Holyrood Distillery export boost with Netherlands deal: 6 need-to-know business stories

Hello and welcome to our daily digest of business, financial and economic news from around Scotland.
1. Holyrood Distillery is continuing its exports push after agreeing a deal with Netherlands distribution firm High Spirits.
The Edinburgh spirits producer already supplies 15 overseas markets and has plans to add a further ten by early next year.
In the Netherlands, the full Holyrood Distillery range of gin, rum and single malt whisky is being launched into independent drinks retailers with a series of tasting events.
Giancarlo Bianchi, Holyrood’s sales director, said: “Our priority is to identify the ideal export partners to tell our unique story, get liquid on lips and support our full portfolio of super-premium and innovative Scottish spirits, and we believe that High Spirits is the perfect partner to do just that.
“Despite challenging market conditions, Holyrood Distillery continues to see strong international growth and thanks to the unique characteristics of the liquid, our urban location and innovative approach we’ve already exceeded last year’s export volume.”
2. Union officials have visited an offshore oil and gas platform as part of growing collaboration with the industry.
Representatives of the GMB union and Offshore Energies UK, the trade body, spent time on Serica Energy’s Bruce platform which lies about 340km northeast of Aberdeen.
The visit is part of efforts to highlight the importance of the sector in underpinning the transition to net zero at a time when Labour’s tax plans are seen as placing investment and jobs under threat.
About 5 per cent of the UK’s gas production is delivered into the domestic market from the Bruce facilities.
Claire Greer, the GMB Scotland organiser for energy, said: “The transition must be a process, not an event.
“The risk of a cliff-edge for any part of our energy mix in a time of economic recovery and geo-political volatility would be harmful to jobs, investment, and security of supply.”
3. The head of marketing at the Scottish government is to take up a new role at VisitScotland.
Jill Walker moves to join the nation’s tourism agency as its director of marketing and digital next month.
She succeeds Vicki Miller who is becoming the chief executive at the organisation as the replacement for the long-serving Malcolm Roughead.
Miller said: “Jill’s impressive career and well-earned reputation made her a unanimous choice for our panel. Her extensive experience in marketing and leadership, combined with her deep understanding of Scotland’s public sector, will be instrumental as we continue to enhance Scotland’s global reputation as a must-visit, must-return year-round destination.”
4. The subsea equipment rental and engineering specialist Ashtead Technology Holdings has reported a 33 per cent rise in interim profit.
The AIM-listed company said its revenue grew 61 per cent to £80.5 million in the six months to the end of June. Its pre-tax profit was £17.6 million for the period, compared with £13.2 million last year.
Ashtead had strong growth across renewables and oil and gas while it also continues to look for more bolt-on acquisitions to expand its service offering.
Allan Pirie, the chief executive, said: “We have continued to execute on our strategy to expand the breadth and depth of our offering through both organic and inorganic investment, increasing the resilience and differentiated nature of our business model.
“The outlook for our business remains positive given the strength of the global offshore energy market and our continued investment to support longer-term growth.”
5. Glasgow has again been named the most appealing UK city for first-time buyers. The city came top of an index complied by the bank Aldermore looking at a range of measures including affordability, population age, facilities, job opportunities and commuting time.
It is the third year consecutive year Glasgow has topped the list.
Dundee and Aberdeen were in second and third place respectively for the second year in a row while Edinburgh moved up two places to eighth.
Swansea, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Derby and Newcastle made up the rest of the top ten.
6. An Edinburgh walking tour business has received B Corp certification. Mercat Tours believes it is the first company of its kind in the UK to secure the accreditation which highlights high standards for social and environmental performance as well as accountability and transparency.
The firm was set up in 1985 by Des Brogan, a history teacher, and has been run by his daughter Kat since 2015.
She said the business had been working towards becoming B Corp certified since 2020 and added: “For almost four decades we have connected people, places and the past through the power of storytelling and our newly granted B Corp status is testament to the hard work and dedication of our team behind the scenes.”
There are thought to be more than 2,000 B Corps in the UK with 70 of those in Scotland.