Scottish business Briefing - Thursday 10 May, 2012
ECONOMICS
‘Forget medicine and law – get pupils into IT and engineering’
PARENTS should be educated about the plentiful jobs available for their children in IT and engineering, Scotland’s enterprise chief said yesterday, as MSPs heard fresh evidence on ways to grow Scotland’s economy (Scotsman).
ENERGY & UTILITIES
North Sea firms’ confidence soars
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Hide AdConfidence among oil and gas firms in the North Sea jumped to the highest level since 2009 after a boost from the Budget, it will be revealed today (P&J).
INDUSTRY
Weir hit by fracking slowdown as £44m orders are cancelled
SHARES in Weir Group lost more than 5 per cent of their value this week after the engineering giant confirmed a plunge in orders from the previously-booming US market for equipment to release gas from beneath rocks (Scotsman).
RETAIL
Clinton latest big-name casualty on UK’s beleaguered high street
THOUSANDS of jobs are under threat after greeting cards and gifts retailer Clinton Cards became the latest casualty on the UK high street. The move into administration followed the sale of £35 million of loans by Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland to Clinton’s biggest supplier, American Greetings (Scotsman).
TECHNOLOGY
Scots technology firms ‘must know true value’
THE head of software strategy at the United States-based IBM Venture Capital Group is warning Scottish companies not to get too carried away with huge technology business valuations (Herald).
BT’s profits rise but sales fall
Telecoms group BT has reported a sharp rise in annual profits despite falling sales. Profits were boosted by deep cost cuts and one-off gains of £166m, which included a large tax credit and interest from the pension fund (BBC)