Tuesday business round-up: Four key stories of the day

Here are four of today's key business stories in one handy package.

The retail sector registered a boost in January

High street sales rebounded strongly at the start of 2016 after an uneven festive period for many retailers, a new report revealed. Total retail revenues across all product categories jumped 3.3 per cent year-on-year in January, particularly driven by “big ticket” purchases such as furniture, according to the British Retail Consortium-KPMG retail sales monitor.

The Scottish Soup Company was celebrating after being awarded a £250,000 deal with Tesco to supply five products to 64 of the supermarket giant’s stores north of the Border. The Cumbernauld-based firm is run by brothers David and Douglas Sword, and its new range includes healthy choices such as cream of tomato that have been developed with Scottish Slimmers.

Glasgow animation studio Axis, which has worked on some of the biggest titles in the gaming world, is bringing a new project to the small screen. The group, led by managing director Richard Scott, is collaborating with co-producers Balloon Entertainment and Kindle Entertainment to work on a six-part animated series for E4 and Netflix.

Wellington company Hunter Boot announced the appointment of Vincent Wauters as its chief executive, effective from next month. He replaces James Seuss, who stood down from the Edinburgh-based business at the end of November.