Business news in brief: Barclays| Crest Nicholson| Kinross

The first UK court case linked to a complaint over the alleged rigging of Libor interest rates has been delayed until next year to allow Barclays the chance to hear if an appeals court dismisses part of the case.

Guardian Care Homes, a residential carehome operator based in Wolverhampton, is suing Barclays for up to £70 million in a claim that it was mis-sold interest rate hedging products based on Libor.

The trial is seen as a test case for small firms who believe they were mis-sold such swaps and raises the prospect of other companies linking future claims to interest rate rigging by banks.

Crest Nicholson to develop MoD site

Crest Nicholson, the building firm taken private by Sir Tom Hunter in 2007 and which returned to the market earlier this year, was yesterday selected by the Ministry of Defence to redevelop the Arborfield Garrison in Berkshire.

Some 2,000 homes will be built on the site, with the development valued at £600 million. Crest will build 700 homes itself and then bring in other construction companies to erect the remaining houses on the site, described as “one of the most-significant residential-led development opportunities in the south-east of England”.

Kinross golfing hot spot secures £1.2m

THE Green hotel and golf resort in Kinross is set for a makeover after it secured a £1.2 million finance package from Santander.

The resort, which lies within the Kinross Estate, also boasts a second hotel, the Windlestrae, and has two 18-hole golf courses and five restaurants. Visitors can fish on Loch Leven, while the resort offers shooting and curling in the winter months.

Both hotels will receive upgrades, with a room refurbishment programme set to “modernise and refresh the accommodation facilities”. The estate has been owned by the Montgomery family since 1777.

Latvian conference targets engineers

Scottish engineering firms are being targeted by a seminar highlighting the opportunities available in one of the European Union’s fastest-growing nations.

Cormack Consultancy Group said that Latvia had posted growth of more than 5 per cent for the past two years, and was projected to grow by a similar amount this year, aided by strong manufacturing output and export into Europe, Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

The free seminar in Glasgow on 7 May is being supported by the Latvian investment and development agency.