Scottish Business Briefing – May 29th 2013
ECONOMICS
Scotland’s property market shows signs of life
Scotland’s commercial property market continued its slow recovery in the opening months of the year as the wider economy gathered pace, new research reveals. The office, retail and industrial sectors all posted positive investment returns as headline-grabbing deals were agreed across the market, according to property experts.
ENERGY & UTILITIES
Bibby Offshore planning to crew up after Westhill move
Energy service firm Bibby Offshore yesterday said it planned to employ more than 100 extra people at its new Westhill headquarters in the next few years. The news came as the company opened its new base in Aberdeenshire’s subsea hub, saying it expected turnover to treble from £220million this year to more than £650million by 2017.
North Sea contract secures 100 Wood Group jobs
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Hide AdEnergy services giant Wood Group has won a two-year extenssion to a key North Sea contract, securing almost 100 jobs. The Aberdeen-based firm said it would continue to provide operational services to the Hummingbird Spirit floating storage offloading production vessel at the Chestnut field, under a new contract extension from Teekay.
FOOD, DRINK & AGRICULTURE
Scots brewer heads north to keep up with demand
Growing demand has prompted a Scottish brewer to move to new and larger premises. Brewmeister, based at Kincardine O’Neil in Royal Deeside previously, has shifted its operations to Moray. The firm is up and running in an industrial unit at Keith.
INDUSTRY
Royal Navy deal secures Scottish defence jobs
French electronics giant Thales has signed ten-year contract with the Ministry of Defence worth up to £600 million in a deal which secures at least 50 high-tech Scottish jobs. The maintenance and repair contract will see Thales’ UK sites provide support to the “eyes and ears” of the Royal Navy’s submarine fleet including periscopes, as well as sonar and electronic warfare systems for warships.
TECHNOLOGY
Iomart hails ‘excellent’ trading as profits jump 56%
Web hosting firm Iomart today said current trading remains “encouraging” as it unveiled a 56 per cent jump in annual profits. The Glasgow-based company, which made a string of takeovers during the past year, posted an adjusted pre-tax profit of £10.7 million for the 12 months to the end of March, up from £6.9m the previous year.