Scottish Business Briefing – Tuesday 9 April, 2013
ECONOMICS
Scottish housing market improves with lower prices
Green shoots are beginning to show in the Scottish housing market, as a string of regional property reports hinted at an improvement in both activity and price. Reports published by property umbrella groups in Edinburgh, Glasgow and the Highlands revealed an upturn in prices in some areas – and a flurry of buyer activity in others (Scotsman).
White defends SFT over infrastructure developments
Infrastructure funding body, the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT), has admitted that it has faced “challenging times” as lack of public and private sector demand has slowed the pace of construction programmes, according to its latest business plan (Scotsman).
BANKING
BoE chief urges banks to raise more capital
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Hide AdBig banks are well-funded for business and mortgage lending but the Scottish banks still need to raise more capital, Bank of England (BoE) director Paul Fisher has said on a visit to Scotland. He also repeated his call for more quantitative easing in the face of business opposition. Mr Fisher, the BoE’s executive director for markets, said in Glasgow that the UK Government’s Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) was having a major impact (Herald).
ENERGY & UTILITIES
Xcite fires up investors with oil field upgrade
SHARES in oil minnow Xcite Energy jumped yesterday after a report estimated reserves in its North Sea field to be significantly more than previously thought. The company, which has its operations base in Aberdeen and is one of the oil explorers most closely followed by private investors, said it was now seeking partners to help develop its Bentley field (Scotsman).
MEDIA & LEISURE
Scottish firm aims to preserve world’s film archives
A SCOTTISH software business hopes its new product will help to preserve film archives for generations to come. Windense believes it has developed a cost-effective system that will help to digitise the millions of reels of film currently being held in storage around the world (Herald).
TRANSPORT
Branson to heat up competition on Scottish flights
SIR Richard Branson yesterday promised to give British Airways some “proper competition” as he launched the Anglo-Scottish routes for Virgin Atlantic Little Red. Branson’s first domestic services will offer flights connecting Edinburgh and Aberdeen to Heathrow and consumers are anticipating a fierce price war as the two heavyweights go head to head (Scotsman).