LS Productions – a global production company that started life on a kitchen table by a former air stewardess – is officially recognised as one of the UK’s fastest growing private companies
Set up in Edinburgh by Marie Owen – with 3 kids under the age of 5 – the company has gone from strength to strength being named on two prestigious lists of fastest growing UK private companies
LS Productions was Grammy-nominated for its work on its second Harry Styles music video (‘Adore You’) and works with high profile celebrities including Zendaya, Ed Sheeran and Cristiano Ronaldo
With ambition to become a £40 million turnover business in the next two years, the company provides production services to clients for commercials, fashion, sport, music videos and film and TV projects working across the globe.
LS Productions – whose headquarters are in Leith – is celebrating appearances on The Sunday Times 100 and FEBE Growth 100 lists – which recognise the UK’s fastest growing private companies.
Both lists celebrate British business at its best – highlighting founders that are driving their companies to deliver significant sales, revenue and profit, against a backdrop of unprecedented economic challenges.
With their headquarters in Edinburgh, LS Productions are the UK’s largest production service company with additional offices in London and Manchester.
LS’s recent growth is down in part to the expansion of their services into the international film & TV sectors, taking on global TV and film production service projects over the last 18 months, with recent projects including Ghosted (Skydance / Apple TV),episodes of the Bachelor (NZK Productions / Warner Bros Entertainment / ABC) and a Kind of Spark (CBBC / BYUtv America).
As part of this growth they have also added a warm water production and location facility in Malta to further bolster their international offering.
In conjunction with this expansion, the LS growth can also be directly attributed to a commitment to invest in and recruit talent in the LS’s core production specialisms, including commercials, fashion, music and sport.
Mimi Webb, Aviemore, Scotland, 5th April 2023
The diversification of these business streams was a deliberate move to weather the storm faced by the production industry in a post Covid landscape.
Across this period LS has worked on a succession of high profile service production projects ranging from Ed Sheeran’s latest album Subtract (Freenjoy / Directed by Mia Barnes), Harry Styles ‘Adore You (Freenjoy / Directed by Dave Meyers), Valentino’s Pink Dreams starring Zendaya (Marcell Rev / Michael Bailey Gates) and ‘You’re Up’ featuring Cristiano Ronaldo for Nike (Wieden & Kennedy/ Directed by Megaforce).
Not only this but Covid also provided cause for reflection about where the business saw itself creatively in the long term and how they could look to continue to stay true to their values of being ‘creative at heart’ which drove further diversification with the arrival of an original content arm in the form of LS Films.
Thanks to this successful business strategy, LS has seen a two year growth of 273% and boasts sales of £20 million.
Speaking about the recognition, CEO and Founder Marie Owen – who has lived in Edinburgh her whole life, said: “I’m beyond thrilled to see LS Productions name appear on such prestigious lists, in fact I can’t quite believe it!
“If you could have told me that we’d be appearing on lists like these when I started the business back in 2006 from my kitchen table I’d probably have laughed and said ‘are you joking’! I
“t’s such a fantastic achievement and so rewarding to see all the incredible hard work and dedication that myself and the team have put in to get recognised.
“Both in terms of growing a world-class global production company, but also a business that people genuinely love working for that is firmly rooted in the values of kindness, hard work and learning.”
Marie continued: “”Post Covid we had to completely re-evaluate where we wanted to go – not just professionally but personally. So we went, quite literally back to our roots – which meant investing heavily in specialised expertise to develop focused business streams; Fashion, Sport, Commercial, Music Videos, Film & TV Service and an original content division called LS Films.
“This robust diversification gives LS a solid foundation in an industry that is notorious for huge highs and steep lows because we’re not overly dependent on one particular stream and it also allows us to explore our creative passion with LS Films.”
Survey by Scotland Loves Local highlights critical need for Edinburgh residents to get behind people and enterprises in the city
Nine-in-ten businesses in Edinburgh and the Lothians say the support of local people is critical to their survival as they battle continued unprecedented challenges.
The statistic has been revealed by the Scotland Loves Local campaign as it issues a rallying cry for people to choose local this summer and support enterprises – and protect jobs – in their community, unlocking millions of pounds worth of spending.
Research was carried out by Scotland’s Towns Partnership (STP), the organisation which spearheads Scotland Loves Local, among its members and stakeholders, which include the country’s Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) – with the findings reinforcing the importance of grassroots action in fuelling a fairer, stronger, more sustainable national economy.
It found:
93% of businesses in Edinburgh and the Lothians said the support of the local community was important, of which 85% said it was “extremely important”.
93% also said it was important that people “love local” and get behind businesses in their communities this summer.
And the circular impact of businesses boosting their local economy was reinforced by the survey responses, with nine-in-ten (93%) who took part saying they buy from and sell to other local enterprises across the region.
Born as the nation emerged from the first Covid-19 lockdown in summer 2020, Scotland Loves Local has evolved into a campaign for longer-term good – encouraging people to make the places they live better by supporting the people and businesses around them.
