Business Comment #10 apr/may 10/11

They’re thinking about the election – but are they thinking about business?

The manifesto for business

APRIL/MAY 2011

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

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Contents

APRIL/MAY 2011

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X marks the spot In February we launched our Manifesto for the Holyrood elections, which happen in May. Don’t worry we’re not standing; we’re not politicians, but we are representing the interest of the business community to those who make the political decisions.

We favour no political party and we try to have dialogue with all of them.

At the end of the day, what we seek is that the next Scottish Government delivers a programme that truly adheres to the commitment ‘the economy comes first’.

03 Introduction / contents

22|23 The interview

This is a phrase we hear from politicians often, alongside ‘the private sector must lead the recovery’. But is this expressed will borne out by the actions of politicians? Too frequently it isn’t. So as the leading business representative organisation in Scotland’s capital, we are not going to let this go with an anodyne ‘I’ll read it later’. We will be calling our politicians to account; either they agree with our propositions or they don’t. And if they don’t, what alternatives are they proposing?

04 Concern over air duty rise

24|25 Cover feature

05 Small firm wins big

37 In the spotlight

07 Capital view

38 Chamber Awards

13 Be the best

39 Legal

15 Going international

41 Ask the expert / get with IT

Continuing political engagement will be our strategy and we will be calling for the next Scottish Government to endorse the need to talk frequently with businesses.The second key goal to help our city score well in the recovery is making Edinburgh a place that people really want to invest in.

15 Anderson Strathern looks

44 Getting started

45 Business news

16|18 Inspiring connections

48 Boost for arts funding

49|50 Movers & shakers

The first step is to attract businesses by lowering the cost base. If our public expenditure is reined in; if our taxes are reduced; if the burden of red tape is minimised; and if our planning system sharpens up and delivers – then we will have laid the foundation for a new generation of economic prosperity.

We are not going to achieve this without strong leadership.We have many powerful voices in our business community with track records to back up their opinions.We also need motivators – people who will win the hearts and minds campaign to support a positive outlook for Edinburgh’s future. People who are willing to stand up and be counted, and argue the case for decisions which enhance the ability of the private sector to lead the recovery, to provide the finance for social initiatives and to offer work to anyone displaced from a slimmed down public sector.

Read our lead article on Business Leads the Way – our manifesto – which all parties are free to adopt. Making your vote count is part of the solution.

Ron Hewitt chief executive

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Business Comment is an Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce publication.

All editorial a n d g en eral en qu iries: Edinburgh Chamber Customer Services Team Phone: 0844 736 2992 email: customerservices@edinburghchamber.co.uk Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, Capital House, 2 Festival Square, Edinburgh EH3 9SU www.edinburghchamber.co.uk President: Robert Carr Chief Executive: Ron Hewitt Bu sin ess Comm en t Editor Sharon Duncan, Customer Services Team Manager Phone: 0131 221 2976 email: sharon.duncan@edinburghchamber.co.uk P RODUCTION & DESIGN Distinctive Publishing, 8th Floor, Aidan House, Sunderland Road, Gateshead NE8 3HU Tel: 0845 884 2385 www.distinctivepublishing.co.uk ADVERTISING Distinctive Publishing, 8th Floor, Aidan House, Sunderland Road, Gateshead NE8 3HU Tel: 0845 884 2345 john.neilson@distinctivepublishing.co.uk FEATURE EDITORS John Dean & Francis Griss deangriss@btinternet.com DISCLAIM ER

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

Cover p h oto © Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body - 2011

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Chambernews Concern over air duty rise

passengers, while the lucrative long haul market could decline by as much as 5%.

A drop in demand of this scale could undermine the long term viability of some routes, and harm the prospects of further route development, particularly in the absence of a publicly funded route development fund.

Lifeline routes to the Scottish Islands could also be impacted by the November tax rise, adding a burden to those using the vital links.

Industry analysts York Aviation, who carried out the work, have calculated the economic contribution of Scotland’s main airports, and found that Edinburgh airport supports around 6,200 jobs in Scotland and generates some £146 million for the Scottish economy.

A new report has warned that last November’s rise in Air Passenger Duty (APD) could cost Scotland’s airports more than one million passengers over the next three years.

Air Passenger Duty was first introduced in 1994 at a rate of £5 for European destinations and £20 elsewhere. The past three years have seen a succession of increases, with passengers now paying up to £170 in tax as a result of the most recent rise in November 2010.

The report, commissioned by Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow Airports, suggests that the latest tax rise will cost the Scottish economy up to £77 million in lost tourism spend and jeopardise ambitions to grow Scotland’s international route network.

Overall, Scottish airports are set to lose 1.2 million passengers over the next three years, including around 150,000 inbound international visitors. Domestic routes are set to be hit hardest, losing almost 500,000

Edinburgh Airport Managing Director Kevin Brown said: “The unintended consequences of this tax are significant for Scotland and its travel and tourism industries. Aviation knows that it has a responsibility to pay for itself which it does, but it cannot bee seen as an easy target to squeeze until dry.

“Further taxation in this area will cost jobs and damage Scotland’s economy. Ministers must consider this when deciding on tax and the support that our vital industries require.”

Paving the way for woman entrepreneurs A recent trip to Finland allowed a team of Scottish professionals to learn more about trading with Scandinavia.

