Smallest swallowed by oldest as Century ends
Scotland’s smallest building society is set to be swallowed by the country’s oldest mutual after coming under pressure because of increased competition and the economic downturn.Edinburgh-based Century...
View ArticleOn the march: H&M fashions growth
H&M, the world’s second-largest fashion retailer, has seen sales grow for a third straight month as austerity-hit shoppers continue to seek out bargains.The fast-expanding Swedish group said...
View ArticleJames Simpson: There is a place for disaffected Scottish Tories
Andrew Whitaker’s thoughtful piece on the future of the Scottish Tories was an accurate and timely assessment of the party’s current position. He quite rightly points out that there is little chance of...
View ArticleThe Scotsman cartoon - 16/08/2012
Our cartoonist suspects that FirstGroup’s stewardship of the newly-won West Coast rail franchise may not be entirely customer focused...Illustration by Iain Green
View ArticleStandard Chartered shares bounce after £217m US deal
STANDARD Chartered led the Footsie leaders’ board last night after the bank’s revelation less than 24 hours earlier that it had agreed to pay $340 million (£217m) to settle with the New York financial...
View ArticleFirstGroup shares hit the buffers with City lukewarm over West Coast rail...
SHARES in FirstGroup headed into reverse yesterday, with analysts split over the benefits of it snatching the West Coast mainline route from a joint venture involving listed rival Stagecoach.The...
View ArticleLori Anderson: Salute to a life lived in full
‘Don’t sponge off a man, get it yourself.’ Cosmopolitan editor Helen Gurley Brown followed her own advice, and her legacy still resonates, writes Lori AndersonTHE copywriter offered pithy advice. “The...
View ArticleMichael Kelly: Protests no longer have a place in our cities
MASS rallies are simply just a nuisance that disrupt the lives of too many for very little political advantage, writes Michael KellyIS GLASGOW City Council being forward thinking, too “elf and safety...
View ArticleRMJM chairman Sir Fraser Morrison takes on firm’s £20m debt
RMJM Group chairman Sir Fraser Morrison has stepped in to take the architectural practice’s debt of more than £20 million off its bank’s hands.The disclosure was made in annual accounts newly filed at...
View ArticleMothers’ chemotherapy safe for unborn children, study finds
Chemotherapy during pregnancy does not lead to increased health complications for newborn infants, a new study has found.Researchers examined a group of more than 400 women from across Europe who were...
View ArticlePrince Philip rushed to hospital from Balmoral ‘as a precaution’ with...
THE Duke of Edinburgh was admitted to hospital in Aberdeen yesterday after suffering a recurrence of the bladder infection he developed during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations earlier this...
View ArticleThings are looking up for car chain with sales and profits driving ahead
STRONG sales in Scotland helped the Lookers chain of car dealerships post a record performance in the first half of the year.The owner of the long-standing Taggarts brand in Glasgow and Motherwell made...
View ArticleCity mayor says financial culture needs to be controlled
MORE “cultural control” is required industry-wide before the UK can regain its reputation as a trusted financial hub, the head of the City of London Corporation said yesterday.Meeting members of...
View ArticleLloyds offloads £1bn of private equity investments
LLOYDS Banking Group has sold some £1 billion of investments it inherited from its takeover of HBOS as part of its drive to return its balance sheet to health.The group has agreed to sell a portfolio...
View ArticleLong season for hayfever sufferers
HayFEVER sufferers have endured the longest season in more than two decades, scientists have revealed.People who suffer from grass allergies, accounting for about 80 per cent of sufferers, have endured...
View ArticleEmployment case study: ‘I am living on £25 a week, but at least I’m still...
CATHERINE Summers is just one of Scotland’s near 700,000 strong army of part-time workers.The 55-year-old is also one of those who, if the work were there, would give her right arm to get her weekly...
View Article180 jobs at risk as cashmere firm nears the brink
MORE than 100 jobs have been put at risk after the Scottish cashmere company Dawson International was placed in administration.The Hawick-based company, once a giant of the textile world with such big...
View ArticleWorld’s oceans ‘could do better’
A SCHOOL report-style assessment of the health of the world’s oceans has concluded that they “could do better”.The report, based on ten factors such as clean water, biodiversity, food provision,...
View ArticleAustralia ushers in world’s toughest tobacco laws and Scotland may be next
Australia’s highest court has upheld the world’s toughest law on cigarette promotion, banning tobacco company logos on cigarette packets.Graphic pictures illustrating the harmful effect of tobacco,...
View ArticleWhooping cough warning as outbreak hits Scotland
THE worst outbreak of whooping cough since the 1980s has hit Scotland.GPs have seen 873 cases this year, compared with only 36 for the same months in 2011.Elsewhere in the UK, five babies have died...
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