Business Comment #9 feb/mar 10/11

Are you a Smart Exporter?

How Scottish businesses can access global markets

FEBRuary/MARCH 2011

pages 24-25 Edinburgh Chamber – UK Chamber for international trade support and skills development

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Contents

feb/march 2011

Chambers are a many 18 splendoured thing

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An important key to getting value from your Chamber is understanding the range of services that are available through your membership.

You may get a warm feeling just by knowing that you are allied with two thousand other companies in the cause of promoting business, but the membership offering is a much richer and more varied dish the more you go into it. Just take a quick look at the Business Solutions A-Z on our website for the full menu – I guarantee you’ll be amazed.

Your membership of your local Chamber connects you to a worldwide network of business support. As the largest of Scotland’s six accredited Chambers, we are also in daily contact with Scottish Chambers of Commerce and British Chambers of Commerce.

Whilst the latter’s central office is in London, they also maintain an office in Brussels so we have quick and easy access to what is going on in the EU and can influence the legislative heart of Europe when policy is in the making. Chambers of Commerce are a truly unrivalled international network. Being a member of that huge community and potential global market access is all wrapped up in your Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce membership package.

03 Introduction / contents

04 B2B Scotland 2011

05 Edinburgh still open for business

07 Capital view

12 Introducing ‘Marketing Edinburgh’

13 Be the best

Another part of the strength of our services is the ability to draw upon central purchasing of member benefits from the UK network. Around that platform we have built and extensive network of support for vital initiatives to protect your business and help it grow through the recovery.

15 Going international

15 Doing business in China

The awards for ‘Excellence in International Trade’, and ‘Meeting the Skills Development Agenda’ that Edinburgh Chamber received at the BCC Annual Dinner in November 2010 followed our 2009 award for ‘Best Chamber in the UK’. Rightly recognising the success of our Smart Exporter initiative and other crucial work by our international team, these trophies point the way to where the recovery lies – growing our GDP through international trade.

If the home economy is slow to regenerate then we simply have to go and look for business elsewhere. Every economy in the world has slowed down its rate of growth – but plenty of markets are still making healthy progress and crying out for the kind of quality products and services our members supply.

I am confident that we have done a great job of building support for Scottish companies to access those markets through effective partnerships with the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Development International and other Chambers of Commerce, as well as by harnessing expertise from within our member companies.We have built the springboard; will you use it in 2011?

Ron Hewitt chief executive

16|18 Inspiring connections 19 60 seconds

22|23 24|25 37 38 39 41 44 45 47

48 49|50

The interview Cover feature In the spotlight City & World – Chamber policy Legal Ask the expert / get with IT Getting started Business news Anderson Strathern highly commended European first for Edinburgh company Movers & shakers

Business Comment is an Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce publication.

All editorial a n d g en eral en qu iries: Edinburgh Chamber Customer Services Team Phone: 0844 736 2992 email: customerservices@edinburghchamber.co.uk Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, Capital House, 2 Festival Square, Edinburgh EH3 9SU www.edinburghchamber.co.uk President: Robert Carr Chief Executive: Ron Hewitt Bu sin ess Comm en t Editor Josef Church-Woods, Marketing & Communications Executive Phone: 0131 221 2973 email: josef.church-woods@edinburghchamber.co.uk P RODUCTION & DESIGN Distinctive Publishing, 8th Floor, Aidan House, Sunderland Road, Gateshead NE8 3HU Tel: 0191 4788300 www.distinctivepublishing.co.uk ADVERTISING Distinctive Publishing, 8th Floor, Aidan House, Sunderland Road, Gateshead NE8 3HU Tel: 0191 4788316 john.neilson@distinctivepublishing.co.uk FEATURE EDITORS John Dean & Francis Griss deangriss@btinternet.com DISCLAIM ER

Distinctive Publishing or Business Comment cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies that may occur, individual products or services advertised or late entries. No part of this publication may be reproduced or scanned without prior written permission of the publishers and Business Comment.

Cover p h oto Cover photo kindly supplied by: www.maverickphotoagency.com

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Chambernews B2B Scotland 2011 – stimulating growth across the Scottish business community Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce has announced that it is supporting B2B Scotland 2011 – on 15 March at the SECC in Glasgow; the first business to business exhibition in Scotland dedicated to established organisations searching for new ways to maximise their growth potential.

Produced in conjunction with Scottish Enterprise, the free conference and exhibition presents a fantastic opportunity to engage directly with other forwardthinking organisations within the Scottish business community. Whether you’re developing innovative solutions, transforming your organisation by embracing new routes to market, or identifying partnering opportunities to expand your commercial capabilities, B2B Scotland 2011 represents an unparalleled arena in which to cultivate business relations.

The conference will play host to a strong line-up of industry leaders who will present their views on how to set the foundations

for sustainable growth in 2011 and beyond, as well as inspirational entrepreneurs who have driven their companies to success both nationally and in international markets.

Free workshops are on offer to all delegates on a variety of topics including innovation, leadership, business efficiency, low carbon and Smart Exporter. HSBC, the official banking partner to the event, will also be presenting a range of workshops, with knowledgeable staff on hand to help you get the most from international financial markets.

Register for free now at www.b2bscotland.co.uk and ensure that your organisation is positioned for success.

Portal offers cash savings for councils

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Scottish councils could make annual savings of £3 million following the launch of Public Information Notices Portal: www.tellmescotland.gov.uk

authorities late last year, provides a single online location for public notices that Scotland’s 32 local authorities are legally required to publish.

Digital specialists Spider Online, the agency responsible for the design and build of the Portal, believe the website gives councils the option to use a more effective way of communicating with the public, whilst delivering increased value for money.

John Campbell, Managing Director of Spider Online, said: “The site has been developed with the latest user-centric design techniques and utilises Google Maps to make the user experience intuitive and straightforward.”

The portal, which launched in the Glasgow, Edinburgh and South Lanarkshire local

Public information notices have traditionally been published in newspapers.

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Animal film turns focus on Edinburgh company Edinburgh production company FREAKWORKS, has become the first company to film and post-produce a Stereoscopic 3D Cinema and TV advertising campaign.

The campaign, shot by FREAKFILMS and edited by FREAKWORKS, was filmed at Blair Drummond Safari Park and features some of the park’s wildest animals in their natural habitat. The format is able to give the viewer a unique experience of being close to the animals.

Aimed at a family audience, the film has been showing in cinemas to promote the park’s 2011 season.

FREAKFILMS has been specialising in 3D content creation since 2008 and Hamish Allison, its Creative Director and Stereographer, said: “We’ve worked hard over the last year to establish ourselves as a centre of excellence in Stereo production, and we’re taking it a step further by adding training opportunities in the coming year.”

The company says that FREAKFILMS’ first Cinema advertising project allows Scotland to be an international player in the world of 3D production.

Airport soars into the top five Edinburgh Airport has become the fifth largest airport in the UK in terms of passenger numbers.

Figures released from the Civil Aviation Authority show that consistent growth since the airport’s best ever month in July 2010 saw Scotland’s main airport overtake Birmingham and Luton to break into the top five for the first time.

Passenger numbers were steady from June onwards, picking up from August, with modest growth being predicted month on month well into 2011.

Kevin Brown, Managing Director of Edinburgh Airport, said: “This is fantastic news for Edinburgh and its airport and reflects the status of the Capital as a major European destination.

“It underlines Edinburgh’s importance to Scotland and the UK as a whole and can only assist us as we compete across Europe to bring more flights to Scotland “I believe this success is built on two main factors - our reputation as a responsive and ambitious airport with which to do business and of course Edinburgh itself. This combination makes Edinburgh Airport a fantastic proposition and is the key to our growth in what has been an incredibly tough period for aviation.”

The top five UK airports, based on passenger numbers in the year ending October 2010 are Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Manchester and Edinburgh.

EMS

Edinburgh’s still very much Open for Business During construction of the tram route from Edinburgh Airport to Newhaven, Open for Business was set up to promote businesses and retailers in Edinburgh.

Dany Brewer is the new Open for Business City Rep and her key aim is to work with city retailers to inform them about great opportunities and involve them in useful initiatives designed to help run their business more efficiently. This may include training from bodies such as Business Gateway, Green Business Partnership, Leith Business Hub and Essential Edinburgh.

Dany also helps run the website Edinburghshopper.com and is always looking for fresh ideas and campaigns from businesses to promote, free of charge.

Speaking about her new role, Dany Brewer said: “I have already been in touch with many city retailers and am looking forward to meeting more Edinburgh businesses over the next few months, both on a one-toone and group basis.

“There is so much potential for companies of any size to connect with powerful campaigns already being run by marketing bodies in the city, such as DEMA or Festivals Edinburgh, or to attend free training courses like those offered at the Leith Business Hub.

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My role will be to explain what’s on offer and help businesses maximise the opportunities available to them. I have been really encouraged by the proactive response so far. I’m also looking forward to encouraging retailers to optimise their online presence, through channels such as Edinburghshopper.com and social networks, including Twitter.”

The Open for Business group is funded by tie and the City of Edinburgh Council, chaired by the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce and also includes representatives from Lothian Buses, Essential Edinburgh, the Retail Forum and Federation of Small Businesses.

For more information, please contact Dany on 0131 220 0003 / 07740 851 122 or on email: dany@burtgreener.co.uk

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The C-Class.

Two £1,000 offers. One sound business choice.

Select £1,000 contribution or £1,000 specification upgrade.

Finance a C-Class Saloon through Mercedes-Benz Financial Services before 31 March and we’ll make a £1,000 contribution, providing you with low monthly payments from £329.

C 180 CGI BlueEFFICIENCY Executive SE Saloon with metallic paint

Alternatively, if you choose not to take up our finance, you can benefit from a specification upgrade, worth £1,000, to boost your residuals.

3 + 35 payment pattern

With higher residuals, less outlay and CO2 emissions from just 127g/kmˆ, the C-Class offers your business a more rewarding choice, however you look at it.

£329 monthly rental*

36 months Operating Lease £987 initial rental

Order today. Call us on 0843 208 0719 to discuss your fleet requirements.

Mercedes-Benz of Edinburgh Part of Edinburgh’s Luxury Car Village, Newbridge EH28 8QW www.mercedes-benzofedinburgh.co.uk Mercedes-Benz of Coldstream 1 Guards Road, Coldstream TD12 4AL www.mercedes-benzofcoldstream.co.uk 0843 208 0719 Official government fuel consumption figures in mpg (litres per 100km) for the C-Class Saloon range: urban 13.9(20.9)-45.6(6.2), extra urban 30.1(9.2)-70.6(4.0), combined 21.1(13.4)-58.9(4.8). CO2 emissions: 312-127 g/km.

Model featured is a Mercedes-Benz C 180 CGI BlueEFFICIENCY Executive SE Saloon at £26,050 on the road including optional metallic paint at £645 (on the road price includes VAT, delivery, 12 months’ Road Fund Licence, number plates, first registration fee and fuel). ˆBased on the C 220 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY SE or Executive SE Saloon. *For business users only. All payments subject to VAT: Customer must choose either the upgrade or the finance offer. Upgrade offer is provided subject to availability. Upgrade and finance offers are applicable to all C-Class Saloon models excluding model year 802, AMG and special request engines. Finance example based on a Mercedes-Benz C 180 CGI BlueEFFICIENCY Executive SE Saloon with metallic paint on a 36 months (3+35 profile) Mercedes-Benz Operating Lease agreement, excluding maintenance, with an advance payment of £987 and a £180 acceptance fee payable in addition to and at the same time as the first rental. Based on 10,000 miles per annum. Excess mileage charges may apply. Rental includes first year’s Road Fund Licence only. Written quotations available on request including alternative contract lengths and mileages.

Credit provided subject to status by Mercedes-Benz Financial Services UK Limited, MK7 8ND. Guarantees and indemnities may be required. These finance and upgrade offers are available on all C-Class Saloon models ordered between 1st January 2011 and 31st March 2011 and registered before 30th June 2011. Offers cannot be used in conjunction with any other published offer from the retailer. Terms and conditions apply. Prices correct at time of going to press (01/2011).

Capitalview Stand still and perish: creating a proud, ambitious, exciting Edinburgh

By Mike Stevenson Managing director of Leith-based design and motivational speaking company Thinktastic

We need to raise the bar in Edinburgh and make today’s challenges tomorrow’s triumphs.

There is an unprecedented opportunity to use this recession to lift Edinburgh into an unassailable position as a global thought leader. I want Edinburgh to be on an exciting upward journey. In schools, workplaces and communities everyone has a role in building the future. It’s time to spread opportunity and responsibility beyond tiers of management.

Let’s discard our most self-defeating traits.

