The British Business Bank has allocated £3.5m to Edinburgh-based Social Investment Scotland (SIS) to support underserved, smaller businesses across several areas within Scotland, with loans ranging from £25,001 to £125,000. SIS was established in 2000 to provide a new finance model for Scotland’s charities and social enterprises. It offers debt finance and support to underserved charities, social enterprises and smaller businesses that may find it difficult to access financ

Specialist brewer Vault City has ramped up production of its fruit beers, as customer demand for new flavours reaches record levels, eight years after the craft brewery launched. Vault City said that it was on track for its biggest year yet, in terms of fruit-beer production, with volumes projected to rise by 38 per cent compared to 2023. Volumes were already up by 21 per cent between 2023 and 2025 – increasing from 11,900 to 14,424 hectolitres. As part of its ambition to con

Leith-based communications agency, Feel Good Comms, has launched a new visibility-review tool designed to help businesses understand how, where and how often they show up in front of their target audiences. Designed to deliver insights to build highly effective communication and marketing strategies, the tool analyses a brand's total digital footprint. This includes tracking brand visibility within AI platforms, including Gemini and ChatGPT. Recognising that AI is now a criti

YOURGB, the award-winning, Edinburgh-based experiential design and event-production collective, is today unveiling its new brand, YourScene. The move marks 15 years in business and a deliberate evolution from a founder-led venture into a multidisciplinary creative team designing immersive experiences across the UK and internationally. Founder and director, Gilly Bain, launched the business 15 years ago, aged 25, from her grandmother's spare room in North Berwick, after her gr

Food and drink businesses from across Scotland are celebrating after being named as finalists in the Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards 2026, with 64 finalists representing 48 businesses across 20 categories. Running for 25 years, the annual awards recognise the highest quality of produce, as well as leading suppliers, individuals and companies. This year, winners will be announced at the awards night on Thursday 24 September, 2026, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Glasgow,

A new 157-bedroom hotel in the Haymarket area of Edinburgh, which has been developed by property company S Harrison, will open early next month. S Harrison, which owns the completed building, has a long-term agreement with European hotel group MEININGER Hotels, to operate the hotel. MEININGER Hotels currently operates 37 hotels across 27 European cities. Each hotel features its own unique design, offering flexible and affordable modern accommodation. The Edinburgh hotel has

A representative from the Edinburgh developer and manufacturer of Air-Pot® containers recently attended a royal reception at St James’s Palace in London to celebrate the firm’s 2026 King’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade. Marketing & sales representative, Georgie Single, joined fellow award recipients from across the UK at the special event hosted in recognition of businesses honoured with awards this year. Georgie, who met Princess Anne at the event, said: “It w

The University of Edinburgh’s new Engineering Forum is now complete, creating a major new destination for learning, research and collaboration at the heart of the King’s Buildings campus. Designed by BDP, the School of Engineering building brings together teaching, research, innovation and social spaces within a flexible environment designed to support the next generation of engineers. The project forms part of the university’s long-term vision for the campus and has now open

Structural and civil-engineering consultancy, Narro, has announced a change of leadership, with Robbie Templeton succeeding Ben Adam as managing director. Following the transition, Robbie will assume responsibility for leading the business, while Ben will remain actively involved as a board director, supporting the strategic direction of the company and ensuring continuity of leadership. Narro has grown from a small Edinburgh-based engineering practice founded by David Narro

Edinburgh coffee business, The Healthy Coffee Company, has been shortlisted in the Allica Bank Great British Entrepreneur awards, which were founded in 2012 and attract thousands of entrants annually. Asanka De Silva, shortlisted in the award’s Innovation Entrepreneur of the Year- Scotland category, founded the business in 2016, after his mother was diagnosed with a liver condition. He started researching liver health and kept finding references to coffee. This led him to de

