The Summary: week ending 15 December 2023

200 UK Government jobs to come to Aberdeen

200 civil service jobs are to be relocated to Aberdeen. The posts from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (ESNZ) will relocated to the Granite City in 2024.

14 NE firms benefit from £2.5m ETZ Challenge Fund

The not-for-profit ETZ Ltd spearheads the NE’s energy transition ambition and the funding recipients will be able to take advantage of new or existing opportunities in green energy.

See full list of recipients here.

Grant to allow Orkney boatyard to double capacity

Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has contributed £82,600 towards a £236,000 boatyard expansion project that should create 5 highly skilled jobs.

Edinburgh expansion for European hotel group

MEININGER is opening a new 157-bedroom, 549 bed hotel in Edinburgh after reaching a deal with property development company S Harrison.

The new hotel will be located just west of the city centre.

Ann Scott is MD at S Harrison.

Hearts FC plans in stadium hotel

The Edinburgh football club has revealed plans for a 25-bedroom hotel and event space.

Ann Budge is the Hearts managing director.

AAB recognised as top Scottish advisor for M&A activity

AAB has been recognised as the top financial advisor for M&A activity in Scotland according Experian’s UK & Republic of Ireland M&A review.

Gordon Steele is head of Corporate Finance, AAB

BDO Scotland advises on £722m of completed deals

The corporate finance team of BDO Scotland has advised on 24 completed deals with a value of £722 million with several more in the pipeline.

£6.7 m boost for space firms working in Scotland

Orbital launch services company, Orbex and HyImpulse, which is developing the SaxaVord Spaceport in Shetland will receive about £6.7 m from the UK Space Agency contributions to the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Boost! programme.

Martin Coates is CEO at Orbex.

Christian Schmierer is co-CEO at HyImpulse

Aberdeen’s First Tech Group shows huge growth in last year

Aberdeen-based energy services firm First Tech Group has recorded turnover of £45.5million in the 12 months to 30 April 2023, up from £23.8million in 2021-21. The firm has also almost doubled its workforce from 140 to 250.

Pre-tax profits were £3.4million, reversing losses of £2.5million previously, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation trebled to £7.39million, from £2.3million last time.

Data Lab marks ten years with £200m economy boost

The Data Lab, Scotland’s innovation centre for data and AI id celebrating 10 years with the publication of its inaugural impact report which shows £200 million in additional revenue injected into Scotland’s data and AI sector.

The centre has been instrumental in creating and securing 1,350 jobs and 145 projects.

50% capacity growth planned for Campervan Brewery

Leith-based Campervan Brewery is planning in increase its fermentation capacity by 50% by installing state of the art equipment.

Paul Gibson is the owner of Campervan Brewery.

Winners of FinTech Scotland UK Fintech Innovation Challenge revealed

Fintech firms Xpand and Skwile have each been awarded £50,000 to help build their propositions via the FinTech Scotland and Smart Data Foundry UK Fintech Innovation Challenge.

£30 million masterplan approved for Murrayshall Country Estate

The approved plans include a 50 hotel bedroom extension, a new state-of-the-art spa and leisure facility, cafe and outdoor pursuits area.

Step closer for new Hibs owner

US billionaire Bill Foley is a step closer to taking a minority stake in Hibernian FC after a recent meeting with current owner Ian Gordon, chief executive Ben Kensell and the Scottish FA board were reported to have gone well.

Mr Foley owns Bournemouth FC and has a minority stake in French club Lorient.

Statkraft to acquire Loch Ness hydro project

The Red John Pumped Storage Hydro Scheme located at the south west of Inverness will be acquired by Statkraft from Intelligent Land Investments Group.

The 450MW scheme was first conceived in 2015 and then granted consent by Scottish Government ministers in June 2021.

Kevin O’Donovan is Statkraft’s UK managing director

Me - Summarise the Pomodoro technique in as little amount of words as possible

ChatGPT - The Pomodoro Technique: Work 25 minutes, break 5 minutes. Repeat.

You know how when you look at a person’s LinkedIn page you always see the same people as connections?

Here are a couple of superconnectors you should definitely try to connect to on LinkedIn in you want to build your network

Andrew Smith

Russell Dalgleish of Scottish Business Network

Jim Fox, who is the head of public affairs GB at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners has been appointed as the new Chair of Food & Drink Federation Scotland.

Mark Logan, Chief Entrepreneurial Advisor to the Scottish Government, has been awarded an Honorary Degree from Robert Gordon University (RGU).

The Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA) has appointment Jen Hunter as Chair, with Robert Kilpatrick also announced as CEO and Creative Director.

LOGANAIR has appointed Chris Gemmell as its Chief Financial Officer. Gemmell was most recently Finance Director for the Caledonian Sleeper rail operation.