We are often guilty of talking our city down, even in unintended ways or without realising, by saying things like: “Why come here when the weather’s rubbish?” or “Not the Festival again.” I was born and bred here and I hear it daily. Edinburgh needs more of its people to be prepared to take risks, breach the boundary walls and to feel enthused by what lies ahead.

Leaders need to stand up, express ideas with confidence, inspire new thinking and create fresh opportunity. This can begin with capitalising on the assets a company already has – its current workforce, a treasure trove of resourcefulness. People around us have an almost endless capacity to contribute energy

and ideas but in many work cultures these are expressed as complaints whispered in corridors because, as a city, we can be too quick to dismiss new ideas.

Embracing the imaginations of your workforce could mean an enormous return on investment. What if a company with 500 staff were to add even just 5% to each individual’s performance? That’s the equivalent of 25 new recruits!

Managers need to explore new methods of unlocking competitive advantage. They must be able to lead their business with conscience, purpose and drive. Imaginative collaborations between businesses and with the public and voluntary sectors are now essential. However, partnership only works if representatives move from the defensive to the creative.

Can we create an exciting, go-getting learning culture? One thing we’ve learnt from our history is that people and ideas are our greatest asset; harness them and we add something of inestimable value. Too many structures, approaches and communications are simply past their sell by date. Old ways may feel comfortable but go to India, Brazil or China and check out the competition. Stand still and perish.

Finally, we must involve our young people.

They will shape Edinburgh’s future, not

Mike Stevenson

just inherit it. At a recent event attended by corporate bosses, educationalists and young people aged 15 to 18, I asked how we can nurture young leaders. Teenagers want direct contact with inspiring leaders who will collaborate with them. They also want to be trusted with more responsibility and not demonised. Ask them their vision of the city and you hear words like ambitious, fun, clean, green, welcoming and happy. Let’s use that optimism to our advantage. Genuine creative dialogue between people of all ages can be dynamite. Get it right and Edinburgh can lead the world.

Thinking small serves us ill. Edinburgh once transformed how the world thought. It did so out of poverty and a hunger for learning.

Let’s go back to the future and have fun in its creation.

For more information, go to: www.thinktastic.co.uk

Chain of convenience stores is sold Independent Scottish co-operative Scotmid has acquired 51 Botterills convenience food stores for an undisclosed sum.

anticipated that the stores will be rebranded to Scotmid Co-operative over the next few years.

The acquisition gives Scotmid almost 200 convenience food stores throughout Scotland, stretching from north of Inverness to Dumfries in the south.

John Brodie, Chief Executive of Scotmid Co-operative, said: “This is an exciting acquisition for Scotmid and is absolutely in line with our strategy to become Scotland’s preferred community convenience retailer.

The Botterills business is also a great fit geographically extending our branch network further west and south and bringing

Botterills, a family-owned retailer in High Blantyre, operated its stores under the Spar franchise and employed 1,000 people. It is

with it some very experienced people in the convenience sector.”

Botterills spoksman Jim Botterill said: “We had to look to the future and see how best we could look after our staff and customers. Scotmid Co-operative offers new opportunities for my former staff and stores.

I look forward to seeing them making a significant contribution to the growth and future success of Scotmid.”

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Truckfest Scotland at the Royal Highland Centre

Royal Highland Centre boosts Scottish economy 2011 is already proving to be an exciting year for the Royal Highland Centre. In the face of a difficult economic environment, the Centre has been resilient and is continuing to see strong bookings and growth.

Archie Glendinning, Director at the Royal Highland Centre said: “Last year the Centre hosted over 200 events, attracting 1.2 million visitors and contributing approximately £250 million to the Scottish economy including £100 million to Edinburgh and the Lothians alone.

“We have the ability to offer a variety of events from large scale gatherings, conferences and exhibitions to weddings,

private dinners and parties, indoors or out, and that makes us the venue of choice in Scotland.

“With 60% of the Scottish public able to access the Centre within an hour’s drive, it makes us an attractive destination. We can cater for everything from an intimate exhibition launch, through to a banquet for up to 2,500; and events attracting audiences of 60,000 people per day.

“From the Scottish Motorcycle Show in March and the Girls Day Out in May, through to Truckfest in August, we have something to welcome everyone to the Royal Highland Centre this year.”

Vaccine developer wins Spirit of Scotland award Dr John March, founder and chief executive officer of vaccine development company Big DNA, based in the Roslin Biocentre, Edinburgh, won a prestigious Spirit of Scotland Award from whisky giant Glenfiddich.

The awards, now in their thirteenth year, were established by the independent family owned single malt whisky brand, to recognise individuals who lead the way in various aspects of Scottish culture. The nominees are selected by a consulting panel, but the final winners are chosen by public vote.

Success for forward thinking company Edinburgh Chamber member Lingo24 was a winner in the Scotland and Northern Ireland region in a HSBC initiative to find the UK’s most innovative and forward-thinking companies.

Edinburgh-based Lingo24, along with Bio Technics in Aberdeenshire, were selected from the six regional finalists and will be awarded a prize of up to £5 million in lending, plus a financial reward of up to £100,000 each.

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The winners of the Business Thinking initiative were announced at a gala awards dinner at Hopetoun House, South Queensferry, following their return from a Thought Exchange visit to Turkey, identified as offering good growth opportunities for UK businesses.

The winners travelled to Istanbul with four other regional finalists, where they were able to attend a series of business events. Following

their return, each business was asked to present their business case.

John Rendall, HSBC’s CEO for Scotland said: “The winners are a great example of companies in Scotland that are looking beyond domestic markets to develop their business, and we urge other companies in the region to consider the opportunities that may lie overseas for them.”

Economy&business Light at the end of the tunnel – but still a fair bit of tunnel to go

By Cliff Lockyer,

The Fraser of Allander Institute, University of Strathclyde Coordinator of the Scottish Chambers’ Business Survey Those sectors and companies relying more on domestic demand appear less robust, as household and corporate confidence weakened, perhaps in part due to the uncertain prospect raised by the forthcoming public spending cuts. Business confidence and optimism about the future remains largely weak.

Nevertheless, and notwithstanding the dislocation to business arising from the prolonged and cold spell in December, the Scottish economy is expected to continue to recover – but the rate of economic growth will depend on the pace of growth in engineering and manufacturing.

More importantly, much will depend on the global recovery, the continuing debt crisis in the Euro area and, within the UK, the impact of Government spending cuts and the duration and levels of unemployment.

The impact of the VAT increase in January, scheduled increases in the tax on fuel duty, rising energy and commodity prices and continued constraints on the availability and costs of capital will all combine to make 2011 a difficult year for many.

Cliff Lockyer

2010 witnessed a recovery in economic output, with the latest official data (q2 2010) suggesting positive growth in both the production and services sectors, although most business surveys for the third quarter were generally more cautious in their outlook.

As the Chief Economic Adviser noted in his ‘State of the Economy Presentation’ (30th November 2010) “business sentiment remains uncertain” with markedly differing perceptions as to future trading conditions.

On the one hand the Scottish Engineering Quarterly Review and the Oil & Gas UK index suggested strong and broadly based growth.

In contrast The Scottish Chambers’ Business Survey and Scottish Construction Monitor were more cautious and reported a decline in activity in the third quarter. Overall the surveys appear to broadly agree that growth in the Scottish economy slowed in the third quarter but sectors with a strong export focus, such as engineering, continued to recover, perhaps buoyed by a favourable sterling exchange rate.

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Marketing Edinburgh will raise the city’s game A new marketing agency will put Edinburgh on the global map for investment, education and tourism following an agreement by Councillors to invest the city’s resources in the partnership.

Marketing Edinburgh will be up and running from April, and the search is on for a Chief Executive to lead the organisation. The agency will be a limited company, initially formed by the merger of three established organisations – the Edinburgh Convention Bureau (ECB), Destination Edinburgh Marketing Alliance (DEMA) and Edinburgh Film Focus (EFF).

The business case for Marketing Edinburgh drew on an exhaustive analysis of competitor cities across the UK to reveal the need for a central body leading a city-wide approach.

The new body will create added value through leverage, alignment and closer coordination of city promotion activity, drawing together both public and private investment derived from direct income and from continued and growing collaboration with city partners.

The experience and diversity of the Marketing Edinburgh board is seen as crucial in engineering and maintaining partnerships between sectors.

Cllr Tom Buchanan, convener of Economic Development, said: “This is the final stage in an evolving process to create a single city promotion body for Edinburgh; one with the critical mass and clout to attract the levels of

private and public sector investment required to exploit our city’s many strengths to the full.

“I look forward to working closely with our partners towards developing a coordinated city promotion plan that delivers for our capital through Marketing Edinburgh.”

Alan Johnston, Chair of the Marketing Edinburgh Project Board, said: “I welcome the decision of the City Council to approve the creation of Marketing Edinburgh as the single lead body for city promotion. It marks an important milestone in taking the city forward as an attractive global destination in the increasingly competitive market place of the 21st century”.

Ron Hewitt, Chief Executive of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, said: “The establishment of Marketing Edinburgh is a significant advance. For years, this great city has lacked a coordinating marketing body with sole responsibility for attracting investors, visitors and talent to the city.

“It is important now that the private sector steps up to the plate and we leverage more investment, jobs and prosperity in the years ahead through the campaigns and impact of Marketing Edinburgh.”

“The establishment of Marketing Edinburgh is a significant advance.

For years, this great city has lacked a coordinating marketing body with sole responsibility for attracting investors, visitors and talent to the city. “ 12

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Fiona Morton, Ryden Managing Partner

Property consultant posts good results Commercial property consultant Ryden posted full year results to 30 April 2010 showing a 39% increase in profit.

The figure, before partners’ remuneration, was £4m off a £10.6m turnover – up by 6% on 2009.

Better than expected results were reported in Ryden’s transactional business despite challenging conditions in the property sector.

The firm was at the centre of some of the largest deals across Scotland and the North of England including the multi-million pound sales of Broadway in Glasgow and Acergy in Aberdeen. Ryden also advised on the purchase of Edinburgh ’s The Bridge development.

Managing partner Fiona Morton said: “We have put in place a strategy to take the challenging market head-on and by doing this have maintained a market-leading position.

We cut costs and retained our staff so client care was unaffected. We redeployed staff to the busiest departments and grew our public sector client base through our expertise in helping them extract value from their assets and make savings. Our input is making a real difference, adding income, constraining costs and enhancing value for clients.”

Bethebest What’s new in training?

The Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce launches an exciting, innovative range of open training courses in February, each of them focused on providing solutions to key business issues, and each delivered by an expert in the field.

Bryan Leslie, Chamber Business Solutions Manager explains: “Over the last two years, a number of trainers approached us to express an interest in delivering training courses as part of our open course schedule. We asked the trainers to outline their ideas, and with a number of them sought references from their previous clients, and invited them to present their courses to a panel of our staff.

“Based on our review of the course content, feedback from the references and our own assessment of experiencing the training, we have selected sixteen companies to deliver one or more courses in a wide range of areas, including:

Sales skills, Marketing, Leadership,Team building, Presentation skills, Negotiations, Customer care, Coaching, Social media, NLP, and Emotional intelligence “We believe we now offer the most exciting range of training courses available, all delivered by experts in their field; and remember: Chamber members receive a significant discount on all of them.”

For details of all our open courses go to the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce website – www.edinburghchamber.co.uk – or the Chamber Business Solutions sites: www.chamberbusinesssolutions.co.uk

Bryan Leslie, Chamber Business Solutions Manager

To discuss your training and skills development needs please contact Training Manager Gillian Steele on 0131 221 7511 or by email: gillian.steele@edinburghchamber.co.uk

Success for Rabbie’s Specialist small group tour operator Rabbie’s Trail Burners has scooped another award.

The company won a VisitScotland Scottish Thistle Award in the category of Innovation, making Rabbie’s Trail Burners the only company in the 18-year history of the awards to win five accolades in four consecutive years.

It comes after Rabbie’s changed tour timetables and structures to allow customers to dovetail different tours, effectively designing their own programme.

The first year the new tour structure was in place, summer 2010 was Rabbie’s busiest year to date.

L to R: Eddie Brogan, Tourism Director, Scottish Enterprise, presents Calum Macnee, General Manager of Rabbie’s Trail Burners with the Scottish Thistle Award for Innovation, accompanied by the award host, comedian Ronni Ancona

Managing Director of Rabbie’s Trail Burners, Robin Worsnop, said: “In 17 years of operation, we have always listened to our customers.

Listening is a vital ingredient in our success and customer feedback is often implemented in to our business strategy. Innovation is at the heart of everything we do and our tour programme is continually evolving and being refreshed. The creation of combination tours has proved to be one of our most successful innovations and was the result of a suggestion from a customer.”

