Scottish Business Briefing - Tuesday 29 January, 2013
FOOD, DRINK & AGRICULTURE
BrewDog plan overseas bar expansion
SCOTLAND’s biggest independent brewer has unveiled plans to open its first craft beer bars overseas to accelerate its ambitious expansion strategy. James Watt, co-founder of Aberdeenshire-based BrewDog, said yesterday that the success of the group’s ten eponymous UK bars, five of which were opened last year, had convinced the maverick brewer to take the concept abroad (Scotsman).
Diageo buys stake in South African sorghum brewery
SCOTLAND’S biggest whisky distiller, Diageo, snapped up a stake in a traditional African brewer yesterday for £23 million. The drinks giant will form a 50:50 joint venture with Indian businessman Vijay Mallya to run United National Breweries’ traditional sorghum beer business in South Africa (Scotsman).
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Angel Biotechnology ‘needs partners by March’
LIFE sciences firm Angel Biotechnology warned that it will run out of cash and be forced to cease trading if it doesn’t clinch two strategic deals by the end of March. The Edinburgh group has already progressed plans for a joint venture with Russian firm MMH but the contract is yet to be signed (Scotsman).
TRANSPORT
Call for high-speed rail link to come to Scotland
SCOTLAND’s transport minister yesterday called on his Westminster counterpart to commit to a “concrete timetable”, showing when the High Speed 2 (HS2) rail link will be extended north of the Border. Keith Brown took action, amid doubts about whether the £32.7 billion initiative will be rolled out beyond the north of England (Scotsman).
Graham wins deal to refurbish Ibrox subway station
GRAHAM Construction has won a £1.7 million contract to refurbish the Ibrox subway station in Glasgow. The project is part of Strathclyde Partnership for Transport’s (SPT) multi-million pound overhaul of all of its 15 stations in the city across the next six years (Herald).
Prestwick airport dealt blow by Wizz Air departure
PRESTWICK airport was today dealt another blow with Wizz Air announcing it is switching its flights to rivals Glasgow. Wizz’s move from March will leave the up-for-sale Ayrshire airport with Ryanair as its sole remaining airline (Scotsman).