Scottish Business Briefing - Friday 21 December 2012
INDUSTRY
Little prospect of building a positive view of 2013 says construction sector
Scotland’s construction sector remains stuck in the doldrums with little prospect for a recovery in the year ahead, a bleak report today warns. The Scottish Building Federation’s (SBF) latest construction monitor points to an ongoing decline in new orders and further job losses in 2013 as activity remains well below historic levels (Scotsman).
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Hide AdPaper firm Tullis Russell in biomass deal as energy costs push it into red
TULLIS Russell, the employee-owned paper maker, has warned that tough market conditions are likely to continue next year after rising raw material costs and energy bills pushed the firm into the red. In a bid to reduce its fuel bill, the Fife-based group has signed a 20-year deal with Npower parent company RWE, which is building a 50-megawatt biomass plant at its Markinch site (Scotsman).
ENERGY & UTILITIES
Energy industry yard will create 400 jobs
FOUR hundred more jobs are being created at the leading yard for the energy industry in the north, it was announced yesterday. Global Energy Group, which bought Nigg Energy Park just over a year ago, is launching a Highland-wide recruitment drive to find skilled workers (P&J).
FOOD, DRINK & AGRICULTURE
Investors pledge £1.5m to Isle of Harris distillery
TWO new investors, one from Asia and the other from the UK, have pledged a total of £1.5 million of equity funding for the proposed £10m project to build the first-ever legal Scotch whisky distillery on the Isle of Harris. First Minister Alex Salmond has also voiced his support for the planned distillery at Tarbert (Herald).
MEDIA & LEISURE
Capital is poor relation as Scots hotels prosper
SCOTTISH hotels outperformed their counterparts south of the Border in October, with both revenue and occupancy levels returning to growth. Figures from accountancy firm PKF show occupancy at three and four star hotels rose 2.6 per cent in Scotland following a dismal September. Rooms yield, the industry measure of revenue, was up 5.5 per cent (Scotsman).
TECHNOLOGY
Inaugural Scottish satellite ready for launch
SCOTLAND’S first satellite, designed and manufactured by pioneering Glasgow company Clyde Space, will be launched from a Russian Soyuz-2 rocket in March. UKube-1 is undergoing final testing at Clyde Space’s headquarters at the West of Scotland Science Park, before making the journey to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for the launch (Herald).