BP has launched a formal process to market its UK North Sea business for a potential sale, and Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce has responded by putting the decision squarely at the door of Downing Street.

In a statement issued on 31 July, BP said the move “forms part of bp’s ongoing portfolio review” and reflects “its disciplined approach to capital allocation”. Chief executive Meg O’Neill said the North Sea “remains integral to the UK’s energy system”, but added: “As we focus our portfolio and direct capital to our highest-value opportunities, we believe our North Sea business will be better positioned as part of another company.” O’Neill framed the sale as an opportunity to attract “an owner ready to back its next chapter”, and said BP would continue to operate the business “safely and reliably” throughout the process.

BP’s own language is corporate and neutral. It makes no reference to UK taxation, licensing policy or the investment climate. It lists no hubs, no headcount and no production numbers. The reaction from Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce (AGCC) filled in the parts the company chose to leave out.

Russell Borthwick, chief executive of AGCC, called the announcement “a defining moment for the new Prime Minister” and asked “how many more jobs need to be lost before the UK Government acts?” He said confidence in the UK Continental Shelf had been “badly shaken after years of policy uncertainty, punitive taxation and mixed messages about the future of the industry.”

Borthwick set out a specific policy ask. He said Prime Minister Andy Burnham should deliver on the commitment to replace the Energy Profits Levy with the Oil & Gas Revenue Levy — a permanent windfall-tax mechanism that would apply when prices are high — “well before 2030”, and said the UK needed “a stable, long-term fiscal regime” and a regulatory system capable of approving investment “at the pace required.”

The commercial context makes the political ask sharp. BP’s business is one of the last major integrated operations in the basin, and its departure follows a run of consolidation among independents. The North Sea, in Borthwick’s words, “remains one of the UK’s greatest strategic assets. It underpins our energy security, supports hundreds of thousands of skilled jobs and generates billions for the public finances. But unless investors have confidence that Britain is open for business, more capital, more jobs and more expertise will continue to leave.”

The Chamber was careful to frame its position as pragmatic rather than partisan. “Industry is not asking for special treatment,” Borthwick said. “It is asking for certainty, stability and a policy framework that recognises the continued importance of domestic oil and gas while we build the energy system of the future.” These comments are made against a background of years of government neglect both north and south of the border that have resulted in the accelerated decline of the Oil and Gas Industry. The single-minded pursuit, regardless of cost, of Net Zero by successive UK governments and Scottish Governments, combined with a punitive windfall-tax regime, ignored a basic fact of corporate life: oil majors have a global menu of investment options, and they will choose whichever offers the best risk-adjusted return. An environment offering lower returns than competing basins, alongside sustained political resistance to new development, was always going to push capital elsewhere. And the effect of that on the Scottish economy and the NE in particular is deeply significant.

Three things follow from the day’s announcements. First, BP’s exit does not automatically remove production or jobs — a buyer could keep operations running — but it removes the last of the global majors as a long-term Aberdeen employer, which changes the city’s employment base regardless of who takes over. Second, the identity and financial strength of the eventual buyer matters more than the headline sale price: a well-capitalised operator willing to invest in the remaining long-life assets is a very different outcome from a financial buyer running the fields for cash. Third, AGCC has moved the conversation onto specific fiscal ground — the timing of the Oil & Gas Revenue Levy — giving the new Prime Minister a concrete test to respond to rather than a general appeal for support.

Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh has confirmed she is in close contact with BP over the sale process. First Minister John Swinney said the announcement meant “a time of real uncertainty for workers” in the north-east. Both statements leave the substantive fiscal decision the Chamber is pressing for still open.

Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games closed at the OVO Hydro on Sunday evening, ending an 11-day event that Glasgow Chamber of Commerce says has demonstrated the city’s capacity to stage a global sporting event on a leaner, privately funded model.

The 2026 Games were delivered by Glasgow 2026 Limited, the private Organising Company established after the Australian state of Victoria withdrew from hosting in 2023 citing escalating costs. The event ran without direct Scottish or UK Government funding, backed instead by the Commonwealth Games Federation with support from Commonwealth Games Australia. It brought 3,000 athletes from 74 nations across ten sports and four Glasgow venues, all powered by renewable energy.

