Scottish Business Briefing - Friday 10 June, 2011

MEDIA & LEISURE

14m upgrade to put Caley into hotel elite

THE grand old lady of Princes Street is to be given a multi- million pound makeover to propel her into the ranks of the world's most luxurious hotels. Celebrity chefs and a personal concierge will be part of the service at the Caledonian as hotel chain Hilton plans to convert it to its luxury Waldorf Astoria brand (Scotsman).

Banks urged to grasp tourism opportunity

VisitScotland, the taxpayer-funded agency that champions the nation's 4.2 billion tourism industry, is lobbying the banks to loosen their purse strings to allow businesses to expand and prepare for the expected jump in holidaymaker numbers over the next three years (Herald).

Read all today's media and leisure news from scotsman.com

ENERGY & UTILITIES

Light oil discovery off Cameroon sees Bowleven's value well up by 72m

INVESTORS added 72m to the market value of Bowleven after the company said an oil find it made off West Africa appeared to be commercial (Herald).

Read all today's energy and utilities news from scotsman.com

INDUSTRY

Acquisition drives profits at legal firm McGrigors

MCGRIGORS has cemented its position as Scotland's largest law firm by turnover after growing its revenues by 10 per cent to 65.6 million thanks to a key acquisition and an upturn in corporate activity (Scotsman).

Read all today's industry news from scotsman.com

RETAIL

Sir Tom Hunter's fashion chain pays for growth as sales edge up

A MAJOR investment and expansion programme contributed to a fall in profits at Sir Tom Hunter's USC fashion chain last year despite sales edging up in a tough trading environment (Scotsman).

Job fears as supermarket chain set to close shops

HUNDREDS of Scottish jobs are at risk after a supermarket chain went into administration. Haldanes, the first mid-sized supermarket chain to open in Britain for almost 30 years, has half of its 26 branches in Scotland (Scotsman).

Read all today's retail news from scotsman.com