That synergy between business and community was demonstrated in STP’s survey findings, with nearly three-quarters (73%) of survey respondents involved in wider community initiatives across Edinburgh city and the Lothians – such as skills development, volunteering and charity fundraising.
Businesses and communities mutually supporting one another is a philosophy close to the heart of Fin Clarkson, Food Services Manager at Space, a community Hub in Broomhouse, that operates a community café on site and Outta Space Pizza across the city.
Fin Clarkson said: “It’s hard out there at the moment – both for local businesses and the communities they serve.
“At Space, we are working hard to support local people through regular community meals, cooking classes and food education as well as an employability pathway from our Training Academy courses to paid employment within our social enterprises. Coming up we have our Kids Go Free no-questions-asked free school holiday meal provision which is a key part of our community focus.
“Keeping money in the local community is really important, and local businesses and social enterprises play a massive part in this. Our growing working lunch event catering and Outta Space Pizza create fantastic produce in Broomhouse that has the dual benefit of raising the profile of social enterprise and enabling us to reinvest the money into our services in Edinburgh’s south west.
“We couldn’t deliver these services without the support of the community around us and, in these challenging times, that support is more important than ever before. By loving local this summer, people can discover all the amazing experiences that we have on our doorstep – while supporting local enterprises that keep millions of pounds-worth of spending in local communities.
“That support will allow us to make Edinburgh an even better place to live, work and visit.
STP Chair Professor Leigh Sparks, the leading retail academic who’s also the University of Stirling’s deputy principal,said: “Towns, villages and local places across Scotland – and the businesses that operate at their heart – are the economic and social glue of the country and our communities.
“The cost of living and the cost of doing business, though, continue to challenge both consumers and businesses.
“Local support is the common thread that helps everyone weather this and build sustainable places and communities. By choosing local – and getting behind the businesses in our communities – we will ensure the survival of shops and services. Local consumer spending generates local business spending and protects the jobs of family, friends and neighbours.
“By loving local, we will also ensure that our high streets and town centres build a fairer, more sustainable Scotland – creating even better places to live, work and visit.”
Kimberley Guthrie, STP’s Interim Chief Officer, added: “We need to begin a permanent behaviour change in thinking local first this summer, whether for shopping, days out or simply local businesses trading with each other. Choosing local is not only good for our economy and environment, but the communities these fantastic local businesses serve too.”
People across the region are also being urged to spend using the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card, ensuring the money they spend stays local for longer by directly supporting shops, attractions and jobs in the area. Businesses and charities are also being encouraged to use them as rewards.
Bank of Scotland’s Business Barometer for May 2023 shows:
Business confidence in Scotland fell nine points during May to 22%
Companies in Scotland reported lower confidence in their own business prospects month-on-month, down two points at 30%
Overall UK business confidence remains strong at 28%, down five points on last month
Business confidence in Scotland fell nine points during May to 22%, according to the latest Business Barometer from Bank of Scotland Commercial Banking.
Companies in Scotland reported lower confidence in their own business prospects month-on-month, down two points at 30%. When taken alongside their optimism in the economy, down 20 points to 14%, this gives a headline confidence reading of 22%.
Scottish businesses identified their top target areas for growth in the next six months as evolving their offer (45%), investing in their team (35%) and entering new markets (29%).
The Business Barometer, which surveys 1,200 businesses monthly, provides early signals about UK economic trends both regionally and nationwide.
A net balance of 29% of businesses in the region expect to increase staff levels over the next year, down three points on last month.
Overall UK business confidence dropped five points to 28% in May. Despite the dip, every UK nation and region report a positive confidence reading.
As the country celebrated the Coronation, London reported the highest levels of business confidence at 43% (down four points on last month), followed by the North East at 35% (down six points month-on-month). The West Midlands, South East and South West, also reported high readings in May, all at 30%.
Firms remain optimistic about their own trading prospects, with a net balance of 34% expecting business activity to increase over the next 12 months, down just five points on last month.
Chris Lawrie, area director for Scotland at Bank of Scotland Commercial Banking, said: “Despite a slight drop, business confidence figures remain positive and it’s great to see so many firms planning to invest in their teams.
“On the ground we’re hearing that more and more companies are setting their sights on new goals in the coming twelve months. Whether going after new markets, or making new hires to help during busier periods, it’s important that businesses ensure their working capital is in rude health.
“Having a keen eye on forecasting and finances can help firms to move swiftly when new opportunities arise. We’ll remain by the side of Scottish businesses to support them and help them to capitalise on growth opportunities this summer.”
Confidence among manufacturers increased to a one-year high of 40% (up from 29%), while retail registered a more modest two point rise to 26%, and construction remained robust at 34% despite its monthly nine point decline.
Services confidence, however, fell back to 26% from 36%, almost erasing last month’s rise. Overall, confidence across the broad sectors remains above levels at the start of the year.