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sPeCiAl FeAture

assembly Rooms: new era begins for Edinburgh’s best-loved events venue On 14 May 1783, the foundation stone for the Assembly Rooms was laid in George Street.

This marked the beginning of an exciting and ambitious project that was to provide the people of Edinburgh with a new establishment in the New Town. Altered and adapted several times over the intervening decades, by 1843 the Assembly Rooms had become a principal performing arts venue, vital to social and artistic life in Scotland’s Capital city.

Fast forward nearly 230 years – which have seen the Assembly Rooms play host to hundreds of thousands of events, from royal banquets, sell-out Fringe shows and talent contests to concerts, conferences, ceilidhs and public readings by authors such as Dickens, Scott and Thackeray and this much-loved building is now entering an exciting new chapter in its fascinating history.

The near-collapse of the Ballroom ceiling two summers ago demonstrated the sad reality that the Assembly Rooms’ ageing fabric has succumbed to the ravages of time and is now in desperate need of renovation.

A £9.3m refurbishment project began earlier this year to restore its main event spaces, namely the Ballroom, Music Hall, Crush Hall and East and West Drawing Rooms, to their former glory.The plans, approved by the Council and endorsed by a host of prominent bodies

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including Creative Scotland, visitscotland and Historic Scotland, are in keeping with the history of the building as captured in the Assembly Rooms’ Conservation Plan.

A crucial component of this refurbishment, which will enable the main renovation works to proceed, will see the Assembly Rooms’ opulent Supper Room returned to its original dining use and transformed into an elegant and bustling restaurant.

Meanwhile, to the front of the building, two seldom-used spaces flanking the main Assembly Rooms entrance will also revisit their original shop function, housing high-end retail units which will greatly enhance the shopping opportunities in George Street.There were shops in these spaces until as recently as the 1950s.

These commercial elements – the restaurant and the shops – will finance the bulk of the refurbishment through the Prudential Borrowing mechanism.

The revamp will see all the Assembly Rooms’ principal events spaces on the first floor undergo a comprehensive decorative overhaul, retaining and enhancing such stunning features as chandeliers and intricate plasterwork and cornicing.

At the same time, these spaces will be brought up to 21st century standards, with a complete M&E overhaul, substantial acoustic improvements, vastly improved lighting, a permanent bar and, in the Music Hall, the introduction of fully flexible staging and seating to accommodate all types of performances and events.

It is expected that the combination of event, performance, conference, retail and dining spaces will attract visitors and patrons to the Assembly Rooms day and night, throughout the year.

Access for venue users, diners and event-goers will be dramatically improved, with a new entrance on Rose Street, via the restaurant, and the West Lane opened up to create a thoroughfare connecting Rose Street with George Street.

This painstaking and historically sensitive renovation work, led by LDN Architects and scheduled to take approximately 18 months, will ensure that the Assembly Rooms continues to play a pivotal role in Edinburgh’s events and cultural calendar, 52 weeks a year, for many generations to come.

For further information on booking the Assembly Rooms please call 0131 220 4348 or email enquires@assemblyroomsedinburgh.co.uk

Goinginternational Export is the road to recovery Internationalisation is crucial to growing Scotland’s economy now and in the future.

Drawing attention to the fact that a mere 1.7% of our business base actually exports (excluding the service sector) and that exports contribute to only 20% of Scotland’s GDP, compared with 30% of the rest of the UK, he demonstrated how Scotland is clearly lagging behind, adding that “one of the key aims of SCI is to improve Scotland’s international trade performance”. To that end, SCI has partnered with SDI to deliver the Smart Exporter programme – an exciting, new comprehensive package of support for businesses, ranging from self-help online tools, road shows and workshops to specialist training and skills development as well as technical and market awareness support.

That was the message from Alasdair Kerr, Managing Director of Scottish Chambers International (SCI), when he addressed a high profile audience of Scotland’s leading economists and strategic thinkers at a recent Fraser of Allander/Herald Group seminar in Glasgow.

Highlighting that this was not a new strategy but “a return to what we were good at”, he reminded the audience that over 200 years ago Scotland’s performance of world trade was “truly exceptional and globally significant”. However, now he feels that thousands of Scottish businesses are failing to grasp the massive opportunity which would help them diversify and avoid the

Alisdair Kerr

risk of relying solely on home markets and a reduced public sector for their business growth and survival.

In summing up, Mr Kerr was keen to point out that “internationalisation is not right for all businesses” but that many more Scottish companies should be grasping the opportunity and benefiting from the support SCI can provide.

Michael Moore & Whisky Association

Doing business in China On 26 Nov Edinburgh Chamber Partner in Enterprise Anderson Strathern hosted a ‘Business opportunities in China and capital raising in Hong Kong’ seminar, promoting their China Team, led by John Fulton. It focused on trends, issues and prospects for Scottish businesses looking to enter the Chinese market for the first time.

Speakers included Douglas Kinloch Anderson OBE, who touched on his success in building the Kinloch Anderson brand in Asia, and Julia Chartlon of Charltons Solicitors in Hong Kong, who talked about the issues of capital raising and joint ventures. Other presentations covered doing business with RMB (Renminbi – the official currency in China), identifying joint venture partners, and protecting intellectual property.

Key themes summed up by Robert Carr, Chairman of Anderson Strathern and Edinburgh Chamber President, were that in order for successful entry to China you need a clear strategy based on thorough research and a real understanding of the country’s culture and history. And of course, good professional advice!

Speakers (from left to right) - John Fulton, Partner - Anderson Strathern, Robert Carr, Chairman - Anderson Strathern, Douglas Kinloch Anderson OBE, Chairman - Kinloch Anderson, Julia Charlton, Partner - Charltons, Lynn Lau, Head of Asia Pacific Development - Standard Life, Mike Rowse, Associate Director, Global Markets - HSBC, Ross Clark, Operations Director - Scottish Chambers International.

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Driving business innovation

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Kenneth Gregor on stage

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Ross Laurie (left) and Steve Plummer of Line Digital Ltd. enjoy a bit of banter with Maureen Sillers of The Lane Agency

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Joanne Lindsay of the Murrayfield Experience, with Andrew Richardson, The Scotsman Publications Ltd. (middle) and Jeffrey Meek of French Duncan

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L to R: Hugh Rutherford of Montagu Evans and Roger Colkett, Brightedge Project Management Limited, have a chat with Kenneth Gregor and Edinburgh Chamber Chief Executive, Ron Hewitt.

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Graham Birse, Edinburgh Chamber Deputy Chief Executive, with Susan Conlon, Consul General of Ireland, and Adam Hardie (right) of valued Partner in Enterprise Johnston Carmichael Â

Photos by Graham Carnie, Tuskite Photography

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On the 1st of November, our Premier Series guests were joined at the George Hotel by Kenneth Gregor, Chief Financial Officer of Jaguar Land Rover. Kenneth spoke about the exciting and challenging period of change facing the UK automotive industry, as car companies embrace the new technologies and processes needed to deliver truly sustainable vehicles for a discerning global audience.

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Photos by Graham Carnie, Tuskite Photography

Photos by Graham Carnie, Tuskite Photography

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Treading the boards On Monday 8th of November, members were treated to a tour of the recently redeveloped Usher Hall in Edinburgh; a stunning venue which has played host to some of the biggest names in entertainment including Oasis, Stereophonics, Bjork, Paul Weller and Michael BublĂŠ, to name just a few!

Check out our feature interview with Karl Chapman, General Manager of Usher Hall, on pages 22-23.

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This spiral staircase is just one of the amazing features of the new, improved Usher Hall

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The General Manager of Usher Hall, Karl Chapman, tells the guests about the venue and redevelopment

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L to R: Fiona MacFarlane of George Watson’s College with Katie Hunt and Sarah Compton-Dando of Robert Half International

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Steve Wright of Apex Hotel and Fiona MacKay of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland enjoy a bit of mingling

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Inspiringconnections

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Edinburgh Chamber recognised for its boost to exports & skills Edinburgh Chamber didn’t disappoint its members at this year’s prestigious British Chambers of Commerce Dinner and Awards Ceremony in London, when it received two top national accolades - Excellence in International Trade and Best in the UK for Meeting the Skills Development Agenda.

Following on from winning Chamber of the Year at last year’s ceremony, winning two key awards was recognition of the innovative work and drive for continuous improvement of the Edinburgh Chamber Group of companies.

Chief Executive, Ron Hewitt, said: “This is well deserved recognition for Alasdair Kerr, our Managing Director for these areas, and his team. It’s great to see some of our key services being acknowledged. The award for Excellence in International Trade recognises the ground-breaking work we have undertaken in launching Scottish Chambers International (SCI), a grouping of the leading Chambers of Commerce in Scotland that deliver international trade services. This collaborative model has been recognised as one of good practice across the British Chambers network. It also recognises our innovative private-public sector partnership with Scottish Development International in Smart Exporter, a national programme to help more Scottish businesses to export and aid Scotland’s economic recovery.”

The award for Meeting the Skills Development Agenda recognises the work undertaken by the Chamber’s economic development arm, Edinburgh Business Development (EBD) in creating innovative solutions to help build the skills of businesses and to support people into employment. Tailored programmes have been devised and delivered, targeting key priority groups,

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such as executives facing redundancy, young people, seniors, minority ethnic groups and long term unemployed. Combined with a comprehensive range of leading edge business and management skills development programmes, EBD’s support was recognised as being best in the UK. Alasdair Kerr, Managing Director for EBD, SCI and the Chamber’s commercial arm CDL, said: “Winning both of these awards is a tremendous achievement and recognises the hard work, innovative thinking and commitment of our teams. I am delighted for them all.”

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Edinburgh Chamber’s Alasdair Kerr receives the Excellence in International Trade Award.

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Edinburgh Chamber’s Maureen Munro receives the Meeting the Skills Development Agenda Award.

60seconds Q In five words or less, what do you do?

A Sports commercial & marketing consultant

(www.SeveAcademy.com) and not everyone gets their ideal job in their ideal town!

Q How long have you been a Chamber member?

A Since the start of 2010 when I set up my own business – Fettes Management.

Q Are there any additional services or information you’d be particularly interested in?

A I’m keen to help the Chamber Golf Days – playing a part in improving the experience through technology, engaging a wider audience and making them more successful for the Chamber at the same time.

Q Why did you join?

A Starting my own business, it was a necessary resource and network to help me get the quickest start possible and to keep abreast of local opportunities potentially relevant to my intended work.

Name: David Morgan Jenkins Company Name: Optimal Analysis Solutions Website: www.OptimalAnalysis.co.uk

Q What services do you use?

A The magazine is most used in the office and the events that I have been to have been informative, good for networking and great fun.

Q What’s the best business/benefit you have won through the Chamber?

A I’m currently consulting full time for Edinburgh based Optimal Analysis who were introduced to me through a fellow Chamber member. I’m working on a unique Seve Ballesteros Golf Academy proposition

Q If you were telling another business person about the Chamber, what’s the first thing you would say?

A As a start-up enterprise its a great way of getting a solid positive start, providing a great means of networking, promotion, developing business skills and general business awareness.

Q Where do you read your copy of Business Comment?

A In the early evening, with a warm drink on a comfortable chair in the office – with views of the Pentlands, The Castle and Carlton hill for inspiration...my perfect setting!

We’ll drink to that!

The Scotch Whisky Experience in Edinburgh has won the inaugural Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions “Heart of the Experience” Award.

Sponsored by the Scottish Government, the awards recognise excellence in visitor experience and were presented at a ceremony in Glasgow.

The award won by the Scotch Whisky Experience recognises visitor attractions where food and drink is an integral part of the visitor experience.

Judges were particularly impressed by the team at Scotch Whisky Experience’s Amber Restaurant, which has led to a 38% increase in spend per head and a 47% increase in turnover over the last three years.

Chairman of the judges Tony Mercer, Head of Quality & Standards at VisitScotland, said: ”This entry clearly demonstrates how, by listening and reacting to customer feedback and working closely with suppliers, Amber Restaurant has been able to satisfy the desire of visitors for Scottish food and drink in innovative ways that have also increased profitability and turnover.”

Susan Morrison, Director and General Manager of Scotch Whisky Experience, said: “Ideas and inspiration from our customers drive our menus as much as our chef ’s and suppliers’ creativity. One of our most successful introductions has been Scottish Tapas.”

Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead (left) toasting Scotch Whisky Experience’s win with (centre) Micheal Neave, Chef – Amber Restaurant at the Scotch Whisky Experience, and (right) Wendy Neave, Hospitality & Restaurant Manager at Scotch Whisky Experience.

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Private Medical Insurance Scheme

Have you got the right cover?

