Nearly 70 jobs lost in construction firm collapse

Ben Cairns and Jonny Martson of professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal Europe were appointed joint administrators on September 10. Further to the appointment, activities at the company’s sites will cease pending a review of works in progress, which will affect projects at various stages. Some 66 employees will be made redundant, a statement said.

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Grangemouth job losses ‘tip of the iceberg’ amid oil and gas ban, union warns

Grangemouth job losses could only be the tip of the iceberg if both the Scottish and UK government fail to reverse a ban on oil and gas, ministers have been told in a scathing letter.

(Image: Jane Barlow/PA)

Louise Gilmour, the GMB union’s Scotland Secretary, has criticised the lack of promised green energy jobs in a letter to UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and his acting Holyrood counterpart Gillian Martin.

The warning comes after the closure of Scotland’s only remaining oil refinery was confirmed for the second quarter of 2025, with around 400 jobs at risk. Petroineos, the joint venture between INEOS and PetroChina, said the 100-year-old site would close after it estimated last week’s losses were around $500,000 – £381,000 – per day.

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Scotland’s CB Technology sold to Northern Ireland rival

Contract electronics manufacturer CB Technology of Livingston has been acquired by Northern Irish rival Elite Electronic Systems for an undisclosed sum.

John Cameron, chief executive of CB Technology (Image: Chris Watt)The combined business will have an annual turnover of more than £50 million, creating one of the largest such operators in the UK. The deal is expected to be the first in a series under Elite’s “buy-and-build” strategy backed by its main shareholder, private equity group Lonsdale Capital Partners.

Founded in 1999, CB Technology employs 80 people providing electronics capable of operating in the harshest environments of extreme pressure and temperature. Customers of the company, which generated revenues of £16m in the year to March 2023, include clients spanning the energy, industrial, medical, communications and instrumentation sectors.

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Scottish TV chef shuts down Bridge of Allan restaurant

High-profile Scottish chef Nick Nairn has closed the doors of his restaurant in Bridge of Allan, declaring the business was “no longer viable”.

(Image: PR Picture)

The chef, who ran the restaurant with wife Julia, has handed the keys back to the leaseholder of the property.

It brings to a close a tumultuous period for the couple, who initially opened the former Jam Jar restaurant in 2019 before Covid struck. The restaurant, which had been rebranded as Nick’s on Henderson Street in February 2020, was then struck by fire in August 2021. It reopened following extensive refurbishments in July 2023, when it began trading as Nairn’s.

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