Paul Gordon, Managing Director for Relationship Management, Lloyds Bank Business & Commercial Banking, said: “Although we’ve seen a slight slowdown in hiring activity this month, there is still an overall upward trend in hiring intentions this year, with improvements in labour availability as well.
“While businesses may be feeling less optimistic, it’s still encouraging to see confidence is still in line with the Barometer’s long-term average, consistent with positive growth.
“Wage pressures continue to be at higher levels than before the pandemic, which management teams will be closely monitoring. And with inflationary pressures persisting, businesses need to remain agile to the changing economic environment, while keeping a tight watch on costs and the structure of their finances.”
Hann-Ju Ho, Senior Economist Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, said: “As the economic environment remains challenging, compounded by stubborn inflation and higher wage pressures, business confidence has dipped slightly this month as firms feel cautious about the wider economy and their own trading prospects.
“However, while firms’ trading prospects and economic optimism both eased back, they still remain in positive territory as the UK has avoided an outright contraction in GDP – indicating a certain amount of underlying resilience in the economy.”
An Edinburgh-based independent craft brewery, which began as a home-brewing project in its co-founder’s spare bedroom, is now shipping internationally after receiving support and signposting to funding from Business Gateway.
Vault City was launched to modernise traditional brewing styles with its own take on fruited sours beers.
The beers, which are more aligned to cocktails and fruit ciders than IPAs or pale ales, are loaded with real fruit ingredients to develop flavours ranging from Raspberry Rocky Road and Strawberry Sundae to Cloudy Lemonade and Blackcurrant Choc Chip Waffle.
On a mission to convert non-beer and traditional beer drinkers, the brewery introduces new flavours every two weeks.
Co-founder Steven Smith-Hay, who describes himself as an “obsessed homebrewer”, had experimented with different sour and fruit beers while working in IT, and, with encouragement from his friends and family, took the plunge to set up Vault City in 2018.
Having never run a business before, he approached Business Gateway in search of expert guidance to develop the skills necessary for turning his vision for modern craft beer into a reality.
Steven’s local business adviser helped him to establish a business plan and identify routes for growth, as well as providing practical advice on how to manage cashflow.
Through Business Gateway, Steven learned about the requirements needed to set up an alcohol business online and received specialist support to develop a website, which established Vault City’s digital presence, increasing brand awareness and generating sales as a result.
Business Gateway was also instrumental in signposting Vault City to £100,000 of grant funding from Scottish Enterprise, which went towards the purchase of a decanter centrifuge.
This new piece of equipment helped the business increase its yield and decrease its waste by 30%, in turn reducing its environmental impact. Within five years of launching, Vault City has landed deals with the country’s biggest retailers, including Tesco, Morrison’s, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose.
More recently, following advice from Business Gateway the business, which has grown to a team of almost 30, now exports to over 20 countries globally, including Singapore, Sweden and Thailand. Vault City is continuing to focus on exporting in 2023, with plans to break into the Chinese market.
Steven Smith-Hay, Co-founder, Vault City Brewing, said: “I spotted an opportunity to carve a niche in the craft beer industry, but I needed guidance to make it happen.
“Having one-to-one support from Business Gateway has been excellent. My adviser was a safe pair of hands throughout the process and really helped me to unpack all the obstacles that come with starting your own business.
“I’m really proud to say that four in every five sour beers sold in the UK comes from Vault City and can’t speak highly enough about the ongoing support I’ve received from Business Gateway since launching.”
Lindsey Sibbald, Business Gateway adviser, said:“Over the years, we have been able to support Vault City with a range of Business Gateway’s services.
“It has been fantastic to watch the business’ stratospheric growth since launching, which is testament to Steven and the team’s dedication. I look forward to watching them continue to grow and to find out what flavour is next on the cards.”
To find out how Business Gateway can help your business, visit:
A total of 24 businesses with high-growth potential have benefited to the tune of £1.4 million after being named as winners in the Scottish EDGE Round 21 awards, which were attended on Friday by First Minister Humza Yousaf and businessman and philanthropist Sir Tom Hunter, as well as entrepreneur and world record holder, Jamie Douglas Hamilton.
Amongst the winners were Glasgow-based Infix Support which won £100,000 towards its Clinician-led, cloud-based scheduling platform that improves NHS theatre efficiency. Clearwell Technology Ltd, a business based in Aboyne which develops exothermic milling systems, also walked away with a prize worth £100,000.
Eight of the prizes went to winners from the Young EDGE Category, where all directors are under the age of 30, with the top Scottish Enterprise prize going to Euro Ticket Club Ltd, which provides flight and ticket offers to British fans of European football. The Institute of Export prize was awarded to LU Innovations Ltd, which creates menstrual products and accessories for adventurers in remote environments. Both winners were recognised for their entrepreneurship with prizes worth £15,000.