Susan Harkins, Edinburgh Chamber Business Manager, Business Start-up & Development, and Hazel Smith, WINNET8 Consultant, formed part of a delegation of Scottish professionals who went on the study trip to Finland.

The purpose of the trip was to examine work being done by our Finnish counterparts, to address the challenges of: n Low employment rates among women n Segregated labour markets n Lack of women in entrepreneurship n Lack of women in innovation and technology

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The Women’s Entrepreneurship Event provided representatives from Scotland with the opportunity to see and hear about examples of good practice in promoting entrepreneurship. It also cultivated valuable working links with our Scandinavian partners to help us learn from their success and strengths.

Representatives of the South Ostrobothnia Chamber were interested to hear about the Edinburgh Business Incubator Model that we deliver as part of Business Gateway, which mirrors some of their own approaches to tackling the specific barriers women face in starting and growing their businesses.

South Ostrobothnia is one of the 19 regional Chambers of Commerce in Finland. The region is renowned for its entrepreneurship and high density of SME’s.

The main businesses are wood and furniture production, metal industry, food production and technology and dedicated work is being undertaken to support new business start-ups and business growth for women in these areas.

Edinburgh Chamber is the lead UK partner in the consortium of eight EU states (WINNET8), providing support and direction through business and enterprise development, to ensure wider and better opportunities for women in segregated areas of the labour market and in business.

The harnessing of good practice and comparative findings from all participating EU member states will also act as guidance to central government and the EU.

Small firm wins big

Hotel event boosts charity

Employee benefit consultancy Citrus4Benefits is celebrating awards success.

The Chamber member won the national ‘Small Firm of the Year’ award at the Corporate Adviser Awards ceremony in London in February.

The award acknowledges excellence in the provision and communication of advice and financial products through the workplace.

It recognises those advisers and providers that have brought real innovations to the field of workplace financial services, and which have proven to be valuable to both employers and employees.

The Chamber would like to extend its warm congratulations to Citrus4Benefits on their fantastic achievement, which will hopefully enable the firm to grow its business and enhance services in the next phase of development.

For more information, visit: www.citrus4benefi ts.co.uk

L to R: Sue Finlay, Director of Sales & Marketing, Sheraton Grand Hotel and Spa, and Marion Taylor, Community Fundraiser for Maggie’s Edinburgh, with Barbara Turner (Speaker), Janet Ellis, Fred MacAulay, and Valerie Busher, Community Fundraiser for Maggie’s Scotland.

The Sheraton Grand Hotel & Spa in Edinburgh raised £23,000 for Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres at an event held in its elegant Edinburgh Suite.

The lunch was attended by 330 women from across Scotland and featured truly inspirational speeches, including Barbara Turner, a centre user at Maggie’s Edinburgh, as well as Maggie’s Patron, Janet Ellis and Fred MacAulay.

Sue Finlay, Director of Sales & Marketing at The Sheraton Grand Hotel & Spa, said: “The positive feedback from the ladies who attended has been overwhelming, with many asking if we will be running the lunch again next year. Our intention is to run the event again in 2012 with a view to making it an annual event.”

During the lunch, guests were treated to relaxing hand massages, glasses of pink fizz and the opportunity to win a range of raffle and auction prizes.

Marion Taylor, Maggie’s Edinburgh Community Fundraiser, said: “The £23,000 raised will go a long way towards helping fund the running costs of our Centre so that anyone affected by cancer can have access to free-of-charge practical and emotional support from cancer professionals.”

L to R: Paul Bucksey, from award sponsor Friends Provident, with Tim Gillingham and Howard Finch of Citrus4Benefits, and comedian, Ian Moore, who hosted the Awards.

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The Mercedes-Benz E-Class Saloon.

A sound business choice.

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Finance an E-Class Saloon for your business through Mercedes-Benz of Edinburgh and benefit from low monthly payments from only £349*.

And with higher residuals, less outlay and CO2 emissions from just 137g/km, the E-Class is a sound business choice, however you look at it.

E 220 CDI SE Saloon with automatic transmission and exterior styling pack.

36 months Operating Lease 3+35 payment pattern £1,047+VAT initial rental £349+VAT monthly rental*

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Official government fuel consumption figures in mpg (litres per 100km) for the E 220 CDI SE Auto Saloon: urban 36.2(7.8), extra urban 64.2(4.4), combined 48.7(5.8). CO2 emissions: 154 g/km. *For business users only. All payments subject to VAT: Example based on a Mercedes-Benz E 220 CDI SE Auto Saloon with exterior styling pack on a 36 months (3+35 profile) Mercedes-Benz Operating Lease agreement, excluding maintenance, with an advance payment of £1,047 and a £180 acceptance fee payable in addition to and at the same time as the first rental. Based on 10,000 miles per annum. Excess mileage charges may apply. Rental includes first year’s Road Fund Licence only.

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Capitalview The future’s bright; the future’s international

By John Rendall CEO for HSBC in Scotland

Trading internationally is often regarded as inherently difficult and risky by many Scottish business leaders. However with the right research and advice in place, it can offer businesses a valuable opportunity to exploit their strengths, diversify their customer base and expand into new, more profitable markets.

In 2011, we expect to see increased international trade driven by significant growth in emerging markets and this will play a key role in helping Scottish businesses see beyond their domestic borders.

