Dispatches

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Dispatches from Tods Murray LLP Solicitors

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Issue 44 7 Client Focus Nevis Range mountain adventure 10 The definition of ambition 18 Private Client Art for art’s sake

24 Banking & Finance Can Scotland keep the pound?

30 Rural Property & Business Planning for the long-term 36 Charity The power of football

Dispatches magazine, like our firm, is constantly evolving. Tods Murray is continually adapting and changing to ensure that we are best placed to help our clients succeed in the environments in which they operate. In a time of momentous change, the need for integrated legal expertise and insight remains more relevant than ever.

We attract talented, independent minded individuals from many different backgrounds, but we all hold certain values in common and that commonality is reflected in the diversity of the content of Dispatches. We are committed to continuous improvement in ourselves and we are motivated to deliver excellent results for our clients – it is an attitude of mind.

Tods Murray lawyers are advisers to some of the country’s largest and most influential organisations. They also contribute to the decisions being taken at the very highest level in policy groups, committees and boards.

In this issue of Dispatches we hear from some of those organisations and get a flavour of the issues and topics which interest and concern you, our clients.

It makes me proud to tell you that just before going to press we secured Lexcel, the legal quality mark – this makes us the first solely Scottish-based law firm to hold this international standard. Having Lexcel recognises that we are a law firm with a reputation for quality and that we meet international standards of customer care and service within legal practice.

I hope that you find the variety of lifestyle and business articles relevant and interesting and would welcome any feedback or comment you may have.

David Dunsire Executive Partner david.dunsire@todsmurray.com

Dispatches #44 CONTENTS 3 Legal insider 4 Sports Law The athletes that will do absolutely anything to win 7 Client Focus

Your wee bit hill and glen 10 The definition of ambition 12 Planning & Development

Future homes 15 Hospitality & Leisure

Five stars 18 Private Client

Art for art’s sake 22 Employment

Bridging the stress gap 24 Banking & Finance

Can Scotland keep the pound

26 Families in Business

The battle against red tape 30 Rural Property & Business

Living with the land 33 The internet is playing on culture 34 IP/IT & Media

Battle against IPR theft 36 Changing lives through football 39 Alumni

Life after the firm 40 Litigation & Dispute Resolution

Jurors who flout the rules 41 The Last Word

The extra dimensions of penicillin 42 Get in touch

Design: freightdesign.co.uk.

All correspondence and advertising enquiries to: Tods Murray LLP, Dispatches Magazine, Edinburgh Quay, 133 Fountainbridge, Edinburgh EH3 9AG, +44 (0)131 656 2000. © 2012 Tods Murray LLP. All rights reserved.

The articles contain views, not advice or professional recommendations. You should consult your own professional advisers if you are minded to follow up on anything that you have read in this publication. The contents of this publication reflect the personal views of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect those of Tods Murray Solicitors LLP. No liability attaches to the authors or to Tods Murray Solicitors LLP for any reliance on any part of the publication.

Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this publication, the publishers cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions.

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Legal insider todsmurray.com CAN A FAMILY BUSINESS SURVIVE DIVORCE? Divorce is difficult for any family. When the family runs a business it can be catastrophic.

If the worst does happen and your business is affected, some of the distress, disruption and uncertainty can be avoided if these issues have been thought about, and discussed, in advance.

Some ways in which you can try to minimise the effect of a divorce on your business can be viewed here: todsmurray. com/familybusinesses

TODS MURRAY TV Stay up to date with legal developments and topical issues affecting your industry by attending our extensive range of seminars which take place throughout the year.

For details of forthcoming events visits todsmurray.com/briefings or watch past sessions online at todsmurraytv.com

Your wonderful life A guide to planning ahead

“Now my future is secure, I can get on with living my life.”

“The single biggest factor that stands Robert Muir out from any other legal contact I have had is his phenomenal empathy with clients. Robert puts law in the context of people’s lives and this stands him and his firm out.”

Client, MarCh 2011

QUEEN OF SHOPS REVIEWS THE HIGH STREET Mary Portas’ review of Britain’s troubled high streets has generated much comment and any doubt as to the relevance and urgency of a review can be dispelled by headlines surrounding the worst Scottish retail sales on record. The hope must be that such high profile reports will stimulate interest from which a sufficient degree of action can flow.

Read our article for more information on how high streets may evolve in the future, rather than face an irreversible decline: todsmurray.com/queenofshops

YOUR WONDERFUL LIFE It pays to plan ahead and consider the future so that you can get on with enjoying life. Whether it is care arrangements, Will writing, funeral planning, estate administration or financial matters that you need advice on, our private client team takes care in providing the support and reassurance needed when it matters most.

To read our helpful guide to planning ahead visit: todsmurray.com/ wonderfullife

FANCY A FLUTTER? DON’T BET ON IT… We have established a Hospitality & Leisure Forum to help those involved in this industry share ideas and learn from the experiences of others. Our free quarterly seminars are designed to be practical, whilst providing expert commercial guidance, from industry leading speakers who will draw on real life examples, making these seminars unique, engaging and relevant. For those involved in the hospitality sector, these are not to be missed. For further details or to register, visit todsmurray.com/hospitalityforum

Dispatches

ILLUSTRATION: EDWARD MCGOWAN

4 SPORTS LAW

todsmurray.com

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Cyclist David Miller, sprinters Dwain Chambers and Ben Johnson, and athlete Marion Jones are just some of the many high-profile international sporting stars who were caught taking performanceenhancing drugs during their careers.

Yet, according to Dr Paul Dimeo of the School of Sport at the University of Stirling, the important question isn’t why they did it – it’s why so many others don’t.

The athletes that will do absolutely anything to win There are two reasons sportsmen and women take illegal performance-enhancing drugs, according to Dr Paul Dimeo at Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence, the University of Stirling. There’s accidental or inadvertent doping from taking nutritional or slimming supplements which have been contaminated by, or include, banned substances.

“That’s really to do with a lack of education, a lack of awareness and a lack of care and attention into the potential risks from substances which athletes aren’t fully aware might have banned drugs in them,” he says. It apparently accounts for quite a high number of cases, especially in the UK. And then there’s the other reason: “the conscious decision to go out and take performance-enhancing drugs in order to win things,” as Paul puts it. “People are keen to

win sporting events because of the benefits to them – whether it’s money, glory or status, or just the fact that their whole lifestyle is committed to winning,” he says. “Athletes would seem to be most at risk if they feel they haven’t achieved what they really wanted to achieve, or if they feel that other people around them – their peers, their competitors – are maybe doping. It’s particularly worrying if they’re badly advised by the people who are supposedly there to support them – their coach, their doctor, or other athletes – as that creates an atmosphere in which doping seems to be normal or necessary.”

Of course, it’s difficult to generalise – not least because different sports seem to have different attitudes to drugs. In strength sports people might think about taking steroids to build muscles during training – sports Dispatches

6 that require calmness and reduced anxiety can have problems with the use of Beta Blockers to get heart-rates down. Some sports, such as football come with a bit of a party culture attached, increasing the risk of more general recreational drug abuse.

A growing body of academic research, funded by organisations including the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), is building up evidence of the attitudes, behaviour and risk factors found in different sports and in different countries around the world. While accepting that the whole anti-drugs systems in place for the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games has been “very sophisticated”, Paul is aware it may still just highlight the tip of the iceberg. “There was a study in Germany which found that potentially up to 30% of athletes would be at high risk of doping, but the international statistics show that only about 2% of people have been caught doping around the world, so I think there is a bit of a gap,” he says.

Much of Paul’s own research focus is on what factors stop the majority of people from taking drugs. With WADA funding, he’s currently working with colleagues in Kenya to investigate what athletes there know about drugs and what levels of education and support

“ People are keen to win sporting events because of the benefits to them – whether it’s money, glory or status, or just the fact that their whole lifestyle is committed to winning.”

todsmurray.com

they receive. “It’s not to suggest that all these successful marathon runners and middle-distance runners are on drugs, but it’s to find out what the situation is – because nobody knows.

I don’t think there’s a particularly highly functioning anti-doping system operating in Kenya.

So, if they are clean, we have to know why – because they’ve obviously got something going on that keeps them clean, that protects them.”

WADA is also funding Paul’s work with elite-level athletes – those competing either professionally or at national level – in Scotland.

“This is still ongoing, so I can’t say what the outcomes will be, but what we’re finding so far is generally low levels of risk. Lots of things in their environment seem to be protecting them.

They seem pretty concerned about not wanting to ruin their reputation, not wanting to lose the support of Sport Scotland, their club or governing body. They’re concerned about how a positive test would ruin their reputation in front of their friends and their peers. I think a lot of them are protected by the family environment. Some people have basically said things like: “My Mum would kill me if I got caught doping.”

Paul accepts that he can only go with what he’s being told by those volunteering for the survey, and that those taking part can’t know for sure how they would react until actually in a doping situation. Yet his instincts – and the fact that few participants have mentioned others taking drugs – suggest that there genuinely isn’t much of a doping culture in Scottish sport. This is despite there being an acceptance that, certainly in some fields, individuals may not achieve their goals because their competitors are doping.

“That doesn’t seem to have turned into a kind of negative, cynical response that they need to drug in order to keep up,” he says. “I think there’s something quite conservative about Scottish sport, and people are aware of the negative outcomes of doping. Also, a lot of people I’m speaking to have got university education and they probably see another career route for themselves if they’re not hugely successful in sport.”