Sustainable business practices and a commitment to protecting the planet remain central to the awards. The twenty-first round saw the return of the Net Zero EDGE category, which rewards the efforts of organisations committed to contributing towards the Scottish government’s commitment to reaching Net Zero by 2045.
North Berwick-based Frontier Robotics, which revolutionises marine robots’ sensing and autonomous capabilities, won the Net Zero prize worth £100,000, thanks to additional support from the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Judith Cruickshank, MD of Commercial Mid-Market at Royal Bank of Scotland said: “The time to act on climate change is now and investing in businesses focused on developing solutions through initiatives such as the Net Zero EDGE award is key.
“At Royal Bank of Scotland, we are committed to championing SMEs and each and every one of this year’s winners demonstrates the passion, innovation and determination needed to help bolster and strengthen Scotland’s economy while also making positive strides towards our climate ambitions. Congratulations to all of this year’s winners but in particular, our Net Zero EDGE winner, Frontier.”
The Circular Economy EDGE award, which was introduced in collaboration with Zero Waste Scotland and recognises businesses implementing more circular business methods went to Fife-based Seilich, which harvests skincare product ingredients from the organisation’s own wildflower meadows.
Meanwhile the STV Growth EDGE award, which guarantees airtime went to a consumer-based business, Three Robins, a company creating family-friendly plant-based products, in addition to a financial award of £85,000.
Sharing the accolade of Social Enterprise EDGE winner, Stitch the Gap CIC, which uses sewing tutelage to improve community mental health and environmental impact, and Rhyze Mushrooms, a community mushroom farm and education project, received £50,000 and £20,000 respectively from the Postcode Innovation Trust supported award.
The ceremony marked the final round of the awards for Scottish EDGE Chief Operating Officer Steven Hamill, who has been involved with the awards since their inception in 2013 and has overseen the establishment of partnerships with the Royal Bank of Scotland, the Hunter Foundation, the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise.
Steven Hamill said: ‘Over the course of the last decade, the EDGE awards have acknowledged the innovation, creativity, and future-centred mindset of over 500 Scottish businesses.
“With over £20 million having been awarded so far, Scottish EDGE plays a crucial role in giving businesses with high-growth potential the resources to scale and develop their work. It’s been an honour to collaborate with partner organisations to form long-lasting relationships and ensure that Scottish entrepreneurship continues to be rewarded’.
Jane Martin, MD of Innovation and Investment at Scottish Enterprise, said: “Once again it has been great to partner with Scottish EDGE, which plays an important role in nurturing innovative high growth potential start-ups as part of Scotland’s fantastic entrepreneurial ecosystem.
“I’d like to congratulate all of this round’s winners, who I am sure will go on to do amazing things both for the Scottish economy and for the benefit of societyas a whole.”
Sandy Young/scottishphotographer.com
Full list of this year’s winners (alphabetically)
Category: Scottish EDGE Award
Chorus Training – Aberdeen – £70,000 – In hazardous environments safety culture is key to business performance. It’s essential to perform, comply with regulations, deliver training and promote individual accountability for safety.
Clean Water Designs (ta Novus) –Edinburgh – £80,000 – Our high-speed low-energy distillation technology, enables homes and businesses anywhere in the world, to access consistent high-purity water, without expensive consumable parts or plastic bottles (above)..
Clearwell Technology Ltd – Aboyne – £100,000 – Clearwell Technology is developing unique exothermic milling systems which aim to transform offshore decommissioning by delivering substantial time, cost, and greenhouse gas emission reductions.
Fitabeo Therapeutics Ltd –Edinburgh – £100,000 – A specialty pharmaceutical company that develops and commercialises innovative medicines to address some of the society’s most pressing challenges.
Frontier Robotics – North Berwick – £100,000 – We revolutionise marine robots’ sensing and autonomous capabilities with minimum hardware and software modifications. We focus on the renewable offshore energy sector.
Incharvie Group Ltd – Leven – £60,000 – Feragaia is Scotland’s first distilled alcohol-free spirit. Based in Fife, Feragaia is distilled in Fife, bottled in Glasgow and ships to customers around the world.
Infix Support Ltd – Glasgow – £100,000 – Infix is a clinician-led, cloud-based scheduling platform that significantly improves NHS theatre efficiency. Integration to the NHS showed an increase of theatre efficiency by 26%
Nooku – Glasgow- £80,000 – Nooku is creating an engaging air quality monitor which empowers people to understand and improve their environment in pursuit of better comfort, health, and happiness.
Seilich – Pathhead – £75,000 – At Seilich we create wildflower meadows from which we harvest ingredients for our range of award-winning natural skincare products.
Silver Lion Innovations – Glasgow – £80,000 – SLI exists to provide healthcare solutions based on personal experience. EasyOver, is a ‘smart’ product that safely turns people with mobility issues over in bed.
Three Robins Ltd – Edinburgh – £85,000 – Our mission is to make healthy, great tasting oat milk products that children, their parents and the planet will love.
