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Cost difficulties experienced by a Scottish contractor that went into administration and discontinued operations last month included increases in employers’ national insurance contributions and the minimum wage.

All employees were laid off, with 119 positions lost across facilities in Scotland and England.

Apex Traffic Management Limited, which was placed into administration following a petition filed by its directors with Hamilton Sheriff Court, had annual revenues of £9.7 million and provided road barriers and signage.

In recent years, it has expanded to provide traffic control services to sites such as Hamilton and Ayr racetracks, as well as Royal Troon for the Open golf event. The company also ran more than 150 sets of roadworks traffic signals.

On August 21, Kenneth Craig and Kevin Mapstone of Begbies Traynor were appointed as Apex Traffic Management’s joint administrators.

Following the appointment, a representative for the administrators stated, “There were 119 PAYE employees before the administration, and none are being retained unfortunately because the business has ceased trading.”

The managers indicated that they were “hopeful that the majority of the staff being made redundant may quickly be re-employed in the sector and are working to facilitate that where possible”

. Apex principally offered traffic control equipment and services for roadworks, with clients including Transport Scotland, Highways England, Amey Construction, and Lanes Group.

In August, there was a lot to write about in Scottish politics. Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said on August 4 that she will not run for re-election as an MSP in next year’s Holyrood elections.

The Skye, Lochaber, and Badenoch MSP stated that she did not want to “miss any more of the precious early years of family life”. In a column in The Herald on Sunday published on 10 August, I observed:

“The announcement from Kate Forbes, who has had a very high profile since being appointed as Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic in May last year, that she would not be standing at next year’s Holyrood election came as a shock.

“While the decision is entirely understandable, there is no doubting Ms Forbes will be a major loss to the SNP.” My column in The Herald on August 6 declared Ms Forbes’ decision “undoubtedly represents a significant loss for the SNP on the economic and business front” and observed:

“As a business journalist, it is relatively rare to encounter politicians who can answer questions on economic issues thoughtfully and impressively.

Many folks may be surprised to learn about this tragic fact. “All too frequently, in politics, economics, and business, soundbites are used that are, at best, mundane, and at worst, absurd.

In terms of the latter, we should remember the Conservative politicians who persuaded us all that Brexit would be beneficial to the UK economy while maintaining a straight face. You got the impression that some, if not all, believed the absolute drivel they were spewing.

The article made the case that “the Tory Brexiters constitute an extreme, but crystal clear, example of just how dismal politicians can be on business and the economy”

. It went on: “What is obvious is that too much of the narrative on matters commercial and economic from politicians, having listened to it over the years and decades, seems to reflect either a lack of comprehension or an inclination to trot out learnt views without thinking about is being said, or both.

“Ms Forbes, on the other hand, has understandably earned the respect of many members of the business world and those concerned with economic matters.

And a considerable proportion of these people will disagree with Ms Forbes’ political views, particularly her desire for independence.

“This relatively broad respect surely speaks volumes about the Deputy First Minister’s abilities when it comes to the economy and business.”

During an exclusive interview in June last year, I asked Ms Forbes if she thought it was difficult to reconcile economic growth with social justice, and she said, “No, it is not difficult to balance at all.

I have never seen any difference in our desire for resilient public services, child poverty eradication, environmental protection, and economic objectives, for the simple reason that we cannot achieve those goals without economic growth.” Ms Forbes continued, “So, when I look at our aim to reduce child poverty, it is evident that we are investing heavily in the Scottish child payment.

That investment is made possible by progressive taxation as a result of a growing and thriving economy, but it cannot occur without the creation of well-paying, secure employment, which are created by a growing economy.”

This was “another measured, thought-through answer” according to my August 6 piece in The Herald. It went on to say, “It may seem like plain sense to many.

However, such intuition is not as widespread among politicians on such issues as many people believe. Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon published her memoir, Frankly, last month.

My piece in The Herald on August 15, reflecting on Ms Sturgeon’s success in business and the economy during her tenure as First Minister, stated:

“There has been a lot of critical reaction to Nicola Sturgeon’s newly published memoir, Frankly.

And lot of this has been emotional. “Ms. Sturgeon’s memoir has raised questions about her accomplishments as first minister from November 2014 to March 2023.” And this, in my opinion, is the more interesting feature.

“It appears that many people have been nearly falling over themselves to express their scathing judgements on this front, with a black-and-white perspective that ‘nothing’ or close to nothing was accomplished.

From a business and economic perspective, and from a societal point of view, that seems like a most unfair conclusion.”

The essay emphasised Ms. Sturgeon’s strong opposition to [Boris] Johnson’s hard Brexit, which is still causing significant costs for businesses and harming the UK economy.

“Ms Sturgeon was the first minister to establish the Scottish Child Payment in 2021.

This is a critically important source of help for low-income families in Scotland, with a weekly payment of £27.15 for each child under the age of 16.

And it is especially important considering the draconian welfare cuts that began in the UK when the Conservatives took power in 2010. “Given the Scottish Government’s extremely limited capabilities in this area, the Scottish child payment is a major issue.

And it is simple arithmetic that giving money to those who must spend all or a large portion of their income to survive feeds straight into aggregate demand, so stimulating the economy.”

The column also noted Ms Sturgeon’s steadfastness in straitened financial times and amid grim budget squeezes coming from Westminster with the SNP’s commitment to free university tuition for students ordinarily resident in Scotland and pursuing their first degree, adding:

“This is so important in ensuring the talent pool is not diminished by restricting access to higher education to those able to pay for it or willing to take on huge amounts of debt.”

And it observed: “Perhaps the greatest overall judgement of Ms Sturgeon’s tenure in charge can be derived from reviewing the foreign direct investment (FDI) data for the period in which she was first minister.

“This, after all, gives a cold, objective view of the merits of Scotland as a place to do business in a global context.”

The column stated that EY numbers for 2024 published this summer had “highlighted the fact Scotland has been second only to London in terms of the number of FDI projects won in every year since 2015” and declared: “That is mightily impressive.”

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