Families hit by levy

MANY Scottish family businesses will be disadvantaged by tax changes announced in last week's Budget, as it will widen the gap between the levy on the smallest firms and the largest from 3 per cent to 8 per cent, according to the Scottish Family Business Association.

SFBA chief executive Martin Stepek said it is "disappointing" that there was no reduction for "the vast majority of family businesses".

Business adviser Mark Tenby of accountants Martin Aitken said: "The Chancellor has omitted the vast majority of companies in this part of his 'Budget for Enterprise'."

Salon to take off

BEAUTY therapist Lian McAdam is creating ten jobs in a 70,000 salon at Edinburgh Airport with 21,000 from the not-for-profit ethical lender DSL Business Finance after being turned down by the banks.

Glasgow-based DSL runs a 1.5 million loan fund for small firms under the government-promoted Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme. DSL can lend up to 30,000 to small and start-up businesses and social enterprises and expanded into the east of Scotland in 2008.

Applicants must appear before a Dragons' Den-style panel to present their case for funding.

Whisky topples vodka

TOP-selling Scotch whisky brands have toppled the domination of premium vodkas in recent years. Scotch sales grew by 690 million last year.

Johnnie Walker, Scotland's biggest brand, has retained its position as the world's number one spirit with sales of 3 billion, almost three times larger than its nearest rival.

The Impact Databank Top 100 ranking shows that Scotch whisky continues to enjoy significant growth in both developed and emerging markets, representing 20 per cent of the top 100 brands.

Diageo holds five of the top 19 Scotch brands including Johnnie Walker, J&B, Bell's, Buchanan's and Windsor.