Tuggs – Glasgow – £75,000 – Tuggs is the country’s first freshly-prepared, insect-based dog food. We create customised meal plans that are delivered to consumers on a subscription each month.
WEETEQ LTD – Glasgow – £100,000 – Weeteq is a ‘tiny’ embedded technology company providing industrial solutions. Our mission is developing circuit-level artificial intelligence solutions to accelerate sustainable growth of smart technologies.
Yaldi Games – Edinburgh – £60,000 – Yaldi Games is a mission-led game developer making meaningful games that inspire real life activities.
Category: Social Enterprise EDGE
Rhyze Mushrooms – Edinburgh – £25,000 – Rhyze Mushrooms is a community mushroom farm and education project. We grow mushrooms from waste and teach others the skills to do so too.
Stitch the Gap CIC – Glasgow – £50,000 – We deliver a mental health and environmental impact at the grassroots of our communities by teaching the sewing skills to repair, reuse and repurpose textiles.
Category: Young EDGE
4SB Mobility Ltd – Peebles – £10,000 – We are engineering a swappable, ‘jerry-can’ electric vehicle (EV) battery. It attaches to the EVs main battery, giving users 90 miles range in 2 minutes.
Augmentum Influencer Solutions – Grangemouth – £10,000 – We’re an influencer marketing agency specialising in growing brands exclusively in the Health and Wellness space by leveraging the power of the creator economy.
Dastardly Line – Glasgow – £10,000 – Dastardly Line are a Glasgow based design studio that creates innovative products around problematic textile waste streams produced by UK industry.
Euro Ticket Club Ltd – Edinburgh – £15,000 – We provide flight and football ticket offers, via a weekly email newsletter, for British fans who want to watch European football.
LU Innovations LTD – Glasgow- £15,000 – LU’s on a mission to annihilate the hurdles stopping menstruators going on adventurers. Designing sustainable products, education and training to ensure good menstrual hygiene anywhere.
Nuclevolve Pvt. Ltd – Glasgow – £10,000 – Nuclevolve is a radiation protection technology company that relies on the development of materials engineering to achieve advancements in the space and medical industries.
Shasha Network – Edinburgh – £10,000 – Shasha Network (SCIO) is an online platform that equips secondary students across Africa with soft skills and career development to achieve their fullest potential.
Studio Lutalica Ltd – Edinburgh – £10,000 – Lutalica is a design studio focusing on Feminist & LGBTQ+ projects and supporting businesses to create safer workplaces for women and LGBTQ+ people.
Culture and business will be able to connect in new and exciting ways thanks to the launch of a new Marketplace initiative, pioneered by Culture and Business Scotland (C&BS).
The Culture & Business Marketplace Scotland is the first-of-its-kind online platform that will match up businesses looking to expand their creative horizons with culture organisations seeking support in delivering their creative ideas.
A range of Scottish creative organisations have already committed to participating in the Marketplace pilot, including household names such as the Scottish Book Trust, Scottish Ensemble, Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Screen Education Edinburgh.
Launching today (Wednesday May 17) the platform will work similarly to a database, where these pilot not-for-profit culture organisations will be able to list their products or services as ‘sellers’.
Businesses, or potential ‘buyers’, will then browse the available opportunities using filters such as ‘supporting innovation, creative thinking and problem solving in the workplace’ and ‘improving staff health and wellbeing’ to find culture organisations that would be well-suited to fit a gap, combat an existing challenge or fulfil a specific target.
David Watt, CEO of Culture & Business Scotland, said: “Past experiences have shown us that giving businesses and culture organisations the opportunity to forge meaningful connections is hugely empowering, not only for those organisations involved but for wider society as well, and the impacts have the potential to reverberate for generations to come.
“The launch of our Marketplace initiative will increase those opportunities, both in number and in scope, and help to ensure that organisations from both sectors are equipped for a more innovative, forward-thinking future.”
Being given the opportunity to connect and receive backing from businesses can be transformational for creative organisations. In 2021 the Edinburgh-based Living Memory Association partnered with Leith’s Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre through Culture & Business Scotland’s already established match-funding scheme, the C&BS Fund, a precursor to the Marketplace initiative.
The funding enabled Living Memory Association to make use of two vacant units as exhibition spaces. The initial offering of two units grew to include the use of a whole empty 6000 square metre store across two floors, which the Living Memory Association used to facilitate reminiscence as a means of engaging people with heritage, recording their memories and combatting loneliness and social isolation in the process.
The community-focused nature of Ocean Terminal’s location enabled the organisation to reach a wider audience than would have otherwise been possible, raising the Living Memory Association’s profile and creating a positive snowball effect, as it was then able to attract further funding and opportunities.
Ocean Terminal, meanwhile, benefitted from the increased footfall into what would have otherwise been an abandoned space, with the resulting added social value surpassing expectations and generating positive impacts in ways that the retail centre had previously not experienced.
