European wellbeing group Therme has named Glasgow as the location for its second UK resort based on the "grand thermal bathing traditions".

Therme has agreed heads of terms on a waterfront site in central Glasgow next to the Riverside Museum, at the intersection of the Kelvin and Clyde rivers. The Austrian-headquartered group is aiming to submit a planning application for Therme Scotland in 2022.

The project is expected to be approximately 320,000sq ft in size and to cost around £100 million to build. It will include a next-generation indoor water park, extensive thermal pools and spa, and a health and wellbeing centre.

Additional elements of the project include a vertical farm to make locally-grown fresh produce available to the millions of guests that are expected to visit each year. This is being developed in conjunction with Edinburgh-based vertical farming specialist Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS).

READ MORE: Plans further include a bridge across the River Kelvin providing a link to the Riverside Museum and expanding access to the Glasgow waterfront

Scots financial giant in talks about bumper acquisition

The Herald: abrdn chief executive Stephen Bird abrdn chief executive Stephen Bird

Scottish fund management heavyweight abrdn has confirmed it is in talks to buy the Interactive Investor savings platform business in a deal it is thought could be worth around £1.5 billion.

READ MORE: Edinburgh-based abrdn said it is in discussions with private equity firm J.C. Flowers & Co regarding a potential acquisition of Interactive Investor

Historic Scotch whisky blender hails major market breakthrough

The Herald:

Gordon & MacPhail, the historic Scotch whisky blender and distiller, is savouring a “double win” in the key US market as new figures reveal that it increased sales and profits against the backdrop of the pandemic in its most recent financial year.

Ewen Mackintosh, managing director of the Elgin-based company, said the five-year suspension of tariffs on single malts in the US and the end to the requirement for Scotch distillers to export to America in 75cl bottles will boost its prospects in the industry’s biggest overseas market.

READ MORE: Mr Mackintosh was commenting as Speymalt Whisky Distributors Ltd, which trades as Gordon & MacPhail, reported a pre-tax profit of £13.9 million for the year to the end of February, up from £9.8m

Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust ‘optimistic and enthused’ after its 1,072% return

 

The Herald: James Anderson is retiring as joint manager of the £21 billion Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust next yearJames Anderson is retiring as joint manager of the £21 billion Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust next year

The £21 billion Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust yesterday flagged “much-needed energy transition” as a key driver of “opportunity” over the next decade and highlighted a major increase in its biotechnology holdings.

The trust’s managers declared they were “optimistic and enthused” about the next 10 years as Scottish Mortgage published first-half results.

READ MORE: Covid-19 vaccine developer Moderna, the trust’s largest holding, was the biggest single contributor to Scottish Mortgage’s total return over the six months to September 30

Marks & Spencer profit upgrade hints at long-awaited new dawn

The Herald:

Marks & Spencer has boosted its full-year profit forecast by more than 40 per cent, giving rise to speculation that one of the most elusive recoveries in UK corporate history may at last be on the horizon.

Proclaiming that the “hard yards” of its turnaround plan are finally starting to bear fruit, M&S upgraded its earnings outlook for the second time this year as its first half results came in well ahead of expectations, driven by food sales. Full-year profits are now expected to be “in the region of £500 million”, substantially higher than analysts were predicting even after the retailer in July issued its first profit upgrade of this century.

READ MORE: However, chief executive Steve Rowe cautioned that cost pressures will increasingly come to bear as the group faces continued headwinds from Brexit and the pandemic

 

Insight, opinion, analysis 

Scott Wright: Huge boost for Scottish economy as travel to biggest market starts again

Ian McConnell: Up step Johnson and Frost to signal how much worse things might become

Mark Williamson: Oil giants eye big renewable energy profits amid COP26 talks

Ian McConnell: UK interest rates misery ahead, for borrowers and savers

Kristy Dorsey: Sleaze, climate peril and economic menace

 

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