Research published by HSBC at the beginning of 2011 highlighted a divergence in growth between developed and emerging global economies. This divergence began in 2000 and the report, ‘The World in 2050’, indicates that the gap will only continue to grow. However, this seismic shift in the global economy offers ‘thinking’ Scottish businesses an opportunity to innovate and thrive in this period of recovery.

The report predicts that by 2050, the emerging world will have increased five-fold and developing countries, including China, India, Mexico and Turkey, will comprise 19 of the 30 largest global economies; however, none of these 19 are currently in Scotland’s list of top-ten export countries.

There are many exciting opportunities that currently exist in international markets for Scottish firms but for any business looking to diversify overseas, it is essential that initial desk research is supplemented with a visit to the country to meet contacts and get on the ground advice. The Scottish Council for Development and Industry’s (SCDI) trade missions, which have recently taken delegates to Hong Kong and China, India, Turkey, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates, offer Scottish businesses an ideal opportunity to do just that.

Smart Exporter, established in 2010 to support SMEs looking to venture into new markets, is another valuable source of information.

Its efforts to boost Scotland’s GDP growth via the grassroots offers Scottish businesses a wide array of advisory services and specialist training which is invaluable when firms are beginning to consider their international potential.

‘The World in 2050’ also highlights the acceleration of global growth, thanks to the contribution from emerging economies and the resultant change in international trade flows.

Historically, the developed world imported finished products from developing countries such as China, but a new wave of consumer

John Rendall

and business investment demand in emerging economies is having an impact on traditional trade flows. As the emerging world continues to increase, Scottish businesses can capitalise on opportunities by becoming the supplier of the raw materials required.

In a more mature market such as Scotland, there is a real need for businesses to assess the cost of not looking to international markets.

Having partners who fully understand the importance of international trade, and can provide the right advice and financial support is an invaluable resource. There is a wealth of opportunity across a whole range of sectors and markets and we believe now is the time Scottish businesses should start to venture further afield.

The World in 2050 report can be downladed or read from: http://www.research.hsbc.com/midas/Res

The view from the Galleries Museums Galleries Scotland has announced fresh details of its campaign that supports individuals and organisations making important decisions about the future of publicly-run museums and galleries in Scotland.

The Choices for Change toolkit has been enhanced to become a ‘one stop information shop’ for local authorities and other organisations to help them plan their service in a climate of budget cuts. Joanne Orr, CEO, Museums Galleries Scotland, said: “News about public spending cuts is omnipresent. Local authorities are making difficult decisions

on how they will continue to deliver museum and gallery services to their communities. Choices for Change is about supporting the sector to determine how we can develop a positive and ultimately sustainable future for the museum and gallery sector.” Choices for Change is available at www.choicesforchange.info

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Putting passengers first

By Kevin Brown

Managing Director, Edinburgh Airport main access routes to the vast majority of our overseas markets, for business, leisure, and family activities.

The more astute of you may already have noticed three letters missing from the brand above: B.A.A. Yes, as part of our new brand development, the name of our parent company has been dropped. And no, it is not part of a wider conspiracy, as some of the bloggers on Scotsman.com would have you believe, but marks a company-wide focus on our passengers.

All BAA airports have adopted their own distinct brands. After all, our passengers don’t say they’re flying from BAA Edinburgh Airport – they fly from Edinburgh Airport.

With this change we can align ourselves with our passengers and firmly root ourselves in our city. So what does ‘inspiring journeys’ mean for our passengers?

Our role is both tangible – the runway at Edinburgh being one of Scotland’s key economic generators – and aspirational.

It’s within our aspiration role that we really have to put meat on the bones of our new brand. We are committed to providing inspiring journeys for all and it’s at the centre of everything we do: We will work hard to provide as many inspiring destinations as we can from Edinburgh; we’ll work hard to make sure our facilities and services inspire our passengers; we’ll work hard in our leading role to promote the city and inspire people to visit; and we’ll work hard to be an inspiring gateway to our capital city, giving it a sense of place and excitement.

This is the inspiring journey that we’re on and with your support, one that we can succeed in.

We are a nation at the northwest periphery of Europe and aviation is still one of the

Kevin Brown

“We’ll work hard to make sure our facilities and services inspire our passengers”

Getting the word out A free guide to DIY public relations is being published by the company behind a Scottish media website.

The allmediascotland.com Little Book of DIY PR brings together advice on how to craft the perfect opening paragraph to a media release and information on how to contact the main Scottish daily newspapers.

Mike Wilson, allmediascotland.com director, said:

Mike Wilson

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“The media is always looking for stories, probably more now than ever before. But media releases have to be well written to

stand any chance of being followed up.

Anyone who is in the business of raising their profile and sharing their news should want to be harnessing the power of the media.”

A free copy of the guide is available by sending a SAE (DL or C6 size) to allmediascotland.com, c/o Palmer Watson, 44 Hanover Street, Edinburgh EH2 2DR.

Economy&business Low economic expectations carry on into 2011

By Cliff Lockyer,

The Fraser of Allander Institute, University of Strathclyde Coordinator of the Scottish Chambers’ Business Survey The combination of exceptionally bad weather, signs of a slowing in the economic recovery and concerns as to reductions in government spending all combined to lead to a slowing down in the economy in the fourth quarter, and this was noted in both survey and official data.

What is unclear is that whether the slowdown was a consequence of the prolonged harsh weather conditions over the final five weeks of 2010, or evidence of a slowing in the economic recovery. The ONS and the Government took the view that the weather had a significant adverse impact on the economy. To a degree, this view was supported by a number of the monthly surveys which had pointed to a slow down in December, but some recovery in January.