Yet the initial findings from this Scottish study aren’t all good news. “Some people in some sports have just not been tested because it’s assumed there isn’t a doping problem,” Paul admits. “In some sports, participants are telling us that they hardly ever get tested, and don’t get a lot of anti-doping education, on the assumption that nobody’s doing it. I think that’s a risky strategy in terms of policy making.” <

EXPERT INSIGHT Sport is becoming increasingly important as a business, with more companies taking advantage of the commercial opportunities available. Our Sports Law team is well placed to meet the diverse needs of clients in this area, with expertise in key disciplines including corporate, litigation, employment, entertainment and media.

Stephen Humphreys Partner 0141 243 4558 stephen.humphreys @todsmurray.com

CLIENT FOCUS

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Perched high on the Aonach Mor Mountain sits Nevis Range, a Tods Murray client and an adventure experience like no other in the country.

Your wee bit hill and glen

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For most people the Scottish countryside is a serene landscape of rolling hills, tranquil glens and mysterious lochs. It’s a headline attraction for foreign visitors, and a source of intense pride to Scots themselves. But as we discovered when talking to Marian Austin of Nevis Range, there’s more to be found there than just a picture perfect scene.

Established in 1989 at a cost of £9m, the Nevis Range resort was created to better serve Scotland’s growing number of skiers and transport them effortlessly to the slopes via the only mountain gondola system of its kind in Britain. Following a life-long career in the ski industry, taking her from Switzerland and France to New Zealand, Marian has been involved from the start when she set up the Nevis Range Ski School, and we too at Tods Murray are privileged to have acted for them throughout this time.

Over 20 years later and Marian has never looked back. “Nevis Range is a very practical, hands-on company with a lively bunch of staff” she tells us. The company has 50 permanent employees and recruits a further 50 during the busy winter months. Marian was made Managing Director in June 2000, and with her endless energy and motivation, teamed with a real passion for what she does, it’s clear there todsmurray.com

is no better person for the job.

Today the resort has significantly diversified and serves as a short cut for all sorts of adventure seekers, on their journey to the clouds.

It offers the highest snow sports area in Scotland with skiing or boarding in the Back Corries and 34 different runs of varying levels.

Climbers and hill walkers also take advantage of two main areas – Coire an Lochain and the West Face where there are many a challenging route to pursue.

Providing all year round activities has been the key to the company’s ongoing success. In 2002 they hosted their first Mountain Bike World Cup, in 2003 were the first venue to host all three mountain biking disciplines – Downhill, X-Country and 4-Cross, and have now hosted a total of 10 World Cup or Championship events. The fun starts from the top station, where cyclists begin their 555m drop on a steep and fierce 2.82km track.

Europe’s top riders descend the course in around 4 minutes, with no rest or mercy for a lapse in concentration. Earlier this year, the Mountain Bike World Cup was extra special, with the Olympic Flame visiting Nevis Range on 9 June.

The most recent addition to the adventure experience is the high ropes course which

“ Nevis Range have relied on different departments of Tods Murray on many occasions over the last 22 years … we were pleased to be dealing with friendly and approachable professionals.”

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EXPERT INSIGHT “Real Estate law encompasses many aspects – from acquisitions, sales, investment and development, to finance and tax. We have a reputation for giving focussed and commercial advice and facilitating the expansion of our clients business through the provision of sound and innovative property solutions.”

Susie Thornton Partner 0131 656 2060 susie.thornton@todsmurray.com 03

opened during the summer of 2010. The four courses are between 1.5m – 10m off the ground and include a 100m zip and a ‘power fan’ jump for the adrenaline junkies, or there’s the newly refurbished Pinemarten Cafe for those less daring. And, with a range of function facilities available, the mountain has even become a venue for weddings!

Whatever the activity, the 2.3km gondola system remains at the heart of the development. Running on a continuous rotating cycle, it allows visitors to simply turn up and jump on whether heading to the mountain for the walks, ropes, biking, paragliding and hang gliding, or to simply sit and relax. The journey takes just under 15 minutes and is a highly acclaimed visitor attraction in its own right, carrying up to 1500 persons per hour at any one time. Sightseers come from near and far to enjoy this scenic ride, absorbing the stunning views and clear mountain air at 2150ft, where there is something for everyone to be found in the immediacy of the surrounding mountains.

Nevis Range is a unique company due to its remote mountain location and as such has had to come up with some novel ideas to preserve its environment. “Green issues and being sustainable really matters to us, not least because of where we are,” explains Marian. “The mountain is our biggest asset and needs to be looked after. If global warming goes the way it is predicted, we are in the forefront of businesses to be affected.”

To that end monitoring electricity, reducing

waste, and recycling are a big part of their ethos. Skiers and summer visitors are often not aware of the efforts being made behind the scenes to minimise the effect of their visit on the environment. Be it by visitor management, use of recycled products, litter sweeps, annual environmental audits or hill monitoring groups, environmental concerns are central to the operation.

In recognition of these ongoing efforts, Nevis Range was among the first visitor attractions to receive a Gold Green Tourism Award in 2003 for their contribution to reducing environmental impact. “We were thrilled to achieve the Gold award” comments Marian. “We have always prioritised green issues and on a personal level I’m happy that we’re doing our bit.”

Nevis Range’s ability to attract visitors, encourage them to stay longer and continuously return, whilst protecting and promoting the local area to benefit the surrounding community, is a great achievement for Scotland’s tourism industry. The resort truly is a unique Scottish adventure with a world class feel and an uplifting experience not to be missed, which opens the hills up to everyone!

Nevis Range 01397 705825 info@nevisrange.co.uk nevisrange.co.uk

NEVIS RANGE ON TODS MURRAY Nevis Range have relied on different departments of Tods Murray on many occasions over the last 22 years. We have two landlords and started with four leases, which then all had to be ‘amended’ or ‘addended’ on several occasions so we were pleased to be dealing with friendly and approachable professionals who could guide us through the maze. Tods Murray has also acted as company secretary for us and as we have 50 shareholders, this can be pretty complicated at times. The staff have been patient with our ignorance and always respond quickly to enquiries.” <

01 The 2.3km gondola is central to the Nevis Range development.

Facilities at the Top Station include the beginning of the downhill mountain and Nevis Red XC bike track.

03 On selected Friday summer evenings the self-service Snowgoose restaurant & bar opens late to serve traditional Scottish food.

02 Nevis Range offers the highest Skiing and snowboarding area in Scotland, and situated beside Ben Nevis the pistes have a stunning backdrop.

K EY FACTS · Mountain: Aonach Mor, close to Ben Nevis · Opened: 19 December 1989 · Investment: £13.35m Size of Area: 631 Hectares · Base Elevation: 91m (300ft) · Summit: 1221m (4006ft)

Dispatches

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To be ambitious requires more than just the ability to think and dream big – it demands a commitment towards taking initiative and actively contributing towards the fulfilment of our aspirations. Yet women often face condemnation for portraying such attributes that men, on the other hand, are praised for.

The definition of ambition

Tods Murr ay’s Women in Business Network earlier this year hosted the ‘Ambition Debate Scotland’ which raised thought provoking discussions on what ambition means and looks like for women in business in 2012, and asked some interesting questions about why the glass ceiling is yet to be broken.

Are the right questions being asked? Is enough being done to ensure women are getting into positions of genuine influence – and more significantly, do women still want them?

In short, and this may cause a few raised eyebrows: Are women ambitious?

Unsurprisingly the unified consensus was that women are not only ambitious, but are just as ambitious as men. But the implications of what it means to be ambitious in today’s society and the stereotype that is often attached to driven women who aim to reach the top todsmurray.com

of their profession’s career ladder, is slightly perturbing.

Ambition, a thirst for recognition and reward for realising achievements, is not only characteristically unfeminine and egotistic, but comes at a cost which may ultimately outweigh the benefits of maintaining conventional priorities of most women, such as a commitment to a family life. Despite advancements made in implementing favourable social policies, prevailing corporate business models based on a structure that ultimately continues to balance the glass ceiling on pillars of inequality, impede women from exceeding to reach boardroom status.

In light of this assertion, a further inference can be drawn: women’s motivations and incentives to pursue their ambitions are based on an assessment of the perceived likelihood

of success in realising such endeavours and the value or return that can be expected if the necessary sacrifices are to be made. Whilst generalisations can not only be controversial but also dangerous, it would seem reasonable to question whether factors holding women back from breaking the glass ceiling can be attributed to more than just external influences. To put it bluntly, are women accountable, at least to some extent, for self imposed barriers?

Fiona Buchanan, Partner commented “It’s not just about a quick fix measure – a complex set of cultural, economic, institutional and social norms all play a part in influencing our ambitions and expectations as women.”

Studies suggest that women are more reticent in promoting themselves, and whilst shrinking violets often fail to mirror the same levels of success as their competitive male

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“ A complex set of cultural, economic, institutional and social norms all play a part in influencing our ambitions and expectations as women.”

counterparts, ambitious women often face further challenges in balancing (if not upholding) their femininity, avoiding self aggrandizement, and being negatively portrayed as having a competitive nature. But ambition is ubiquitous, and in business, an ideal that ought to evoke respect and recognition regardless of one’s gender, race or background.

As a twenty-something year old who dares to admit that she wants it all, trainee solicitor Elika Taghizadeh is willing to push boundaries with focus and determination to succeed. “I know I may have to battle against an entrenched stereotype of how such ambition will be perceived and translated. From a personal stand point, part of being ambitious is a compulsion for wanting to challenge myself.

I do not believe gender has any part to play in this definition.”

