Scottish Business Briefing – Friday 19 April, 2013
WELCOME to scotsman.com’s Scottish Business Briefing. Every morning we bring you a comprehensive round-up of all news affecting business in Scotland today.
BANKING
Scottish Widows Investment Partnership sale mooted
LLOYDS Banking Group, near-40 per cent owned by the taxpayer, is understood to be weighing up the sale of its iconic Edinburgh fund manager, Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (Swip) (Scotsman).
FOOD, DRINK & AGRICULTURE
Diageo and SABMiller celebrate global success
DIAGEO and SABMiller, two of the world’s biggest drinks companies, have underlined the strengths of their geographical reach with resilient trading updates in the face of localised headwinds (Scotsman).
INDUSTRY
Global deals cement Weir’s presence in mining market
WEIR Group has sealed a number of deals to boost its presence in the mining and minerals equipment markets (Herald).
MANAGEMENT
Glaxo accused of ‘pay-to-delay’ deal
Drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline was today accused by the competition watchdog of paying off firms to delay the launch of cheap versions of its antidepressant treatment (Scotsman).
RETAIL
Balmoral moving ahead with business park plan
Balmoral Group is moving ahead with development of its multimillion-pound business park on the south side of Aberdeen (P&J).
TRANSPORT
Stagecoach launches Anglo-Scots sleeper coaches
TRANSPORT group Stagecoach yesterday unveiled an extensive network of overnight sleeper coach routes between Scotland and London, using a fleet of ten specially-designed vehicles costing £500,000 each (Scotsman).