Business Digest

Business Digest July 2012 Carol Taylor Arts Services Manager Arts & Business Scotland 11 Abercromby Place Edinburgh EH3 6LB 0131 556 3353 [email protected] www.aandbscotland.org.uk Arts & Business Scotland is a company limited by guarantee registered in Scotland (SC406905) and a Scottish charity (SC042631).The registered office is 11 Abercromby Place, Edinburgh, EH3 6LB. Contents Business news 3 - 7 Philanthropy 8 Arts & sponsorship news 9 - 10 Arts & Business update 11 - 13 List of sponsored arts projects / events 14 - 18 2 BUSINESS NEWS Brewers, Distillers & Food/Drink Manufacturers French drinks giant Rémy Cointreau has agreed to buy Islay-based whisky maker Bruichladdich for £58m in what is believed to be the highest price ever paid for a distillery. Under the deal, Paris-listed Rémy is paying the distiller’s 60 investors a total of £48m for their shares and taking on Bruichladdich’s £10m debt. The pay-out is considerably higher than the €43m (£34m) price tag analysts had predicted when the deal was first mooted earlier this month. (The Scotsman, 23/7/12) Heineken has launched a £2.6bn counter-strike for the maker of Tiger beer (Asia Pacific Breweries) in a move that would see the European brewer grab a greater slice of the fast-growing Asian market, though analysts said it was likely to face a fight. The bid followed a surprise £1.9bn bid earlier this week by a Thai millionaire. There was also speculation yesterday that Japanese brewer Kirin may make a move in what one analyst called a “three-way” tussle for the Singapore beer company. (The Scotsman, 21/7/12) Inver House Distillers has reported a 28% rise in turnover helped by soaring international sales of whisky. The Airdrie-based company operates five distilleries – Pulteney, Balblair, Knockdhu, Speyburn and Balmenach – plus a bottling and warehousing site. It produces top malt whiskies and a Scottish gin called Caorunn as well as vodka and liqueurs. Managing director Graham Stevenson said: “It has been growth pretty much across the portfolio although Old Pulteney is doing particularly well.” (The Herald, 10/7/12) Shocked workers at one of Scotland’s best-known companies were dealt a catastrophic blow last night as it emerged the business is facing closure with the loss of 1700 jobs. Staff at Hall’s of Broxburn, in West Lothian were reeling after the bombshell announcement by Dutch owner Vion Foods, which said the factory is losing almost £80,000 a day. Stewart Forrest, USDAW’s deputy Scottish divisional officer, whose union is part of the task force, said: “A 90-day consultation period will start, but the very first question we want answered is why the company has waited until this 11th hour before engaging with its employees and their union.” (The Herald, 6/7/12) Spirits giant Edrington is planning a multimillion-pound investment in Scotland over the next five years after racking up 57% profits growth and 25% debt reduction since 2008. The spend is likely to focus on star brand The Macallan, with new stills and warehousing on Speyside to anticipate future demand, as well as investment in its operations in Glasgow which support 450 jobs. The group employs 750 in Scotland and more than 1500 overseas. (The Herald, 4/7/12) Energy, Oil & Gas A windfarm 10 miles off the coast of Fife, capable of powering every home in Edinburgh, will be the subject of a formal planning application today. The £1.4bn project will involve between 64 and 125 turbines standing in 150ft of water and known as Neart na Gaoithe, Gaelic for ‘power of the wind’. Irish company Mainstream Renewable Power says the windfarm will generate 450MW of electricity, enough to power 325,000 homes, the equivalent of a city the size of Edinburgh or 3.7% of Scottish demand, when it becomes fully operational by the end of 2016. The company predicts it will create hundreds of jobs directly and indirectly over the 25-year life of the windfarm. (The Herald, 30/7/12) 3 The Scottish Government must keep the pressure on the UK Government to ensure Scotland’s renewables potential is not jeopardised by the Westminster energy plans, WWF Scotland has warned. In a week that saw the First Minister Alex Salmond criticise Westminster for delaying an announcement on renewable subsidies, the environmental group said Scotland and the UK’s targets could be knocked off course by action in London. It follows the publication of a highly critical report by the influential House of Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee on the UK Government’s draft Energy Bill. The report makes it clear the UK’s proposals could halt progress in creating a low- carbon future. (TFE, 30/7/12) Scotish-Hydro owner SSE yesterday revealed that