THE gloom in the housebuilding sector intensified today as another two companies said they are axing hundreds more staff.

A LETTINGS agent in the Capital has been bought by a company headed by a nephew of Edinburgh-based businessman Sir David Murray.

JOHN Templeton, the pioneering mutual fund manager, global investor and philanthropist, died yesterday in the Bahamas.

MARKS & Spencer chief executive Sir Stuart Rose of Marks and Spencer was today set to face the wrath of shareholders at the company's annual general meeting.

PIG farmers have had a tough struggle over the past 12 months, with much higher feed prices and returns generally failing to cover production costs.

DAIRY UK, the trade organisation that represents the interests of dairy farmers, producer co-ops, milk processors and doorstep delivery firms, has welcomed the British governm

FIRSTPLUS has became the latest casualty in the troubled home-loans sector with the announcement that it is to stop writing new business.

LENDING for house purchase rose slightly in May but remained significantly down over the year, new figures yesterday revealed.

ROLLS-ROYCE plans to buy Norwegian diesel engine equipment firm Scandinavian ElectricHolding (SEH) for 430 million Norwegian Krona (£43m).

FRESH turmoil in markets drove share prices into official bear market territory yesterday amid worsening news of job losses in housebuilding.

449.75p -0.5pScotsman says BUY

ENGINEERING giant Balfour Beatty said its rail arm had landed £160 million of business to design and install more than 200 miles of track in Malaysia.

JOHN Howison, a former director of Transport Scotland, has been appointed as the interim project director for the Forth replacement crossing.

KUEHNE & Nagel, the freight giant, is to lease the 50,000 sq ft Vista Point warehouse at Hamilton International Park from Buccleuch Property, in one of the largest industr

GE REAL Estate has sold a warehouse and office unit in Aberdeen's Altnes industrial area to West Coast Estates, an Aberdeen-based development and investment company, for £

A LIFE coach may not be the first person a small business turns to when times get tough. But James McKim, one of Scotland's leading practitioners, thinks companies should

MARRIED TO THE JOB

A WEAKENING economy is hurting the Bank of Ireland's earnings and some business customers are finding it increasingly difficult to repay loans, the bank yesterday revealed

GILES Insurance Brokers has bought Carrick Neill & Co, an Edinburgh-based rival, for an undisclosed sum.