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

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

The Ensco 100 jack-up rig at the Port of Dundee. Picture: Alan Richardson

£10m boost for Dundee port

Forth Ports outlined plans for the largest investment in the history of the Port of Dundee. The group is to invest more than £10 million to create a new quayside with “heavy lift” capability at the port, which chief executive Charles Hammond said was “ideally placed to service the needs of North Sea oil and gas, decommissioning and Scotland’s offshore wind sector over the coming years”.

Welch resurrects Atterley

An online fashion brand that fell into administration last month is back in business following a deal with entrepreneur Mike Welch. The founder of Borders-based online tyre fitter Blackcircles.com – sold to French giant Michelin last year – is now pledging to support independent boutiques after acquiring the intellectual property assets of Atterley from administrators at KPMG.

High street washout

Scottish high streets suffered during a stormy start to the year, with the latest sales figures branded a “washout”. Total sales in January fell by 3.8 per cent compared with the same month the previous year – the weakest store performance since April 2012 – according to the Scottish Retail Consortium and KPMG retail sales monitor.

‘Groundbreaking’ R&D project

Four Scottish manufacturers are in line for a £135m sales boost thanks to the roll out of a “groundbreaking” research and development project. The firms are to join forces with academia in the first initiative of its kind in Scotland, which is backed by Scottish Enterprise and Censis, the Scottish Innovation Centre for Sensors and Imaging Systems.