The BBC reported that organisers said more than 430,000 tickets were sold across the 11 days of competition, and that over 200,000 additional visitors flocked to the city’s West End. According to Glasgow 2026 chief executive Phil Batty, netball at the Hydro sold 100,000 tickets and became the most-attended sport of the Games. First Minister John Swinney described Scotland’s fifth-placed finish in the medal table — 39 medals, behind Australia’s 171, England’s 110, and both Canada and India — as “truly historic.”

Stuart Patrick, chief executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, said: “The Glasgow 2026 Organising Company took on a Commonwealth Games at record speed, on a leaner privately funded model and delivered it in full. This was a significant achievement, and it tells every investor and event organiser watching that Glasgow can stage a global event and do it well. Congratulations to the whole team, and to the volunteers, athletes and venues who brought the city to life over 11 days. The value of this will show in the visitors, investment and event bids Glasgow secures in the years ahead.”

The delivery model itself is likely to be examined closely by future event hosts. The Organising Company retained governance and strategic control while embedding its Official Event Delivery Partner, Trivandi, directly into operational planning, venue management, transport and spectator services. Trivandi’s workforce for the Games was around 250, with the majority drawn from Glasgow and the surrounding area.

Ahead of the Games, the Scottish Government forecast an economic benefit of more than £150 million to the region. That figure is smaller than the 2014 Glasgow Games, which recorded £176 million in visitor expenditure and contributed an estimated £124 million of Gross Value Added to the Scottish economy according to the official post-Games visitor study. The 2026 event was expressly designed on a reduced budget and timeline, and the £150 million pre-event forecast reflects that.

A formal post-Games economic impact study is expected in the coming months. The residual question for the Chamber’s members is how far the Games’ delivery translates into the visitor bookings, corporate investment decisions and future event bids the city will secure in the year ahead.

Organisers of the North of Scotland Trades Awards have reported a record number of applications for the 2026 edition of the sector’s regional event, with entries confirmed across fourteen competitive categories ahead of the ceremony in October.

Now in its 14th year and sponsored by WM Donald, the Trades Awards is one of the region’s established construction industry events, bringing together around four hundred guests annually at a black-tie evening at Ardoe House Hotel in Aberdeen. This year’s finalists were announced on 31 July, with the winners set to be revealed on Friday 30 October.

Organisers say the volume of entries reflects continued activity in the North-east construction sector, with applications drawn from businesses of a range of sizes and from individuals at various stages of their careers. The finalists span fourteen competitive categories, from Apprentice of the Year and Rising Star through Tradesperson, Site Manager, Construction Supplier and Construction Company of the Year, up to Construction Project of the Year.

A new Inspiring Women in Construction category has also been introduced for the 2026 edition, recognising the contribution women are making across the industry. According to the organisers, the category attracted the highest number of individual applications received for a single Trades Awards category since the event’s launch.

Speaking on behalf of the organisers, Mike Wilson, Managing Director of Mearns & Gill, said: “Receiving the highest number of applications in more than ten years is fantastic news, but what excites us most is what those entries represent.

“Every application tells a different story. From apprentices taking their first steps in the industry to major projects delivered by teams of hundreds, each one reflects the passion, commitment and professionalism that exists across construction in the North of Scotland.

“The Trades Awards has always been about giving people the recognition they deserve. Seeing so many businesses take the time to celebrate their teams and achievements is exactly what these awards are all about, and we’re incredibly grateful to everyone who entered.”

Elaine Donald, Director at WM Donald and main sponsor of the Trades Awards, said: “Construction shapes the places where we live, work and spend time with our families, but it’s the people behind those projects who make that possible.

“At WM Donald, we’re proud to support an event that celebrates every part of our industry, from those just beginning their careers through to the experienced professionals who continue to mentor, innovate and inspire the next generation.

“The quality and variety of this year’s finalists demonstrates just how much talent we have across the North of Scotland. Congratulations to everyone who has been shortlisted. We look forward to celebrating your achievements together at Ardoe House Hotel in October.”

