By way of levity to the doom and gloom mongers that seem to pervade our news broadcasts I thought I’d share a collection of good news that I have read this week from some of your colleagues.

Glasgow packaging firm Macfarlane has achieved an increase in profits in the face of the rising cost of raw materials. The company made profits last year of £3.9m with turnover up 7% to £144m

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) arm saw sales rise 37%, helped by selling 32,000 of its new Range Rover Evoque. The quarter saw China overtake the UK as JLR’s biggest market. China now accounts for 17.2% of total sales compared with 16.5% for the UK.

Much of America’s bus industry is now owned by two Scottish companies.

Stagecoach owns intercity, local, commuter, city sightseeing, tourist and yellow school buses through its Coach USA subsidiary

FirstGroup took over US firm Laidlaw in 2007 for $2.8bn (£1.78bn), giving it control of the 92-year-old Greyhound bus line.It launched BoltBus in 2008, initially going head-to-head with Megabus on the key New York to Washington route

Carmaker Nissan is to build a new model at its Sunderland factory, with investment of £125m, which it says will create 2,000 jobs.

Tesco has pledged to create 20,000 permanent jobs in the UK over the next two years.

Prime Minister David Cameron has said it is a massive confidence boost for the UK economy.

The announcement comes as the British Chambers of Commerce predicts that the UK will avoid a double-dip recession

Derbyshire County Council are  creating 700 apprenticeships over the next four years in one of the biggest ever recruitment drives of young people.

The above successes have been achieved through a carefully thought out strategy of product mix, service development and an organisation structure that is fit for purpose.

I’m particularly interested in MacFarlane’s performance; I’ll report back if I can find out more, in the meantime, enjoy your day.