Nevertheless there is much to suggest that economic growth is slowing and the problems for the economy, most notably inflation and rising cost pressures, are increasing. Consumer confidence remains weak and the latest retail figures suggest a decline in retail sales. Whilst this may in part be due to the rise in VAT in January, it equally reflects an increase in consumer prices and the cost of living.

Amongst Scottish businesses, expectations for the first quarter of 2011 remain very weak, and generally weaker than a year ago. There is also more evidence, in both manufacturing and construction, that those firms with more exposure to public sector orders are less optimistic as to 2011 than those with lower exposure.

In the latest results from the Scottish Chambers’ Business Survey (SCBS) manufacturing respondents reported an improving trend in total orders, fuelled by a further rise in export orders. All the surveys covering Scottish construction reported, in contrast to official figures, reported downward trends in total new orders and more than threequarters of SCBS respondents reporting declining levels of public sector contracts.

Official Scottish Retail Consortium Retail and SCBS respondents all reported weak sales trends, reflecting a combination of bad weather, rising prices and weak consumer confidence. Both Visit Scotland and SCBS figures for tourism suggest a weakening in demand in the fourth quarter with occupancy figures lower than a year ago. However, the extent to which the weather led to a decline in tourism activity is unclear.

Rising cost pressures have been reported in a number of recent surveys. The SCBS for the fourth quarter of 2010 noted that more than 75% of manufacturing, 92% of wholesale and 67% of retail respondents reported pressures to increase prices due to rising raw material/suppliers’ prices. 92% of wholesale, 42% of manufacturing and 38% of retail respondents reported rising transport costs.

Cliff Lockyer

Looking back on 2010, the underlying weaknesses in demand and consumer spending were more evident in the second half of the year, before the harsh winter, increase of VAT to 20% and rising fuel and energy costs. For 2011 the onset of public sector spending cuts continues to sap business confidence, leading those firms with higher exposure to public sector orders to expect a further weakening in demand and activity.

The trends for the first quarter of 2011 will reflect adjustments to higher levels of VAT, increased fuel and utility charges. Over the year, rising inflation, the pace and scale of public sector job cuts and reductions in expenditure will contribute to weak levels of demand coupled with increased cost pressures.

FT LINDEN COMPLETE FRONT ROW WITH NO.3 MORTON FT Linden has recently expanded following the appointment of well-known investment agent John Morton as a third director.

FT Linden, whose roots were established in January 2009, is rapidly growing into one of the success stories to sail out of the recent property doldrums.

‘John is a well known face in the commercial property investment market in Scotland and has advised clients on numerous acquisitions and disposals across all of the main property sectors. He will be a significant enhancement to the team’ states director Angus Thomson.

John Morton originally spent six years at Ryden Property Consultants in Edinburgh where he established a solid understanding of the investment market and a significant network of property agent contacts.

John Lindsay, director, comments ‘John Morton is clearly a highly motivated individual and constantly strives to deliver the best results for his clients. He has immense attention to detail, a strong analytical approach and excellent market knowledge. I greatly look forward to working with him.’

• FT Linden is an Edinburgh based commercial property consultancy.

• FT Linden provides investment advice across all property sectors and throughout the UK. • FT Linden is also an established occupational agent and provides energy efficiency advice.

For additional information please contact:

Angus Thomson, John Lindsay, John Morton on 0131 226 6287 www.ftlinden.com

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sPeCiAl FeAture

Highland Cathedral at the Highland Centre Edinburgh Pipe Band Championship – music to our ears The Royal Highland Centre is to play host to its first pipe band competition on Sunday 24th July. Over 500 of Scotland’s leading pipers and drummers are expected to compete in the inaugural Edinburgh Pipe Band Championship 2011 in association with The Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association Lothian & Borders Branch.

The event, which organisers hope will attract an audience of 5000, will see over 35 bands contest seven categories to be crowned championship winners. Highland dancing

and two Drum Major competitions, together with heavy events including tossing the caber and family entertainment will also take place throughout the day.

Archie Glendinning, director at the Royal Highland Centre said: “It’s been over fifteen years since a piping event was held in Edinburgh so we’re delighted to be putting piping back firmly on the calendar, bringing the capital its first ever pipe band championship.”

John Hughes, chairman of The Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association Lothian & Borders Branch, added: “Piping is a long held tradition across Scotland and we’re delighted to be working with the Royal Highland Centre to bring Edinburgh its first pipe band championship. We will have nine categories ranging from grade 1 - to grade 4 and juvenile contests and, with a prize fund of over £5000, we hope to attract the region’s finest to take part in the competition.”

The championship starts at 9am, with the grand finale taking place at 5.30pm. Tickets will be available at the gate (adults - £7, children under the age of 16 go free, car parking - £4).

For more information or to enter the Edinburgh Pipe Band Championship competition, please visit: www.edinburghpipebandchampionship.com

Gardening Scotland event organiser Martin Dare says:

“We’ve hosted Gardening Scotland at the Royal Highland Centre since 2000. The Centre is unique in terms of its indoor and outdoor offering, extensive car parking and proximity to much of the Scottish population – there really is no other venue in Scotland that matches our requirements so closely.”