Finalists in the Construction Project of the Year category, sponsored by KR Group, include Chap’s Skylark development at The Marcliffe and its Craighill Affordable Housing scheme, alongside Ogilvie’s Netheranden Residential Development and its Stoneywood Complex Care Facility. An Outstanding Contribution Award, chosen by the judging panel, will also be presented on the night.

Proceeds from the 2026 ceremony will support the Russell Anderson Foundation, which works to improve the mental health and wellbeing of young people and families across the North-east of Scotland.

The full 2026 shortlist and further information on the ceremony is available at www.tradesawards.com.

Confidence among Scotland’s private businesses has fallen sharply through the first half of 2026, but firms are responding by backing themselves rather than pulling back, according to the latest edition of KPMG UK’s annual Private Enterprise Barometer.

The research, which revisits the same Scottish businesses surveyed at the start of the year, shows that confidence in delivering growth over the next 12 months has fallen from 87 per cent at the beginning of 2026 to 68 per cent at the mid-year point. The dip reflects a challenging six months for the UK and global economy, marked by instability in global energy markets, persistent inflation and continuing trade restrictions.

Despite the softer sentiment, investment intent has held up. Technology remains the leading investment priority for Scottish businesses, with 44 per cent identifying areas such as artificial intelligence, cyber security and broader digital transformation as key focuses — a six-percentage-point increase on the position at the start of the year, though still 22 points below the UK average. Diversification is also firmly on the agenda, with 52 per cent of Scottish businesses looking to expand their service offerings and broaden their client base, down from 63 per cent at the start of 2026.

The most striking shift is in how Scottish firms plan to fund the growth they are still pursuing. Nearly six in 10 (59 per cent) say they are looking to invest through their own balance sheets — above the UK average of 57 per cent, and only two points below where the figure stood at the start of the year. Around a third (30 per cent) remain open to private equity investment.

Vishal Chopra, Scotland Senior Partner at KPMG UK, said: “Scotland’s private businesses are proving resilient and are taking a pragmatic approach to the current economic environment. While confidence has eased slightly as firms continue to navigate inflation and global uncertainty, the ambition to grow remains clear.

“What’s particularly striking is that more businesses are choosing to back themselves. Rather than looking outside for funding, many are relying on their own balance sheets to invest and grow, giving them greater control at a time when the economic outlook remains uncertain.

“Now that the Scottish Parliament elections have passed, businesses will be looking for that renewed political focus to translate into greater economic certainty with a clear commitment to creating the conditions for investment and giving businesses the confidence to plan for long-term growth.”

Looking to the Autumn Budget, 37 per cent of Scottish businesses said they wanted to see growth-focused investment, industrial strategy, and business profitability and competitiveness prioritised by the incoming Chancellor. Inflation and cost pressures, and global disruption to UK supply chains and trade, were identified by 55 per cent as the two biggest short-term risks. Fifty per cent pointed to the UK economic outlook and productivity growth as the single biggest external factor shaping their investment, growth and exit planning.

KPMG’s Barometer was conducted by One Poll among 1,500 UK private business owners between 22 May and 10 June 2026, including 119 in Scotland.

Coatbridge-based Galino Limited, a manufacturer of fasteners and machine-screw products in business for 45 years, has been placed into administration, with all 12 staff made redundant. David McGinness and Judith Howson of AAB Business & Tax Advisory have been appointed joint administrators.

Administrator David McGinness said the business ceased to trade on appointment and that a small number of former employees would help the administrators for a short period. Creditors, employees, customers and other affected parties would be contacted directly.

The collapse sits against a broader Scottish insolvency picture that has softened but remains elevated. Accountant in Bankruptcy figures show 240 corporate insolvencies in Scotland in the second quarter of 2026, down 27.7% year on year from 332, with compulsory liquidations falling from 167 to 97.

Blair Milne, corporate insolvency partner at Azets in Glasgow, said the fall in corporate insolvencies was encouraging but should not be read as evidence that pressure on Scottish businesses had eased. Insolvency activity remained elevated by historic standards, he said, and many companies continued to trade in difficult conditions.