Private medical insurance costs less than you may think through the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce.

Are you interested in low cost private medical Insurance? or Do you simply wish to reduce the cost of your existing policy?

up to

47% DISCOUNT

Then why not take advantage of the ECC private healthcare package. This comprehensive policy designed by Aviva Health U.K. LTD for chamber members offers discounts of up to 47% Protect the health of yourself – family – key workers Contact ECC appointed brokers Caledonian Health Solutions for details FREEPHONE:

0800 046 7614 E-MAIL: grahamcoates@caledonianhealth.com Caledonian Health Solutions is an appointed representative of Chase Templeton limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Their Firm registration Number is 311612.

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Theinterview sPeCiAl FeAture

The man guiding an international concert venue into its new life It was in 1896 that philanthropist Andrew Usher donated £100,000 to the City of Edinburgh to found a concert hall. Well over a century later, the Usher Hall on Lothian Road is still operating and still providing top-class entertainment as it emerges from a major refurbishment.

One of the key individuals responsible for guiding it through the latest stage of its life is Karl Chapman, the Usher Hall’s General Manager for more than nine years, and an important part of the team overseeing a c£25m renovation programme.

His road to the top job has been a varied one. Karl began his career with The Guardian in Manchester before pursuing a career in music, promoting international jazz tours across the UK and northern Europe, setting up touring circuits for Scottish based musicians, working for Regional Arts Boards in England, and managing musicians.

In his time he has also been a keen tenor saxophonist, playing in a number of bands and is an award-winning photographer.

Before coming to the Usher Hall, he was Chief Executive and Artistic Director of Blackheath Halls in London but the decision to come to Edinburgh was a case of reconnecting with part of his past.

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He said: “I had known Edinburgh from when I worked for a concert promoter for a number of years and we toured Scotland as part of our work.

“We did not, however, use the Usher Hall because it always had this look of being a little bit rundown and coming to the end of its shelf life. It’s an amazing building but before its refurbishment, it didn’t really have the infrastructure that was required. There was not the marketing, for example, and a concert promoter needs that.”

He was appointed at a time when phase one of refurbishment of the hall had been completed. The redevelopment actually dated back to an alarming incident in 1996 when, just after a concert, part of the plaster from the ceiling came loose and the building was closed.

The City of Edinburgh Council’s response was to set about a major £9 million renovation project. Over the next two years all electrical systems were fully renewed and new heating and ventilation systems installed.

“Edinburgh Castle is, iting.”

Karl Chapman General Manager, Usher Hall

“We believe that there is now the scope to do so much more with the building. Not only can we take our place as an international concert venue but we can also host corporate events and functions.”

Repairs to the ceiling and complete redecoration of the auditorium and foyer areas were carried out, including new seating.

The Usher Hall’s historic organ was also completely renovated.

Karl said: “Not only did the hall look smarter but there was a team to run it. We were able to expand the types of music we feature, rather than just being associated with one type of music, and we were able to increase the way we market the venue.”

After the hall re-opened in December 1999, it went from strength to strength with new and innovative programming.

However, its transformation into a 21st century standard concert hall was not yet finished and work since 1999 has included a new glass wing, better access to the building and better facilities for audience and performers alike.

Karl said the underlining philosophy has been to make the venue more accessible.

He said: “One of the problems with the Usher Hall was that it had limited facilities. For instance, it has a huge stage and auditorium but a lot of the corridors were cramped so the refurbishment work has been designed to open up more spaces.

“We have also tried to give the building more of a sense of being open. People always thought of us as closed during the day.

Those huge wooden doors were shut during rehearsals and preparation for shows so we have tried to give more of an impression of being accessible. We had to change the perception of the building.

“It’s only in recent weeks that the workmen have finally gone, which caused a lightening of the mood for audiences, performers, nearby residents and Usher Hall staff alike. It had been a bit of challenge for everyone when all the work was going on, dealing with limited access, working round fencing and the like.

The workmen went in late October and there is now a sense of more freedom in the area.”

As he approaches ten years in the job, it’s those improvements and that sense of new beginnings that mean Karl Chapman is very optimistic for the Usher Hall, the centre of the Edinburgh International Festival since 1947.

With just some lighting work and other minor snagging to be completed this year, the Usher Hall team have been able to look much more to the future.

Karl said: “It will be a case of slow and steady, building on the increases we have seen in recent years. When I took the job, the Usher Hall had 133,000 visitors a year, now it’s 213,000. Turnover has gone up from £2.5 million a year to £4 million.

“We believe that there is now the scope to do so much more with the building. Not only can we take our place as an international concert venue but we can also host corporate events and functions.”

www.usherhall.co.uk

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Coverfeature Putting smart into exporting At a time when UK markets are emerging from recession and entering what appears to be only a sluggish recovery, the opportunities offered by export trade has assumed an even greater importance. are set to grow by 9.5 per cent. This offers a tremendous opportunity for Scottish companies to diversify and avoid the risk of relying solely on home markets for their business growth.

Smart Exporter could help your business explore opportunities in overseas markets

“Smart Exporter draws on the strengths of both the private and public sectors to support internationalisation and Scottish businesses have never before had access to such a comprehensive, practical package of specialist international trade support. This is open to all types of businesses, regardless of their size or sector.

“We already have great examples of Scottish businesses that are excelling in global markets.

What we need is more of them, and that’s what Smart Exporter will achieve.”

That importance was underlined by figures for the second quarter of 2010, which showed that Scottish manufactured export sales increased by 0.6%. Not all sectors did well, but among those offering cause for optimism were textiles and leather, up 22.8 per cent; metals and metal products, up 15.1 per cent; and wood, paper, publishing and printing, up by 6.9%.

Business leaders and government ministers alike argue that Scottish businesses must do more to embrace international markets in order to replicate such success across as many sectors as possible.

However, many companies wishing to take advantage of the opportunities find themselves daunted by the many challenges. Supply chains, logistics, language barriers, currency exchange rates can all loom large as problems when trading abroad.

This is where Smart Exporter comes into the equation. Available to all businesses in Scotland, it’s a programme designed to help companies navigate the challenges of exporting.

Smart Exporter offers a wide range of support, including roadshows, workshops, specialist

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training, skills development support, in-house technical support, market awareness support and a specialist international trade helpline.

The programme is run by Scottish Chambers International (a collaboration between the international trade divisions of Scotland’s leading chambers) and Scottish Development International, who joined forces to launch the service, aimed at helping up to 8,000 Scottish companies break into international markets.

The three-year project, which is part-funded by the European Social Fund, focuses on providing Scottish companies with the skills they require to succeed in overseas markets.

Alasdair Kerr, Scottish Chambers International Managing Director, said: “According to the World Trade Organisation, global markets

Alasdair Kerr, Managing Director of Scottish Chambers International, at the Smart Exporter launch

Denise Horn, Smart Exporter Project Manager

Denise Horn, Smart Exporter Project Manager, said: “We are seeing a huge demand for the different support we are offering from all kinds of business. The first phase of roadshows really got things moving and we are now seeing businesses sign up for training modules and market awareness events. There are roadshows coming up throughout 2011 as well as lots of support online that people can access.”

For more information, visit: www.smartexporter.co.uk

smart exporter case studies understanding global supply chains and distribution. Being well prepared with the right skills and knowledge really paid off when Lesley attended meetings during a trip to Dubai, where she helped secure commercial interest for her company across the United Arab Emirates. Her visit to the Middle East centred on her meeting with a potential pharmaceutical distributor for her company.

Lesley Paton

First steps led to international success One of the companies to benefit from the Smart Exporter programme is TakeOmega3, an Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce member.

Lesley Paton of TakeOmega3 took full advantage of the Smart Exporter programme using the helpline support, 1:1 technical support and in-house training where her business focussed on

Alison Grieve

Lesley said: “The staff from SCI working with me as part of the Smart Exporter programme staged continuous fruitful conversations with me and have given me key assistance; they even helped me find support for my air travel and accommodation. SCI’s people also act as an invaluable business mentoring sounding board where no question I ask, no matter how off-the-wall, is treated other than seriously. We’re talking here about people who really understand business.

“As a one-stop-shop and single point of contact, they have shown me how to accelerate the process – in my case who to see at the Arab Chamber of Commerce, for

Alison said: “I attended an excellent road show which was both inspiring and reassuring. I was very pleased to be present at the start of what is set to be a very worthwhile programme for ambitious businesses in Scotland. It’s run by a great team with a wealth of experience and expertise between them.

“With orders coming through to us from countries such as Australia, Cyprus and the US, it is vital that we are equipped with the correct knowledge to enable us to trade internationally.

“Being able to network with other exporting companies creates a tremendous buzz of excitement and the knowledge shared is invaluable.

road show opened the door to export opportunities Also benefiting from assistance from Smart Exporter is Alison Grieve, of Safetray Products, who design, manufacture and distribute a tray that never topples over, for the safe serving of food and drink in the hospitality industry.

“The programme has taken away the fear I used to have of trading internationally. I know that I now have a team of experts just a phone call away who are able to answer questions varying from product liability insurance and Visa requirements to the best method of freight, enabling me to feel optimistic about a bright exporting future.”

example – and there has been no need to go to London to advance our international ambitions. Such was the success of the trip that representatives of UAE interested parties flew into Edinburgh to discover more about the company’s health product.”

TakeOmega3 operates out of Edinburgh’s Davie Street and during the trip Lesley explained how the company is working closely with Forth Valley, Borders and Great Glasgow Health Boards. TakeOmega3 is an 85% pharmaceutical grade omega-3 manufactured in one of two Medical Health and Regulatory Authority (MHRA) licensed facilities.

Lesley said: “We have a firm commitment to support British scientific research and industry, which we feel is the best in the world. From an ethical aspect, we adhere strictly to the principals of marine conservation and only use sustainable fish stocks from the purest waters. Our key aim is to provide only the best fish oil capsules, ensuring that our product gives an extensive range of health benefits for everyday living at a price affordable to everyone.”

support available through smart exporter includes: n Helpline – phone and email n Short training modules n Technical support n Factsheets n Market awareness sessions n Group strategy sessions n In-house training n Strategy workshops n International preparedness programmes n Manager for hire www.smartexporter.co.uk

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SPECIAL FEATURE

Scottish Flood Forum Last Sunday I stood, looking at a home which had just been inundated with 2 feet of flood water. Distressing yes, heartbreaking more so, when one realises that this is the second time the property has been flooded in less than 12 months.

Christmas toys lay abandoned on newly replaced carpets, settees, and beds all now ruined by the unexpected deluge that flooded into the property in the early hours of Sunday morning. Now a family have to once again face the long process of repair and reinstatement and each night the children cry themselves to sleep.

The current debate about flood management in the UK involves the notion of making space for water, recognising the fact that it is impractical to defend large floodplains to a standard which excludes any possibility of flooding.

Coupled with development controls to discourage new building in the floodplain is the desire to encourage inhabitants living in an ‘at risk area’ to render them less vulnerable to flood damage by building resilience into their homes. Advice on protection is available via the Scottish flood forum, SEPA and insurers web sites but historically take up is very low. In a bid to increase the installation of individual flood protection measures some Local Authorities here in Scotland have invested in a subsidised grant schemes the Scottish Flood forum is currently working to get all Scottish Councils to take this approach.

A review of the international literature relating to flood proofing of homes and the attitudes of floodplain residents reveals that there are many barriers to overcome in encouraging the installation of resilient measures. Financial concerns are of course a primary factor; the presence of almost universal flood insurance cover for UK residents certainly detracts from motivation to take individual responsibility.

Any proposed scheme must contend with the preference for community measures, informational barriers, emotional

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constraints, aesthetic considerations and timing issues. The provision of finance for resilient schemes could be more effective if incorporated within the reinstatement process in order to minimise cost, distress and disruption to the home owner but that of course means the property must first suffer flood damage a process we would not recommend.

So what should be done? Firstly are you at flood risk? Have you signed up to the SEPA flood warning scheme, look at your property, home and business, what can be done to protect it from the risk of flooding, - If you have been flooded what have you done to prevent a reoccurrence of the same happening again.

Need help, need advice the Scottish Flood forum is there for you, visit our web site www.scottishfloodforum.org ask about our Business Continuity training, or advice about flood protection we work throughout Scotland.

And the family I started this article with – their last words as they left the property were ‘I wish we had done something to protect our property’ Please don’t leave it too late – tomorrow just might be.

sPeCiAl FeAture

Introducing The Space business lounge... environment where you can meet with your clients and work in peace.

The Space has complimentary 24 hour WiFi, ample and convenient power points, and mobile phone charging stations. Added to this is a very useful range of business services including printing, faxing and use of general stationary items making it an office away from home.

