Scottish Business Briefing – September 4th 2013
FINANCE
TWO of Royal Bank of Scotland’s powerful institutional investors are considering suing the bank over its controversial £12 billion cash-call on shareholders in 2008. Edinburgh-based Standard Life Investments (SLI) and Legal & General Investments Management have hired top legal counsel to weigh up whether they were misled by the bank in its drive to raise cash from shareholders, The Scotsman understands.
ABERDEEN Asset Management has parted company with at least two staff following a mix-up over client funds that led to the firm being fined £7.2 million by the City regulator. A source told The Scotsman that “the people responsible have left the company”, though it is not known whether they were based in Scotland or at one of its other offices in London and overseas.
ENERGY
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Hide AdA major oil industry conference will hear calls for more women to be recruited to the sector. Oil, gas and engineering companies will back the campaign at Offshore Europe in Aberdeen. An open debate on women’s under-representation in the industry has been planned by Women in Science and Engineering (WISE).
AKER Solutions has said it expects to create 400 jobs in Aberdeen to keep pace with booming demand from oil and gas firms. The Norwegian oil and gas services business plans to hire specialists in areas ranging from subsea engineering to drilling technology under an initiative it believes will make the company one of the largest employers in the North East of Scotland.
The Future of the UK Aerospace Industry, 5 Sept – Prestwick
Last chance to book for this unmissable industry event. Featuring expert speakers including: Scott McLarty of Spirit AeroSystems, Alan Fraser of BAE Systems; Jim Houston of Woodward & Gavin Campbell of Bombardier Aerospace. See The Scotsman Conferences website for more details
MEDIA, TECH & LEISURE
Shares in Pinnacle Technology, the Stirlingshire-based telecoms group, surged 24 per cent today after a rival revealed it was mulling a £6.7 million takeover approach. London-based Coms, which specialises in delivering telephone calls over the internet, said it was considering a “possible corporate transaction with Pinnacle” that could lead to it making an offer of around 21p a share.
Five-a-side football pitch firm Goals Soccer Centres is planning to expand its presence in the United States to capitalise on the sport’s growing popularity on the other side of the Atlantic. The East Kilbride-based company has 43 sites in the UK, along with a single location in Los Angeles, and chief executive Keith Rogers said he was looking for more opportunities along the west coast, where the profile of football has been lifted by David Beckham’s spell with LA Galaxy.
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