The Scotsman

Motorway Closed After Grim Find

Marquess Sues Estate Lawyers for Gbp 700,000

AN ARISTOCRAT is suing lawyers for GBP 700,000 after he was landed with a huge tax bill to prevent the break-up of one of his estates. Alexander Gordon, the 7th Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair, claims negligence by Edinburgh-based Turcan Connell led to a "rescue plan" to stop some of his wealth passing to relatives he did not want to benefit.

How to Be Game for a Laugh This Christmas

A GAME OF Monopoly is likely to be little more than a fast track to depression at the annual family gathering this Christmas. All those piles of fake money are just going to rub everyone up the wrong way, while the notion of property increasing in price will seem even more ludicrous than receiving GBP 200 just for passing Go. And nobody will want to be the banker. No, what with the youngsters so adept at online Scrabble they pronounce the "live action" version "boring", and Granny so good at ...

Five-Yearly 'Mots' Will Show If Your Doctor's Up to Scratch

AN IMPRESSIVE display of qualifications often hangs on the wall just to prove the doctor behind the desk has sound credentials and the knowledge needed to hand out expert advice. But all too often, those certificates were earned many years previously and the holder's expertise has not been "officially" put to the test since.

Britain Looks Set to Suffer the Worst Depression Since the 1940s

Britain is heading into a recession unlike any seen since the aftermath of the Second World War CONFIRMATION that Britain is in the depths of a recession that could become the worst downturn in 60 years is set to emerge early in the New Year.

Case 2: Dna Link Led to Ram-Raid Gang

THE capture of a gang of ramraiders who targeted cash machines across Scotland and the north-east of England has been put down to the success of the Scottish Intelligence Database. One raid saw them use a mechanical digger to smash into a cash machine in East Lothian.

Case 3: How Bank Raiders Were Tracked Down

TWO masked raiders who terrorised bank staff with a sawn-off shotgun and an axe were locked up with the help of the database. Robert Harper, 40, and Robert Findlay, 45 were jailed for 18 years each after being convicted of raiding the Airdrie Savings Bank in Muirhead, Lanarkshire, in October, 2005. The pair had threatened seven terrified members of staff and stole more than GBP 6000.

Case 4: Prime Example of Sid in Action

POLICE point to a case of attempted murder in Dumfries and Galloway as a prime example of the difference the creation of the SID has made. A major investigation was launched and a suspect quickly identified. However when officers went to his home address he had disappeared, leaving no clue to where he had gone.

Police File Grows by 100 Names a Day

A SCOTTISH police "criminal intelligence" database that contains personal information on 320,000 individuals is growing by nearly 100 names every day, The Scotsman can reveal. But as police hail its importance in helping catch criminals, fears have been raised by politicians and civil liberties campaigners who say Scotland is fast becoming a "surveillance society" and that there are no checks and balances on how the database is compiled or used.

More Hard Times in the High Street

WHITTARD of Chelsea and Officer's Club have become the latest high street names hit by the downturn in consumer spending as the credit crunch continues to bite. The tea and coffee retailer has been placed in administration and sold to private equity firm EPIC, Ernst & Young said yesterday.

First It Was High Street Stores - Now Airlines Slash Prices by Up to 25 Per Cent

AIRLINES have followed retailers by slashing prices early in an attempt to boost revenue after a sharp downturn in trade. British Airways, Emirates and Virgin Atlantic are among carriers cutting up to 25 per cent from fares.

Record Low Interest Rates Spark Surge in Us Mortgages

AS MORTGAGE lending in Britain continues to tumble, America is now experiencing ... a mortgage demand boom. In what some believe could be the beginning of a turning point in the stricken US housing market, bankers are seeing a wave of mortgage loan applications triggered by falling interest rates.

Nfus Wants Financial Help Targeted at Productive Farms

"Ultimately, we want a shift away from competitive schemes which support the few" NFU Scotland has issued a "wish list" for 2009 that it hopes will arrest the steady decline in Scottish livestock numbers over the past decade, with populations of sheep, cattle and pigs continuing to fall. Since 1998 the sheep flock has declined by 23 per cent while the cattle herd has slipped by 11.7 per cent. During the same period pig numbers have halved.

Morris Calls for an Investment in Quality

INVESTING in quality is not always viewed as the most direct route to profitability, but a world-leading animal production specialist will be illustrating next month how it can result in improved returns. That will be the theme of an address by Professor Steve Morris, of Massey University in New Zealand, at the annual conference of Quality Meat Scotland. The event will be staged at Murrayshall House Hotel, near Scone, on 21 January 2009. Morris's research interests lie in beef and sheep produ...

Debt Deal Saves Ocean Terminal's Position

FORTH Ports yesterday admitted that a fall in the market value of the flagship Ocean Terminal shopping centre in Leith was likely to have seen it breach its loan terms if it had failed to renegotiated terms with co-owner HBOS. Revealing that Forth Ports is set to write down the value of all of its property assets for the third time in two years, chief executive Charles Hammond said the company had foreseen a "possible" breach of its loan-to-value covenants for the shopping complex, but refina...

Business News at a Glance: Builder Close to Deal On Debt

AILING housebuilder Taylor Wimpey has confirmed it expects to secure breathing space from lenders over its GBP 1.9 billion debts. The group said it was making progress on talks with lenders to agree a deferral of a test on its banking covenants, due at the end of this year.

Business News at a Glance: Satellite Tv Talks Stalled

TAKEOVER discussions between satellite broadcaster BSkyB and broadband firm Tiscali have stalled after the two firms were unable to agree on a price, it was reported yesterday. BSkyB is said to have offered around GBP 100 million less than the GBP 450m price sought by the Italian group.

Hill Takes New Role at Lloyds Tsb

KEN Hills, the chief executive of call centre firm Telecom Service Centres, has been named as a director of LDC, the private equity division of Lloyds TSB. Hills, who previously sat on the management board of Thus and was also managing director of Scottish Telecom Services, is to work as a special advisor to LDC.

Is This the Blitz Spirit or Are We Just Hiding Our Heads in the Sand?

THE other day, I was in a shop buying a Christmas present. I call it a shop because the recipient of the Christmas present reads this column and it's the type of shop that only really sells one sort of item. If I said I was in a cactus shop, say, you could be fairly sure of getting something green in a pot with spikes on it for Christmas. And if I said I was in a sock shop, well, then you'd just be rather disappointed. But anyway, a shop it will stay, not least because the encounter I had in ...

Inside Transport: Bridge Economies Go Too Far

HOWEVER many billions of pounds it will end up costing, the new Forth road bridge will dominate Scotland's transport spending for much of the next decade. Ministers have given themselves a massive financial headache by agreeing that the uncertainty over the strength of the existing bridge means another one will have to be built. Debate has centred on how soon corrosion of the bridge's main cables will force traffic bans.