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From the RHS to JLS in one smooth move Picture the scene, it is 9am on a beautiful Friday morning – Friday the 1st July in fact and there is a buzz of excitement at the Royal Highland Centre as a few avid fans have been camping out all night to get the best place to see their beloved heart-throbs JLS! As arguably the UK’s hottest property in the charts at the moment, JLS will attract crowds in excess of 17,000 but speak to operations manager at the Royal Highland Centre, James Skillen and he sees things from an entirely different angle…..

His role sees him juggling different events and differing requirements throughout the year. And already this year has been busier than most! Since mid March with the New Start Exhibition, which recently swapped its venue of choice to the Royal Highland Centre, taking place alongside Slater menswear clothing sale, and already you are starting to look at a few thousand people on site.

James’ job spans all operational logisitics to getting exhibitors on site, getting them off again, through to car park planning, catering requirements, health and safety and security.

For a single event on its own it is a lot to take care of, but multiply that by four when in April the Future Cheer cheerleading event with 4000 children is taking place along with the Outdoor Pursuits event, a wedding and the Joules clothing sale, and again you are looking at 9000 people visiting the site.

And each person visiting wants easy access to where they want to go and a seamless experience at their chosen event.

For the JLS concert and indeed any event expected to attract over 5000 attendees, the Centre hosts event planning meetings to ensure that every organisation which has a role to play in or around the event is kept apprised of activities and progress as the event date draws near.

For JLS James says, “There will probably be four meetings when we will get together as a group to look at what is required. Each event is slightly different in their requirements and make up and in turn we need to make sure

that we offer the best possible support and solutions to make sure the event goes to plan.

“We have the benefit of having a central location, but that also comes with the need to work closely with the council to avoid planning road works on our stretch of the M8 on a weekend like JLS when we will have an influx of visitors by car, rail, coach and air all gravitating towards the Royal Highland Centre.

“Within our planning group, we have excellent working relationships across transport, catering, health and safety, security and stewarding, public safety, licensing, police and the concert promoter. Time spent planning effectively for all eventualities is a valuable part of the process to stage an event.

“We all share the same goal, for people to come along to the Centre, have a fantastic day out and enjoy the concert.”

What they won’t know – and don’t need to know, is that four days earlier, James will have been ushering out some 180,000 visitors from the Royal Highland Show weekend.

With the concert taking place in the prestigious main ring, James has to coordinate the dismantling of over 15 marquees and dozens of generators and other pieces of kit necessary to stage one of Scotland’s most successful shows of the year.

That all needs to be well out the way before the crane can gain access to start building the impressive 18m supernova structure and 14m catwalk that will form the backdrop and stage for Aston, Marvin, JB and Oritsé and support act Olly Murs, to sing and dance to their assembled crowd.

And no doubt once the lights dim on the boys, and the fans safely return home, there will again be that smattering of fanatical fans camping throughout the night before they start to make their journeys home from one of Scotland’s largest outdoor concerts this summer. For some it really will be a midsummer night’s dream.

R&B boyband JLS set to rock at Ingliston Boy-band sensation JLS is coming to Edinburgh in July, playing the Royal Highland Centre on the 1st July, as part of its extended arena tour. JLS, who shot to fame on the 2008 series of the X-Factor, will be joined by special guest Olly Murs to entertain what is expected to be this summer’s biggest outdoor concert in Scotland.

Announcing the concert, Archie Glendinning, director at the Centre was delighted to have signed JLS for the Scottish leg of the tour. As one of the most sought after bands at the moment, the concert tops the line up of a summer season which has something for everyone.

Throughout the summer, the Centre will be host to: • Gardening Scotland on 3rd – 5th June, • The Royal Highland Show on 23rd – 26th June, • The Scottish Car Show on Sunday 17th July.

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Business portraiture by Graham Carnie B.A.

Graham Carnie Tuskite Photography 0131 477 6594

Graham’s commission was to photograph Malcolm Scott, one of Scotland’s most respected and influential business men. Malcolm’s latest venture is the revolutionary ‘ART ROCH’, Edinburgh’s first Boutique Hostel. For more information about Graham Carnie and his work, go to: www.grahamcarniephotography.co.uk

Bethebest Boost your business with a mentor Genna Nelson has recently taken over management of the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce Business Mentoring Programme, a free service providing mentoring assistance to over 200 growing business and third sector organisations each year.

If you are looking to grow your business, should you consider Business Mentoring? Genna says you should: “Most of us have had mentors in our lives; maybe more than one. Therefore, yes, all businesses looking to grow and develop should consider having a mentor to help them.

“Mentors are established business people with their own blend of business and life experience.

Their role is to support, stimulate and challenge you and they can help you view your business in a different light.

“The mentor does not need to come from the same business sector; in fact it is often better to have a mentor from a different field. Often problems are only problems because you are too

close to them, whereas an objective observer can see clearly the wood from the trees.

“Mentees have one aim in common: to grow their business and become more profitable.

As a growing business, you may have lots of ideas and plans for the future, but perhaps you lack the skills, experience or confidence to put them into action. Maybe you’d benefit from an objective view of your company, to help you realise what your goals should be?”

For more information, please call Genna on 0131 221 2982, visit the website www.businessmentoringscotland.co.uk or e-mail: genna.nelson@edinburghchamber.co.uk

Funding for family business Moray-based property development company Springfield Properties plc has secured funding from HSBC’s Commercial Banking team in North of Scotland allowing it to expand.

