Scottish Business Briefing – Tuesday 5 August 2008

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.

ECONOMY
Swinney calls for the removal of red tape
The Scottish Government has backed a series of measures to reduce the impact of red tape on businesses in Scotland (Aberdeen Press & Journal). A report published by the Regulatory Review Group was heralded by finance secretary John Swinney, who called for the improved measures to be road-tested. Mr Swinney said: For too long regulation has pitched government, regulators and businesses against each other. This government simply will not allow regulation to be a battleground any longer." Iain McMillan, director of CBI Scotland said: "Red tape is a very real problem for firms and one of the most significant avoidable constraints on competitiveness and business growth. The Regulatory Review Group, under the leadership of Russel Griggs, has done a fine job in developing proposals that are practical and acceptable both to business and government. It is crucial that these reforms apply not only to government-inspired regulation, but also to legislation emanating from parliamentary committees and backbench members' bills."

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ENERGY & UTILITIES
CSL announce £2.5million deal with Centrica
CSL, the engineering and subsea project-management firm, announced that it has secured a new contract worth round £2.5million (Aberdeen Press & Journal). The Aberdeen-based company is providing services in the Seven Seas gas field and the Grove extension, both in the southern part of the North Sea, on behalf of Centrica Resources. The services CSL are to be undertaking for Centrica are subsea engineering, procurement, installation and commissioning. Mark Gillespie, managing director of CSL said: "We're delighted to have the opportunity to continue to support Centrica as part of its project team and look forward to working together towards bringing Grove and Seven Seas on stream. Unlike traditional company-contractor relationships, Centrica and CSL have worked in an arrangement where CSL is regarded as an integral part of the operator's team. This has given us a genuine sense of ownership and has enabled us to fully represent our client throughout the delivery of this project."

Nautronix secures £44million Norwegian deal
Nautronix has secured a contract worth £44million for its NasDrill deep-water positioning system (The Herald). The marine technology firm announced that the order from Norway for two deep-water drilling rigs would enable the business to regain its focus on the oil and gas industry. Earlier this year Nautronix released their NasNet acoustic tracking technology onto the market. Managing director Mark Patterson commented: "Significant growth is coming through from this year in orders already placed. Nasnet is making some fantastic inroads, and we are very excited about where that can take us in the future. Vessel costs are at a premium of $600,000 a day. If NasNet can save a few days by turning on a black box, the savings can be huge. Our investment in technology is significant in getting us to where we are - not many small companies are doing that."

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FOOD, DRINK & AGRICULTURE
Growing frustration for NFU over Rural Priorities Scheme
NFU Scotland has once again raised its concern for the Rural Priorities Scheme and has urged Richard Lochhead, the Secretary for Rural Affairs to act on the matter (The Herald). The Rural Priorities Scheme was launched in June and working along with the Land Managers' Options was created to secure £800million by 2013 for the rural economy. However, problems have arisen with the process for securing approval for the scheme being based solely online. Many potential applicants only have a couple of weeks to secure approval or else face waiting until 2010 before more support is made available. Jim McLaren president of NFUS said: "The latest issue surrounds those farmers with expiring agri-environment scheme agreements but wishing to roll those agreements over, through Rural Priorities, to commence on January 1, 2009. It now appears that they have an extremely limited window of opportunity to do this and should they be unsuccessful, it may be 2010 before any funding is available. This situation threatens to deal a blow to the credibility of agri-environment schemes in Scotland. If the continued partnership of investment in the agricultural landscapes of Scotland is to reap the biodiversity and environmental benefits such measures are designed to achieve, then a far more pragmatic way to deal with continuing agri-environment proposals must be found."

Glenmorangie make theirs a double as profits reach £12.6million
Glenmorangie have announced that in profits in 2007 have doubled on the previous year, showing disregard for the current economic slowdown (The Scotsman). Profits of £12.6million were posted by the Broxburn-based company, in what has become a strong period for the Scottish Whisky industry, where a selection of firms including Edrington and Inver House have also displayed strong sales. The Scotch Whisky Association's director of government and consumer, Campbell Evans said: "We have seen growth over the past two years in all parts of the globe. You think about the credit crunch, but that isn't necessarily a global phenomenon affecting every market. We have seen tariff barriers come down in India, while in China and eastern Europe there is a lot more economic prosperity in terms of disposable income. Even in the US, premium spirits are what people are choosing to drink. It is early days for this period as a high proportion of sales occur in the last seven months of the year. However, things do seem to be on track at present."

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MEDIA & LEISURE
Powerleague continues to net smaller operators
Powerleague, the football centre operator, continued to buy-up smaller operators, side-stepping effects of the slowdown in consumer spending (The Scotsman). With over 450 five-a-side football pitches spread throughout the UK, the Paisley-based firm announced it has added a further ten more, with the purchase of Soccer Sensations in Stockton-on-Tees in north-east England. Sean Tracey, the chief executive of Powerleague said: "People probably are a little bit more sensitive about their additional spend but the good thing is the pitch revenue, which is the core of the business, is holding up well," Chairman Claude Littner said: "We are confident that the new year will be one of further revenue and profit growth and the outlook remains positive,"

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PROPERTY
Housebuilding output in considerable decline
The decline in housebuilding activity in July saw a record drop in UK construction industry output since comparable records started back in 1997 according to a survey by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (The Herald). Furthermore, the industry announced the highest number of job cuts in the past eleven years. The report confirmed the impact that the global credit crunch has had on the construction sector. Chief UK economist at consultancy Global Insight, Howard Archer said: "Overall construction activity was dragged down once again in July by exceptionally weak residential activity. Indeed, the housebuilding index indicated that activity in the (sub-)sector contracted massively in July, and for the eighth month running. Specifically, the index dropped to a pitiful, record low of 18.7 in July, from 25.6 in June, 32.7 in May and 40.3 in April. Housebuilders are being hit extremely hard as housing market activity and house prices crumble in the face of elevated affordability pressures, very tight lending conditions and low buyer interest."

Read all today's property news from scotsman.com