Promisingly, businesses are now far better placed than ever before in recognising talent, affording greater flexibility in the opportunities made available that will allow women to take a more prominent role at senior levels without essential self sacrifice. Alongside changes to the workplace policies however, there needs to be an overhaul of gender specific perceptions of ambition, and a further call to identify and redefine what it means, and what it takes, to be ambitious. < MORE: For more information on our network, forthcoming events, research papers and to join our LinkedIn group, visit todsmurray. com/womeninbusiness

Dispatches

PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT

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Future homes

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With aspirational TV shows such as Channel 4’s Grand Designs and a housing market encouraging people to refit rather than move, what are our homes of the future going to be like? Dispatches spoke with Professor Alan Pert, co-founder of Glasgowbased architects, Northern Office for Research and Design (NORD).

“Programmes like Channel 4’s Grand Designs are raising the profile of Architecture and Design and the impact that good design can have on everyday life,” says Professor Alan Pert, of Glasg0w-based architects NORD. “They have exposed people to the complexities of building a home, and of the pitfalls. Quite often, people can get a good insight into what can go wrong, where costs can spiral out of control. While some of the featured projects show people trying to project manage their own build, I do feel they highlight the important role an Architect can play in the process.”

That said, such TV shows haven’t simply made the workings of architecture and design less exclusive. “People would appear more ambitious about even the smallest scale alterations to their homes,” Alan points out.

“Grand Designs Live is now a major event on

the calendar, with last year’s event attended by more than 100,000 people in nine days – clear evidence of a general public consumed by the world of architecture and design.”

So, if you’re looking to build your dream home – whether it’s from scratch or by regenerating an existing property, where do you start?

By finding the right architect, of course. “There are various ways of doing it, for example, the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland have databases of members,” Alan says. “It’s best to find people who have a specialism in this area, because they’ll have a good handle on costs – what you get for your money – and they’ll usually have good contacts with contractors. At the end of the day, it’s critical that your design team is matched with a contractor that’s good at that sort of contract.”

Not that you should just walk into the Dispatches

14 first architectural practice you come across.

“You should see three or four before you choose one,” Alan says. “A confident architect will give you a good steer on what you can get for your money.”

According to Alan, a significant factor in any building project that’s often overlooked is its wider context. “Context is critical to the realisation of a successful project,” he says.

“Context can also influence so many decisions on a project, whether it is about choice of materials, layout of rooms, position of windows or environmental impact. Unfortunately so many developer-led housing schemes are void of any context and it is often the difference between good and bad design choices.”

In this day and age, there’s an increased interest in ensuring new buildings are as environmentally ‘neutral’ as possible. “Good architects would be knowledgeable of sustainable materials, but this is not simply about selecting materials which are sourced locally,” says Alan. “Selecting appropriate materials which will last, are right for our climate, are detailed properly and – most importantly – are specified and installed with care and attention to detail make for well informed choices.”

Certainly, there are misconceptions to take on board, such as the assumption many Scots make when it comes to using timber. “We have to import most of our timber for construction in Scotland, as our forested land is in the main exported as pulp,” says Alan. “Too often we see bad examples of timber being used in construction in Scotland and we would really benefit from further investment in research into the use of home grown timber. We still have a lot to learn from our Norwegian neighbours!”

Green-coloured changes to building

practice are, nevertheless, on their way, according to Alan. “In 2007, an expert panel was set up to recommend measures to improve the energy performance of houses and buildings in Scotland and thereby reduce carbon dioxide emissions,” he explains. “The panel’s report sets out demanding standards to progressively deliver carbon dioxide emission savings from buildings, with an ultimate aspiration of ‘total life’ zero carbon buildings by 2030.

“The first stage of this transition will see the building regulations change in 2013 with more onerous demands being placed on energy saving targets,” he says. “Better insulation, less glazing or higher performance glazing, improved heating, natural ventilation strategies and heat loss calculations will all combine to challenge both new build properties and retrofitting of existing properties.”

So, whatever you do, make sure your chosen architect knows about these changes before they start – otherwise you could end up making a costly mistake, in terms of both time and money. As Alan puts it: “It’s no use getting planning for a 10m wall of glass and then suddenly finding they have to change that because of the building regulations!” <

01 Bell-Simpson House

by NORD won the prestigious AJ Small Projects Award.

02/04 NORD’s RIBA Award-winning Shingle House for Alain de Botton’s Living Architecture project.

Understanding planning and development requirements can be complex, and mistakes costly. As the law in this area changes frequently, it is crucial that the advice you receive is current and timely.

We stay one step ahead to provide quick and focused solutions so you can realise your project’s ambitions in a way that works for you.

Kishwar Sarwar Associate 0131 656 2064 kishwar.sawar@todsmurray.com

03 NORD’s house at Linthills is part-buried in its rural context and takes advantage of spectacular views with floor-to-ceiling glass.

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“ So many developerled housing schemes are void of any context and it is often the difference between good and bad design choices.”

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todsmurray.com

EXPERT INSIGHT

HOSPITALITY & LEISURE

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Five stars

Blythswood Square is an awardwinning five star hotel and spa in the centre of Glasgow, acclaimed for its fine food and luxury facilities. Building this most recent addition to the Town House Collection, however, was not without its challenges, according to Managing Director Hans Rissmann.

Dispatches

PHOTOGRAPHY: MIKE BROOKE

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“ For the last quarter we’re sitting at a 97% retention rate of our people, which is great. Long may that continue.”

Why did you choose to open such a hotel in Glasgow?

Glasgow has many great hotels that accommodate most needs for the business and leisure traveller. However, we recognised that there was a gap in the top end of the market. A lot of our existing clients would often mention that they would do business in Glasgow but chose to stay in Edinburgh.

On the spa side of things, there wasn’t really a true urban spa experience in Glasgow, so we wanted to create something a bit new and different for our customers.

Were you able to draw on an existing talent pool in Glasgow or did you have to create your own?

A bit of both. I’m very fortunate to be working with some very talented people.

When we first announced that we were doing this, we were approached by people, so when we started actually recruiting people, we already had a database of hundreds of CVs. We also have a lot of international people working with us, but it’s great to have that local experience for our overseas travellers who come in and can talk to people who are from Glasgow.

Given the current state of the UK economy, what challenges did you face getting the project off the ground?

You could say that the plan to open up in Glasgow in 2009 was challenging in itself! It has been a difficult journey with financial pressures, not least because of a delay of essentially two years to open in Glasgow – we took partial possession of the hotel in November 2009, when we opened up the restaurant with just six rooms, but our contractor went into administration, which had an impact on us. We had made a decision at an early stage to sell two of our existing properties in Edinburgh – and then, during that process, we were approached about a third. It’s fair to say that the bank have been very supportive during the whole process, which has allowed us to restructure and focus on Blythswood Square and The Bonham (in Edinburgh) and make them work as best as we can. They are performing very well just now.

We wanted to attract the higher end corporate traveller as well as the leisure guest at Blythswood Square, but that’s been quite difficult, especially on the corporate front.

Many of us are facing a tight squeeze, and the corporate market is no different – it’s been quite difficult to find the higher rated corporate business that Glasgow does have, because it takes a bit of time to build up.

How important is food to the whole Blythswood Square experience?

It’s a hugely important part of what we do, and it’s not just about the main restaurant.

We have many different food offerings throughout the hotel – from afternoon tea to light bites, from room service to à la carte menus, room service, a spa lounge and private events. Actually, food and beverages make up 48% of our total revenue, so it’s a massive part of what we do. <

What do you think are the hotel’s main strengths?

Our product and our people. We’ve invested a lot of money in the product, and offer great experiences for our guests – from the spa to the food and beverage offerings – but we’re fortunate to be working with some great people. For the last quarter we’re sitting at a 97% retention rate of our people, which is great. Long may that continue.

EXPERT INSIGHT Over the years we have developed insight into key issues affecting the hospitality and leisure industry. We work with hoteliers, restaurateurs, publicans, property developers, and timeshare operators and have the skills and experience needed to understand the challenges that you and your business face, all under one roof.

Katie Corrigan Associate 0131 656 2172 katie.corrigan@todsmurray.com

Dispatches

18 PRIVATE CLIENT

todsmurray.com

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Art for art’s sake?

The economic downturn of the last few years doesn’t seem to have unduly affected numerous headline-grabbing art auctions in London and New York.

We ask the Scottish Gallery’s Guy Peploe if buying art is a good investment – or is it missing the point?

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THE TEN MOST EXPENSIVE PAINTINGS IN THE WORLD Coverage of the sale of Munch’s The Scream recently confirmed art remains a high-profile investment in recessionary times. However its value is dwarfed by other recent art sales.

1 Paul Cézanne, The Card Player, £160 million 2 Jackson Pollock, No 5 1948, £99 million 3 Willem De Kooning, Woman III, £97.5 million 4 Gustav Klimt, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, £95.2 million

5 Vincent van Gogh, Portrait of Dr Gachet, £91 million 6 Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Dance at the Moulin de la Galette, £86.4 million 7 Pablo Picasso, Boy with a Pipe, £78.5 million 8 Edvard Munch, The Scream, £73.9 million 9 Pablo Picasso, Nude, Green Leaves and Bust, £69.9 million 10 Vincent van Gogh, Portrait of Joseph Roulin, £67.7 million

“Well, you can certainly look at many examples of art having been a tremendous investment in the past,” admits Guy Peploe, Managing Director of the Scottish Gallery on Edinburgh’s Dundas Street. “Certainly values can go up quite dramatically – in terms of hundreds of percentage points – but I’m always slightly leery of the idea of art as an investment.”

There are some quite good reasons for this, not least because any kind of investment implies a planned disposal at some point in the future – and there are costs involved in selling. “One of the main ways that art is sold is, of course, at auction,” Guy explains. “When I started in the business some 30 years ago, the auctioneers charged 10% to the seller, and that was that – the hammer comes down, you’d get your bill for the hammer price.

“Now, there’s the Buyer’s Premium – basically, a charge levied by the auction house, paid by the buyer in addition to the hammer price.

