Scottish Business Briefing - Monday September 6, 2010

Published on Monday 6 September 2010 09:13

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.

BANKING & INSURANCE

Scots firms may get cash boost as new lender enters market

CASH-strapped Scottish firms could benefit from the expansion of a new lender specialising in the support of mid-sized corporates as existing banks struck hard by the financial crisis continue to decline loans (Scotsman).

Read all today's banking news from scotsman.com

ECONOMY

UK manufacturing 'boosted by overseas demand'

Rising overseas demand has created buoyant conditions for manufacturers in the UK, a report suggests (BBC). The Engineering Employers Federation (EEF) predicted manufacturing output would increase by 3.7% this year and by 3.2% in 2011. It added firms were creating jobs - though these were mainly going to temporary or agency staff.

Boost for jobs as Scottish bosses bullish on recruiting

MORE than half of Scottish businesses expect to recruit more staff over the coming year, according to a report out today, delivering a timely boost just days after two of the country's biggest employers announced swingeing job cuts (Scotsman). Research by Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks found that 56 per cent of Scottish firms plan to increase their workforce over the next 12 months.

PwC chief warns UK is facing even tougher year

THE head of PricewaterhouseCoopers Scotland has warned that the next 12 to 18 months may be even tougher that the last, with the prospect of a fresh economic slump still on the cards (Scotsman). Frank Blin, executive chairman at PwC Scotland, said the journey out of the recession would be a long hard road rather than a sprint.

Read all today's economics news from scotsman.com

PERSONAL FINANCE

Equitable Life compensation bid expected

Pensioners hit by the Equitable Life scandal are to make a final bid to persuade the government to pay them full compensation (BBC). Losses have been put at nearly 5bn, but the pensioners and pension savers may be promised just a tenth of that.

Read all today's personal finance news from scotsman.com

TECHNOLOGY

Drive to get more women into IT

LENA Wilson, the chief executive of Scottish Enterprise, will tomorrow preside over the launch of a new group aimed at growing the number of women taking leading roles in the technology sector (Scotsman). The Scotland Women in Technology (SWiT) group, backed by Cisco, Dell, IBM, HP, Scottish Enterprise and Oracle, aims to redress the declining number of women making a career in IT.

Read all today's technology 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.