Scottish Business Briefing - Tuesday June 1, 2010

Published on Tuesday 1 June 2010 09:22

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

Sainsbury's Finance to up staff numbers

SAINSBURY'S Finance aims to grow the workforce at its Edinburgh head office by up to 15 per cent this year to cope with a growth in its customer base, David Fisher, who was yesterday appointed as the firm's chief executive, said (Scotsman). The business – which is a joint venture between the supermarket chain and Lloyds Banking Group – currently has 150 staff at the Gyle business park.

Read all today's banking news from scotsman.com

e-BUSINESS

Scotsman jobs website launches 2 million advertising campaign

THE recruitment website scotsman.com/jobs today launches a major advertising campaign to further increase its growing audience reach in the Scottish market (Scotsman). Since January, the site has attracted a record number of visits, with monthly unique users now running at about 180,000.

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

ECONOMY

Number of jobs begins to rise but wages fall

DEMAND for workers has increased slightly, but pay rates are falling, according to a new report (Scotsman). A study by employment firm Reed, which runs the UK's biggest jobs website, showed a 1 per cent rise in job vacancies in May, with a 3 per cent cut in wage rates. Job demand increased most in the charity and voluntary sectors, followed by marketing and public relations, legal and secretarial.

Read all today's economics news from scotsman.com

FOOD, DRINK & AGRICULTURE

Venison wins food awards, but nothing from subsidies

AFTER walking off with yet another top food award, John Fletcher of Reediehill Deer Farm, Auchtermuchty, yesterday attacked the Scottish Government for its refusal to give deer farmers the same financial support enjoyed by those in the cattle and sheep sectors (Scotsman).

Read all today's food, drink and agriculture news from scotsman.com

INDUSTRY

Lack of capital tempers joy over surge in orders

SCOTLAND'S embattled engineering sector has seen order intake and output volumes surge to their healthiest level for almost three years, according to a report published today (Scotsman). But trade body Scottish Engineering, which compiled the quarterly review, warned that companies are not able to plan capital expenditure because banks are still not lending.

Read all today's industry news from scotsman.com

TRANSPORT

Ryanair swings back into profit

Ryanair has reported pre-tax profits of 341m euros (289m; $419m) for the year to March, bouncing back from its first annual loss this time last year (BBC). The Irish budget airline also said it planned to pay a one-off dividend to shareholders totalling 500m euros - the first dividend it has paid.

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."