It’s risen over the years, so there’s now a kind of spread of cost of around 30%. If you’re selling a block of shares or a property, you’re not going to be paying 30% as your cost of sale. In order for art to perform as a straight investment, you’ve got to see a lot more inflation in value – just to cover the cost of sale.”

Unlike a block of shares or a portfolio of properties, you also have to insure, protect and look after a work of art, even if it’s just brushing the dust off it occasionally. That said, you’re unlikely to put a print-out of your shares on your wall. “I think that most people love buying works of art,” Guy says. “It’s something very exciting and addictive. Once you start collecting, you don’t stop – it’s a life long thing that can take over some people’s lives.

“The idea of the work going up in value is attractive – and it very often does – but that is, I think, secondary to the main motivation, which is loving a work of art and wanting to live with it,” he adds. “And of course, the big plus is that, if you love your investment – and you’re getting pleasure from it every day you look at it hanging on your wall – then that’s something that you can’t do with a more traditional investment.”

Dispatches

20 Guy accepts, of course, that art can be a good investment in purely financial terms – you just have to watch any random episode of the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow to see how some family heirlooms accumulate in value over the decades. People want a minimum of reassurance that they’re buying something that isn’t going to lose its value,” Guy says. “There’s lots of good evidence that, if you take good advice and put money into art, you’re not being a fool readily parted from your money.”

Headline-grabbing auctions notwithstanding – back in 2010, a fortnight’s sales of impressionist and contemporary art in New York saw £1 billion change hands – how has the recession effected the likes of the Scottish Gallery?

“A lot of people are avoiding going into galleries because they don’t want to be tempted, because they feel – for whatever reason – that now is not the time they should be buying,” Guy admits. “So we’ve got to work hard to counteract that sentiment. If you’ve still got your job, then you’re probably no worse off today than you were in 2008.

“A lot of people are reluctant to be tempted at the moment, particularly with contemporary art. They might see an exhibition and think: ‘I love this, but I’ll have another chance to buy in another few years.’ So we have to work hard to counteract that attitude and really get people excited and going. Our job is to put temptation in front of them, so that they can carry on buying!”

On the flip side, Guy’s the first to accept that there are also a significant number of people who are now making a conscious decision to put some of their cash into art. “This is because they’re getting so little return on their more straight-forward investments, they’re thinking they maybe should put a portion of their cash into something they might enjoy,” says Guy. A decade ago, a lot of money went into contemporary art, but it was money clearly looking to get out again a few years later. “There was a lot of froth in that part of the market during the first six-seven years of the century, and that froth has now been driven away,” Guy says.

“Where people are more comfortable spending money today is where they perceive that the artist or the work has a longer track record that can be seen through economic cycles – so, areas like impressionism, where there’s considerable scholarship attached, or the Old Masters market. In Scottish terms, good fresh pictures by established 20th century artists still do very well.”

Record-breaking prices are still set, but only for high quality works that are totally fresh to todsmurray.com

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“ If you take good advice and put money into art, you’re not being a fool readily parted from your money.

the market, according to Guy. For the likes of the Scottish Gallery, their day-to-day challenge is simply to encourage the less extreme buyers.

“We have to be imaginative,” he admits. “We have to be persuasive, and stir people out of any sense of complacency – get people interested and excited, coming into the gallery and buying. Some of the things we’ve done in the last few years have been enormously successful – we’ve had some tremendous hits. Other things have disappeared without trace. Everything we do is speculative, which, if nothing else, makes life ‘interesting’, as the Chinese might say.” <

21 01 Artist: SJ Peploe Title: Trees at Douglas Hall Date: 1915 Medium: oil on canvas Size: 40.5 × 32 cms 02

Artist: SJ Peploe Title: The Lobster Date: c.1901 Medium: oil on canvas Size: 41 × 51 cms

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Artist: Paul Reid Title: Cyclops Study Date: 2011 Medium: ink drawing Size: 73 × 53 cms

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Artist: Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Title: Movement in Space, Dream Series No. 2 Date: 1980 Medium: oil on canvas Size: 101.5 × 101.5 cms

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Artist: Duncan Shanks Title: By Lea Meadow Medium: acrylic on paper Size: 50 × 53 cms

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EXPERT INSIGHT We are proud to act for a variety of clients with diverse needs. As one of the largest and most experienced Private Client teams in Scotland, our comprehensive service and experienced solicitors, enable us to provide the highly polished and technically sound service our clients require.

Gordon Cunningham Partner 0131 656 2000 gordon.cunningham @todsmurray.com 05

Dispatches

22 EMPLOYMENT

Bridging the stress gap With stress consistently reported as one of the most common types of work-related illness, employers need to look up from the task in hand and manage.

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23 The wonder ful Forth rail bridge stretches across the water on my regular journeys from Fife to our offices. It is always a source of fascination for me. Every glowing metal rivet was heated, thrown, caught in the thick padded glove of a man, held in place and hammered home by another. Those small rivets hold together massive spans that carry the long metal tubes filled with sons and daughters passing across a river that has seen Queens cross it by ferry and rail, had bombs dropped on its shores and in times long past and more recently, salmon navigating much of its length.

The physical presence of the bridge to me is a metaphor for the power of the individual and what can be achieved by those who work together.

From the moment that life is created, until our last breath, we will experience many sensations and interact with many other unique human beings. We will laugh, cry and of course feel that on many occasions, we have been in stressful situations.

With stress consistently reported as one of the most common types of work-related illness, nowadays employers need to look up from the task in hand and manage. They need to be much more aware of their duties to those they employ, and have the ability to use different methods in addressing and mitigating the causes of stress. I know from my employment law work and litigation experience in dealing with cases under mental health legislation, that the causes of mental illness and stress are complex to treat, diagnose and manage for all involved. However on a human and legal level that is not an excuse for not doing so. The personal and financial costs to an employer failing in these duties can be enormous.

The list of claims that someone subjected to “stress” may choose to employ is now lengthy – discrimination, constructive dismissal, victimisation, harassment and failure to provide a safe system of work, are but some. In an age of austerity, cutting corners in dealing with staff issues may be tempting, but is likely to prove costly. Whatever the bigger picture, work together in promoting organisational and individual health, and avoid work related stress.

Chris Leitch Partner, Employment 0131 656 2364 chris.leitch@todsmurray.com uk.linkedin.com/in/chrisleitch

SYMPTOMS OF STRESS Stress shows in our bodies through raised blood pressure, headaches and fatigue to name only a few. It also affects us emotionally, making us irritable and aggressive as well as changing our behaviour leading to seemingly unexplained crying or difficulty concentrating.

WHAT IS STRESS? Originally stress was an important survival response to danger. Our ancestors’ brains released chemicals and their bodies underwent dramatic changes which allowed them to run faster or fight harder. This ‘fight or flight’ response helped conserve energy, leaving a reserve for emergencies such as attack from wild animals. In modern life, these serious threats have been replaced by modern anxieties, such as work.

COMMON WORKPLACE STRESSORS While everyone’s response to stress is different, there are a number of stressors commonly associated with the workplace: R Job ambiguity: Poorly defined job roles lacking standard operating procedures and setting ambiguous goals leave employees unsure of what they’re expected to do and the reasons for it.

R Favouritism and inequality: Promotions, raises and other perks can be based on favouritism and seniority rather than good performance which demotivates an otherwise happy employee.

R Politics and power: Hardworking people may be overlooked for power hungry individuals who ‘play the game’ in the workplace.

R Bullies: Bullying at work is a major stressor.

MANAGING STRESS – THE 4AS Identifying what causes us stress, how we think and feel in certain situations and how we view our stress is often the key to managing it. Everyone experiences stress differently and there is not one single solution. Managing stress in a healthy way involves avoiding or altering the stressful situation, adapting our reaction to it or accepting it.

Not all stress can, or should be, avoided, but it is possible to eliminate many workplace stressors. Learning to say ‘no’ to additional work if you are too busy or – in extreme cases – changing jobs, seeking appropriate training and a clear job description could also improve the situation. Managers can help by adopting an open, approachable management style and conducting formal appraisals to reduce favouritism and workplace politics. Leading with care is often seen as the best way to prevent bullying. Finally, finding meaning in tasks, reducing our expectations of work and viewing problems as challenges, can help adapt our own view of stress. <

Managing stress in a healthy way involves avoiding or altering the stressful situation, adapting our reaction to it or accepting it.

Professor Ewan Gillon Counselling Psychologist and Clinical Director First Psychology Scotland 0131 668 1440 firstpsychologyscotland.co.uk uk.linkedin.com/in/ewangillon

Dispatches

Can Scotland keep the pound?

The independence debate has been building up ahead of steam in Scotland over the last year and has recently spilled over into the national consciousness south of the border raising many interesting legal issues over and above important and emotive questions, such as whether the denizens of Drumnadrochit will still be able to watch EastEnders in an independent Scotland.

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Leaving aside more mundane matters, such as the legitimacy of a Scottish Government-sponsored referendum or whether Westminster will temporarily devolve powers to Scotland to allow it to hold the referendum (which should decide who ultimately wins the battle to frame the all-important question), it’s now an odds-on certainty that a referendum will take place in the next 18 to 24 months.

Unsurprisingly the economy is likely to be top of the agenda for most voters, and one of the deciding factors determining whether independence will be a viable economic option will be the independent state’s currency.