Family-owned Springfield Properties, which focuses on housebuilding and construction, was established in 1956 and is part of property specialists Springfield Group.

Under the leadership of chairman Sandy Adam, grandson of the company’s founder, the company has seen significant growth throughout the past decade and has remained consistently profitable, bucking the recent downward trend in the construction industry.

Since 1998, Springfield has built more than 2,000 new homes, delivering high-quality private and social housing, and improved infrastructure, to the towns of Moray and North East Scotland.

Susan Rowand, HSBC’s area commercial director, North of Scotland, said: “HSBC is delighted to be supporting Springfield by providing them with full banking facilities and funding to help the company to continue to implement its ambitious growth plans, including expansion into central Scotland.“ Sandy Adam said: “ Springfield has grown consistently through the last decade and this support from HSBC will ensure that we remain on that growth curve.”

Genna Nelson

A once in a lifetime experience...

For more than 60 years, the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo has dazzled audiences with its spectacular production and breathtaking performances.

This year, the experience is being taken to the next level with the new audience arena, which will offer spacious seating and highspec modern facilities. One of the most significant developments of the new Tattoo arena is the creation of two purpose built hospitality areas; the Premier seating area and the Tattoo Guest Box. Both the box seating and the premium seating packages are available to groups of 2-80, and come as standard with VIP access on foot, allowing you to avoid the queue.

For more information and prices on these official Tattoo products, please email elizabethg@edintattoo.co.uk

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Goinginternational

Anderson Strathern looks to the Far East Learning about doing business in Asia was the theme of an event staged by Anderson Strathern, in association with Corporate Connections International.

They hosted a Scottish Business in Singapore seminar promoting their Asia Team, lead by John Fulton.

The event focused on trends, issues and opportunities for Scottish businesses looking to enter the Singapore market for the first time.

Speakers included Simon Lints, a GlobalScot and co-founder of the Scottish Business Association (SBA) of Singapore; Carolyn Lints, a Scottish solicitor in Singapore and fellow co-founder of SBA; Mark Bingham, Managing Director of Draw Architects; John Fulton, Head of the Asia Team at Anderson Strathern; and Scott McClurg, Global Relationship Manager at HSBC. Their presentations covered interesting insights to doing business in Singapore and the role of the SBA in supporting companies looking to gain a foothold in the South East Asian market.

Key themes summed up by Laura Gordon, CEO of Corporate Connections International, were that Singapore provides an excellent platform from which to do business in South East Asia. It offers stable political conditions, an excellent infrastructure, a well-educated workforce and English as the language of commerce.

There are significant business opportunities for Scottish companies looking to Asia. Preparation for those thinking of making this step is essential. By working with John Fulton in Scotland and Carolyn and

L to R: Mark Bingham, MD, Draw Architects; John Fulton, Head of Asia Team, Anderson Strathern; Laura Gordon, CEO, Corporate Connections International; Carolyn Lints, Co-Founder, SBA of Singapore; and Simon Lints, Co-Founder, SBA of Singapore

Simon Lints in Singapore, relationships can be established and business risks can start to be mitigated.

The difference in culture means that it is a continuing learning curve and those seeking help and advice can do so through a free meeting by contacting John Fulton on email: john.fulton@andersonstrathern.co.uk

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Inspiringconnections

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Cuts, scratches and wounds

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L to R: Alex Munson and Paul Hutchinson of ProNetExpert Limited, with Iain Valentine of Whitespace (Scotland) Limited.

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Edinburgh Chamber Director of Development, Liz McAreavey (left), Barry Sealey of Morago Limited and Hannah Sutter of Go Lower share a laugh.

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Edinburgh Chamber President Robert Carr on stage with Jon Moulton during question time.

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Lil Shortland of UKSCF and Julian Voge, Brodies LLP (middle), with Edinburgh Chamber Managing Director, Graham Birse.

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L to R: The Chamber’s John Hughes with Jon Moulton, Brian Combe of i4 Product Design and Dr Cavmel Reilly of Aquila Biomedical.

Photos by Graham Carnie, Tuskite Photography

A man who knows all about turning business ventures from deadweight to success stories is Jon Moulton, Chairman of Better Capital, who spoke at our Premier Series Dinner on 6th January, about the morality of spending and the painful case for deeper cuts.

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Low carbon talks

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Photos by Graham Carnie, Tuskite Photography

Photos by Graham Carnie, Tuskite Photography

On 7th February, we were joined by Dr Andrew Spurr, Managing Director of EDF Energy, who spoke at our Premier Series Dinner at The George Hotel, about the energy challenge we face and the need for a diverse, low carbon portfolio.

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Dr Andrew Spurr addressing our guests.

Derek Mitchell of Global Wind Power (left), Kathie Lorimer, Spring Corporate Solutions, and Gavin Tosh of Clerwood Legal Services enjoy a glass of wine with their networking.

L to R: Andrew Walker of HJB Gateley Wareing (Scotland) LLP and Stewart Cobb of Doig & Smith Limited.

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Alistair Lothian of Len Lothian Limited (left) and Robert Boyd of Selex Galileo UK (middle) have a chat with Chamber CEO, Ron Hewitt.

Edinburgh Chamber President, Robert Carr, welcomes the guests.

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Upcomingevents

How would the end of cheques affect your business?

Speaker - Peter Finlayson, Director of Policy, Payment Council.

