Client exodus leads Scottish business headlines in May

The decline was driven in large part by the loss of a £4.2bn investment mandate from its biggest client, Phoenix. However, the gap has since been filled by a £6bn quantitative strategy funding win in April, taking institutional inflows into positive territory for the year to date.
"Our strategy is to become the UK's leading wealth business and to reposition our investments business to areas of strength and market growth," chief executive Jason Windsor said. "So far this year, we have made good progress against these objectives, despite the current heightened levels of market uncertainty."
This news was quickly followed by the announcement that Scottish oil and gas group Parkmead had closed the sale of its of its UK oil assets in the North Sea.
Serica Energy handed over an immediate cash payment of £7.3 million, with additional payments potentially bringing the total to £134.3m. The disposal will allow Parkmead to focus on its onshore natural gas and renewable energy projects.
Two contingent payments are linked to Parkmead's 50% stakes in Skerryvore and Fynn Beauly, and are payable upon receipt by Serica of approval by the North Sea Transition Authority for any field development plans relating to those projects. This will be calculated at £0.8/bbl of reserves, up to a cap of £30m in relation to Skerryvore and £90m in relation to Fynn Beauly.
In an interview with The Herald, the owners of glass and window installation specialist Andrew Wright in Irvine revealed that the firm is on course to break through the £10m turnover barrier this year after taking over the business in 2023.
A major employer in North Ayrshire, Andrew Wright currently has 72 members of staff and has been hiring further of late. The company is also looking for a suitable location nearby to build a new purpose-built factory.
Higher revenue and profit from auto servicing, parts and repairs helped Vertu partially offset what it declared to be 'the lowest new retail car market for 25 years'.
The listed dealer group - which earlier this year changed the name of its Macklin Motors outlets in Scotland to that of Vertu - reported a modest 1.7% rise in turnover to £4.8bn during the year to the end of February, with acquisitions accounting for £124m of the increase. However, pre-tax profit was 15.8% down on the previous period at £29.3m due to the impact of zero emission mandates and consumer caution amid a weak economy.
Industry data shows that overall UK car registrations grew 1.2% during the 12 months to February 28, but this was driven entirely by lower-margin fleet sales which represented almost 60% of all new vehicle registrations. Registrations in the more profitable UK private market channel declined by 7.4%, with retail registrations lower than during the pandemic.
And finally, a Scottish advisor has launched his own business in a bid to shake up what he has described as a 'complacent' insurance sector.
Having resigned from global broker Lockton in October, Scott McLuskey has set up Monteith Corporate Risk with the aim of raising service standards and restoring transparency to the £95bn industry. Operating from offices in Glasgow and London, he says the firm will write £1m in premiums within its first three months of trading.

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