Mark Haywood, Living Memory Association Director, said: “This has been a phenomenal partnership for The Living Memory Association and investment from Culture & Business Scotland made it possible.
“It has raised the profile of The Living Memory Association, led us into new areas of work and allowed us to support a whole range of fascinating artistic and heritage endeavour. It has meant we can support individuals and groups to showcase and develop their work and bring them into direct contact with the public.
“We have used the new units to engage people and work with older people to record their memories and value their life experience. All activities are free, taking art and heritage straight into the heart of the community. We are extremely grateful to Culture & Business Scotland and Ocean Terminal for their support to our work”.
Michelle MacLeod, Ocean Terminal Manager, added: “We could not have believed that this partnership would be so socially and economically beneficial to The Centre and we hope to be able to further develop this collaboration going into the future and incorporating this work into the new developments currently underway at Ocean Terminal.”
Funding facilitated by Culture & Business Scotland has also enabled creative organisations to make scientific ideas accessible through the arts, as Edinburgh Science Foundation discovered after being partnered with Cirrus Logic through the C&BS Fund.
As a leading global semiconductor supplier, Cirrus Logic’s commitment to promoting science, technology, engineering, and maths amongst young people underpins the company’s support of the Edinburgh Science Festival. Last year, sponsorship from Cirrus Logic enabled the creation of several new activities at the festival, helping to encourage awareness about Scottish flora and fauna through a photography exhibition and multi-sensory, immersive experiences which incorporated visual and artistic elements.
Subsequent analysis of the event found that its messaging around climate change and the natural world impacted on visitors’ behaviour and attitudes, whilst Cirrus Logic benefitted from the comprehensive marketing and publicity activity surrounding the festival.
For more information on the Culture & Business Marketplace Scotland, please visit:
Businesses across the UK can take advantage of the Chancellor’s capital allowances package from today as the new business tax year begins.
The new business tax year comes in today 1 April 2023, with a new regime to boost investment and spur UK growth
£27 billion cut to corporation tax, via Chancellor’s new full expensing policy, expected to boost investment by 3% in each of the next three years
Other tax changes coming into force include more business rates relief, extension to the fuel duty cut and a £450 income tax cut for carers.
The package, announced at Spring Budget, comprises 100% full expensing and a 50% first-year allowance. It will mean the UK has the most generous capital allowance regime in the OECD worth £27 billion over the next three years, amounting to an effective £9 billion a year tax cut for companies.
The OBR expects this regime to boost investment by 3% over three years.
To mark the milestone, Financial Secretary to the Treasury visited Brompton Bikes in Greenford, London, who’ll be using full expensing to stimulate their growth.
Victoria Atkins, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, said: “We are determined to make the UK the best place in the world to do business, which is why from today businesses can start to benefit from the raft of tax cuts on offer to boost their growth.
“With full expensing, the more a company invests the less tax they’ll pay, and I encourage companies of any size to take full advantage of this world-leading reform.”
With the new 25% corporation tax rate coming in for the top 10% most profitable companies from today, and the super-deduction ending yesterday, the Chancellor used his Spring Budget to ensure that the UK’s tax system fosters the right conditions for enterprise, investment and growth.
Full expensing lets companies deduct 100% of the cost of certain plant and machinery investments from their profits before tax. It is available from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2026. It provides the same generosity as the super-deduction, saving firms up to 25p in every £1 of qualifying investment and is for main rate assets – such as construction, warehousing and office equipment.
The 50% First-Year Allowance lets companies deduct 50% of the cost of other plant and machinery, known as special rate assets, from their profits during the year of purchase. This includes long life assets such as solar panels and lighting systems.
Minister Victoria Atkins visited Brompton Bikes in Greenford this week to see how these capital allowances will be used to help the firm invest and grow. The minister toured their factory, viewing a brand new state-of-the-art Autobraze machine and the production line. She also met a selection of 15 trainees currently on Brompton’s training programme.
Phill Elston, Operations Director at Brompton Bicycle, said: “The announcement of a super deduction replacement is great news for us. In previous years it has meant we could invest significantly in our production capabilities, upgrading equipment and building a more progressive factory; which has seen us move from making circa. 45,000 bikes per year in 2019, to around 100,000 bikes per year in 2022.
“Our mission is to improve how people travel around cities, which in turn creates happier communities, and the new expensing scheme helps to accelerate that goal.”
Other tax measures taking effect today include new domestic and ultra-long Air Passenger Duty bands.
For passengers flying in economy class, the new domestic band will be set at £6.50, a 50% cut to bolster UK-wide connectivity, while the new ultra long-haul band will be set at £91, meaning those who fly the furthest will pay the greatest level of duty.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper said: “Transport binds the United Kingdom together, and this cut to Air Passenger Duty will make travelling between our family of nations easier than ever.
“Boosting transport links between our four nations sustains jobs, creates opportunities and is an essential part of this Government’s plan to grow the economy.”