The ability to collect payments from customers on time is critical to the success of any business, as is the facility to pay bills and invoices and manage your business day-to-day. That’s why we’re working with the Payments Council, which is the organisation that has decided to set a target end date for cheques in the UK. The Payments Council needs to understand the effect its proposals will have on businesses, so that it can safeguard business interests and ensure that payment options are developed that meet business needs. If you want to find out more about the Payments Council’s plans, if your business will face difficulties operating without cheques, or if you want to find out more about the other payment options available, then come along and make your voice heard.

Tuesday 12 April 2011 | 8.30am - 10.30am Free

Radisson Blu Hotel, Royal Mile, Edinburgh

Business hustings – breakfast Edinburgh Chamber argue that reducing the size of the public sector is necessary, even overdue, but that we must stimulate business and the capacity of SMEs to replace the jobs lost in the public sector. We want to hear from the party leaders on plans to protect fragile SMEs, promote exports, create jobs and develop an agenda for growth. In partnership with Bank of Scotland, we present a ‘Business Hustings’ event with all the party leaders in attendance; Alex Salmond, Annabel Goldie, Iain Gray, Patrick Harvie and Tavish Scott. This is your chance to hear from the leaders on how they view the landscape as we enter a new political and economic cycle - and an opportunity to ask the questions you want to ask.

Wednesday 20 April 2011 | 8.15am - 10.00am

£20.00 (Chamber members and member guests) £50.00 (non-members)

Prestonfield House, Priestfield Road, Edinburgh

Breakfast Connections

Speakers: Erick Rainey, Director, Rainworks

For business owners and professional people, selling is an inescapable fact of life and it goes without saying that good communication skills are an integral part of the selling process. However, just because you are a good communicator doesn’t mean you’ll be good at closing the deal. The 5 Step Sales Process gives you a bulletproof way of creating a strategic route towards a win/win result for both you and your client. This process is simple to grasp and can be learned with relative ease.You will learn; - What is consultative selling and why it matters so much - Overview of the 5 Step Sales Process - Why your belief and attitude is core to the selling process - The buying cycle and some of the psychology behind it - The only 4 objections and how do we deal with them.

Monday 25th May 2011 | 8.30am - 9.45am

£33.00 (Chamber members and member guests) £63.00 (non-members)

The Hub, Royal Mile, Edinburgh

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60seconds A Cutting edge tax planning.

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

q How long have you been a Chamber member?

A Always looking to improve my sales and marketing as it is not a natural strength.

q In five words or less, what do you do?

A 1 year+ q Why did you join?

A To improve my network/contacts and explore business development opportunities e.g. by identifying prospective clients.

Name: Martin Cook Company Name: Martin Cook Accounting Services Limited Website: martin@mcaccounting.co.uk

q What services do you use?

A Networking events / mentoring. q What’s the best business/benefit you have won through the Chamber?

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

A Join and then undertake as much ‘activity’, e.g. networking, as your diary allows. q Where do you read your copy of Business Comment?

A Ehhhh – in bed?

A I have developed a strong and potentially successful relationship with Bob Ollason of Red Current Solutions. We will be running a tax planning products seminar and doing a presentation of our Contractors solution on the back of meeting Bob.

Let’s talk rubbish!

(And cut costs while we’re at it…)

2011 is a big year for rubbish. As of this April, commercial composting of organic waste such as food waste and eco packaging has become cheaper than sending unsorted waste to landfill.

Under the EU Landfill Directive, UK landfill tax is rising by £8 per tonne every year until at least 2014.This new tax year saw landfill tax rise to £56 per tonne. Organics recycling of catering waste is currently £32-£48 per tonne.That means that businesses of all sizes can start saving money by minimising what they send to landfill.

Edinburgh compostable packaging firm Vegware can help divert waste from landfill.Their entire range of catering disposables is suitable for organics recycling together with food waste.The firm has now launched the Vegware Composting Network, a new UK-wide service which introduces businesses to local uplifters who can collect and compost their organic waste such as compostable packaging and food scraps.

Vegware’s founder, Joe Frankel, said, “Composting makes business sense and is already a practical and economic option, with companies such as CORE collecting mixed organic waste from businesses all over Edinburgh.”

For more information, see www.vegware.com and www.wasteawarebusiness.org.uk

stay one step Ahead with free branding & marketing advice; call 0844 736 2992

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sPeCiAl FeAture

OnyxCloud gives business the competitive edge Savvy businesses are moving more and more of their IT infrastructure to cloud-based computing platforms.

The days of buying and managing on-premise IT solutions are over and Onyx are making the transition to cloud as simple as possible. It’s a competitive market out there and, wisely, businesses are thinking twice before committing to major IT spends.

The term ‘cloud computing’ is a relatively recent one but the technology has been out there for a long time. Andy MacLellan, Operations Manager for Cloud at Onyx comments “The evolution of the term ‘cloud computing’ is an interesting one. Some techies seem to hate it but businesses love it since it takes all the mystery out of IT provision and basically says - ‘I need to do x, y, z - provide me all of that as a service with guaranteed SLAs please’. It’s quite a logical step when you think about it. IT companies have hidden behind the complexities of IT solutions for too long and those days are over!”.

Cloud computing is open to businesses of all shapes and sizes and is being viewed as the ‘playing field leveller’ when it comes to technology.

