Scottish Business Briefing - Thursday 9 May, 2013 The Edinburgh-based group also pledged its commitment to its financial advice businesses, which saw their losses double compared with last year (Scotsman). Read all today's insurance news from scotsman.com Aberdeen continues to dominate Scots scene Aberdeen continues to dominate the Scottish commercial-property scene after the city and its environs accounted for nearly 50% of all office lettings in 2012, a new report says. In its 72nd Scottish property review, commercial market specialist Ryden, reported a further strong performance in and around Europe's energy capital after a record 1,076,400-plus square feet of accommodation was let last year (P&J). Updated labour market figures from Scotland's annual population survey show the construction sector shed a further 14,500 jobs in the course of 2012, taking total employment within the Scottish industry to 172,700 (Scotsman) Defence Policy: Protecting Scotland & Preserving Jobs - 14 June, Edinburgh Join delegates from the defence industry, legal, PR, academia and more at this hugely important conference. Top speakers will tackle the burning issues facing the defence industry, one of Scotland's most economically significant sectors. A further 76 are destined for Larbert - Webhelp TSC's UK headquarters - and 30 in Kilmarnock (Scotsman). INSURANCE group RSA and Vince Cable's Department for Business are pumping £20 million into a new funding scheme for small companies developed by Artemis Fund Managers co-founder Lindsay Whitelaw. Urica, launching in Scotland today before being rolled out across the UK, is targeting "better-placed growth companies" turning over £5m to £100m a year (Scotsman). Read all today's management news from scotsman.com Morrisons reports "solid start" despite sales fall Morrisons, the UK's fourth largest supermarket chain, has reported a fall in underlying sales for the first quarter of its financial year. Like-for-like sales, which strip out the effect of new store openings, excluding fuel fell 1.8% in the 13 weeks to 5 May, However, total sales excluding fuel were up by 0.6% (BBC).