If you’re always working on the move then what you need is a convenient place to work and relax on your route.

Welcome to The Space business lounge. The Space merges restaurant, bar and lounge into the perfect place for you to catch up on work, meetings or take time out for a break.

Newly launched at Hilton Edinburgh Airport and Hilton Glasgow Strathclyde hotels, The Space is a well appointed comfortable

more than ÂŁ10.00 during your visit. Take advantage of the 17 meter heated indoor pool, cardio vascular suite and weight areas.

For more formal meetings Hilton Edinburgh Airport has 22 meeting rooms that can host meetings for up to 300 people, speak to our dedicated business team for all your needs and reserve meeting rooms or more private areas within The Space as required.

The Space is designed to be relevant to users at any time of day so whether you are joining us for a buffet breakfast, a cup of Costa coffee or a lunchtime meeting we have a great selection of food and drink geared towards keeping you productive and alert with natural energy boosts throughout the day.

Located next to Edinburgh Airport and just off the A8, Hilton Edinburgh Airport is just minutes from the M8 and M9 and only 20 minutes from the city centre, offering ample car parking The Space at Hilton Edinburgh Airport is the perfect place for meeting on the move.

The hotel is conveniently located for drivers and air passengers alike and although it is a short and easy walk from the terminal, the hotel still offers a free shuttle service to the airport building.

For more information visit www.thespace-hilton.co.uk or call on (0)131 519 4400

Enjoy a membership-free hour in the gym or pool when you use The Space and spend

The Space, Hilton Edinburgh Airport, Edinburgh International Airport, Edinburgh EH28 8LL.

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sPeCiAl FeAture

Turning an uncertain future into a bright one Change – and lots of it – is one of the few certainties these days. Whatever your line of business, the last couple of years have been more turbulent than most.

Economic conditions have taken many companies to the brink, with casualties even amongst some of our most historically successful businesses. Now, the public sector faces a hammering, with dramatic cuts to the public purse.

by Scottish Enterprise; they’ve recently appointed us as one of their providers for the Managing People for Growth programme, a series of workshops that help managers get the most from their people and drive their companies’ growth.

But it’s far from doom and gloom. Many companies are now emerging from the recession, bruised perhaps but still game.

Every day we have the pleasure of meeting companies who are not only recovering but growing. Of course that growth brings its challenges too. Some are growing so fast their managers don’t have time to catch their breath, let alone manage the growth proactively. Our management and leadership development programmes help these managers step back, meet other managers in the same boat and learn the skills they need to manage and inspire a growing team.

We also provide one to one coaching and mentoring to help managers make rapid and lasting change in their organisations. Whether it’s overcoming an allergy to delegation or learning how to create a culture of high performance, we help them take their management up a gear. We were thrilled when our expertise in this area was recognised

Of course, not all organisations are faring so well in these harsh economic conditions.

We work with a number of charities and voluntary sector organisations, and here we’re helping them think about where to focus their energies so that they can survive and thrive during lean times. Their traditional sources of funding are under pressure: the state is retracting, and philanthropic trusts have limited money to go around and more people than ever clamouring for it. So, we’re helping third sector organisations understand where they make the most impact, and how to organise themselves to make an even bigger difference.

Our public sector clients are also thinking about reorganisation. They have shrinking budgets, and need to make a bigger difference with what they have; meanwhile, public expectations keep getting higher. Doing more with less is always tricky, and it needs staff with an enterprising mindset and a

can-do attitude. Crucially, managers need to manage in a different way if they want to empower their staff to do things differently.

We’re helping them do that.

So, change comes in many guises, and not all of them are bad. Sometimes it’s a positive change, with growth and new opportunities on the horizon; even when it comes from a challenging place, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s without possibilities. Whether it’s supporting managers to become more effective, or helping organisations regroup for the future, Brightpurpose is helping turn uncertain futures into bright ones.

Helen Highley is Director of Brightpurpose Consulting, a new member of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce.

Brightpurpose’s organisational development team works with clients ranging from small manufacturing companies to national charities including Comic Relief.

They also work with public sector clients including NHS 24 and several local authorities.

Contact: interested@brightpurpose.co.uk

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Real People – Real Solutions

Our people-first culture makes us

the global standard in customer service delivery

Between them, the 650 employees speak 17 languages, handling customer support for 21 countries throughout Europe, including Russia and Spain and also Turkey

Sykes (Europe) Calder House/Pentland Gait, 599 Calder Road Edinburgh EH11 4GA

0131-458 6500

www.sykes.com

Helping business meet customer demands “We find most people are under the misapprehension that Sykes is a contact centre – two words which bring to mind those irritating calls mainly from the Sub-Continent selling us anything from mobile airtime to double-glazing.” says Edinburgh-based Sykes Call Centres Director Les Torrance.

Gordon MacAulay of Ness – the fashion and lifestyle label - says that he resolved a major supply problem at a stroke. As the boss of this incredibly successful fast growing Edinburgh-based business, Gordon was faced with a classic SME impasse of more orders coming in than going out, leading to loss of revenue, strain on staff and low customer satisfaction.

But they would be badly wrong – Sykes is a billion dollar specialist multi-media contact and fulfilment centre group providing end-toend lifecycle solutions from simple customer response work to multilingual technical support for a glittering array of multinational combines – not forgetting comprehensive financial reconciliation services, fulfilment services and the dissemination of key management information, which allows Sykes to add real value to their clients. no matter what size they are.

Headquartered in Edinburgh, the Sykes European operation has more wthan 20 centres across Europe. This means dealing with the major conglomerates, whilst also supporting small business where the support services are equally important.

We handle accounts, where volumes may be low, but the demand for quality is high, and may cover multiple geographies. Whether the client is a large account or not, we recognise that the brand loyalty is paramount, and our colleagues supporting their brand need to be immersed in their culture and “own the brand”,” says Les Torrance. However, Sykes Global Services is intrinsically a very big player.

At the beginning of the current year, Sykes markedly expanded by acquiring a US-based company called ICT. Many synergies were apparent and both operations have grown stronger as a result of the merger. The new

Thank GoodNESS

Les Torrance

operation has taken Sykes into the very big league with 51,000 service professionals working out of 80+ centres in up to 50 languages.

Sykes Global Services – Undertaking customer service support for billion-dollar multinationals through to supporting a small company with half a dozen employees.

The scale of his problem can be measured by the rapid growth of the company, which was operating from its own branded shops throughout Scotland and a retail network of 500 stockists on the UK, Ireland and beyond.

However salvation was at hand.

He says that from the outset, Sykes removed the constraints that had previously been impacting on the business and freed the company up so that it was able to concentrate on developing and growing the brand.

In this instance, Ness successfully passed all distributive responsibilities to Sykes’s fulfilment centre in Galashiels, which assumed control of order preparation, bulk orders, delivery, returns, inventory management and stock replenishment planning.

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sPeCiAl FeAture

Exploit university knowledge, expertise and facilities to develop and improve products, processes and profitability design tool and embed engineering expertise in the company”. Within six months Action had developed full in-house design capacity and recruited a structural engineer to the design team.

Once the KTP is completed in April 2011, Action intends to setup a scaffolding design consultancy, providing services to other scaffolding companies. Using the innovative scaffold design tool, Action will be able to offer clients high quality scaffold design solutions in minimal turn-around times.

By Judy Brown,

Manager, East of Scotland KTP Centre If you have a business or technical challenge you’re struggling with, an injection of university expertise through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) could result in innovative advances, producing tangible benefits for your organisation. With grants of up to 67%, KTP projects provide a well-proven framework for complementing company resources with specialist academic skills. Over 100 companies in Scotland are currently working with universities to improve their competitiveness in this way

“The KTP programme has enabled us to develop engineering capacity in our company. This has opened up a new source of revenue for us and has helped us to win high-profile contracts.” Brendan Cantwell, Director, Action Scaffolding Contracts Ltd. Flexitricity Ltd. helps the National Grid balance electricity generation with demand by providing reserve capacity at peak times.

Its smart-grid system turns down electricity consumption and turns on generators at industrial and commercial sites when electricity networks are under stress.

The aim of the KTP with University of Edinburgh was to maximise capacity and

develop engineering solutions to allow an increased number of energy partners to connect to the grid.

Since completion Flexitricity’s ability to deal with complex technical challenges on thirdparty electricity generating sites has increased substantially, which allows the company to connect capacity and create revenue which would be inaccessible to other companies with less technically-developed approaches “The KTP has helped massively to connect more clients to the grid more quickly than we would have been able to alone “ Dr Alastair Martin, CSO Flexitricity Ltd To find out more about KTP and how access to university expertise and resources could help your organisation please contact enquiries@ktpcentre.com or phone 0131 455 2686 www.ktponline.org.uk East of Scotland KTP Centre - Facilitating Knowledge Transfer Partnerships with industry for the Universities of Edinburgh, Stirling & St Andrews; Edinburgh Napier ,Heriot Watt and Queen Margaret Universities and Edinburgh College of Art” Knowledge Transfer Partnerships is a Technology Strategy Board Programme , accelerating business innovation

Action Scaffolding Contracts Ltd. is a leading supplier of specialist scaffolding services to the Lothians and East of Scotland construction industry. As a result of tightening regulations, Action was increasingly required to submit formal scaffolding design drawings and structural calculations prior to commencing work.

This activity was outsourced thus impacting on the profitability and flexibility of the business.

While Action identified this bottleneck in their business, they did not have the necessary in-house expertise to provide scaffolding design solutions directly to their clients. Action began a KTP with Edinburgh Napier University in January 2009 “to develop a new CAD based scaffold

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Making sure that business gets the finance it needs to thrive.

Increasing numbers of businesses are starting to express confidence for this year and that means they are thinking about expansion and will need access to finance. the finance they needed. Ninety-three per cent of those seeking finance obtained the funding they required, which is an improvement from the previous year’s figure of 82 per cent.

Just seven per cent of mid-caps reported access to finance as the main barrier to the success of the business, down 10 percentage points on last year’s figure of 17 per cent.

Banks have continued to lend despite the tough times and remain committed to supporting those business ventures that exhibit sustainable credentials.

There seem to be plenty of businesses prepared to put forward those kind of ideas.

One indicator is the health of ‘mid-cap’ businesses, those defined by the Government as larger than an SME and with a turnover of £25 million - £500 million.

According to ministers, mid-caps are important to the economy because, despite only making up 0.5 per cent of enterprises in the UK, they make a disproportionate contribution to total UK employment, with 21 per cent of jobs and contribute almost 20 per cent of total turnover.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills research suggests that mid-cap businesses are looking forward to a successful New Year with 58 per cent expecting an increase in their turnover in 2011.

This year, 58 per cent of mid-caps expect their sales to be higher than current levels.

More than half – 54 per cent – of mid-caps also reported an increase in their turnover over the past year. The net balance of sales growth rose significantly on 2009, which indicates a greater number of businesses are now growing.

The survey showed that the majority of the businesses seeking finance obtaining

Minister for Business and Enterprise Mark Prisk said: “Mid-caps are an essential aspect of our economy, employing over a fifth of our workforce and helping boost growth.

It is pleasing to see they are recovering well from the recession and are facing fewer problems with access to finance.”

Those comments underline the view from the banking sector. Few sectors have gone through as traumatic time as finance over recent times but the signs are there that confidence is returning - and that can only mean good news for business.

A statement from the British Bankers’ Association said: “Businesses play a vital part in the economic recovery. Banks fully recognise this and have committed to offering every assistance they can, including credit for viable businesses with demonstrable repayment plans. It’s important that businesses are not discouraged from coming to banks for vital business support and we would always encourage them to talk their plans through with their bank as their thinking develops.

“Banks offer a range of different types of credit and it’s important that the type of lending matches the purpose that it’s needed for, and a loan isn’t always appropriate for every circumstance. It doesn’t necessarily follow that an overdraft is more expensive than a loan simply because the interest rate is higher because you will only be paying interest on the fluctuating daily balance of the account.”

So, banks remain aware of their responsibility to and continue to support business.

However, companies seeking funds still face a competitive market place and the word from the lenders is that preparation remains key. Lenders are seeking proposals that are properly researched.

That means calling on the expertise of a financial adviser, be it a specialist financial services company or based within a bank, who sits down with the client and draws up a detailed plan based not just on current needs but also looking to the future.

Key to that is agreeing priorities. What does the client want to achieve in the short term, where do they want to be in the mid-term, what is the long-term vision? Where do they see their company in ten years and what kind of finance is required to make that possible?

Through talking things honestly and sensibly, adviser and client can work together to come up with an action plan which is based on a solid financial platform, one that is sustainable and will not create problems further down the line. when necessary.

