Business briefs: Eurostar numbers rise | Gaia wins £1.5m US contract

INCREASED demand from leisure travellers has resulted in Channel Tunnel high-speed train company Eurostar enjoying a good start to 2012.

The company, which operates services between London and Brussels and Paris, carried 2.24 million passengers in the first three months of this year, figures yesterday revealed. This was 4 per cent more than for the period January-March 2011, with tourists particularly taking advantage of competitive fares to Amsterdam travelling via Brussels. Sales revenues rose 7 per cent.

Gaia powers up with £1.5m US contract

WIND turbine maker Gaia yesterday won its largest export order, with a £1.5 million deal to supply 50 of its small devices to American firm Talco Electronics.

The Glasgow-based group is pushing ahead with its international expansion by opening an office in Milan and appointing two dealers to target the Italian market. Gaia, which was founded in Denmark but moved to Scotland in 2006, has also appointed Jens Busk as its European operations manager.