Scottish Business Briefing - Friday, November 29

Scotland's engineering sector is showing promise. Picture: submitted

ECONOMY

City hails £700m property deal backed by Cameron

SHARES in Edinburgh-based property developer Sigma Capital surged by more than 40 per cent yesterday as it unveiled a £700 million joint venture deal with an investment bank to build thousands of homes for rent.

Read all today’s economics news from scotsman.com

ENERGY

Infinis reveals 21% profit rise in maiden results

Renewable energy firm Infinis, which is chaired by former SSE chief executive Ian Marchant, today reported a 21.2 per cent rise in half-year profits as it delivered its first set of results since floating earlier this month.

Read all today’s energy news from scotsman.com

FOOD, DRINK & AGRICULTURE

Edrington reveals new distillery plans

EDRINGTON has unveiled plans to invest more than £100 million in a new distillery and visitor centre for The Macallan in Speyside to keep pace with demand for its biggest-selling malt around the world.

(http://www.scotsman.com/business/food-drink-agriculture|Read all today’s food, drink and agriculture news from scotsman.com|Click here}

RETAIL

New call for fair Scottish delivery charges

Retailers are being encouraged to offer fair delivery charges to customers living in remote and rural parts of Scotland in the run up to Christmas.

Read all today’s retail news from scotsman.com

TRANSPORT & INDUSTRY

Scots engineering firms upbeat despite slowdown

Engineering orders in Scotland have eased back from the two-year high in September, but activity and optimism across the sector remain buoyant, a key report today reveals.

FirstGroup veterans pull bus business float

Plans for a €50 million (£42m) float of a bus business headed by former FirstGroup finance director Iain Lanaghan have been pulled.

Read all today’s transport and industry news from scotsman.com

Independence White Paper: A business plan for Scotland? - 3rd December - Edinburgh

Will the forthcoming SNP blueprint for independence help provide the answers for undecided Scots ahead of next year’s referendum?

Join us to hear keynote speakers such as Chris van der Kuyl among others from the world of politics and business to debate the merits of the white paper and then you will get the opportunity to ask the questions that matter to you. Visit the Scotsman Conferences website for more details

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(The Scotsman Conferences)