About Administration

Administration is a formal insolvency procedure under the Insolvency Act 1986 (as substantially amended by the Enterprise Act 2002, which inserted Schedule B1) that applies across the United Kingdom, including Scotland. When a company enters administration, control passes from its directors to a licensed insolvency practitioner — the administrator — who must act in the interests of the creditors as a whole. The administrator’s statutory purpose, set out in Schedule B1, is to pursue three hierarchical objectives: first, to rescue the company as a going concern; failing that, to achieve a better result for creditors than would be likely in an immediate liquidation, often by selling the business and assets as a going concern; and only if neither is reasonably practicable, to realise the company’s property to make a distribution to secured or preferential creditors. On appointment, a statutory moratorium takes effect, halting most legal actions and enforcement against the company and giving the administrator breathing space to trade the business, market it for sale, or wind down operations in an orderly way. In the Galino case, the joint administrators from AAB Business & Tax Advisory ceased trading on appointment and made the workforce redundant, which typically indicates that a going-concern rescue may not viable and the process will focus on realising remaining assets for creditors

Administration is, by insolvency-law standards, a relatively young procedure. The Insolvency Act 1986 received Royal Assent on 25 July 1986, and Part II — the administration-order regime — came into force on 29 December 1986 alongside the Insolvency Rules 1986 (legislation.gov.uk). One of the very first companies to enter the new procedure was Aberdeen-based regional carrier Air Ecosse, placed into administration in January 1987, within weeks of the regime becoming available. The airline traded on under administration before its assets were acquired and the business revived in March 1989 as Aberdeen Airways under the directorship of Mike Hornblower — an early practical demonstration of what the Cork Report and the 1986 Act had set out to enable: the rescue of a viable business as a going concern, and the preservation of skilled aviation jobs in the north-east of Scotland, rather than an immediate winding-up

Scotland’s financial and professional services sector has added around 21,000 jobs since 2023, taking total employment to about 157,000, according to a five-year strategy midpoint update from Scottish Financial Enterprise (SFE). The update, published to mark SFE’s 40th anniversary, records 15% employment growth over the period.

The sector’s gross value added has risen from £14.3bn at the launch of SFE’s growth strategy to £17.7bn, while exports have grown 16% to £12bn. Foreign direct investment projects in Scottish financial services have increased from eight to 11 a year since 2023, and legal and professional services have expanded alongside the financial cluster (Herald Scotland; SFE news feed).sfe.org+1

Scotland’s international standing in the sector has also strengthened. Edinburgh has climbed from 34th to 28th in the Global Financial Centres Index, and Glasgow from 51st to 43rd. Scotland remains the largest fintech hub outside London, with 226 firms attracting £2.86bn of investment over the past eight years.

SFE chief executive Sandy Begbie called on both the UK and Scottish governments for policy stability so the sector can accelerate rather than merely sustain growth. Scotland’s Economy Secretary Stephen Flynn described financial services as “a major contributor to the country’s economy”.

SFE also pointed to progress on financial inclusion, with the share of unbanked adults in Scotland falling from 3% to 2%, and to a pilot scheme aiming to ensure every school leaver in Scotland has access to a bank account.

The British Business Bank has committed £10m to Edinburgh-headquartered Odyssey Ventures as a cornerstone investor in the firm’s new seed and pre-seed fund, Odyssey Discovery I. The commitment forms part of the Bank’s Nations and Regions Investment Programme, which allocates capital to fund managers outside London.

Odyssey Discovery I is a roughly £39m ($50m) fund focused on applied AI and automation, energy technology and human and planetary health. The vehicle targets 20 to 30 UK-based startups over three years, writing seed and pre-seed cheques of £250,000 to £1.5m. The British Business Bank’s £10m represents about a 25% anchor stake in the fund.

For Scotland, the commercial read-through is direct: Odyssey’s Edinburgh base means the fund manager qualifies under the Bank’s regional programme, and its focus areas map on to concentrations of activity in Scottish AI, energy technology and life sciences. The commitment adds institutional pre-seed and seed capacity in the market at a point when Scottish start-up investment reached more than £210m in the first five months of 2026.

The wider British Business Bank programme has committed to more than 20 funds since 2023, deploying over £400m in total, with a further £150m allocated for the 2026-27 financial year.

