Crawford hails Pars debutant

Stevie Crawford has hailed Dunfermline debutant Kyle Macdonald after revealing Aaron Comrie is set for a spell on the sidelines with injury.

Macdonald, recruited from Airdrie last month, was handed his bow in Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Alloa when Comrie limped off injured midway through the first-half.

Comrie’s hamstring problem could now hand Macdonald an opportunity to impress after plans to loan the former Motherwell defender back to Airdrie were put on hold by the enforced suspension of all football below the Championship.

Crawford said: “Aaron’s hamstring tightened up and it wasn’t even a case of being able to ask him to go on to see if he could run it off.

“We are just hopeful that by coming off he has probably reduced the risk of it being a longer-term one.

“It has given Kyle the opportunity to make his debut and I thought that he coped well because it is not easy playing against the movement that Alloa have got.

Covid-19 led to a decline in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) last year as business owners concentrated on adapting to the dramatic change in circumstances. However, this year is expected to bring a rush of M&A transactions.

In this issue of Business Matters we consider some of the recent deals made in Tayside and Fife.

This includes Tillicoultry Quarries agreeing terms to purchase several assets from Breedon, who themselves purchased a portfolio of assets from Cemex (page 2).

Embark, which runs an investment platform, is now firmly established in the former Alliance Trust building in Dundee’s West Marketgait and the firm’s chief executive discusses its growth plans on page 3.

Cera Care is also planning expansion and jobs after acquiring Mears Care Scotland. It wants to add 50 jobs to its Perth operation (page 7).

Meanwhile, BGF investor Richard Pugh gives his thoughts on the M&A climate in Scotland and his desire to make more investments in Tayside and Fife after buying stakes in Waracle and Campion Homes.

We are also joined by columnists Dr Liz Cameron from Scottish Chambers of Commerce and Martin Gilbert, co-founder of Aberdeen Asset Management.