Once that initial plan has been drawn up, the process moves onto the next stage, obtaining the finance to make things happen.

One way of obtaining finance is going to the banks but another way for businesses requiring injections of funds is approaching venture capitalists, who are well versed in assessing prospective partners’ financial needs and dovetailing them with their own.

Even in difficult economic times, such an approach should not be dismissed out of hand because a bright idea remains a bright idea and can attract funding to turn it into reality. And there are those who argue that tough times are exactly the time to try something new. Innovation always was the mother of invention.

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Finance sPeCiAl FeAture

RBS is helping SMEs to make their finances fit for business FOR any small business struggling to survive and thrive in difficult economic times, access to funding is a crucial factor.

One of the financial institutions responding to such concerns is RBS, which says that it remains highly committed to helping business.

Graham Galloway, Managing Director, Commercial Banking Scotland, said: “SMEs are the lifeblood of the UK economy, and they have faced significant challenges during the last two years or so. While there are a number of different issues for SMEs to deal with, the availability of finance has often been quoted as a major concern. However, when you consider the different funding schemes such as the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme and European Investment Bank funding together with strengthened bank balance sheets and wider product groups, there are probably more finance options available to SMEs than ever before.”

However, accessing that funding has required companies to think differently in such situations. He said: “Today, we see a greater combination of funding lines in support structures than before. For example, clients are mixing asset and invoice finance with debt, ensuring that they are correctly funded and using their capital wisely.

“It is very much a case of financial products moulding to the customer, rather than trying to mould a customer to the financial product. We also continue to operate in an environment of historically low interest rates, and this should continue to be a benefit to businesses for the foreseeable future.

“At RBS we have developed a customer charter for our SME customers. Our aim is to ensure that our dealings will be conducted in an open, focused and transparent way. It is not about changing our approach or philosophy, it is about reinforcing current policies and taking the opportunity to see what additional support can be provided.”

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The charter includes a combination of a 12-month overdraft and price promise which commits us not to increase the margin on overdrafts on renewal unless there has been a material change in the risks associated with the business.

Indeed, since this introduction at the end of 2008, nine out of ten small businesses have had their overdraft facilities renewed at the same or a lower rate. Graham said: “Most successful businesses can and do adapt, and this includes the approach to financing their business as well. SMEs need to get themselves fit and ready, and a finance review can be part of this activity.

“It is likely to be a slow climb out of recession without an immediate return to periods of strong and rapid growth. However, there does need to be caution with optimism.

Throughout the recession, a number of businesses have had to make painful decisions but having gone through this a great many businesses should now be in a better shape.

From our perspective as a bank we are approving 85 per cent of all business applications and nationally, currently providing new loans to more than 5,000 businesses per week. As a bank, we have the capital to meet the lending commitments we have made, but the right amount of debt for business will be greatly influenced by the pace of economic recovery.”

The company operate a free Business Hotline available to RBS customers and non-customers. It provides access to a team of experienced bankers who have a broad knowledge of working with all sorts of companies and can help with general banking issues.

“Throughout the recession, a number of businesses have had to make painful decisions... but having gone through this, a great many businesses should now be in a better shape.” security may be required. Product fees may apply. over 18s only.

AnY ProPertY used As seCuritY, WhiCh MAY inClude Your hoMe, MAY Be rePossessed iF You do not KeeP uP rePAYMents on A MortgAge or other deBt seCured on it

Contact the free RBS Business Hotline on 0800 092 3087.

Minicom 0800 404 6160. Calls may be recorded.

Alternatively, email businesshotline@rbs.co.uk See www.rbs.co.uk for more information

sPeCiAl FeAture

Reach your local markets, right when it matters Jevot is a new website specifically designed to help smaller businesses gain the prominence they deserve online, reaching the markets which really matter – their local markets. Further to appearing as a local business in search results with your business details, Jevot allows you to make special announcements to your chosen geographically-targeted audiences, as and when the need arises. The entire control of what is shown to the public, when and how, remains with the business itself.You can register for a free account by visiting Jevot.com now.

In the previous issue of Business Comment, we had requested businesses in Edinburgh and nearby areas to participate in the initial trial of Jevot. com. As a result, early adopters visiting the site provided us with some very valuable feedback. We are using this feedback to actively improve the site to reflect the needs of businesses better.

Dr Nazish Aslam

ease of use

same number of days a given business has trialled Jevot. For example, if a business has been using Jevot for 6 months during the trial period, they will get a further 6 months free after the end of the trial period.

Many businesses who visited the site found the business registration process difficult. Several of the businesses had directly communicated with Jevot staff in order to go through this process successfully.

geographic scope

Look out for the following key improvements:

Over and above some minor adjustments, we have now added wizards which guide the business owners through the steps necessary to register a business. A further wizard has been added to guide you through the process of making announcements.

We are also redesigning the homepage to make it more accessible and user-friendly.

search results Jevot.com was officially launched in December 2010 and is currently being trialled on a small scale. This will allow us to ensure the website is stable before it is rolled out to a much larger audience. However, this can mean no results will appear for some search queries. This is only temporary and we should start to see results appearing as the site starts to grow with more businesses registering.

We have the option to pre-populate Jevot with business information sourced from third party sources, in order to display a reasonable number of results. However, this also risks introducing redundant and out-of-date information into the website. Therefore, we will be carefully monitoring Jevot’s performance and feedback over the coming weeks and take the decision on whether this option should be pursued or not.

Jevot.com was limited in scope to only recognise Edinburgh and the surrounding areas for the first small scale trials. This was to enable a more controlled test environment for the Jevot development team.

However, such restriction has caused confusion to some website users who were unable to target areas outwith the City of Edinburgh.

Therefore, based on several requests, we are now deploying the site nationwide.

The requests for improvements have been substantial and we expect it to be an ongoing iterative process during these early days of the website.

Therefore, we have taken the decision to continue the trial for an extended period of time until 31st July 2011. Please visit Jevot.com to register your business too.

We would like to thank all businesses who have taken part in the trials so far and we look forward to hearing from more businesses in due course. We will once again report on our progress and developments in the Aug/Sept issue.

Contact: info@jevot.com Web: www.jevot.com

Meanwhile, to encourage early adoption, we are giving away free unlimited use of Jevot to all businesses who register during the trials.

This free usage will continue beyond the end of the trial period by the

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Inthe Inthespotlight Company name: edinburgh Airport Who? Kevin Brown, Managing director Website: www.edinburghairport.com 1. What were you doing between 10 and 12 this morning?

Working with our airlines to make sure the learning from the recent weather disruption has been actioned; then a meeting with the team to review the soon-to-be released airport master plan detailing the airports longer term plans and forecasts through to 2040.

2. What do you see as your job’s biggest challenge?

Continuing to grow the business through these turbulent economic times, which are being compounded by growing aviation taxation that puts the UK out of synch with the rest of Europe.

3. What do you consider your biggest business triumph?

The team’s greatest achievement is continuing to deliver growth during these difficult economic times, whilst maintaining the service offering to customers.

4. do you have any money-saving business tips?

Collaboration and co-operation!

Working together with the airlines, handling agents, control authorities, retail business partners and cross sections of our own teams to find better ways of delivering for our customers is key to improving all we do.

5. What do you believe are the 3 key stages on your career ladder?

My first step was as a trainee transmission and distribution engineer within the electrical utility industry, gaining Chartered Engineer status; then working through numerous operational management roles across the UK and overseas; and the third stage has been the progression through more strategic and commercial positions in

running all aspects of a dynamic airport environment.

6. Where do you stand on work/life balance?

For me, weather permitting, work commitments broken with regular exercise leave the weekend for quality time with my wife and young twins.

Making sure my team finds that right balance is also a key focus for me in my role.

7. What do you like to do in your spare time?

I like swimming and I’m currently learning to ski, although away from work my key focus is spending time with the family.

8. What qualities do you need to see in your employees?

Commitment to the business through delivering continuous improvement in all we do and going that extra mile for the customer.

12. Any business (or other) projects you would like to plug?

Nearing completion is the £40m+ departure facilities at the airport which will allow the airport to continue to handle growth and which has recently provided 120 new onsite jobs. One new communication channel that allows our customers to keep in touch with new developments and any other airport issues is our Twitter page: www.twitter.com/edi_airport

9. in business, is it more important to be liked or successful?

For me being successful is the key focus; over 5,500 jobs in Scotland rely on the success of Edinburgh Airport and I do take that responsibility very seriously. Mutual respect is far more important than being liked.

13. other than your current position, what would be your dream job?

For me it was one of two career paths: electrical engineering or the police. I was fortunate to get an insight into my second choice as a special constable for 10 years with the Northern Constabulary.

10. What is the one piece of advice you would give to others trying to reach the top?

Do the right thing, no matter how difficult that may appear at the onset.

14. Who (living or dead) would you invite to a fantasy dinner party?

Tina Turner. I loved her music growing up, but unfortunately never got a chance to see her in concert.

11. Who is your hero?

I have never hero worshipped, but I do have great admiration for those who volunteer tirelessly to help others. I am proud of the many people within my team who give up their own time to support worthy causes.

15. outside of business, what is the most important thing in your life?

Definitely my wife Heather and our twin daughters Cara and Sophie.

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City&World Edinburgh Chamber policy update

As we approach another important election for Scotland, politics once more dominates the economic agenda. The background is of encouragingly steady recovery from the recession. In particular, manufacturing, investment and exports are all doing well and the forecasts predicts around a 2% growth in the Scottish economy in 2011.

The framework is now in place for moderate budgetary retrenchment by government with a view to eliminating the deficit at the UK level over the next four years. For the Scottish Government this means 10% cuts over the period. The central element of this will be 3% efficiency savings across government departments in the first year.

How this will be achieved is not clear, though the Scottish Government has set up a commission to look at public sector reform, and it is to be hoped this forms a central theme of the forthcoming election.

Meanwhile the Scotland Bill, presented late last year, will implement most of the recommendations of the Calman Commission. It adds new revenue dimensions to the Holyrood’s powers in both tax and borrowing. These will not be implemented until 2015 onwards in the case of tax, and from 2013 in the case of borrowing, and so will have little impact on the Scottish budget as we emerge from the recession over the period of the next parliament. But they may have important implications thereafter.

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The main fiscal provisions of the Scotland Act will be to devolve 10p’s worth of income tax raising power to Holyrood and also to allow capital borrowing of up to £2.2bn; enough to finance the new Forth Crossing. In addition the Scottish Parliament will now control Stamp Duty Land Tax and the Landfill Tax, meaning that in total it will raise 30% of the money it spends.

The objective of the Scotland Bill is to provide the Scottish Government with more tools to stimulate economic growth and also to provide it with fiscal incentives to do so.

Yet the Scottish Parliament already controls significant taxes that account for 14% of its revenue, which have barely been used.

And economic policy is not just about tax.

Holyrood already has important powers over education and skills, infrastructure, planning, regulation and economic development.

So far the devolved administrations have been reluctant to implement radical policy change. The high public spend model – 12% higher spending per capita than the UK average – is underpinned by the Barnett

Formula premium, itself effectively a mechanism for channelling North Sea Oil money to Scotland. So it seems unlikely that the income tax power will be used in the medium term.

The capital borrowing power almost certainly will be used, however, at least to fund the Forth Bridge. If that happens then existing budgets may be freed up for other capital spending. The implication here is that over time, we may well see slightly higher spending on infrastructure and the net effect on growth related spending will be positive.

On the downside, there will be a big temptation to raise the minor tax rates such as Stamp Duty, particularly if income tax receipts decline.

The Scotland Bill should at least allow a period of relative calm in the constitutional debate. Hopefully this will focus attention on more concrete reform of the public sector and the economy as we approach the May election.

sPeCiAl FeAture

Data Protection: lessons for your business Samuel Price

Corporate Law Associate Morton Fraser LLP

The importance of establishing rigorous data protection guidelines within your organisation is once again in the spotlight following reports of significant breaches of the Data Protection Act and the consequent financial and reputational implications.

Data protection watchdog, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), has recently imposed its first fines, totalling £160,000, for serious breaches of the Data Protection Act. Hertfordshire County Council was fined £100,000 for twice sending faxes about a child sex abuse case to the wrong recipient.

A4e, an employment services firm, was fined £60,000 following the theft of an unencrypted laptop containing personal records about alleged criminal activity and whether an individual had been a victim of violence.

The ICO has said that the penalties are intended to send a strong message to all organisations: get it wrong and you not only risk your business’s reputation, but you could also be fined up to £500,000.