British Gas parent Centrica has confirmed plans to cut about 1,300 jobs over the next two years, with contact-centre teams in Glasgow and Edinburgh among the sites affected. The reductions were announced alongside the company’s half-year results on Thursday, which showed an 18% drop in first-half adjusted profit to £737m.

Around 500 of the roles are in customer operations across contact centres in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Leicester, Stockport and Leeds, with a further 800 positions going across group support and outsourced offshore functions. Centrica said the cuts equate to roughly 14% of its customer-operations workforce.

The company said the changes reflect a sustained shift in customer behaviour rather than an AI-driven redundancy programme, with 90% of British Gas customers now using digital channels and inbound contact volumes down about 20% year on year. Centrica is separately spending £600m on an AI-led overhaul of customer service infrastructure.

For the Scottish labour market, the announcement matters because Centrica’s Glasgow and Edinburgh sites have been long-standing sources of large-volume, entry- and mid-level service jobs. A detailed city-by-city breakdown has not yet been published, and the company has said the reductions will be delivered through a mix of natural attrition, voluntary departures and selected redundancies over two years, with formal consultation to follow.

Centrica shares fell more than 4% on the day of the results despite a 9% dividend increase.

The Scottish Government has granted development consent and marine licences to Ocean Winds for its two‑gigawatt Caledonia offshore wind development in the outer Moray Firth, one of the largest projects awarded through the ScotWind leasing round.

The consent covers two adjoining projects, Caledonia North and Caledonia South, of approximately one gigawatt each, deploying up to 140 wind turbines across 429 square kilometres. The developer estimates the projects could generate enough electricity annually to power around two million households when fully operational.

Caledonia North sits approximately 28 kilometres from the Wick coastline and 48 kilometres from Banff, and will use up to 77 fixed‑bottom turbines. Caledonia South, further out at around 45 kilometres from Wick and 35 kilometres from Banff, will combine fixed‑bottom and floating foundations, with up to 78 turbines, of which no more than 39 will be floating.

Ocean Winds, a 50/50 joint venture between EDP Renewables and ENGIE, has committed to spending around £1.7 billion in Scotland if the development proceeds to construction. Taken together with its existing Moray East and Moray West projects, Caledonia is expected to take Ocean Winds’ long‑term operational workforce in the region to more than 200 skilled roles across engineering, operations and maintenance.

Caledonia is the second set of ScotWind projects to receive offshore consent from Scottish ministers. Ocean Winds already secured full onshore consent from Aberdeenshire Council in May, covering the cable corridor and substation connection to SSEN Transmission’s planned Greens substation, with onshore construction scheduled to begin in 2028.

Consent is not final approval to build. Ocean Winds must secure ministerial sign‑off on detailed environmental conditions, including a seabird compensation plan, and will need a Contract for Difference (CfD) in a future UK allocation round before reaching final investment decision. Offshore construction is expected to begin around 2030, subject to those approvals and commercial terms.

Mark Baxter, Caledonia project director, described the consent as “the culmination of years of hard work” and said the 2 GW project would “double the energy generation of the Moray Firth, supporting the UK’s aim of bolstering energy security, decarbonising the power system and transitioning jobs.”

Adam Morrison, UK country manager for Ocean Winds, welcomed the decision but warned that transmission charges remain the deciding factor for whether Caledonia proceeds to final investment. “If the UK is serious about energy security, it needs Scottish offshore wind. And if it wants Scottish offshore wind at the lowest cost to consumer, it must fix TNUoS,” he said, referring to Transmission Network Use of System charges — the annual fees generators pay for using the high‑voltage grid.

The Scottish Government’s decision to consent Ocean Winds’ 2 GW Caledonia development in the Moray Firth should have been an unambiguously good day for Scotland. It clears the last major planning hurdle from one of the largest ScotWind projects and, if it proceeds to construction, will bring £1.7 billion of Scottish spend, 140 turbines and long-term operational jobs to the north east.

