This week's supermarket price war has brought drivers in the UK a bank holiday boost with the average prices of petrol and diesel falling to new three-year lows. However, UK price falls have so far been lagging behind most of its European neighbours', the August AA Fuel Price Report reveals.
* Average value of savings per household has increased from £27,896 in 1974 to £126,278. * The savings ratio, proportion of income saved by households, has halved to 4.8% in 2014, down from 9.9% in the decade 1974 to 1984.
£1.5 MILLION AID FOR HISTORIC BUILDINGS. More than £1.5 million has been awarded to help repair seven historic buildings across Scotland as part of Historic Scotland's Building Repairs Grants scheme.
Last week, fourteen North Highland College UHI students celebrated the completion of a new six week summer programme aimed to help young people into employment, by providing essential training to progress into sustained employment within the Engineering Sector. From July to August the students have developed engineering employability skills, industry standard training and gained a suite of statutory certificates.
Weekly update from CNSRP - week commencing 18th August. Energy & Business services: It is encouraging to see this week that Denchi Power, who purchased the lithium-ion battery facility at Thurso Business Park from ABSL Power Solutions, is recruiting staff as it continues to make good progress.
The green light has been given on Thursday 21st August 2014 to kick off the first phase of the MeyGen project - the world's largest tidal power development which will be installed in the Inner Sound of the Pentland Firth. Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) is backing the project with a £3.3m grant.
The award winning ScotGrad Graduate Placement Programme has reached a milestone in the Highlands and Islands by delivering its 200th graduate placement. ScotGrad is funded and delivered in the region by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and the European regional Development fund (ERDF).
In 2010, the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull volcano closed most of Europe's airspace for around six days, affecting more than ten million travellers and costing the aviation industry millions. Now, as the Icelandic meteorological office increases its eruption warning for the Bardarbunga volcano, Gocompare.com is warning bank holiday flyers to check their travel insurance before they head off.
The University of the Highlands and Islands has announced a new masters-level course to help life science graduates and those already employed in the life science sector improve their practical and laboratory skills to better meet the needs of employers conducting research in an industrial environment. While science graduates have the theoretical knowledge required and fundamental laboratory skills, current degree provision often doesn't provide those most important to industry and commercial research, notably hands-on laboratory training and the concepts of quality control, regulation and intellectual property.
* 66% of Brits regularly save cash in a coin jar - the average coin jar contains £40.80. * Over half (54%) of coin jar savers think it's a good way to save money.
There were 955,000 young people (aged from 16 to 24) in the UK who were Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET), a decrease of 20,000 from January to March 2014 and down 138,000 from a year earlier. The percentage of all young people in the UK who were NEET was 13.3%, down 0.3 percentage points from January to March 2014 and down 1.8 percentage points from a year earlier.
In July 2014, the quantity bought in the retail industry increased by 2.6% compared with July 2013 and by 0.1% compared with June 2014. The three-month on previous three-month movement in the quantity bought showed continued growth for the seventeenth consecutive month increasing by 0.3%.
Are you looking to downsize? Are you looking for somewhere with affordable fuel bills? Would you like the option of having the company of others? If you answered yes to any of the above, Cairn Housing Association can help by offering you an excellent range of one-bedroom and studio apartments in Wick that are available to move into right now. Caberfeidh Court is situated in a quiet residential area in Wellington Avenue and offers quality accommodation exclusively to people over the age of 50.
Bank of Scotland is refunding two months interest1 - up to a maximum of £1,000 - for Homemovers and First Time Buyers when they take out a qualifying mortgage. Available from 19th August until 6th October, the offer is available to customers choosing and completing on a qualifying mortgage product2.
In a guest blog, Frank Barry, Professor of International Business & Development at Trinity College Dublin, looks at the history of the Republic of Ireland's economic policy and lessons for an independent Scotland. Ireland's separation from the United Kingdom in 1922 was achieved under very different circumstances from those prevailing today.
Of people who were self-employed in 2009, 23% were no longer so by 2014, the lowest outflow rate from self-employment for any period over the last 20 years, a new report from ONS has found. Therefore the rise in self-employment can be accounted for by fewer people leaving self-employment than in the past.
The Opportunity Fund Most business sectors are eligible to apply for an Opportunity Fund loan. Loans can be for a range of uses, such as: start-up or business acquisition, business expansion, upgrading premises, purchasing equipment, developing new products, or branching into new markets.
Multi-million contract up for grabs. The first of twelve schemes in the £3 billion A9 dualling programme has been brought forward and a contract worth around £50 million put to the market, Keith Brown announced on Wednesday 20 August 2014.
In the Highlands over the last 3 months 149 employment opportunities have been created through the Council's advisory and business support services. During a meeting of the Council's Planning, Development and Infrastructure Committee held today (Wednesday 20 August) members heard that 71 new businesses have been supported by Business Gateway to start up and a further 122 Highland businesses already serving local markets have accessed advice over the last quarter.
Dr Michael Foxley has taken up his post as chair of the University of the Highlands and Islands' new further education regional board. The Post-16 Education (Scotland) Act makes the University of the Highlands and Islands, through a further education regional board, accountable for all college and university-level education in the Highlands and Islands.