Further tax measures include:
To help household budgets further, the planned 11 pence rise in fuel duty has been cancelled, maintaining last year’s 5p cut for another twelve months, saving a typical driver another £100 on top of the £100 saved so far since last year’s cut.
More business rates relief, as part of the Chancellor’s £13.6 billion package from 2022’s Autumn Statement. This includes the freezing of the multiplier and the introduction of 75% relief for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses, helping the high street to thrive and compete with online firms.
Extending creative sector reliefs: theatres, orchestra and museums and galleries will benefit from a further 2 years of tax relief rates of 45%/50%. The museums and galleries exhibitions tax relief sunset clause will be extended for a further 2 years to allow these organisations to fully benefit from the extension of the highest rates.
The Annual Investment Allowance (AIA), an existing measure which also supports business investment, has been increased permanently to £1m today. This covers the investment needs of 99% of UK businesses.
Rebalancing the rates of Research and Development Expenditure Credit and the R&D SME scheme to ensure taxpayers’ money is spent as effectively as possible. As a result, today the UK now offers the joint-highest uncapped headline rate of R&D tax relief support in the G7 for large companies.
The government also committed to considering the case for further support for R&D intensive SMEs, and at Spring Budget announced that from today there will be an increased permanent rate of relief for the most R&D intensive loss-making SMEs. To support modern methods of innovation, for accounting periods beginning on or after today, businesses will also be able to claim for the costs of datasets and cloud computing under the R&D tax reliefs.
Expanding the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) to help more UK start-ups raise higher levels of finance. This package will help over 2,000 start-up companies access finance.
Expanding the availability and generosity of the Company Share Option Plan (CSOP) scheme which will widen access to CSOP for growth companies and simplifying the process to grant options under the Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) scheme.
On 6 April 2023 personal tax changes taking effect include removing tax-barriers that the medical community have made clear stop doctors working, delivering on the Prime Minister’s priority to cut NHS waiting lists so people can get the care they need more quickly.
The pensions annual tax-free allowance will increase by 50% from £40,000 to £60,000, the Money Purchase Annual Allowance will rise from £4,000 to £10,000, and the Lifetime Allowance charge will be removed.
The Office for Budget Responsibility estimate around 15,000 individuals will remain in the labour market because of the changes to the annual and lifetime allowances, many of whom will be highly skilled individuals, including senior doctors in the NHS.
Qualifying Carers Relief will be uprated with inflation from 6 April 2023 to representing a £450 per year income tax cut for carers. The uprating increases the amount of income tax relief from £10,000 to £18,140 plus £375-450 per week for each person cared for.
Scottish firms had over 1.2 million overdue invoices on their books this winter, new research from insolvency and restructuring trade body R3 has revealed.
R3’s analysis of data provided by Creditsafe shows 1,231,703 invoices were overdue in Scotland over the winter months – with 416,856 in December 2022, 400,272 in January 2023 and 414,575 in February 2023.
Scotland saw the biggest month-on-month increase in late payments between January 2023 and February 2023 in the UK, with numbers rising by 3.6%, followed by the North West (2.7% rise), the North East (2.5%) and Yorkshire and Humberside (2.5%).
And more than 94,000 Scottish businesses (94,144) reported that they had overdue invoices on their books this winter – a figure which peaked last month at 32,074 firms, which was 3.7% higher than the January 2023 total of 30,939.
Richard Bathgate, Chair of insolvency and restructuring trade body R3 in Scotland, says: “Times are still tough for Scottish businesses as they battle rising costs and contend with cautious consumers.
“Both of these will have an effect on their cashflow levels and their ability to pay invoices on time, which might explain why Scottish firms had so many overdue invoices on their books this winter.
“Paying invoices late can be a sign of wider issues within the business, or that it’s financially distressed, and can have a negative knock-on effect on supply chains if the payment issues from one customer are passed on by the supplier to those they owe money to.”
Richard, who is Restructuring Partner at Johnston Carmichael in Aberdeen continues: “As a company director, keeping your business financially healthy should be a top priority, and you should be alert to any signs that issues may be arising.
“If your business is having problems paying invoices, staff or suppliers, or you’re worried about its finances, that’s the time to seek expert advice from a restructuring professional or licensed insolvency practitioner.
“If anyone knows how best to avoid an insolvency, it’s an insolvency practitioner. Seek early help and you will have more time and options open to you to take a considered decision about your next steps.”
Headline Business Activity Index at 51.0 in February, up from 47.1
Recovery in growth of new orders as firms cite greater demand
Price pressures continue to cool
The Scottish private sector registered the first rise in private sector activity for seven months in February according to the latest Royal Bank of Scotland PMI® data.
The Business Activity Index – a measure of combined manufacturing and service sector output – moved back within in the expansion territory, printing 51.0, up from 47.1 in January, as growth resumed across both the manufacturing and service sectors, with the former leading the expansion.