Kitchens International (KI), an award-winning Scottish specialist in luxury kitchens, bathrooms and living spaces, has completed a management buyout from the James Donaldson Group. Founded in 1994, KI has featured on Channel 4's Grand Designs and BBC’s Scotland’s Home of the Year, showcasing the firm's expertise in delivering exceptional spaces for ambitious residential projects. The business, now under independent family ownership, with new owner and chief executive, Graham

Maritime-technology company, Zelim, has strengthened its leadership team, appointing John Cumming, to help grow global market presence. Zelim, which was founded in 2017, specialises in enhancing search, rescue and security operations at sea, using advanced AI systems. As director of international business, John will lead the organisation’s focus on international market-expansion opportunities and strategic partnerships in the ferry, defence, superyacht and wider maritime indu

Law firm, Anderson Strathern, has announced its appointment to provide advice for a landmark project at the historic Royal High School on Edinburgh’s Calton Hill. The firm’s specialist teams will work closely with the National Centre for Music, the charity that is set to be the future tenant of the site, as it collaborates with the Royal High School Preservation Trust to transform architect Thomas Hamilton’s Category A-listed building into a world-class hub for music, educati

Edinburgh entrepreneur Richard O’Donnell has announced a corporate restructure of his business portfolio to facilitate ongoing growth. Richard runs four specialist companies in the insurance reinstatement and property-maintenance fields – Insurepair, ClaimDry, VeriClaim and Emergency Repair. Under the new set-up, all four specialist businesses will sit within Property Repair Group, alongside Property Repair, which will focus on repairs, maintenance and renovations across the

New research from global insurance broker and risk-management firm, Gallagher, and research partner Opinium has revealed that the UK hospitality and leisure sector is expected to enjoy a bumper summer season, as people plan to stay local for their annual break, to avoid ongoing travel disruption and to watch the World Cup. With the men’s World Cup starting on 11 June and running until 19 July, the hospitality industry needs to prepare for a busy month as over 15 million UK ad

The UK lacks a robust support system for entrepreneurs who have experienced economic hardship, according to the final report of The Maple Review, an independent UK-government-backed study. Following a year-long inquiry, spearheaded by Small Business Britain and supported by Xero, drawing on a national survey of more than 600 entrepreneurs from low-income backgrounds, the Review highlights the opportunities entrepreneurship can provide for the 14.3 million people currently liv

A Scottish food start-up has relaunched with ambitious growth plans after receiving support from Business Gateway. Canny Mushrooms, founded by Joanna Davies, produces premium tinned mushrooms designed to deliver bold flavours in a convenient, sustainable and nutritious format. The business idea was born during Joanna’s time spent working in tech as a project manager, which included living in Boston in the US. Inspired by the popularity of high-quality tinned-fish products, sh

Ralph Sayer has announced that Napier University law graduate, Megan Kane, is the first solicitor to train and qualify with the Edinburgh law firm. The business has enjoyed consistent growth since launching four years ago and brought in Megan in 2024 as its first trainee solicitor as part of a strategic expansion strategy. Having attained her Diploma in Legal Practice from Strathclyde University, she has gone on to successfully complete her two-year traineeship, with chief ex

Edinburgh-based Dayshape, an AI-powered resource-management platform, has partnered with Laurel, a platform for professional services, to help firms identify and eliminate revenue ‘leakage’. The partnership brings together the firms’ expertise, to give businesses a clearer view of how work is planned, delivered and billed across the organisation. Laurel automatically captures work activity across meetings, emails, documents and digital workflows, reducing reliance on manual

CODE Concepts, the Edinburgh-based boutique hotel and capsule-hostel operator, has officially opened The Pend, a new social, events, community and coworking space located in Old Fishmarket Close. The Pend is the newest addition to the CODE Concepts portfolio, joining CODE The Court, CODE The Loft, John’s Coffee House and The Lost Close. The portfolio will expand further with The Bindery, a design-led boutique hotel set to open in the New Town in early 2027. Andy Landsburgh,