Because of factors such as human error and theft, an understandable initial reaction amongst many businesses may be to say “there but for the grace of God, go we” and leave it at that. However, it is important to understand that these fines were issued not merely because the organisation’s employees mis-dialled a fax number or were unfortunate enough to have a laptop stolen, but because of the systemic failures at the

organisations in question which allowed these individual incidents to result in such serious breaches of privacy.

Crucially, both organisations failed to take particular care of data which was selfevidently highly sensitive in nature and concerned large numbers of individuals. The first lesson from these fines is to identify any areas in your business where you handle sensitive personal information, and review your procedures in those areas. I’d recommend carrying out a risk assessment and documenting the outcomes of that process.

A4e had policies in place which required laptops to be encrypted and forbade staff from downloading records on to their laptops. However, the laptop in question had not been encrypted and A4e had not provided adequate remote access to all staff.

In the circumstances, although the employee had acted in breach of A4e’s policies, it was predictable that he would do so. There was also no evidence that the employee had received induction training in the policies.

It is therefore not sufficient merely to have a policy; practical steps must be taken to make the policy work and indeed enforce its guidelines, including training staff.

In the case of Hertfordshire County Council, the Council failed to identify the risks inherent in using fax to transmit highly sensitive information or to adopt any procedures to mitigate those risks, such as phoning the recipient before and after sending the fax. The Council also failed to change its policies after the first incident of data loss and suffered a second serious incident within two weeks.

The message is clear: repeated data losses of the same kind will not be regarded as mere misfortune. If you suffer a data loss or a near-miss you must regard it as a warning to take urgent action to prevent it happening again. However, the business case for taking action before any data loss is compelling: a reactive approach leaves your organisation hostage to fortune and exposed to potential reputational risk and regulatory action.

If you would like to discuss any of these issues, please call me to arrange a free consultation on 0131 247 1139 or at samuel.price@morton-fraser.com

www.morton-fraser.com

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Privacy Policies … yes they are important!

Does your website collect personal information? Perhaps it has a contact form. If you process personal information (and that includes collecting it) the law requires that you do this “fairly”. Broadly speaking this means that you must tell people what you plan to do with it and then stick to what you have said. Websites normally comply with this through a privacy policy. Visitors to the website can then choose not to give information if they don’t like what you plan to do with it.

According to the Information Commissioner’s guidance privacy policies should be worded so that they can be understood by a typical visitor to the website – “legalese” should be avoided. The privacy policy should be easily accessible from anywhere in the website and in particular from any page which collects personal data. It should tell visitors clearly what information will be collected, how it will be used and what options they have, including opting out of your marketing. It should also state for how long the information will be stored and some indication of where it will be stored, what security measures are in place, visitors’ rights to control their data (e.g. checking its accuracy), and company contact details (postal address and preferably an email address) for any enquiries concerning their information.

Customers are becoming more concerned about what is done with their personal information and are paying more attention to privacy policies.

If you want to trade successfully online you need a privacy policy which meets the legal requirements and gives your customers confidence.

Computer Law Training Ltd

NB This item does not constitute legal advice.

Telephone 0773 0937 357 Email tim@computerlaw.org.uk

Here at 360 Automotive, we’ll start you off in the right direction. We take the time to listen to you and use our experience to really understand your requirements.

Take advantage of your FREE without obligation vehicle fleet review by contacting our specialist account management team.

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Asktheexpert Q: During 2010, we experienced challenging weather conditions in January, November and December, disrupting employees’ ability to get to work. Many needed to take time off to look after their children when the schools were closed. What are an employee’s rights regarding pay in these circumstances?

A: The reason for an employee’s absence when

the weather is bad may not be because they cannot physically get to work but because of nursery/school closures and their inability to make alternative childcare arrangements at short notice.

Employees have the right to take unpaid time off for family emergencies to do with dependants – this time off is only to allow them to put alternative arrangements in place, not to care for their dependants indefinitely themselves.

Alison Melville,

HR Consultant, Chamber Business Solutions

Bryan Leslie

However, employers need to be aware that there could be potential sex discrimination issues of employees who are absent due to childcare issues, if they are treated less favourably than those absent for other reasons.

Employers could think about alternatives to docking pay, such as: • Agreeing with the employee that they will take the time off as paid holiday.

• Allowing them to make up the time within a specified timescale.

The best employers always: • Communicate such alternatives clearly and apply them consistently.

• Remind employees of the importance of the absence reporting procedure.

• Have a section within the employee handbook which makes it clear what circumstances will amount to unauthorised absence and that pay may be deducted in these circumstances.

• Follow good employment practice and introduce an adverse weather policy.

• Ensure they are mindful of their duty of care towards employees – a balanced approach is required, encouraging employees to make all reasonable efforts to get to work but not advocating they take undue risks with their safety.

Chamber Business Solutions offers a range of HRrelated services to businesses. To find out more, please contact Alison Melville on 0131 221 2977 or by email: alison.melville@edinburghchamber.co.uk

GetwithIT

By Bill Magee

Scottish Business Technology Writer of the Year and Vice-chair, Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce Technology Policy Group

Let the web do the work!

To hear that one in five small to medium-sized UK enterprises do not yet have a website, despite the ever-increasing importance of the internet to business and commerce is a sobering revelation – to put it mildly.

And of the 80 per cent that do use the web, significant numbers use their website merely to list contact details, rather than actually selling their products and services online.

Businesses need to have a comprehensive website that enables them not only to market themselves but also communicate to clients about their projects and ventures.

Within the Chamber membership there are ample numbers of webmasters and web hosting services offering affordable and

professionally designed websites that can help improve a company’s online presence.

Small ambitious companies are missing a trick if they don’t think seriously about how an internet marketing strategy can transform their plans.

A business could also reach a significantly wider market online. Wherever a potential client happens to be, if they have access to a computer and the internet, they can simply place an order, pay by credit card and await delivery.

Along with a good presentation of what an enterprise does, selling online – or ecommerce – gives you a vital edge over competitors who don’t. Increasing numbers of customers now prefer to shop online because it’s quick and convenient.

For the business in question, if they play their cards right, a larger market means more brand recognition, greater sales and more profit. Sorted!

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n Established family business since 1983 n Interior & Exterior Painting n Paper Hanging n Plastering and Ames Taping n Residential, Commercial and insurance work n Dulux select Decorator Over the last 3 years, Elite have completed commercial refurbishments for The Bank of Scotland, River Island stores, Starbucks coffee shops.

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sPeCiAl FeAture

Qualifications in Management

One suite is based on HN Units. These will normally be delivered by colleges and are designed to develop knowledge and understanding of the principles of management. They are not just relevant to employees already in management but also those aspiring to a managerial role. They can also support people who are not currently in employment to develop management skills to help them return to the workplace.

These PDAs are available from SCQF level 6 (Higher level) to SCQF level 11 (Masters level).

The other suite of Management PDAs is made up of SVQ Units. These are designed for managers who wish to develop particular skills or gain recognition for their existing skills. They are assessed in the workplace, which reduces time spent away from work.

They are intended for those who only need development in a specific area or who do not wish to commit to a full SVQ. This suite of PDAs ranges from SCQF level 8 (HND level) to SCQF level 10 (Honours Degree level).

sVqs in Management

SQA - Scotland’s national awarding body – has developed a wide range of management qualifications, and if you are looking to develop your management skills and knowledge, or your team’s, we are sure we have qualifications to suit your needs.

Some are designed for people with no management experience; others can be used by existing managers for development purposes or CPD; others are designed to recognise competence in the workplace.

normally offered part-time in colleges and are designed for existing managers or people aspiring to management positions.

Many students completing the HNC or Diploma in Management progress to relevant degree programmes.

The SVQs in Management are available at four levels: Team Leading at SVQ level 2 and Management at SVQ levels 3, 4 and 5; and Leadership and Management for the Care Services at SVQ level 4. These SVQs are designed for those currently employed in management positions. Achieving an SVQ shows that you not only know how to do something, but you have proved that you can do it. SVQs levels 2 to 5 equate to SCQF levels 5 to 11.

Whatever your business, good managers and leaders are an essential part of ensuring that your business remains successful in today’s competitive and global economy. Managers make things happen, and the skills to make things happen are a must.

To find out more about SQA qualifications in management visit our website www.sqa. org.uk or contact our Business Development Team on 0303 333 0330 or email mycentre@sqa.org.uk

hns in Management Our HN suite of qualifications consists of a Higher National Certificate (HNC) in Management and Higher National Diploma (HND) in Management. These are

PdAs in Management SQA has two suites of Management Professional Development Awards (PDAs).

These are short, focused awards.

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Gettingstarted q1: tell us a bit about your business?

We are a ‘retro chic boutique’ in Edinburgh’s Bruntsfield, specialising in 1940’s and 1950’s glamour, stocking a full range of beautiful lingerie, corsetry, clothing and accessories

by British designers. We also offer a unique styling service to complete your classic pin up look. We can cater for individuals and groups and are building a fantastic vintage style wedding portfolio.

q4: What do you like most about working for yourself?

The creative freedom and the excitement and challenges that it brings. Also, the constant learning and the sense of achievement.

q5: What has been your greatest business success to date?

So far; developing the concept Miss Dixiebelle and turning it from a dream into a reality.

q2: What gives your business ‘the x-factor’?

Our hair stylists are the only ones in Scotland to offer vintage styling and our makeup artist is available to create that perfect Hollywood red pout! We are the only Scottish stockist of ‘Tara Starlet’, ‘Pearls and Swine’ and ‘Besame’, plus we are the biggest stockist of ‘What Katy Did’ lingerie outside London. We also have regular events with leading burlesque names.

name: emma dixon Business name: Miss dixiebelle start up date: 06 June 2010 Website: www.missdixiebelle.co.uk

q3: What motivated you to set up in business for yourself?

I was unhappy in my career and needed a big change. The vintage and burlesque scene was an interest of mine and I could see it becoming more mainstream. After a trip to London to visit Nina’s Vintage Hair Parlour and all the ‘retro glamour’ boutiques of Kingley Court, I started to put together my own ideas as I thought there was a gap in the Edinburgh market.

q6: What has been your lowest moment?

Not having the busy run up to Christmas that I expected.

q7: in terms of business achievements, where do you want to be within the next 5 years?

I’d like to have at least one other retail project on the go, a fully running vintage beauty parlour and also another flat to let out.

q8: What would be your top tip to someone thinking of starting up their own business?

Take all the help that you can get from Business Gateway; plan as much as possible before you do anything and trust your instincts. A good PR company in the early days is also invaluable.

Eureka Solutions enjoys double success Business software developer Eureka Solutions (Scotland) Ltd, based in East Kilbride, celebrated double success at the annual Sage awards ceremony.

The company was awarded Sage Circle of Excellence and the first ever Sage Custom Solutions Partner of the Year.

Sage, a leading provider of business management software solutions, awards membership of the Circle of Excellence to their business partners who provide an outstanding customer experience and whose customers are most likely to recommend them to others.

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The Custom Solutions Partner of the Year Award has been specifically designed to recognise developers who demonstrate expertise in translating the specific requirements of Sage customers into value added solutions, which help them do better business. This success follows on from the previous year with Eureka Solutions winning Sage Developer of the Year 2009.

Why not join the Chamber’s linkedin group (www.linkedin.com – search for edinburgh Chamber of Commerce) and follow us on twitter (@edinChamber)?

We are also on facebook.

This is the fourth year running that Eureka Solutions has been honoured by Sage.

Businessnews New professional qualification for paralegals Stevenson College Edinburgh (SCE) has launched a new course to further strengthen and support the large number of non-lawyers carrying out legal work – the paralegal profession.

Building on the ongoing success of its HNC/HND Legal Studies courses, SCE has joined forces with the Scottish Paralegal Association to launch the Professional Development Award (PDA) Paralegals (Executries). The course will deliver the essential skills and knowledge needed by practising paralegals or by those keen to enter this profession.

The PDA has been devised to respond to the launch of The Law Society of Scotland’s Registered Paralegal Scheme in late 2010,

one of the aims of which is to introduce a status for paralegals. The Registered Paralegal Scheme will provide criteria for the standards underpinning paralegal status and as a result, paralegals will require a recognised qualification. This is where SCE comes in.

SCE’s PDA will be delivered by flexible learning which will combine online and distance learning along with tutor support and optional tutorials. It will cover five mandatory units and could run in conjunction with the HND for some students.

For more details about the course and how continuing professional development in the legal field might benefit you, please contact SCE on 0131 535 4800.

SCE’s new course will deliver the essential skills and knowledge needed by practising paralegals

Representing UK business in Brussels process made harder by the rapid advancement in technology which is posing new legal challenges.

By Kieran O’Keeffe,

Head of European Representation, British Chambers of Commerce, Brussels Office In Brussels, the British Chambers of Commerce aims to maximise the opportunities and minimise the risks of EU membership for British business. As we start 2011 Europe has plenty of both!

