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

Amazon is bringing same-day deliveries to members of its Prime service in Edinburgh and Glasgow

Online retail giant Amazon launched same-day deliveries for members of its Prime service in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Customers who pay an annual fee of £79 for Prime membership and place their orders before noon will get their goods delivered between 6pm and 10pm the same day, seven days a week. There is no minimum order for the service, which spans one million items including DVDs, books, toys and televisions.

Aircraft Medical, the Edinburgh-based healthcare device maker, was acquired by Irish medical technology company Medtronic for $110 million (£72m) in cash. The company, founded in 2001 by chief executive Matt McGrath, produces video laryngoscopes, devices fitted with cameras that help medics to put breathing tubes down patients’ throats.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) launched a probe to determine whether competition is working in the UK’s £6.6 trillion asset management industry. The City watchdog will assess how asset managers compete to deliver value; whether they are motivated and able to control costs along the value chain; and what effect investment consultants have on competition for institutional asset management.

Royal Bank of Scotland named Malcolm Buchanan as the new chair of its Scotland board. Buchanan, who has been with the state-backed lender since 1998, succeeds Ken Barclay in the role and will remain as managing director of corporate and commercial banking north of the Border.

Sopra Steria, the French IT services group, opened an office in Glasgow amid “sustained growth” north of the Border. The firm, which acquired Edinburgh-based Newell & Budge ten years ago, said the move into its St Vincent Street base was “another affirmation of its commitment to Scottish business”.

The number of new businesses starting up in Scotland grew by 7 per cent in the year to March, according to new research. The figures, compiled by Barclays and the Business Growth Fund (BGF), showed the rate of company creation in Scotland is running at almost twice the UK figure of 3.86 per cent.