However, buried in Ocean Winds’ own statement is a warning that perhaps should sit at the centre of every Scottish growth strategy: without reform of transmission charging, Caledonia and projects like it may never reach final investment. As Adam Morrison, Ocean Winds’ UK country manager, put it: “If the UK is serious about energy security, it needs Scottish offshore wind. And if it wants Scottish offshore wind at the lowest cost to consumer, it must fix TNUoS.”

The scale of the problem

Transmission Network Use of System charges are the annual fees generators pay to use Britain’s high-voltage grid. They are locational: the further you are from where power is consumed, the more you pay. In practice, this makes Scotland the most expensive place in Great Britain to generate electricity and southern England the cheapest.

The current numbers are stark. A generator in North Scotland pays around £26 per kilowatt of capacity per year, and in East Scotland £17. Along the English Channel and South Coast, generators receive a payment of £4 per kilowatt for the same service. A 1 GW Scottish offshore wind farm currently pays roughly £38 million a year to use the network; an identical wind farm off England’s south coast receives around £7 million. Transmission charging alone makes a Scottish offshore project around 20 per cent more expensive than an English one.

And it is getting worse. National Energy System Operator forecasts show TNUoS costs for parts of Scotland doubling by 2030. A 500 MW northern Scottish offshore wind farm could see annual charges rise from £13 million in 2025 to £27 million by the end of the decade. On Scottish Renewables’ analysis, offshore wind alone is set to absorb 57 per cent of the coming increase while accounting for only 24 per cent of installed capacity.

Why this matters for Contracts for Difference

Scottish offshore wind competes in the same UK-wide Contracts for Difference (CfD) auctions as projects off the east coast of England, the Irish Sea and the south. Every additional pound of transmission charge is a pound the developer must recover through the CfD strike price it bids. The wider tariff differential currently adds up to £17 per MWh to Scottish offshore wind CfD bids, and up to £27 per MWh once transmission losses are counted alongside.

That’s not a rounding-up error. In the most recent CfD round, Allocation Round 7, offshore wind projects in Scotland cleared at £89.49 per MWh in 2024 prices. Add another £17 per MWh of transmission cost on top of a project’s underlying LCOE and the arithmetic starts to fail: developers either bid too high to win, or win a contract that will not cover their costs and then cannot raise the debt to build. Scottish Government officials, in an internal briefing released this year under environmental information rules, put it plainly: “Transmission charges are collapsing project values in northern Scotland and eroding investor confidence.”

Where reform stands

The Ofgem review published in April, and the Charging Transitional Arrangements Group established in March under Ofgem’s reformed National Pricing programme, together mean reform is finally on the regulator’s agenda in a serious way. Ofgem’s preliminary view is that a single GB cap and floor on the £/kW Wider TNUoS charge is the most suitable intervention. That is the right direction. What it lacks is a timetable that matches investor need.

Caledonia is targeting offshore construction in 2030, which means a final investment decision in 2028 or 2029 and a successful CfD bid in 2027 or 2028. A cap-and-floor decision that lands in 2029 arrives after the investment case has already collapsed.

What Scotland stands to lose

Ocean Winds alone has committed £1.7 billion of Scottish spend if Caledonia proceeds, and its combined Moray Firth footprint would take long-term skilled operational jobs above 200. Multiply that across a 20 GW ScotWind pipeline and the Scottish supply-chain, port, cable-manufacturing and O&M workforce opportunity runs into five figures — before the induced effect on Scottish engineering, marine services and grid infrastructure.

But none of it is guaranteed by consent. Every one of those projects has to bank on a CfD auction that assumes a viable levelised cost of energy — and every one of them is being asked to price in the possibility that the biggest single line item in their operating cost base doubles between now and the end of the decade.

The ask is straightforward. Nobody is arguing for TNUoS to be abolished, and both the Scottish Government and developers accept that some locational signal is legitimate. What is being asked is a firm timetable for a cap on generator charges in Scotland, published early enough to be priced into the 2027 and 2028 CfD rounds.

Consent for Caledonia was a decision that was needed to support Scottish investment. But, the next decision — on TNUoS — is one the UK government needs to take. If it doesn’t, projects with consent in hand, £1.7 billion of committed spend behind them and a supply chain already gearing up in the north east may simply not get built.