Although informed debate on the subject has been hampered thus far by a lack of coherent, detailed information on the Scottish Government’s plans for independence, early

indications are that the Scottish Government supports Scotland keeping the pound and entering into a currency union with the rest of the UK. Reaction from the political classes has been fairly scathing, with the pro-Union camp arguing that this would undermine Scotland’s fiscal independence as Scotland would effectively have to rely on the Bank of England to set interest rates, and as it would no longer be part of the UK, it would have no influence over monetary policy. The SNP have countered these arguments by proposing that they would establish a representative for Scotland on the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee to deal with such matters, but haven’t gone into any detail on how they’ll achieve this objective.

ILLUSTRATION: EDWARD MCGOWAN

24 BANKING & FINANCE

25

MORE: Visit todsmurray.com/independentscotland to read the full version of this article.

SO WHO’S RIGHT? Can Scotland keep the pound and, if so, at what cost? And will London taxi drivers ever accept a Scottish £10 note?

Both sides are to an extent guilty of muddying the waters. It’s certainly true that fiscal independence will not be a by-product if Scotland votes to split from the Union but wants to keep the pound. Although an independent Scotland wouldn’t technically need the approval of the rest of the UK to continue using sterling (through a process often referred to as “Dollarisation”), it’s highly likely that Scotland would need to enter into some sort of formal agreement or treaty with the UK regulating its use of the pound and other financial issues.

In return for considering Scotland’s interests in any future monetary policy decisions and for providing other forms of financial support such as allowing Scottish banks access to the Bank of England as a lender of last resort, an independent Scotland would need to demonstrate fiscal discipline to the rest of the UK and this would inevitably involve checks and measures on Scottish fiscal policy with particular focus on the size of Scotland’s public debt, deficit, taxes and public spending. After all, no one wants another Greece as its new partner in a monetary union.

Nonetheless, this doesn’t mean that a currency union between Scotland and the UK is a completely unworkable proposition from either side’s perspective. Far from it. There is currently no legislative framework for a country seceding from the United Kingdom and therefore, if the “Yes” vote wins the day, the key players deciding the terms of the national divorce will have plenty of room for manoeuvre.

Negotiation will be key – from who gets to keep

what national treasures (Russell Grant step forward) to whether the UK can continue to park it’s nuclear submarines at Faslane. If the UK Government wants an independent Scotland to take it’s fair share of the national debt with it, it will have to negotiate over the role of the Bank of England with respect to Scotland – and equally, if the Scottish Government wants the Bank of England to look after Scotland’s interests, concessions on Scottish fiscal policy will need to be made.

Fiscal independence is a bit of pipe dream in this day-and-age for a small nation like Scotland (unless more oil fields are discovered in the right areas of the North Sea) and it would be wrong to pretend otherwise. Keeping the pound is therefore probably the most realistic and practical option if Scotland votes for independence – it’s the option that’s going to cause the least upheaval both in terms of the Scottish psyche and in terms of preserving the economic status quo.

Whatever happens, whichever way the vote goes, one thing is certain – you’ll always be better-off paying London taxi drivers with English £10 notes. <

Fiscal independence is a bit of pipe dream in this day-and-age for a small nation like Scotland (unless more oil fields are discovered in the right areas of the North Sea) and it would be wrong to pretend otherwise.

Rod MacLeod Partner, Banking and Finance 0131 656 2304 rod.macleod@todsmurray.com uk.linkedin.com/in/rodmacleod

Dispatches

FAMILIES IN BUSINESS 26

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27

The battle against red tape Fergus Ewing MSP talks to Tods Murray family business clients about the Scottish Government efforts to increase company revenue, encourage timely payment of debt to SMEs and produce better legislation for business.

“ If you in your family businesses encounter problems or know of areas where we can act to improve regulation, let me know. I am keen to hear what you have got to say, because you know, we want to do more.”

As countless company owners and managers will testify, our lawyers at Tods Murray provide support that reduces the business burden.

We also organise regular contact between family business people, lawmakers and other politicians. For this purpose, we invited Fergus Ewing MSP to one of our client events, where we discussed issues such as reducing business costs, minimising the late payment of bills and improving rules and regulation.

Fergus Ewing was elected in 1999 as a Member of the Scottish Parliament for the Scottish Nationalist Party. He knows the business sector well and understands what he calls “the joys and the frustrations” of running a family-owned firm, because he managed one himself for 17 years.

“That experience has never left me,” said Fergus, highlighting problems such as the ever increasing red tape – “for example, in my working lifetime the amount of paper you had to work your way through for a Standard Security has increased from a single page to a virtual telephone directory. So, when we became the Government in 2007, I had the chance to stop complaining and do something about it.”

One of the first practical steps taken by the new government was the introduction of the Small Business Bonus: “In the past smaller businesses really paid quite a lot in business rates, proportionally more per square foot or as a percentage of their turnover or profit than large retailers such as Asda or Tesco.”

As a result of the Small Business Bonus, said Fergus, “Some 85,000 small businesses in Scotland now pay lower or no business rates.

For instance, a family hotel owner in my constituency saves about £2,500 on her rates bill.”

The MSP explained that the Scottish Government also restored the Uniform Business Rate, a measure from which small businesses in particular have benefited financially. In addition, the Government is aiming to reduce the cost of local and regional administration for Scottish taxpayers.

A typical Fergus’ family business bugbear is the late payment of debts. “We are looking at new legislation to tackle this long-standing problem.”

“A banker recently told me a story about the owner of a construction company who came to see him and said ‘we’re having to shut down our business, not because it’s making a loss, but because the turnover is £1,000,000 and we have £400,000 of debtors on our balance sheet and we can’t get paid.’ The guy was in tears.

Well, that is not right.”

The Late Payment Act 1998 allows businesses to claim interest on invoices which are overdue, but said Fergus, “What family business will go to a customer and ask for interest?

Chances are you get an answer like ‘well no, and don’t darken our door again.’ It is high time we address this issue.”

“Interestingly, Germany has a culture of payment on time. German Law says that if you don’t pay on time, you have to pay a surcharge.

Maybe that is why in Germany the failure rate of new businesses is much lower than in the UK – 9 in 10 fewer companies fail in Germany than in the UK.” “In addition to our consultation about late payments, we obviously want to improve business regulation in Scotland. We need laws and rules, for example to protect people, but they have to be proportionate.”

When Fergus was Community Safety Dispatches

28 Minister, he found that the cost of complying with new fire regulations in the tourism industry would lead to an average cost of £20,000 for a 3-bedroom B&B. “So we got people from the industry together with firefighters, Health & Safety officers and building controllers. It resulted in new guidance with minimal extra costs.”

The politician said he mentioned this example to show “that it is relatively easy in a small country to tackle problems with red tape.

If there is a will – and there is the will in the Scottish Government – then we can have better legislation.”

Fergus also talked about the contribution family enterprise makes to the Scottish economy: “I have just visited a firm in Dalbeattie. It has grown organically, nurtured by hardworking generation after hardworking generation.

They have taken over a competitor not so long ago. It is a shining example of a traditional Scottish company, expanding and totally committed to the communities they serve.”

“So,” concluded Fergus, “If you in your family businesses encounter problems or know of areas where we can act to improve regulation, let me know. I am keen to hear what you have got to say, because you know, we want to do more.”

At Tods Murray we are answering Fergus’ call for suggestions. We also want to encourage high-level discussion about the opportunities and obstacles for family business in Scotland.

02

WE UNDERSTAND WHY EVERY FAMILY BUSINESS IS DIFFERENT Through our experience and in-depth knowledge of this sector, we understand why every family business is different. Our Families in Business team therefore offers customised legal services from Corporate and Private Client specialists, underpinned by the expertise of our Tax, Employment, Litigation, Real Estate and Rural Property Departments.

01 Fergus Ewing MSP.

EXPERT INSIGHT We have a long history of advising family businesses on a wide range of legal issues including succession and will planning, family and employment law and structuring, buying and selling businesses. Download our Top Tax Tips by visiting todsmurraytv.com

Jack Gardiner Partner 0141 243 4594 jack.gardiner@todsmurray.com

02 Great-grandfather of Stephen and David Millard (far-right), founder of Miller’s Flooring.

CASE STUDY: FAMILY RUN SME ANSWERS BACK David Milliard is co-director with his brother Stephen of Millers Flooring, a family retail business founded in 1893 specialising in high quality carpets, flooring and rugs, with outlets on Leith Walk, Edinburgh and in Bridgeton, Glasgow. He took time out to respond to Fergus Ewing’s article for Dispatches.

“Millers Flooring has been a family business since it was founded over a hundred years ago. In the last three years trading has been extremely challenging. The way we’ve managed to survive has been by really working hard to keep costs as low as we can and by putting in the extra hours, working extremely hard.

“We’ve tried to cut costs everywhere with exception to promotion – because as a retail business you have to keep putting yourself

03 Stephen (left) and David (right) brothers and current co-directors of Miller’s Flooring.

04 1926 illustration of Millers’ Bridgeton premises, still operational today.

MORE: View a video recording of Fergus’ talk at the Tods Murray client event todsmurraytv.com 03

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29 in front of customers. That has an impact on family life – but we have had to explain to our families to keep our heads above water, that’s what’s required.”

“I think what Fergus Ewing is suggesting is clearly the right thing. The business rates initiative sounds great, but what is an SME? Our warehouse operation is just outside the rates reduction which is really disappointing.

With a £1.1m turnover we’re perhaps not such a small business – but as a result we’ve not seen any benefit.

“Fergus Ewing’s other plans regarding prompt payment, anything that can be done is fantastic, but Millers Flooring has been forced to adopt up-front payment with all our customers, something we can do because we’re a consumer brand. A small number of clients have brought this about through making it very difficult to extract payment. But anything that the current administration can do is welcome.

However, ultimately, I think they’re up against it in terms of existing bureaucracy – employment law, consumer law – it’s an uphill battle.

