ADS Group Highlights Uncertainty That Scottish Referendum Poses to Long-Term Industrial Competitiveness. The UK's aerospace, defence, security and space trade organisation, ADS Group, has today expressed its concerns about the uncertainties and risks associated with the outcome of the Scottish Referendum on the global competitiveness of companies across the UK.
Professions, including the IT profession, must address the gender pay gap if they are going to attract more women into roles, says BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT. The call comes as part of the Institute's month long campaign to raise the profile of women in IT.
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is contacting its members to warn them about the scale of reference fraud directed at small businesses. The FSB and BBC1's Fake Britain cooperated on a survey of 1,800 small firms, which found nearly one in five (17%) had discovered candidates with fraudulent references.
Scottish food and drink companies have a unique opportunity to drive sales at home and abroad by participating in the Showcasing Scotland event, the first large scale event of its type to be run for the Scottish food and drink industry. Taking place on 21 and 22 July 2014 at Dunblane Hydro, it will bring together around 80 buyers from the UK and key export markets who are looking for Scottish products to enhance their existing offering.
The Highland Council Leader Drew Hendry has warmly welcomed news that the Scottish Government has announced funding of £6.5 million towards the costs of developing a major new quayside at Nigg Energy Park to accommodate new trade oil and gas trade, including renewable energy developments. He has also welcomed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Moray Offshore Renewables Ltd (MORL), who have consent to build the Moray Firth Offshore Wind Farm, and Global Energy Group, who run the Nigg facility.
The by-election for a councillor to serve the Caol and Mallaig ward on The Highland Council has been won by Ben Thompson, Independent. Mr Thomson was one of five candidates, who contested the vacancy, created by the retiral of Eddie Hunter in February.
Partners in consumer education and crime prevention are jointly spearheading a national Scam Awareness Campaign which will run throughout May 2014. The Highland Consumer Partnership (Highland Council Trading Standards, Citizens Advice Scotland and Highland Citizens Advice Bureaux) have prepared joint activities and scam prevention information for consumers across the Highlands and Islands.
Specialists may be able to carry out a life-saving diagnosis on someone suffering a stroke hundreds of miles away, thanks to new technology being investigated in a research collaboration led by the University of Aberdeen and supported by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE). An ultrasound scanner connected to a state-of-the-art communication system will transmit images of the patient’s brain in real time to centrally based specialists, aiming to increase survival rates and minimise resulting disability.
Ambitious businesses and social enterprises in the Highlands and Islands are showing increased confidence and positive performance, according to figures compiled by development agency Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE). The organisation’s year-end results show that it enjoyed another successful year in 2013-14, supporting more than 2,000 jobs and meeting or exceeding each of the performance measures it agrees annually with the Scottish Government.
Tesco is helping customers to accessorise their homes with the latest design trends, through the launch of its transformed homeware range. The range, led by a new team, reflects current fashions and offers a choice of five key Spring/Summer trends.
Don't lose your vote poster With the European Parliamentary Elections taking place on Thursday 22 May, Bill Gillies, Electoral Registration Officer for the Highland and Western Isles area is urging voters to make sure they are registered to vote in time. “People are talking about the elections, but you’ll only be able to have your say on who represents you in the European Parliament if you’re registered to vote by the deadline of Tuesday 6 May and for postal applications by 7 May”, said Mr Gillies.
Scotland's Energy Minister Mr Fergus Ewing, MSP, has promised to pay a visit to Gills Harbour, on the shores of the Pentland Firth's Inner Sound. The Minister made the pledge to harbour company chairman Mr Bill Mowat, prior to Mr Ewing providing a keynote speech to the annual Scottish Highland Renewable Energy Conference in Inverness on April 24th.
DINGWALL, Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd., (April, 30th) sold 888 store cattle and 37 OTM cattle. Bullocks (487) averaged 242.8p and sold to 318.3p per kg for a 355kg Limousin cross from Wester Tomloan, Ardclach, and £1,370 gross for a 740kg Simmental from Blackford Farm, Croy.
REA, Innovas and PwC team up to produce industry-leading market report The renewable energy industry has attracted almost £30 billion of private sector investment since 2010. This investment has enabled the industry to sustain over 100,000 jobs in 2013 and deliver 4.2% of UK energy.
Russell Bennett, co-founder of online estate agent Houses.co.uk, has advised sellers about the potential risks of holding an open house viewing. With house prices surging and large numbers of buyers competing for each property, open house viewings are becoming increasingly common, particularly in London and parts of the South-East where such events sometimes attract more than a hundred hopeful buyers.
The UK's aerospace, defence, security and space trade organisation, ADS Group, has today expressed its concerns about the uncertainties and risks associated with the outcome of the Scottish Referendum on the global competitiveness of companies across the UK. The aerospace, defence, security and space sectors make a valuable contribution to the UK economy, employing hundreds of thousands of skilled engineers, manufacturers and support staff and supporting an extensive and mature supply chain.
The number of information security breaches affecting UK businesses has decreased over the last year but the scale and cost of individual breaches has almost doubled. The Information Security Breaches Survey 2014, commissioned by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and carried out by PwC, found that eighty-one per cent of large organisations suffered a security breach, down from eighty-six per cent a year ago.
Dan Butters, restructuring services partner at Deloitte, comments on today's Insolvency Service figures: “The number of businesses falling into administration in the first quarter of 2014 is down 10% on the previous quarter, reflecting low levels of corporate insolvency. Despite a slight rise in administrations (1.2%) on this time last year, we are not experiencing a recurrence of the clear out of well-known retail names we saw then.
DINGWALL, Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd., (April, 29th) sold 49 prime cattle. Prime bullocks (34) averaged 210.7p (-0.4p) and sold to 223p per kg and £1,524.40 gross.
The 2014 Scottish Thistle Awards are now open. This year's awards mark the 22nd year of the programme and sees major changes that aim to grow its success.