it has put plans for four small-scale hydro-electric schemes “on hold” as it awaits the Scottish Government’s decision over subsidies. The Perth-based utilities company said the decision would affect its 7.5MW hydro project at Kildermorie estate, near Alness in Ross-shire, the only one of the schemes to have already been placed in the planning system. Other projects on hold include a scheme on the River Isla near Alyth, in Perthshire. (The Scotsman, 28/7/12) ScottishPower owner Iberdrola has reported a 15.2% increase in first half earnings to €1.4bn despite poor performance in Spain. Net profit from international operations for the Madrid energy company were up 74% at €1.36bn in the period although the Spanish arm declined 44%. (The Herald, 26/7/12) ScottishPower has unveiled plans for a new £80m headquarters in Glasgow city centre, and is offloading its Cathcart base. Around 200 staff are based at the site and they will either relocate to the new 14-storey office on the corner of St Vincent Street and India Street, or to offices at Hamilton, South Lanarkshire. Construction will start in 2013 and the building is due to be completed by late 2015. (The Herald, 20/7/12) Engineering & Manufacturing Engineering giant ABB is planning to create around 120 jobs in Scotland as part of its growth strategy. In Aberdeen, it will add about 100 sales and engineering posts by the end of the year, which is a 50% increase on the current workforce in the north-east. Its East Kilbride project management office is also slated to treble in size, from 10 people to 30. (The Herald, 2/7/12) Financial Services Santander, the eurozone’s biggest lender, yesterday vowed to press ahead with plans to list its Mexican unit – but warned that the listing of its UK business would remain “on hold” for the time being. But Stephen Jones, Santander UK finance director, said he still expects the UK arm to spin-off from its parent and float in London next year or in 2014. (The Scotsman, 27/12/12) Scottish Friendly is hoping to receive £7m in the next year after a deal with BGL Group that will see Scotland’s largest mutual underwrite life insurance cover for its new online product. BGL’s Beagle Street is offering life insurance and critical illness cover. (The Herald, 27/7/12) Edinburgh merchant bank Quayle Munro is to cut ties with Scotland after unveiling plans to retrench in its London office to focus on corporate advisory work. A core team will lead a management buyout 4 of the bank’s Scottish project advisory business, while executive director Rob Cormie has left to launch his own company. (The Scotsman, 27/7/12) Stockbroker N+1 Brewin, which broke away from the wealth manager Brewin Dolphin earlier this year, is to merge with rival Singer Capital Markets. The firm, which has offices in Edinburgh and Glasgow, said the deal with Singer will create a business with an “extremely strong UK client base”, employing more than 110 and offering corporate advisory and equity research services. The merged entity will be called N+1 Singer. (The Scotsman, 25/7/12) Deutsche Bank is thought to be planning 1,000 job cuts at its investment banking division as market activity dries up in the face of the Eurozone debt crisis. The job losses, which are expected to fall mainly outside Germany, would come in addition to cost-cutting announced in October when the bank said it would axe about 500 positions in corporate banking and securities. (The Scotsman, 20/7/12) The future of internet banking Intelligent Finance (IF) has again been placed in doubt after the brand was dropped from a deal with the Co-operative. It is understood Lloyds may be forced to run the IF business down to appease European Union rules on state aid in a move that would mark the end of the 12-year-old brand. (The Scotsman, 20/7/12) The Co-operative Bank is to expand its brand of ethical trading throughout Scotland, after a £750m deal to buy out hundreds of Lloyds branches. In a move seen as a boost for consumers, it will buy out 632 Lloyds TSB branches – including all 185 north of the Border – in the “biggest shake-up in high street banking for a generation”. The deal – yet to be approved in full by regulators – will see the branches involved rebranded to TSB from summer 2013, before customers are transferred to the Co- op the following November. (The Herald, 20/7/12) John Rendall, chief executive of banking HSBC’s operations in Scotland, is moving to take up the equivalent post in Poland, it emerged yesterday. Doug Baikie, who has been with HSBC since 1999 and has led the bank’s Scottish corporate banking division for the past two years, is taking over in an interim role.

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