Asked what has had the biggest negative impact on his business in the last few years, David responds: “The Edinburgh trams have had a real impact. We were one of the few that accepted the inevitability of a reduction in turnover – which in the end was in the region of 26% of total annual sales, a colossal sum – at the same time as the recession started to hit. As a family business, we recognised the long-term benefit, but the fact that it wasn’t delivered after so much disruption, and there was no form of compensation, was hard to swallow.

It’s vital that the Scottish Government ensures something like that never happens again.”

David is positive about the future, seeing Miller’s status as a family-run SME as a key asset. “The core strength of a family business is that you’re so emotionally tied to it, it’s like another (very demanding but much loved) family member. The drive to make us succeed, even after 119 years, is still phenomenal.” <

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MORE: Read more about Tods Murray Families in Business team and its work todsmurray.com

Dispatches

30 RURAL PROPERTY & BUSINESS

Living with the land

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31

For centuries, Atholl Estates – one of Scotland’s best known Highland estates – has changed with the times.

According to General Manager, Andrew Bruce Wootton, its continued success is down to being adaptable and taking a long-term view.

Dispatches

32 “We’re a land-based business – all of our trading, one way or another, is connected to the land and the buildings on it,” says Andrew Bruce Wootton, the General Manager at Atholl Estates – one of Scotland’s oldest and most diverse rural estates. “We’re self-contained, completely dependent on our ability to trade and do business from the assets that we have within the Estate.”

Those assets range from farmland, forests and grass moor to the deer, grouse and salmon that live wild within the Estate’s boundaries.

“We believe in harvesting nature’s bounty, rather than necessarily providing too much artificial activity on it: so we manage the land, and the nature and wildlife on it. We’re very much a balanced rural enterprise, placing a great deal of value in keeping the harmony between the built and the environment. We look at the long-term in terms of our planning and management. For example, our main responsibility for our deer is to keep the population that runs wild on the estate in a relatively healthy condition to survive during the winter.

The stalking that we offer is part of our management of the herd. Our stalking staff are all full-time, residential on the estate, and they’ll take out our guests as part of that managed cull.”

On a day-to-day basis, it can certainly be a challenging enterprise to keep going. “With the type of enterprise that we run, the margins are quite tight, so you need to be careful and efficient in the way you resource and manage the business,” says Andrew. “It’s essential that your approach is integrated, and that includes the way that you structure your staffing.

There’s a lot of interaction between farming and forestry and field sports. Even though our

“ Rural Scotland is an escape, but our city guests require and need some degree of connection to the outside world.”

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staffing is structured so that you have people whose core activity will be in specific areas, there’s a lot of interaction. There’s a lot of overlap and mutual help between those different teams, taking account of the inevitable seasonality of activities like farming and forestry. We run our staffing, as much as possible, as one larger rural team that’s subdivided into specialist groups, and try to encourage, as much as possible, a lot of communication, a lot of informal cross-over between those activities, so people do help each other out.

“You can’t account for the weather and, to some extent, you can’t always account for the economy, so you’re not in full control of your working environment,” he adds. “But the seasons are obviously predictable, and the kind of enterprises that we run are fairly well established in that there are well accepted ways of managing farming and forestry and field sports in a place like this.

“So, to some extent, we can plan for how best to manage what is done at different times of the year, by having staff who are multiskilled and who accept that their role is broader than their specialism,” Andrew says. “It enables them to be more aware of what they have to achieve, but also what their colleagues are doing and how they can help them. I think that also feeds into their ability to explain and tell the story of the Estate to the guests that we have here.”

Given the economic strains of the last few years, has there been noticeable changes in the kind of guests who come to the Estate, for either the sporting or leisure opportunities it offers? “I think there have been changes that you can predict. This year we have seen more continental guests, simply because there are parts of Europe that have been less effected by the downturn,” Andrew admits. “We’re not seeing as many corporate guests but, otherwise, I don’t think there’s been a noticeable social change. We have a tremendous diversity of guests, and our keepers are adept at catering for both. They can provide an equally enjoyable day or week for someone who has been stalking all their life or somebody who is going out for the very first time. As for ‘Staycationers’, there has been a dramatic change in demand at our holiday park, and in our holiday lodges.

People are very much looking for three or four nights rather than a full week.”

Self-sufficient it may be, but Atholl Estates still has to operate within a wider Scottish context. “I would say that, in terms of our dealings with agencies and local authorities, there’s a more tolerant implementation of regulations and a willingness to talk more than preach,”

Andrew suggests. “In terms of Government’s broader policy on the countryside, I think that more could possibly be done to promote rural Scotland as a very special and unique holiday opportunity to parallel and surpass the uniqueness of a city break in Scotland – but we need to keep pace with communications and transport.

“Rural Scotland is an escape, but our city guests require and need some degree of connection to the outside world,” he insists.

“Whether that’s travel times or communication data speeds, it’s a critical component of our guests’ world. If they can’t get it in rural Scotland, they’ll be looking for a rural escape somewhere else where they can. Those are issues that all levels of government have to keep in mind.” <

EXPERT INSIGHT Whilst seeking to preserve the best of the past, the modern landed estate must always look to the future in order to flourish. Formed over 150 years, our understanding of the legal and regulatory framework that applies to today’s rural business, allows us to offer commercial advice on the long term strategic management of landed estates.

Peter Misselbrook Partner 0131 656 2386 peter.misselbrook@todsmurray.com

The internet is preying on culture.

At the 2011 Edinburgh International Book Festival, the author Ewan Morrison warned how the internet and digital publishing threatened the future of writing as a paid profession. Was he just playing concerned Devil’s Advocate, or is he genuinely convinced that – in the internet age – it’s becoming increasingly difficult for any ‘creatives’ to earn a living from their work?

“There’s this myth that the internet is a space of creative freedom,” says Ewan Morrison, author of novels including Swung, Distance and Menage. “Actually, it’s a space where people can post stuff for free, but they’ll also be unpaid for it. I now believe there is a very real, legitimate threat to all forms of culture that can be made digital – anything that can be turned into a QuickTime file or a PDF or MP3/MP4.

“The big internet companies like Google are not in the slightest bit interested in putting any money back into cultural making,” he adds, “because they believe they can get much more advertising revenue just out of the hundreds of millions of consumers posting pictures of their cats or doing Karaoke in their underpants.

The big internet companies are preying on the existing cultural material that’s out there. That home-made content is really a taste of what’s to come.

“We have to stand up for culture that has some quality, otherwise we might just degenerate into this inane chatter in the void,” he believes. “It’s easy to be a consumer, it’s very hard to be a creator – the more that is made for free or pulled for free, the less money goes into the pockets of those who actually make things.

We have to educate consumers into investing in the future.”

Ewan accepts this won’t be easy, not least because it will require rooting out a culture of piracy, which has become very casual. He’s campaigning for a UK equivalent to SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) legislation – which has united a lot of libertarian and left-leaning critics in the US. “They’re not really involved in culture themselves – they don’t understand the negative impact of piracy on culture,” he says.

Currently, Ewan admits he feels there’s little

point investing the “big emotional expenditure” needed to write another novel until “we’ve made some headway on this, politically”. That said, he has two books coming out this year: his fourth novel, Close Your Eyes, is published by Jonathan Cape in August, while Tales from the Mall came as both book and enhanced ebook from Scottish indie imprint Cargo Crate in May. “I went with Cargo because of the manhours, effort, passion and skill I knew they could bring to it.”

“The main thing is for writers not to jump into the arms of self e-publishing,” he believes.

“So many people are self e-publishing, the chances of anyone even being spotted anymore amongst it are poor. The market has swamped itself with poor content already.”

While Ewan intends to stick with ‘traditional’ publishers, he admits 2012 is a test of sorts. Which new book will do better – the one with the indie or the one with the mainstream?

“It’ll be a good test of the market.”

Does Ewan feel depressed by it all? “When you have a Eureka moment – when everything suddenly fits together – whether it’s good news or bad news, you feel better, more lucid and clear about what’s going on in the world.

So, I do feel good in that sense. It’s better to have that cold slap in the face, and to know the basic facts.” < @tmtechlawyer

MORE: To read more articles of an IT/IP theme, visit todsmurray.com/ITarticles

Dispatches

34 IP/IT & MEDIA

Battle against IPR theft

EXPERT INSIGHT In today’s e-enabled society, almost every business, large or small, has some form of dependence upon IT systems. The rate of growth and innovation within this sector makes sourcing specialist skills and experience to assist with legal matters vital.

We understand the business, know the key players and provide innovative solutions.

Claire McCracken Senior Associate 0141 243 4591 claire.mccracken@todsmurray.com @tmtechlawyer

In March 2012, the EU strengthed the powers of the European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights as part of an ongoing campaign against IPR theft that’s estimated to cost the world economy some €200 billion a year. But how important an issue is copyright theft for those on the ground?

01 Gillian Kyle studied at Glasgow School of Art before setting up her eponymous business in 2009.

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02/03 Gillian Kyle’s products inspired by famous Scottish brands have been a big hit with consumers.

David Gillanders is a professional documentary photographer, acclaimed for his emotionally-charged, monochrome images of street life in Glasgow, the Ukraine and other cities round the world. Despite this, he’s now considering another career. “I’m so fed up trying to make a living out of photography, when it seems that the tide of opinion is absolutely against me,” he says. “In the past two years, it’s got so bad that I’m currently looking for other means of employment.”

The “it” in question is IPR infringement – people, companies and organisations using his photographs without permission or payment.

Or, as David might put it: theft.

“It happens on a weekly basis,” David says.

