Scottish Business Briefing – May 1st 2013
FOOD, DRINK & AGRICULTURE
Mackie’s extends crisps deal with Asda
Crisps firm Mackie’s of Scotland is eyeing a 30 per cent increase in sales after landing a contract extension with supermarket chain Asda. The deal marks the food firm’s first UK-wide listing with the grocery giant. It will see Asda stock three of Mackie’s best-selling flavours
Orkney smokery lands Tesco deal
THE Island Smokery on Orkney is ramping up its production after securing a deal to supply 45 Tesco stores across Scotland, which started this week. Callum MacInnes, who has built up The Island Smokery, highlighted hopes that the new business with Tesco could add between 10 and 15 tonnes of cheese to his business’s most recent annual production figure of 18 tonnes.
Sales fall as taxes rise to make up 80% of cost of a bottle
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Hide AdScotch Whisky sales have declined by 12 per cent in the UK over the past five years since the introduction of the alcohol duty escalator. Despite soaring sales in foreign markets, UK volume has dropped from 102 million bottles in 2007 to 90 million in 2012.
At its annual meeting in Edinburgh yesterday, Scotch Whisky Association members discussed the impact of the escalator and the tax burden.
ECONOMICS
SCOTSMAN CONFERENCE
The Economics of Independence 2013 – 4 June, Edinburgh
Join delegates for this truly unmissable event as expert speakers including: Nicola Sturgeon, Alistair Darling, Rupert Soames, Jim McColl and leading academics as they debate arguably the most crucial issues in the Scottish independence debate.
INDUSTRY
Scotgold defers its funds bid as gold price falls
SCOTGOLD, the mining company with ambitions to dig precious metals out of the hills of Argyll, has put a planned fundraising on ice due to the recent gold price meltdown.
The price of gold has fallen 13.7% to $1428 (£935) an ounce since Scotgold last set out its projections a year ago but the owners of the Cononish mine said they remained confident of “healthy returns” once it proceeded.
TECHNOLOGY
Wolfson sales jump due to music on smartphones
Wolfson Microelectronics, the audio-chip developer, is confident it can widen its
customer base as it taps into the booming demand for music on the move. Products
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Hide Addesigned by the Edinburgh-based firm already feature in home hi-fi components, set-
top boxes and televisions but smartphones are forming an increasingly crucial part of its
business.
Glasgow eyes bio-corridor for attracting investment
STRATHCLYDE University principal Sir Jim McDonald has revealed proposals for a
“bio-corridor” in Glasgow to attract international investment and high-value jobs to the
city. McDonald told yesterday’s BioScotland conference in Glasgow that the corridor
would run from the BioCity incubation centre at the former Merck drugs factory in
Newhouse through the city centre to GlaxoSmithKline’s facility at Irvine.