Mackie's Sticky Toffee Pudding Popcorn

Some 67% of Scottish employers intend to recruit in the three months to September - up from 45% six months ago and 41% this time last year, according to a quarterly survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

In the City, mining giant BHP has said it is reviewing the future of its petroleum business and could seek a merger for the arm with an Australian oil firm, while Scotland Office minister David Duguid has said he is to meet Siccar Point Energy over the Cambo oil field on Tuesday.

Also today, a new snack based on a famous pudding is unveiled ahead of a full festive season launch, the CMA has annoucned a ticket sales move to protect customers, and Business Voices today is by Engineering Scotland chief executive Paul Sheerin.

Family brand launches pudding-inspired snack

A classic pudding has been recreated in popcorn form by a Scottish snack brand.

Sticky Toffee Pudding popcorn will become the latest launch from Mackie’s Crisps with consumers able to get a first taste at the Great Outdoor Cinema event this week.

The flavour, set to hit supermarket shelves late winter, will be available via wholesale channels from mid-August.

Unlike other “world-first” flavours sold by the family brand, the new popcorn line will be sold year-round.

Melissa Hack, wholesale account manager at Mackie’s at Taypack, said: “Our customers rely on us to bring excitement to the category, so I am confident they are going to be very happy with our latest addition.

“We are launching Sticky Toffee Pudding Popcorn to be ready for this year’s festive season, as last Christmas saw our biggest ever year for festive crisps and popcorn sales with total sales up 27% from 2019 and sales within our convenience channel up a whole 109%.

“Seasonal NPD plays such a big role within the convenience channel, driving those all-important impulse purchases and incremental sales to the category.

“However, due to the incredible feedback we have received we have already decided to make it a permanent addition with a limited pre-launch this August.

“It is available now to order from Cotswold Fayre, Cress Co, Glencarse, Diverse Fine Food, Springvale, along with a variety of other fantastic wholesalers.”

 The exclusive pre-launch will be paired with a week of family loved film screenings by the Great Outdoor Cinema, hosted at Pollock House from Monday August 16  to Thursday August 19 and then at Knapps Loch Kilmacolm from Friday August 20 – Sunday August 22.

It is produced at the fourth-generation Taylor Crisp factory in Errol, Perthshire. James Taylor, managing director at Mackie’s at Taypack, runs the family-owned business alongside his father, chairman George Taylor. It employs a team of 50 staff – and recently became Scotland’s third best-selling premium crisp brand following growth that bucked wider market decline

Ticket resales sites should be subject to tighter rules - competition watchdog

Sales of tickets on platforms such as Viagogo and StubHub should be subject to tighter rules, the competition watchdog is proposing.

As live events such as music festivals and large sporting events resume over the coming months, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has set out recommended changes to the law and existing system of regulation to protect consumers.

Paul Sheerin: Dual benefits of shortening strained supply chains

Opinion: In late May this year, our team at Scottish Engineering reviewed our ready-to-publish survey results from members with a strong sense of caution, and a trusted calculator to double check the numbers.

We acknowledged at the time that the improvements in business sentiment were unfortunately not entirely across the board, but the size and scale of the majority change to positive honestly seemed too good to be true.

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