Beginning with the opportunities, Europe is rightly proud of its Single Market, the largest trading bloc in the world, with 500 million consumers and 20 million companies.

However many businesses trading within the EU know that the process could be simpler.

The reality is that corralling 27 different legal regimes requires considerable political will, a

Despite this, Europe’s Commissioner for the Internal Market, Michel Barnier, has staked his political reputation on getting it right. Back in October he set out, in the Single Market Act, a list of 50 legislative changes that he believes are necessary to get trade moving. BCC has responded with 8 priorities for British business: get the message out there that Europe is open for business; fully liberalise service markets; freeze new laws that cost jobs; create a level playing field for SMEs; make sure that policymakers always ‘think small first’; secure Europe’s energy supply with a diverse base; demolish barriers to a digital single market; and rebalance the EU Budget towards economic growth.

Making the Single Market work by easing remaining non-tariff barriers could deliver substantial growth at minimal cost to public finances.The UK’s own government is keen to stimulate export-led growth and where better to start than in your own neighbourhood?

The Commission plans to publish a fresh proposal on the Working Time Directive and BCC will be fighting to retain the UK’s ‘opt-out’. Business needs flexibility if it is to fuel economic recovery and any moves to limit working hours will pose a significant threat to that. In May 2010 we took a small delegation of chamber members to meet with the Commissioner responsible, Lásló Andor, and we’ll be following up in 2011 with a campaign to maintain the UK’s labour market flexibility.

The Commission will also be busy working on new health and safety proposals. One on Musculoskeletal Disorders is due to be launched late in 2011 and a full ‘Health and Safety Strategy’ will be developed, for publication in 2012.

BCC’s Brussels Office will be giving Europe’s politicians a strong message for 2011. Put finishing the Single Market, Europe’s biggest source of economic growth, at the top of the political agenda. Do not allow that focus to be diluted by debates over burdensome new employment or health and safety proposals.

On the risk side, 2011 will be a year that employers will need to monitor carefully.

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15 venues 1000 theatre style 500 reception 2000+ bedrooms 400 flats

From prestigious and iconic University of Edinburgh venues to our state-of-the-art John McIntyre Conference Centre, Edinburgh First offers an incomparable range of venues, accommodation and catering options. We deliver great service at good value and recognise that flexibility is key to delivering successful events.

Contact our team on

t +44 (0)131 651 2189 edinburghfirst.co.uk

The Thistle Foundation is a company limited by guarantee and registered in Scotland, number SC24409. Our registered Scottish charity number is SC016816.

Our registered address is Niddrie Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH16 4EA.

Chambernews Anderson Strathern ‘highly commended’ in FT Innovative Lawyers Report Anderson Strathern has been ‘highly commended’ in the prestigious FT Innovative Lawyers Report 2010, the Financial Times ranking of Europe’s most innovative law firms.

They are the only Scottish based law firm recognised in the category for ‘Innovation in Climate Change and Sustainability’ for their work with The Crown Estate in the completion of Agreements for Lease for the world’s first commercial wave and tidal electricity projects in the Pentland Firth & Orkney Waters. Anderson Strathern is ranked alongside international law firms De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, Herbert Smith and Burges Salmon.

Robert Carr, Chairman at Anderson Strathern

Robert Carr, Chairman at Anderson Strathern, said: “Innovation is at the core of our strategy and this prestigious award is testament to our hard work and commitment to quality service which makes us one of the most innovative law firm’s in Europe.”

Anderson Strathern’s team working on the Crown Estate Project was led by partners Gavin Thain, Deborah Lovell and Alan Menzies and solicitor Dixcee Fast with support from the firm’s real estate and corporate groups.

Gavin Thain said, “We are delighted to have been recognised in the FT Innovative Lawyers Report for our work on this fascinating project. Unlike wind power, wave and tidal power is an industry yet to be developed on a commercial scale making the challenges quite different. The Crown Estate and developers worked together to create a framework for the development of technology.

From a lawyer’s perspective it is a unique privilege to be involved in what is virtually the birth of an industry – especially one so central to the economic development of Scotland, not to mention the climate change questions facing us all. Being unique, the project created its own legal challenges that required innovative solutions to problems that had not been considered at a commercial or legal level before”.

“Innovation is at the core of our strategy and this prestigious award is testament to our hard work and commitment to quality service which makes us one of the most innovative law firm’s in Europe.”

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Bringing a bit of TLC to Scotland A new lifestyle management and concierge company has been established.

The Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce welcomes its latest member companies: Apex Rapid Clean

The Lifestyle Company Scotland (TLC Scotland) has been established by Holly Jones, Celia Graham and Lucie Hardie, who all worked in the luxury lifestyle sector in the South of England and seek to bring the same quality of service to Scotland.

Arbonne Brain Train Academy CHP Solutions City Circle UK Limited

The girls do anything from a house de-clutter to sourcing the latest ‘it’ bags, throwing a children’s birthday party or choosing Christmas presents.

CJM Alba Limited

The ‘Girl Fridays’ decided to leave life in London for their new venture and are starting to build a solid client base in Scotland, including Edinburgh.

The Edinburgh Recruitment Agency

De Vere Venues Barony Castle The Edinburgh Clinic

Environmental Resources Management Limited Left to right – Holly, Lucie, Celia.

Their website is www.tlcscotland.co.uk

Exova Geneva Management Limited

European first for Edinburgh company

Ian Farquharson Consulting T/A Auditel

Edinburgh-based Vegware’s new compostable cutlery has become the first of its kind in Europe to be certified by the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI).

North See Media Limited T/A Hotels.Tv/Edinburgh

Imperative International Property Ltd Interface Financial Lifestyle Company Scotland, The Mikes Fishing Tackle Ltd

Ology Coaching Rachel Scott Couture Rowan Alba Limited

Made by the UK’s only completely compostable packaging firm, it is the only high-heat-resistant disposable cutlery in Europe which is certified as suitable for organics recycling. This means that caterers can save money by diverting food and packaging waste from landfill, whilst enjoying the convenience of disposables.

Vegware is the UK’s only food packaging company with a fully compostable range and a UK-wide service collecting and composting food and packaging waste.

Other recent innovations include the first compostable soup container and lid, and the first compostable insulated hot cup on the market.

ScotlandIS Sharpe Thinking Sheehan Kelsey Oswald Sleep Scotland Stephen Loy Building Services Tay to Tweed Hypnotherapy Thistle Storage Equipment Vetos Energy Limited Wincanton Records Management

www.vegware.com

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Chamberappointments Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce New appointments Carol Cairns Carol Cairns has been promoted to Membership Sales & Support Manager, heading up the Chamber Membership Services Team. Carol has been with the Chamber in the role of Sales Executive since 18th August 2008. In her new role, Carol will continue to account manage members, contributing to growth and retention, and in addition, she will manage and motivate the sales and retention activity and manage the CRM systems within the sales and retention framework.

Edinburgh Chamber’s Partners in Enterprise

Find out more about our Partners in enterprise on our website: www.edinburghchamber.co.uk in the ‘About us’ section.

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Moversandshakers New Junior Chamber National President takes over Junior Chamber International (JCI) welcomed suzanne shinnie, their new Scottish National President for 2011, during the AGM at Gleneagles hotel in Perthshire.

Suzanne’s appointment marks the 63rd Scottish National President of the professional, voluntary organisation which began in 1948 to develop young leaders and entrepreneurs.

She officially took over the role from Karen Manson on 1 January and has one year in office.

Suzanne, who owns her own IT company in Edinburgh has been a member of JCI Edinburgh since August 2007.

JCI Scotland has four chapters – Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Stirling - and 200 and organises activities including a Leadership Academy, a Debating Academy and a Scottish National Conference. This years Scottish National Conference will be held in Aberdeen from 15-17 April 2011.

Suzanne said: “I am delighted to become the Scottish National President of such an amazing organization. JCI has given me so many wonderful opportunities over the last three years in terms of my own personal development and I have met some great people along the way, many of which are my good friends now.”

Law firm makes appointment Law firm Shepherd and Wedderburn has appointed John MacKenzie as partner in its commercial dispute resolution practice, based in the Edinburgh office.

An experienced Solicitor Advocate, John deals with commercial litigation and has particular expertise in intellectual property and IT matters.

As well as appearing before the Court of Session and Inner House, he advises clients in relation to IP portfolio management and online brand protection.

He is accredited as a specialist in intellectual property law and sits on the Lord President’s Consultative Committee on Commercial Actions.

Patrick Andrews, Chief Executive of Shepherd and Wedderburn said: “John is a recognised leader in his field and will be a real asset to the firm, bringing with him both general commercial litigation experience, as well as specialist IP and IT advocacy. We are delighted that he will be joining the team at a time when we are continuing to invest in those areas of practice where we see real potential for growth.”

Rebecca inspires Wouldn’t it be great to be able to change the way you think about work so that you ensure better results? Wouldn’t it be even better to become an exceptionally good communicator, listener and leader? Wouldn’t the best thing of all be, to know precisely how to create the right environment for a highly motivated and productive workforce?

That’s exactly what rebecca davies thought when she was Managing Director of her own business and yet she couldn’t find anyone to help her, until….she started learning NLP (neuro linguistic programming).

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Now, an advanced Master Practitioner of NLP, Rebecca focuses her skills entirely in the corporate world, using the vast range of NLP tools and techniques to achieve outstanding results for her clients.

So, whether you’re looking for one to one coaching, leadership development or group training, simply contact Rebecca on 07734 934084 or rebecca@rebeccainspires.com www.rebeccainspires.com

270mm

We offer a wide variety of products and services including: • Exclusive colour matching service • One coat coloured lime renders & plasters • Widest range of natural hydraulic limes in the UK • One stop shop for traditional materials • Building consultancy • Multi-use lime binders for new build • Training & on-site support • Online shop • Delivery throughout the UK • Mixers, tools and accessories • ‘Mix & Go’ dry bagged mortars

Training & consultancy

Masons Mortar - Manufacturers of mortars and renders for the care and repair of traditional buildings and contemporary architecture Established in 1989, we have been manufacturing and supplying quality lime products for the care and conservation of historic buildings for over 20 years. We stock the widest range of building limes of any supplier in the UK, with 8 natural hydraulic limes, natural cement, lime putty and quicklime.

With the addition of our new-build lime binders, we have limes to suit almost every building requirement. This is supported by the largest quarry database (over 400 sands and aggregates) of any traditional building material supplier in the UK.

Materials

With the benefit of over 20 years experience in the industry, we offer advice, training and consultancy services to our customers all year round.

With the aim of being a ‘one stop shop’ for traditional building materials, we have over 350 products to select from, most available from stock. Add to this our capacity to manufacture custom Whether it is a comprehensive site visit or mortars, renders, grouts and plasters an informal training session to brush up and there is almost no limit to what your skills, we want to equip you with the can be produced. knowledge and support to succeed.

We can manufacture materials from Training courses can be booked online at a specification or we can arrange for www.masonsmortarshop.com. samples to be analysed, allowing Alternatively, our advisors will be happy Masons Mortar to faithfully reproduce to discuss your requirements in person materials very similar to those originally at our branches in Edinburgh, Glasgow used. With over 400 mortar samples and Fife. There’s no need to book an to choose from, let us show you what appointment, just pop in and we’ll do is possible. our best to help!

Colour matching

Modern construction

Masons Mortar Ltd is the only traditional materials manufacturer in the UK offering a predictive colour matching service for its products. We take the finest raw materials and use modern technology to give our customers custom coloured materials.

We are constantly striving to improve and expand our product range. We have collaborated with specialist manufacturers from across Europe to bring you a range of lime based materials that are specifically formulated for modern construction and application.

We can provide this matching service for dry bagged renders, pointing & building mortars, stone repairs and lime wash & lime paints. This is perfect for those wishing to faithfully re-create original finishes, or for clients looking for bespoke solutions.

Buy online at:

www.masonsmortarshop.com Edinburgh tel: 0131 555 0503

Glasgow tel: 0141 445 4812

Email: sales@masonsmortar.co.uk Web: www.masonsmortar.co.uk

Fife tel: 01383 873 049

We stock multi-use lime binders through to coloured one coat renders which can be mechanically applied. Formulated to provide consistent results on various backgrounds, these materials can save you time and money and allow fantastic finishes to be achieved.

Skills mean more with SQA.

SQA offers a range of qualifications and services to develop the skills people need to work more effectively and more productively. Meaning happier employers, happier staff, happier results.

Smile.

Log onto www.sqa.org.uk/employers Contact SQA’s Business Development Team on 0303 333 0330 or email mycentre@sqa.org.uk