“A recent example was a magazine which wanted to publish an article about my work. I started asking them about money, and was met with silence. I told them I was not interested in them “raising my profile” – if they wanted to publish my photographs, I wanted paid. To cut a long story short, they just went ahead and published them without agreeing any (fee) with me. That’s a flagrant breach of copyright, because they not only published the high res pictures I had – reluctantly – sent them, but they stole three other pictures off my website.”

David accepts that, in the internet age, it’s realistic to expect people who like his photographs to copy and share them in their own blogs or through social media. “I totally understand and think that’s wonderful,” he says, “but that seems to have given a green light to commercial organisations using content for free, and making money out of it. That’s obviously a very dangerous situation to be in.”

In recent years, David has had to fight his corner after numerous newspapers, magazines

and even a Glasgow nightclub used his selffinanced photographs for their own purposes.

Nor is it just a local affair. “There’s a band in Russia that’s made a music video entirely out of my still images,” David says. “There was also an organisation in America using my photography (of street children in the Ukraine) to fundraise, claiming that they had sent me there. I ended up asking to see transparent accounts of how they were using the money to help street children in the Ukraine. They took everything down, straight away. They said there was a plan to set up a photography course for street children and to get me to teach it – but, given my response, they didn’t think I was someone they could work with!”

Last year, legislative attempts in the US to tighten up on digital piracy were demonised as attacks on freedom of speech and the continuing existence of the internet. “People who don’t make things find it hard to understand,” he admits. “A lot of factors right now are devaluing the rights of owners. It’s all pinned on either a lack of understanding or a lack of care for someone else’s property.”

While describing himself as “really militant” about where his pictures go and who uses them, he admits the ongoing stress is getting to him. “I’m quite a sensitive person, and when you constantly feel that you have to argue and fight with people – and you’re constantly met with bare-faced lies – it’s really difficult,” David insists. “I absolutely love photography – I don’t want to end up resenting it.”

Someone else who loves what she does is Gillian Kyle, a Scottish textiles designer who originally made a name for herself producing a range of stylish textile products celebrating iconic Scottish products such as teacakes,

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MORE: Anti-Copying In Design acid.eu.com

Irn-Bru and Plain Bread. Like David, she is well aware of her intellectual property rights – the difference being, of course, that she herself licences others’ brand identities.

“My business has grown organically from, essentially, me – printing and making things, and selling them at craft fairs,” says Gillian.

“Right at the start, I printed and made a few products, and just asked to have an appointment with Mr Tunnock. He liked them, and was happy then for me to go ahead and market the products. That was appropriate because, at that stage in my business, I was just essentially a designer-maker fresh out of art school with a little idea.

“Then after two and a half years, both Tunnocks and ourselves independently thought that we really needed a fully contractual licence,” she adds. “They could appreciate there was a lot of mutual benefit in what we were doing. They were getting a lot of free marketing, so it was a nice, mutually-beneficial, synergistic relationship, and at that point it was quite easy to draw up a contract that we were both happy with.”

Other people, not least Tunnocks themselves, are now jumping on this retro bandwagon, but Gillian is not unduly worried.

“The most important thing for us is to keep doing something that’s new and exciting and that people want to buy into,” she says. “Also, it’s for us to grow the brand of Gillian Kyle, so that it’s not just ‘those tea-cake bags’, it’s ‘I really want a Gillian Kyle tea-cake bag’, or whatever. We’re focusing on building a brand

that people like and trust and want to buy into, independently of the kind of designs that we have on our products.”

In other words, the IPR Gillian is most interested in protecting is her own, rather than the iconic brands currently referenced on her products. “We do put things in place to protect ourselves, but protection from attack is not the way that we want to go forward,” she says.

“We want to go forward by innovating and constantly doing new things. If someone blatantly copies us, obviously, we will seek legal redress, but I think our main form of defence is attack, to keep doing new stuff.”

Her relaxed attitude perhaps is down to her own company’s humble origins on the kitchen table. “There have been a few incidents when we’ve taken legal advice, but we haven’t taken any of it further forward,” she says. “We’re a member of ACID (Anti-Copying In Design) and would always try to mediate our way out of the problem before we would go in all guns blazing. People don’t necessarily realise that they are infringing your intellectual property.

They can be influenced by work that they see, and not necessarily realise they’re being influenced by it.” <

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“ If someone blatantly copies us, obviously, we will seek legal redress, but I think our main form of defence is attack, to keep doing new stuff.”

Dispatches

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Changing lives through football Homelessness is a complex and global problem. The ongoing world economic crisis and mass urban migration means the problem continues to grow on an exponential scale.

Dispatches

38 Homelessness manifests itself in many different ways but the feelings of exclusion and hopelessness are universal.

Homelessness can force people into isolation, which affects their ability to share and communicate their thoughts and work with others. Day-to-day survival needs take priority over longer term planning, often resulting in a chaotic lifestyle.

The Homeless World Cup Foundation was created ten years ago to use the power of football to combat homelessness in the world.

Football provides the mechanism to engage with homeless people stimulating them to change their lives.

Taking part in regular football sessions provides a simple framework for homeless people to develop a new way of life, with structures, goals and a platform for a better future.

When a homeless person gets involved in football they communicate and build relationships with others. They become teammates, learning to trust and share. They have a responsibility to attend training sessions and games, to be on time and prepared to participate. They feel part of something.

The role of the Homeless World Cup Foundation is to coordinate an international network of 73 small to medium sized partner organisations whose work is united through their goal to improve the lives of the people they work with, using football as the catalyst.

We engage with more than 200,000 homeless people every year.

The Foundation provides support and guidance in football and management skills, delivers training and capacity building programmes which help to grow and develop sustainable projects around the world.

US National Partner, Street Soccer USA, state in their 2011 Annual Report that sports can play a key role in reducing recidivism rates as well as promoting healthy lifestyle choices: “We found that emergency room visits dropped by 40%. Jail time was eliminated entirely. Results in savings to the community due to less jail time and fewer hospital visits in a sampling is approximately $277,500 or $11,100 per constituent.”

The facts and figures are impressive, but the stories of individuals show the real life impact.

David played for Scotland at the Gothenburg 2004 Homeless World Cup when he was homeless battling issues with alcohol following the death of his father. He is now running his own Social Enterprise working with homeless people in Scotland.

“The Homeless World Cup was the rope that allowed me to pull myself out of a very dark todsmurray.com

hole. It helped me and now I can help others.”

Lisa represented the United States at the Rio 2010 Homeless World Cup and went on to coach her country in Paris 2011.

“Playing at the Homeless World Cup tournament was one of the most profound and positive experiences of my life. I know now that I never have to use alcohol or drugs again in my life and my experience with football has completely reinforced that for me. Since the Rio 2010 Event I am so much more confident in the things I do, filled with a true sense of purpose and belief that I can achieve my goals.”

THIRD SECTOR FORUM We run a Third Sector Forum to help those involved in the industry share ideas and learn from the experiences of others. Our free quarterly seminars are designed to be practical, whilst providing expert commercial guidance from industry leading speakers. For those involved in the Third Sector, these are not to be missed. Visit todsmurray.com/thirdsectorforum2012 for more information. <

MORE INFORMATION Mel Young, President and co-founder of the Homeless World Cup, discussed Scotland’s unique charitable approach and what it can offer the world, in a recent seminar at our office. To watch this video visit todsmurraytv.com/homeless GET INVOLVED Log on to their website to find out more information about the organisation and how to join and support the team: homelessworldcup.org.

Take part in the Homeless World Cup Corporate Football Event Kinetic 5s in Glasgow or London. kinetic5s.com

01 Thousands of excited spectators turned out everyday for the Melbourne 2008 Homeless World Cup. 02 Once homeless himself, David Duke managed Scotland to Homeless World Cup success in Copenhagen 2007.

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02 The Ugandan ladies are another great example of how the Homeless World Cup has helped change lives for the better.

ALUMNI

We catch up with Stephen Cullen, one of our alumni who is now a lawyer with leading American law firm Miles & Stockbridge P.C.

Life after the firm

39 Tell us about your current role?

I am Head of Family Law and Private Clients, and am Director of my firm’s Pro Bono Advocacy Program. There is no legal aid in the USA for any civil cases and there is an expectation that all large firms (we have 250+ lawyers) provide free representation to litigants who cannot afford to pay. In Baltimore City there is a huge need – 80% of family law cases in have at least one party who has no lawyer – the system is at breaking point. The last five years have been particularly difficult for Baltimore and we handle a huge number of pro bono family law and domestic violence cases.

What is the best part of your job?

The total variety, loyalty and dedication of my family law group lawyers and managing a national family law practice in a foreign land!

How did your time at Tods Murray help to shape your career?

So much. Client needs are everything. Here’s my advice: Take problems to the boss (the now retired Michael Simpson). Win the Christmas silly hat competition at all costs!

Get in early to stay ahead of the day. Don’t let advocates, barristers or clients boss you around. Stand up for what is right and be loyal to your colleagues at all times. Be able to take a really good precognition á la Tods Murray’s Elaine Brailsford.

STEPHEN CULLEN CV 1960 Born Gosforth 1981 Graduates LLB from University of Edinburgh 1989 Competes Diploma in Legal Practice at Edinburgh 1990 Joins Tods Murray in the Litigation department, dealing with civil litigations of all kinds 1992 Moves to the US joining Miles & Stockbridge’s Baltimore office 1994 First Scottish lawyer to qualify in Maryland since 1607 2004 American Bar Assoc National Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year 2008 Trial Lawyer of the Year

How was the transition from working in the UK to the US? Terrifying. There is no free lunch in the USA. The work hours are appalling and the work never ends. There is a complete collapse between work and home life that takes time to accept. It is a very, very competitive profession, but my accent really opened doors. There is a notion that you can make of your life whatever you want, and that is addictive.

