squeeze on shoppers to keep high street down for decade

BRITAIN's high streets are set for a decade of pain as shoppers rein in spending to repay debt, an influential group of economists warns today.

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Alliance Boots sees rapid overseas wholesale growth

UK pharmacist Alliance Boots has seen double-digit sales growth for the year, driven by its international business. Its pharmaceuticals wholesale division - which operates mainly in Europe - saw local currency revenues rise 26%.

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Read all today's retail news from scotsman.com