The Herald

110 Jobs to Go at Forbo-Nairn

Metal Fabrication Plant Closed

Chamber Appoints New President

Vida Sports Directors Call in Administrator As Debts Spiralformer Murray Venture Collapses a Year After Sale to Mbo Team

FIVE-a-side football and leisure chain Vida Sports has collapsed into administration, just one year after Charlotte Ventures, David Murray's private equity arm, sold it to a management buy-out team for pounds-30m. An advertisement is expected to appear in the Financial Times today, seeking a buyer for the troubled Edinburgh-based business - preferably from the ranks of five-a-side rivals PowerLeague, which has its headquarters in Paisley, and Hamilton-based Goals.

Nab Rides Out Chorus of Criticism at Annual Meeting

NATIONAL Australia Bank, which owns the Clydesdale, yesterday told its annual meeting it would return to an "acceptable growth profile" in the second half of 2005 amid a chorus of criticism from shareholders, including a former chief executive. Nobby Clark, who was chief executive of NAB from 1985 to 1990, said Australia's biggest bank had lost focus because of poor quality management.

Woolworths' Market Capitalisation Soars On Takeover Speculation

WOOLWORTHS added pounds-128m to its market value yesterday as its shares raced ahead more than 22-per cent afterApax Partners said it was "considering" a bid for the variety store chain. The private equity firm gave no indication of how much it might pay for the chain, which demerged from Kingfisher in 2001, but analysts cited a takeout price around 60p per share, or pounds- 853m.

How Do We Measure the Impact of a Day Spent in P5?

RAPID growth in public spending in Labour's second term has triggered an increasingly common criticism. Public sector growth on this scale, it is argued, "crowds out" private sector economic activity. If allowed to go on rising unchecked, so the argument continues, the public sector cuckoo risks jeopardising enterprise and national prosperity.

Cancer Specialist Auvation Sold to Eirx

AUVATION, the biotech specialising in research into the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, has been sold to an Alternative Investment Market-listed Irish firm in a deal that will make its owner, doctor Bill Melvin, a paper millionaire. Melvin has traded a 51-per cent stake in Aberdeen-based Auvation, which he founded to commercialise developments coming out of Aberdeen University, for shares in another cancer specialist, EiRx, worth around pounds-1.38m.

Life-Saving Deal Imminent for Carpetmaker Stoddard Talks Aimed at Continuing Manufacturing in Kilmarnock

THE accountants trying to offload stricken Stoddard International are close to a deal which would keep Scotland's oldest carpet manufacturer in business, it emerged yesterday. More than three weeks after the Kilmarnock company collapsed with pounds-9m of debts, following a failed attempt to secure last- minute life-saving finances, the receivers signalled this was a make- or-break week for Stoddard.

Rubicon Response Founder Nets Pounds-3m From Consultancy Disposal

JIM Walker has sold the consultancy he formed to train oil firms how to respond to threats like terrorism to services giant Petrofac in a deal industry sources say netted the former soldier more than pounds-3m. The sale of Rubicon Response, which helps clients "maximise survivability and minimise loss'', follows a period of rapid growth for the Aberdeen firm in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the US and war in Iraq.

Regional Selective Grant Aid Helps to Create 900 Additional Jobs

GOVERNMENT grant assistance to businesses in Scotland fell between the third and fourth quarter of last year, but was up significantly on the same period in 2003. Between October and December, the Scottish Executive promised more than pounds-11m in grants to 41 businesses either owned or operated in Scotland.

Ramco Shares Surge On Irish Licence Deal

SHARES in Ramco Energy surged 18-per cent after the beleaguered oil and gas firm added to its Irish interests a frontier exploration licence on which other firms would pick up the bills for the first well. Investors appeared pleased that Ramco had agreed a lowcost way of potentially reducing the company's reliance on the troubled Seven Heads gas project offshore Ireland.

Compulsory Pension Saving Seen As Impossible Burden

COMPULSORY pension saving, one of the key issues raised by the Turner report into pensions last year, would be an impossible burden on young savers, people with low incomes, and employers, according to two responses to the report published as the deadline for submissions passed yesterday. First-time house buyers could not afford to divert income into compulsory pension saving, says Mercer HR Consulting, an adviser to employers.

Offshore Contractors Accused of Depriving Nhs of Millions

OFFSHORE contractors who are transferring employees to "shell" companies in tax havens like the Cayman Islands are depriving the National Health Service of millions of pounds a year. OILC, the trade union for offshore oil and gas workers, fears that the practice is spreading and that millions more will be lost to the National Insurance Fund if action is not taken.

Aberdeen Asset to Launch Pounds-50m Trust

ABERDEEN Asset Management, which has spent the past three years trying to escape the notoriety of split-capital trusts, is planning to launch a new pounds-50m trust in the sector. The success of two split-caps launched six years ago by the former Edinburgh Fund Managers, which Aberdeen took over in 2003, has prompted the group to propose the creation of a trust aimed at offering investors in both trusts the option of a rollover investment.

Buy-in at Scottish Liqueur Centre

SCOTTISH Liqueur Centre, the niche family-owned drinks business based in Perthshire, has received a new infusion of cash via a management buy-in. The deal is led by Kenny MacKay, former managing director of the brands division of whisky distiller Morrison Bowmore. He is joined by Rob Starling, Scottish Liqueur's incoming export director and former head of regional sales at Bowmore, who, like MacKay, took redundancy from Morrison Bowmore at the end of last year.

Weak High Street Sales Support View Rates Have Peaked Economists Hold Fire On Findings of Cbi Monthly Survey

UK high street sales last month were down on a year earlier - confounding City expectations of growth - according to a Confederation of British Industry survey which turned out its weakest January reading since 1999. The CBI survey - the earliest monthly indicator of retail sales - supports the notion that UK base rates may have peaked already at 4.75-per cent.

Deadline Announced for Applications to National Reserve

THE Scottish Executive announced yesterday that farmers who wish to apply to the so-called National Reserve for additional entitlements to the new single farm payment have until March 14 to lodge their claims. The National Reserve is designed to ensure that farmers are not disadvantaged by the change in how subsidies are paid following implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy reforms. Farmers in Scotland will receive an annual payment, based on the subsidies they were paid in the re...