Scottish Business Briefing - Friday August 9th 2013
FINANCE
Aegon UK, the Edinburgh-based life and pensions firm, has blamed restructuring costs and the sale of a financial advice arm after posting a loss for the second quarter. The Dutch-owned group, which has shed more than 1,000 jobs over the past two years in a bid to lower its running costs, recently unveiled plans to close all six of its regional sales offices, casting doubts over the future of a further 160 jobs.
ENERGY
OILFIELD services firm Asco is on the verge of unveiling major contracts in Africa and Alaska as the Aberdeen-based outfit continues its global expansion. The company, which Doughty Hanson bought from fellow private equity player Phoenix in 2011 for £255 million, has grown through a series of acquisitions, pushing its reach into Africa, the Americas, Asia and Australia.
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Hide AdOIL driller Cairn Energy has expanded its African empire by taking a stake in a project to explore off the coast of Mauritania. The Edinburgh-based firm has entered into a “farm-in” agreement with Chariot Oil & Gas that gives it a 35 per cent share of an offshore exploration block measuring more than 12,000 square kilometres and close to where oil has been found.
SCOTTISH renewables specialist SeaEnergy has formed a knowledge transfer partnership (KTP) with Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University - aimed at driving down costs in the offshore wind energy industry. The Aberdeen-based renewable energy services company announced the tie-up yesterday.
FOOD, DRINK & AGRICULTURE
UP-AND-COMING soft drinks company Get Juiced has collapsed into liquidation after the owner, Frank Pawley, ran out of cash to fund its bid for growth. The Stirling-based firm ceased trading last month and all its employees were laid off, but liquidator Donald McNaught, of accountancy firm Johnston Carmichael, hopes the company can be revived through a sale.
TRANSPORT & INDUSTRY
A civil engineering firm has gone into administration with the loss of about 50 jobs. Shetland-based MK Leslie employed 30 staff at Scalloway and 25 at Dalcross Industrial Estate near Inverness. The firm, which was set up in 1993, had seen a reduction in its workload and had not been paid by other firms which had collapsed.
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