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The Herald Scotland
7 days ago
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
'Multi-decade' future of nuclear base in Scotland secured
The UK Government plans a multi-billion-pound redevelopment of His Majesty's Naval Base (HMNB) Clyde, we revealed this week. The commitment of the UK Government is long term. (Image: PA) An initial £250 million of funding will be made over three years which will help support 'jobs, skills and growth' at Faslane, the Royal Navy's main presence in Scotland. Westminster said that the "Clyde 2070 programme represents one of the most significant and sustained UK Government investments in Scotland over the coming decades". Read the full story here Scottish economy tops the UK table on one key measure Scotland was top of the table on one key measure. (Image: Gordon Terris) Scotland's private sector economy bounced back into expansion territory last month, a key survey revealed this week. Scotland was the only one of the 12 UK nations and regions to record a rise in private sector employment in May in Royal Bank of Scotland's growth tracker survey. The business activity index for Scotland, a seasonally adjusted measure of the month-on-month change in the combined output of the manufacturing and services sectors – rose from 47.4 in April to 50.5 in May on a seasonally adjusted basis to indicate a renewed rise in business activity. This marked the first increase in output on this measure for six months. With May's reading of 50.5 only slightly above the no-change mark of 50, Royal Bank of Scotland observed the rate of expansion last month was 'marginal and similar to that seen across the UK as a whole'. Read Ian McConnell's story here Famous Scottish retailer appoints ex-Rangers chief as loss reported Stewart Robertson, chief executive. (Image: Sterling) Former Rangers managing director Stewart Robertson has been appointed chief executive of Sterling Furniture Group on a permanent basis as the venerable Scottish retailer looks to get back on track after a challenging period. Sterling confirmed the appointment as new accounts show the Tillicoultry-based company tumbled to a loss of nearly £4 million for the year ended August 31, following a profit of £43,870 the year prior. Turnover dipped to £50.55m from £83.6m. The loss coincided with a downturn in the broader UK retail sector, as consumers grappled with high inflation and interest rates, while businesses dealt with increased operating costs. Mr Robertson, who spent eight years at the Ibrox club, initially joined Sterling as interim chief executive in December, with his arrival following the appointment of Bernard Dunn, a former head of insurance broker TL Dallas in Scotland, as chairman in October. Read Scott Wright's story here AROUND THE GREENS ⛳ 'We can't get more people into St Andrews to play golf' The Old Course attracts tens of thousands of overseas golfers every year, and the boss of St Andrews Links Trust has said he would like to spread the benefits of this more widely throughout Scotland. (Image: VisitScotland/Peter Dibdin) This article appears as part of Kristy Dorsey's Around the Greens series Created in 1974 as a way to maintain local public ownership of its golf courses when town councils were being abolished in accordance with Lord Wheatley's report on local governance in Scotland, St Andrews Links Trust is the charity in charge of the most important parcel of land in all of golf.
The Herald Scotland
12-06-2025
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Can former Rangers boss revive Scottish firm Sterling?
Around this time last year, the Tillicoultry-based company was looking forward to what it hoped would be a brighter future following a difficult spell. After implementing 50 redundancies and closing stores in 2023 in response to a 'historic lack of action taken to address the cost base', the company's then chief executive, John Pattison, spoke boldly of awakening a 'sleeping giant' in an interview with The Herald in May 2024. 'I think Sterling has phenomenal potential to realise,' Mr Pattison declared at the time. 'It has been a solid business across five decades now but, given the foundations we have, the next decade could be really exciting [with] very interesting opportunities coming to us. 'With a new strategy in place, [there is] an opportunity for us to really grow into something quite special, something that both the family who own the business, the team, and indeed Scotland can be proud of.' As far as one is able to detect in interview situations, it was clear Mr Pattison – a veteran of the furniture industry – held a good deal of confidence in the potential of Sterling. But in business there are always events that are beyond the control of company chiefs, and so it seems to have proved for Sterling. Despite the hopes expressed by Mr Pattison, 2024 proved to be a tumultuous year for both Sterling and the wider retail sector. As consumer confidence was laid low by high interest rates and painful inflation, putting pressure on retail sales across the board, the company itself faced rising operational costs. The latest accounts for Sterling, which The Herald covered exclusively this week, highlighted 'legacy decisions and over-investment in anticipation of growth that did not materialise', as the company slumped to a loss of nearly £4 million for the year ended August 31, 2024. Read more: Mr Pattison left the company in November, and a new leadership team has been installed, led by chief executive Stewart Robertson and chairman Bernard Dunn. The new team quickly took action to further address costs at the retailer, with an unspecified number of redundancies – largely in operational roles – announced in February. This move came ahead of significant cost rises in April, when the increases in employer national insurance contributions and national living wage, announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in the Autumn Budget, took effect. In an interview with The Herald this week, Mr Robertson, a former managing director of Rangers Football Club, gave a sober assessment of the difficult trading environment Sterling and the wider retail industry faced during the period covered by the accounts, and continue to encounter, as the outlook for the UK economy remains bleak. Mr Robertson, also a former secretary of Motherwell Football Club, signalled that the changes made since his arrival – his appointment as chief executive is now permanent after he initially joined on an interim basis – have solidified Sterling's foundations and put the company in a position to return to growth. Further investment is planned, including an overhaul of the company's flagship store where the launch of a new leather gallery later this summer will form part of plans to bring the 'magic dust' back to its Tillicoultry home. Mr Robertson also suggested that Sterling, which was founded by George Knowles in 1975 when he converted an old mill in Tillicoultry into a furniture showroom, could open further stores, and perhaps return to cities such as Inverness that it had previously exited. But he emphasised that the strategy would be anchored on 'careful growth'. Reflecting on the actions that he and Mr Dunn, a former head of insurance broker TL Dallas in Scotland, have taken since joining the company, Mr Robertson said: 'It has been a case of really looking at what the business has needed, and we have re-set the cost base [to] make sure we have got really strong foundations to take the business forward in a sustainable way, but also in a way that is going to grow the business as well. There are still opportunities there for us [but] it needs to be considered growth, it needs to be careful growth.' He added: 'There are areas where we are not located but maybe were in the past. Take Inverness, as an example, that is an area we would certainly look at going back into if a good site became available at the right cost. A number of the economics would need to stack up, but certainly there is a desire to do that and to look at continuing to grow the organisation, but doing it at the right time in the right places with the right level of investment.' That Mr Robertson sees an opportunity to grow one of Scotland's most venerable retailers is surely to be welcomed by those with the interests of the Scottish economy at heart, and not least because of the 440 people the company employs across its 10 stores and other operations. Read more: There are likely to be generations of Scots who wish Sterling well. Some of a certain vintage will fondly recall the long-running television adverts for the retailer voiced by sports presenter Dougie Donnelly in the 1980s (featuring the famous catchline 'Sterling, Tillicoultry, near Stirling'). Others will recall the days, as Mr Robertson noted, when people would go to visit the Tillicoultry store for a 'day out'. But powerful though nostalgia is, fond memories will not be enough to ensure success, as Mr Robertson will know only too well. At a time of subdued economic growth and continuing concern over the cost of living, and with competition tough on the high street, plotting Sterling's return to growth will not be easy. But at least Mr Robertson can go about his business without the glare and constant scrutiny that characterised his time at Rangers.