What opportunities did Miles & Stockbridge offer?

It’s an 80 year old firm (young by Tods Murray standards but not by across-thepond). That basically said – here it is – if you work really hard you can achieve anything you want. Also, Clarence Miles brought the Baltimore Orioles back to the city in the 1950s and changed the East Coast sports landscape forever. I thought a bunch of sports-mad lawyers would be full of interesting characters.

What is the most memorable moment of your career?

There are two. Trying my first case with Tods Murray’s Michael Simpson in Edinburgh Sheriff Court and appearing in the US Supreme Court as counsel for the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference in 2010 in the first child abduction case to reach the US Supreme Court. The justices were not expecting my accent when I moved three of my best friends into the bar of the Court that morning!

Do you have any professional regrets?

Definitely. I just took the English transfer bar exam – the QLTT – two years ago (and passed thankfully) but I should have qualified in England in addition to Scotland years ago.

It is just not realistic not to be barred in multiple jurisdictions if you do international work.

What are your tips For achieving career goals?

Be kind, be loyal and work really, really hard.

Don’t lose the Scottish accent! Help bring people on – it will come back to you in spades time and again.

What qualities are necessary to be successful?

Honesty. Humility. Generosity. <

Dispatches

40 LITIGATION & DISPUTE RESOLUTION

Jurors who flout the rules

As Sir Francis Bacon, the Renaissance philosopher, once said “knowledge is power”. But this isn’t always the case, particularly when you’re a juror.

todsmurray.com

Take Theodor a Dallas, a juror in a criminal trial at Luton Crown Court, as a prime example. Earlier this year Dallas was sentenced to six months imprisonment for researching the background of a defendant on the internet and then advising her fellow jurors of his previous charges. The entire trial collapsed as a result.

This follows the sentencing of Joanne Fraill last year who was sentenced to eight months imprisonment after using Facebook to exchange messages with a defendant in a multi-million pound drug trial. She also admitted conducting an internet search into his boyfriend, a co-defendant in the trial.

Whilst it’s tempting for jurors to carry out their own detective work, this information could be biased or just plain wrong! But what has been seen can’t be unseen, and it can be difficult to remain impartial when additional information is known, which hasn’t been revealed during a trial.

For many an avid social media user, who religiously posts about their lives down to the mediocrity of what they had for breakfast, it may be hard to refrain from posting about a day as a juror in Court.

One woman, who couldn’t decide on a verdict in a High Court case in England, sought

her Facebook friends’ help. She posted details and invited friends to decide if the people accused of the crimes were guilty or not, stating that she couldn’t decide so was “holding a poll”. But this wasn’t seeking assistance on which shoes to buy, it was deciding whether someone should go to prison.

Nowadays with “googling” being second nature to most people, the Courts face real problems as individuals accused of crimes are entitled to fair hearings and should only be tried on the evidence presented in the courtroom. Currently the only option for Courts is to hand down harsh sentences under the Contempt of Court Act 1981 to those jurors who flout the rules. But in this day and age when there is such a myriad of information so readily available through social networks and the media, it’s a challenge that looks set to stay for some time to come. <

Naomi Pryde Senior Solicitor 0131 656 2163 naomi.pryde@todsmurray.com uk.linkedin.com/in/naomipryde

THE LAST WORD

The extra dimensions of penicillin Glasgow University Emeritas Professor and Private Client Gordon Thallon Stewart M.D. provides our ‘Last Word’ on Alexander Fleming and the radical seen and unseen impact of penicillin on the world.

On a fine Sunday morning in the fall of 1954, I checked in to a hotel in Washington DC to attend a meeting on communicable diseases at Bethesda on the following day. This was my first visit to the Capital, so I signed up for a tour of the city organised by the hotel, and entered a limousine containing only one passenger, an attractive lady who identified me as an Englishman. When I said, well, Scottish, she said she knew a Scottish doctor named Sir Alexander Fleming. I said perhaps that is my boss, at Mary’s Hospital, London, to which she answered Yes, what a coincidence, and said that she also was a doctor. At this point, a third male passenger entered the limousine, and our tour began. She was Swiss, the third passenger was French, and we spoke English with some interjections in French, during our tour in which a common interest in penicillin emerged after I had enquired politely to the lady (Mme X) if her acquaintance with Sir Alexander Fleming related to his discovery of penicillin.

Bien sur, replied Mme X. She had been present at the presentation of the Nobel Prize to Fleming, along with Professors Sir Howard Florey and Sir Ernst Chain by the King of Sweden in Stockholm. Apparently she was an official guest and attended also the glamorous State Ball after the presentations. The custom was that the Nobellists should follow the King to to the dance floor. Fleming failed to do so because he was, sadly, alone. His wife, Lady Saleen, was seriously ill at home. Mme X perceived his dilemma and asked him if he would care to dance with her which he did, without enthusiasm. However, on her initiative, a friendship slowly developed and continued after Saleen’s sad death in 1949 because Mme X was convinced – along with many others

named internationally – that Fleming was one of very few who had achieved the eminence to call independently for peace in a world dangerously at risk of resumption of war between top nations, ethnic and religious groups and exponents of new forms of mayhem, disorder and persecution. Our discussion deepened as we began to realise that we were accidentally but quite knowledgeably discussing a global danger exceeding all others, with no end in sight then or, especially now.

This is the less tangible but deeper extra dimension of a discovey as fundamental as penicillin, which extends security by reducing or removing fear in innumerable persons and entire populations threatened by illness. Its reliability at all ages was quickly obvious and was not compromised even in fragile economies by unavailability. It extended the security offered to the public by the health services and became, for the first time in human history, a safeguard independent of political or cultural constraints. Those who provide this, and especially those who add to it gain respect and authority greater than religious or political leaders or celebrities. Passively, everyone benefits in health by knowing this and, in illness, by receiving it to prevent or cure an increasing range of infections, hitherto fatal or life-spoiling from infancy onward like pyogenic sepsis of wounds and epidemics of disaster diseases like yaws, rheumatic fever, lobar pneumonias and meningitis.

These instant and visible virtues of penicillin were personalised, often excessively, in the modest, undemanding character of Alexander Fleming. Mme X, herself a practicing beneficiary, felt that his achievement qualified him exceptionally as a man uniquely qualified to invite Stalin and all national leaders to recognise miraculous opportunity suddenly available to instal health and safety priorities in the logic, policy and prosperity of all nations that were periodically ravaged by wars. She saw herself as a professional woman with a mission to promote this by persuading authorities to nominate Fleming as an Ambassador for Health, and to discontinue preparations for war. This was the reason for her visit to Washington, one

of many tracking his global travels and amazing popular appeal that has helped to show how doubts, difficulties and denials of days past could be overcome by honesty and effort.

She was cheerfully dismissive of impediments, naively and charmingly obsessed by her mission and especially by Fleming whom she seemed to know well, as I found later. It was not in his nature to push his luck or accept her exaltation, but her efforts, charm and sincerity persisted through the year 1954 when he died, and when I last heard from her. She admired Dr Amalia Voureka, the second Lady Fleming who must rank first in explicit and personal devotion to him. This was not reciprocated, but Amalia became famous as a heroine in defence of freedom of thought and action in the postwar military dictatorship of Greece, with the same intensity that led both women and multitudes of others in Greece, Spain, India and South America to kiss his feet in appreciation of the intangible extra dimensions of penicillin. <

“ These instant and visible virtues of penicillin were personalised, often excessively, in the modest, undemanding character of Alexander Fleming.”

Get in touch Tods Murray LLP Edinburgh Quay 133 Fountainbridge Edinburgh EH3 9AG Tel 0131 656 2000 Fax 0131 656 2020 33 Bothwell Street Glasgow G2 6NL Tel 0141 275 4771 Fax 0141 275 4781 todsmurray.com

The pictures below are taken from our current Firm Profile book. The Firm Profile is the story of Tods Murray and what makes us different. To request a copy of the Firm Profile please email any of the below contacts.

Banking & Finance Graham Burnside graham.burnside@todsmurray.com

Planning & Development Stuart Rowson stuart.rowson@todsmurray.com

Bribery Consultancy Service Barbara Bolton barbara.bolton@todsmurray.com

Private Client Gordon Cunningham gordon.cunningham@todsmurray.com

Charity Law David Dunsire david.dunsire@todsmurray.com

Projects Stephen Colliston stephen.colliston@todsmurray.com

Construction Charles Brien charles.brien@todsmurray.com

Real Estate Susie Thornton susie.thornton@todsmurray.com

Corporate Malcolm Holmes malcolm.holmes@todsmurray.com

Recovery & Insolvency Hamish Patrick hamish.patrick@todsmurray.com

Employment Martin Thurston Smith martin.thurston.smith @todsmurray.com

Renewable Energy Richard Leslie richard.leslie@todsmurray.com

Environment & Climate Change Stephen Colliston stephen.colliston@todsmurray.com Familes in Business Jack Gardiner jack.gardiner@todsmurray.com Family Law Elaine Brailsford elaine.brailsford@todsmurray.com Hospitality & Leisure Katie Corrigan katie.corrigan@todsmurray.com IT/IP/Media Susan McFadyen susan.mcfadyen@todsmurray.com Litigation & Dispute Resolution Elaine Brailsford elaine.brailsford@todsmurray.com

Residential Property Gordon Cunningham gordon.cunningham@todsmurray.com Rural Property & Business Peter Misselbrook peter.misselbrook@todsmurray.com Social Housing Stephen Humphreys stephen.humphreys@todsmurray.com Sports Law Stephen Humphreys stephen.humphreys@todsmurray.com Tax Anne Marie Renz annemarie.renz@todsmurray.com