Scottish Business Briefing - Thursday 8 July, 2010

Published on Thursday 8 July 2010 09:34

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.

TRANSPORT

Economic concerns as new car sales stall

SALES of new cars in Scotland fell last month, in stark contrast to Britain as a whole, which recorded an overall rise, dealers said yesterday (Scotsman). In an indication that the Scottish economy is continuing to struggle, car sales in June totalled 16,092, a drop of 6.03 per cent from June, 2009 when 17,124 cars were sold.

Vardy snaps up two dealerships from rival

CAR dealership Peter Vardy yesterday swooped on two Vauxhall showrooms from rival John Martin Group as it accelerates its expansion drive (Scotsman). Chief executive Peter Vardy - part of a motoring dynasty founded by his late grandfather Reg Vardy - said his family's "excellent relationship" with the Martin family had helped to complete the deal.

Read all today's transport news from scotsman.com

BANKING & INSURANCE

RBS to lift property blues with 3bn deal

ROYAL Bank of Scotland is planning to sell off as much as 3 billion in commercial property loans in a move that will be scrutinised by Lloyds Banking Group and other institutions that lent heavily to the sector pre-recession (Scotsman).

Read all today's banking news from scotsman.com

INDUSTRY

150 jobs go as firm fails

PERTH was yesterday left reeling from a major jobs blow as one of the town's largest employers collapsed, placing more than 150 jobs at risk (Scotsman). Building company Clachan Construction fell into the hands of receivers after the firm was hit by the industry-wide downturn. It is understood that receivers from Henderson Loggie were called to the company's headquarters at the Inveralmond industrial estate at the request of Bank of Scotland.

RMJM blames profit slide on global conditions

PROFITS at RMJM, the Edinburgh-based global architecture firm where Sir Fred Goodwin now works as an adviser, suffered as projects were put on hold or cancelled amid the most difficult business conditions the company has seen (Scotsman). Latest accounts for the company behind buildings including the Scottish Parliament, the Falkirk Wheel and Abu Dhabi's Capital Gate also showed its bank borrowings rose to 18.4 million from 11.3m to provide extra headroom to cope with the impact of the global economic downturn.

Read all today's industry news from scotsman.com

RETAIL

Primark maintains 'strong' growth

Primark has continued to see strong growth in sales, its owner Associated British Foods (ABF) has said (BBC). Total sales at the clothing chain rose 15% in the 16 weeks to 19 June compared with the same period a year ago.

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