Hargreaves Services is mulling a rescue bid for the Redcar steelworks however the deal would still see the site closed until commodity prices recover.

The Sunday Times reports Hargreaves wants to keep the blast furnace at the plant maintained with a view to it being restarted once steel prices begin to climb again.

Hargreaves stepped in to snap up several Scottish coal mines two years ago when their owners fell into insolvency.

Lady Astor, the Prime Minister’s mother-in-law, has told The Sunday Telegraph she would like to double the number of OKA furniture shops to 20 in the coming years.

The company, which has its only Scottish shop in Edinburgh, is opening a new site in Marlow, Buckinghamshire later this months and hopes to have three more done by the spring.

That comes as the business reported a nine per cent rise in pre-tax profits to £1.7m on the back of a six per cent increase in revenue to £21.1m.

Upmarket suit maker Gieves & Hawkes, which has several Royal Warrants, has reported another loss.

The Mail on Sunday says the pre-tax loss of £666,000 for 2014 is slightly more than in the previous year and comes in spite of turnover growing from £15.2m to £18m.

The company has been owned by Hong Kong billionaire Victor Fung since 2012.

The family owners of the River Island fashion chain have shared a £30m dividend payment, according to The Sunday Times.

The Lewis family received the payment as latest accounts for the high street staple showed a 10 per cent rise in sales to £926m and pre-tax profits surged by 70 per cent to £149m.

Independent bicycle manufacturer Shand, which has worked with Sir Chris Hoy on a number of projects, is looking to grow its production by around 50 per cent to 200 next year.

The Livingston, West Lothian, company told Scotland on Sunday it has other exciting projects in the pipeline and is looking at investment options.