Search Results for: Scotland

DESPITE being the world’s third largest cashmere producer next to China and Mongolia, according to research from the University of California, Davis, Afghanistan’s cashmere industry is heavily underutilised, according to industry experts.

Afghanistan in the previous decade (to 2010) produced around 7% of the world’s raw (greasy) cashmere, after China (72%) and Mongolia (18%) say UC Davis researchers (see https://afghanag.ucdavis.edu/other-topics/files/market/chasmere-value-chain.pdf).…

THE ASIA-PACIFIC (APAC) region’s oil and gas sector faces an unprecedented level of decommissioning for which it is under-prepared and lacks experience, analysts have warned. Unclear regional government regulations coupled with a lack of local expertise mean that companies and regulators face a steep learning curve, high initial costs and the potential for mistakes, according to the consultancy group Wood Mackenzie’s latest analysis.…

A VOTE by the UK parliament to insist that Britain’s overseas territories introduce publicly available beneficial ownership registers by December 31, 2020, has sparked anger and dismay within these autonomous, mainly small island, jurisdictions.

An amendment to a UK Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill requires the British government to impose such registers on its OTs by this deadline, if the local administrations have not created their own.…

The prospect of significant hikes in taxes and administrative red tape on Irish exports and imports travelling through the UK to and from the rest of Europe once Britain leaves the European Union (EU), has prompted Irish exporters to seek more options for direct maritime trade.…

THE BULL run in the British rural land market is over, or at least has slowed to a trot. After rising by 149% over the 10 years to 2016, research by the property consultancy Carter Jonas indicates that that the value of British (UK, excluding Northern Ireland) farmland fell by more than 8% last year.…

WITH average annual mean wind speeds exceeding 10 metres-per-second (m/s), the islands off Scotland’s north and north-west coast offer a unique opportunity for developers to reap offshore-type wind yields on onshore sites. Combined, Orkney, Shetland and the Outer Hebrides (Western Isles) host nearly a gigawatt of fully consented, but as yet mainly unbuilt, wind farms, to be owned by the local community and generators including SSE and EDF.…

MANY thousands of fossil fuel sector employees around the world are being offered free training programmes to work in the renewable energy sector, as this segment grows, and its carbon-heavy counterparts are phased out.

Coal miners and workers from the oil and gas industry, both of which have seen recent downturns and face an uncertain future due to climate change concerns and market pressures, are increasingly open to such re-skilling, some provided by companies in the renewables industry keen to sign up talented workers who understand energy, as green power expands.…

ANTI-FRAUD measures are expensive, and investment is growing from a low base yet surprisingly few companies keep tabs on the impact of fraud on their profit/loss margins.

Annual fraud losses are estimated to cost the UK more than GBP193 billion (USD240 billion), according to the 2016 Annual Fraud Indicator report prepared by the Centre for Counter Fraud Studies at southern England’s University of Portsmouth in partnership with data services group Experian and accountants PKF Littlejohn.…

SCOTLAND’S Aberdeen International Airport has opened a new international arrivals hall, 50% larger than the previous facility, the first phase of a GBP20 million upgrade. The hall’s baggage reclaim belt is twice as long as its predecessor. The airport has also opened a new executive lounge offering runway views, food, and drink, including whisky.…

How much dirty money can get into global property markets as a result of crooked or incompetent lawyers? While legal professions representative bodies say the problem is not widespread and lawyers take their conveyancing responsibilities seriously, the court record suggests there are rotten apples.…