Scottish Business Briefing - Friday 14 December, 2012
TECHNOLOGY
Scottish spin-outs buck life sciences trend
Scotland’s life sciences sector is bucking the UK trend by increasing the number of companies spinning out from universities, according to a report published today.The number of university spin-outs north of the Border rose by 47 per cent in 2007-11 compared with 2005-9. While the Scottish total rose, the figure for the UK as a whole dropped by 30 per cent (Scotsman).
Envestors helps electronic receipts firm raise £1m
Braveheart, the Perth-based investment group, today said its Envestors subsidiary has raised £300,000 for Paperless Receipts as part of its £1 million second-round fundraising. Paperless Receipts is the company behind eReceipts, which creates electronic records from retailers’ point of sale systems for customers to access through their internet-connected devices (Scotsman).
ENERGY & UTILITIES
Cairn in hunt for oil and gas off Malta
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Hide AdCAIRN Energy is to ramp up the hunt for oil and gas in the tourist playground of the Mediterranean after being awarded three exploration blocks off Malta. Edinburgh-based Cairn has been granted licences covering a huge swathe of under-explored frontier territory north of the island state, which is visited by legions of British holidaymakers every year (Herald).
INDUSTRY
Layoff fears as factory fights slump in orders
BOSSES at one of the north’s biggest employers issued a redundancy warning yesterday amid a slump in demand for its products. But senior management at SGL Carbon Fibers pledged to do everything they could to limit any job losses (P&J).
Bute Fabrics sales reach £1m in US
An island textiles company has been hailed a success story after its export sales in the US topped £1 million and it doubled its sales in Scandinavia to £250,000. Bute Fabrics, which employs 40 people, has also increased annual turnover by 40% year on year, according to economic development agency Scottish Enterprise (Herald).
RETAIL
Scottish stores return to growth as John Lewis sales jump 15%
Department store group John Lewis today said all three of its Scottish branches enjoyed rising sales last week, as Glasgow led the way with a 13.1 per cent increase. The employee-owned retailer said sales for the week to 8 December totalled a record £142 million, driven by a 46 per cent jump in online sales (Scotsman)