Panel members reported an improvement in demand conditions and growth in new clients helped boost activity. New orders also rose, following seven consecutive months of decline.
The upturn in new orders helped with the first rise in workforce numbers in three months. Furthermore, despite remaining stubbornly high, cost pressures continued to diminish. All in all, the positive performance of the Scottish private sector fed into higher levels of confidence.
Inflows of new business rose across Scotland in February, ending a seven-month period of decline. Upturns were similar across the two sub-sectors. Panel members noted growth in sales and new projects and clients helped revive growth.
New orders also rose at the UK level. However, the pace of increase was stronger than that observed for Scotland.
Sentiment was firmly positive and improved further from December’s recent low across Scotland in February. Expectations were largely pinned on new product launches, increased marketing and projected growth in customers and sales.
That said, optimism across Scotland remained muted when compared to the UK as a whole.
Employment rose across Scotland, following back-to-back months of decline. The respective seasonally adjusted index ticked up to a five-month high, signalling a rate of job creation that was firmer than the long-run average. According to anecdotal evidence, employment increased to meet order intakes and replace leavers.
The pace of job creation across Scotland was faster than the UK-wide average, which also recorded a rise in employment for the first time in three months.
Private sector companies across Scotland continued to reduce their backlogs during February, stretching the current sequence of reduction to nine months. Improved efficiency and previous months of fewer orders allowed firms to complete unfinished orders. That said, the pace of depletion was the weakest in the aforementioned sequence, reflecting only a fractional decline at service providers.
In contrast, backlogs of work rose across the UK as a whole for the first time in four months.
A rapid rise in input costs was registered across Scotland in February. Respondents blamed the latest increase in private sector expenses on energy prices, higher costs from suppliers and inflation generally. While historically elevated, the rate of input price inflation was the softest in 21 months and weaker than the UK-wide average.
Scotland registered one of the slowest increases in input prices among the 12 UK regions, ahead of the North West and East of England.
Charges levied for the provision of Scottish goods and services rose sharply in February. Inflation, Brexit and higher costs from suppliers continued to push charges up, according to anecdotal evidence. However, the pace of increase slowed notably to the weakest since April 2021.
Of the 12 monitored regions, Scotland reported the weakest incline in output charges.
Continued…
Source: Royal Bank of Scotland, S&P Global.
Judith Cruickshank, Chair, Scotland Board, Royal Bank of Scotland, commented: “Private sector output registered growth mid-way through the first quarter of 2023.
“The headline index signalled a mild expansion in output and marked the first month of increase since July 2022. Firms reported that a revival in customer demand and growth in new clients helped boost sales and activity.
“Growth in business requirements resulted in higher intakes of staff across both goods producers and service providers, while backlogs fell for the ninth month running.
“Furthermore, with inflationary pressures continuing to cool off, the Scottish private sector reported a modest performance overall, a change from the contractions seen since last August. Additionally, with confidence strengthening to an 11-month high, we hope that the upturn across Scotland will continue in the coming months.”
Report identifies 31 ways to reduce gender gap and boost economy
The Scottish Government will carefully consider proposals to support more women into entrepreneurship, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said following publication of a wide-ranging independent review.
Pathways: A New Approach for Women in Entrepreneurship was commissioned by the Scottish Government to identify ways to unlock untapped potential, close the gender gap and boost Scotland’s economy.
The review – led by Ana Stewart, an entrepreneur and investor, and co-authored with Mark Logan, chief entrepreneur to the Scottish Government – makes 31 recommendations. The steps include:
providing start-up training and support in a range of pop-up locations to help more women, and other primary care givers, access services
integrating entrepreneurial education into schools and further education
clarifying existing access pathways into entrepreneurship
improving access to start-up and growth finance
tracking and measuring progress towards full representation in entrepreneurship
Commenting on the report, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “I welcome Ana Stewart and Mark Logan’s work in delivering a powerful review of the barriers facing women in entrepreneurship in Scotland and presenting a compelling set of recommendations aimed at removing them.
“The review’s findings are challenging but underline the need to tackle the root-causes, as well as the immediate barriers, of this inequality.
“Fully realising the entrepreneurial potential of women in Scotland will not only promote greater equality in our society, it will also deliver significant benefits for the economy.
“The Scottish Government will respond quickly to the review as a whole, and its recommendations.”
Review chair Ana Stewart said: “This review has, through a combination of extensive stakeholder engagement and robust data analysis, revealed that women face many significant barriers to entrepreneurship.
“Only one in five businesses in Scotland are female-led, while start-ups founded by women received only 2% of overall investment capital in the last five years. By taking a root cause and effect approach, our recommendations focus on dramatically increasing female participation rates to drive a vibrant and fairer entrepreneurial economy.”
The First Minister welcomed the publication of the review on a visit to Roslin Innovation Centre, where she met Ishani Malhotra, Chief Executive of Carcinotech, and Dr Kate Cameron, who founded Cytochroma.