This is since cloud-based solutions are largely the same price per user regardless of the number of staff accessing the environment. This allows businesses to scale and plan for expansion using very simple metrics. It’s already being deployed to a ready-scaled infrastructure so up-front costs are minimal.

As an example, if you wanted a Microsoft Exchange-based e-mail platform it’s not unreasonable to expect to pay £10,000+ on even the most basic of infrastructures for an on-premise solution. With hosted Exchange this is a simple flat rate of £5 per user per month. Exactly the same service, significantly more resilient and a fraction of the cost.

No management or maintenance fees to worry about, no hardware to refresh - you just get the service, the need for which is dictated by the business.

The same rules apply across the board for most IT services now.

Whether you’re talking about the ability to store and access files securely, run bespoke database applications, off-the-shelf products, data backups, remote system access, almost everything can be done via ‘the cloud’ now. Think of it as taking your existing infrastructure, making it bigger and more robust, putting it in a highly resilient data centre and having the entire solution delivered ‘as a service’ that can expand or contract to meet the needs of your business. And if it’s all sounding just a bit too daunting most providers offer free trials to let you ‘try before you buy’.

“It’s all about service.” Andy continues. “If you’re looking for a cloud provider you need to know two key things - that it’s running on a reliable, robust infrastructure and that the service is backed by a robust SLA.” And it’s not all about cost. Of course the cloud op-ex model is very attractive to many businesses, but there are good reasons why most

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companies are now actively investigating taking their IT systems off-site.

Responsiveness for support, systems resilience and security are all key considerations. Data protection and system security have never been more important and are points that have to be considered by every business, no matter how big or small. If you’re found negligent it’s the business owner that will ultimately be held accountable.

Neil Stephenson, CEO at Onyx adds “We’re a mature provider of cloud Infrastructure as a Service and we’ve invested heavily in our own infrastructure and our staff. We have large data centres in Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow; we’re ISO27001 accredited; we have our own resilient 1Gbps core network spanning the UK and we have excellent staff who control everything using the best software on the market.

We’ve recently upgraded our data backup infrastructure to the Asigra platform, widely regarded as the best on-line backup solution available.

We can’t explain how seriously we take the security and integrity of our customers’ and channel partners’ data.”

Like it or hate it cloud computing is mainstream and here to stay. It’s probably the hottest topic in IT and more businesses than ever are making the switch to a more forward-thinking approach.

For more information visit www.onyx.net/cloud or e-mail cloud@onyx.net

Theinterview sPeCiAl FeAture

Rising to the challenges of a changing world For a man holding a key role with one of the biggest companies on the planet, it might sound surprising to hear Derrick McCourt talk about challenges.

However, even a company as large as Microsoft can face problems and Scotland is a good example because of the country’s legacy of chronic under-spending on IT. Global name or not, Microsoft has had to acknowledge that Scotland has a long way to go when it comes to computer usage.

Since becoming Regional Director for Microsoft Scotland in September 2009, Derrick has overseen a growth of the company’s business in the country but he says that that success has always to be set against a difficult history.

He said: “Scotland has a history of under-spending on IT. If you look at the other regions in Britain, Scotland is the one with the lowest levels of percentage of Internet usage in the home. It is also fair to say that there has been a under-spend by businesses as well.“

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“I do see opportunities for businesses in the world of cloud computing. It offers opportunities because it means that companies can operate without needing the technical infrastructure traditionally associated with IT.” Boosting that level of spending, and helping companies and public sector organisations find ways of investing, was one of the objectives facing Derrick when he took the job of Regional Director.

Many smaller companies simply did not feel confident enough to spend on IT systems.

Derrick believes that the rapid advance in technology is changing that situation, however, because of the way it’s increasingly flexible and requires less investment.

His journey began in the Irish IT industry where he worked initially as a developer before progressing to consultancy and project management roles.

He points to cloud computing, which is increasingly being talked about in business circles because it transforms the way companies use the Internet. The idea behind cloud computing is that companies can use web-based technologies which do not require heavy upfront investment in creating IT infrastructures.

Having gained additional experience when he moved into sales & marketing leadership positions, he joined Microsoft in 2001, establishing the company’s office in Belfast and playing a prominent role in the development of the city’s IT industry.

As part of the Microsoft Ireland leadership team, he ran the company’s Irish Public Sector Business and his talents were further rewarded with an international role as a Director in Microsoft’s World Wide Licensing & Pricing Group. During this time he and his team were engaged in some of the largest, and most strategic, negotiations with governments and academia throughout Europe, Middle East and Africa.

As Regional Director in Scotland, his main focus is to establish a strong Microsoft presence across all business sectors with a particular focus on Scottish Government and Health.

He approaches the task at a time of change but believes that that the climate of cuts is encouraging public sector organisations to be more inventive, in part because of the pressure on their budgets.

He said: “Value for money has always been important for public sector organisations but I think they are increasingly having to look at in year savings rather than any long term returns on an investment. That, in turn, is making them more innovative in terms of the services that they have to deliver.”

Derrick sees that innovation mirrored in the way that the private sector is responding to

Derrick McCourt, Regional Director Microsoft Scotland

the increasing demands being placed on it as the public sector finds itself having to work under tightened budgets.

Derrick believes that companies are ready to take up the mantle and one way in which he sees that confidence being reflected is in the experience of Microsoft’s ‘Partners’, around a thousand Scottish companies of all sizes with which it works, most of them SMEs. Derrick said: “Our experience is that our Partners are buoyant and in good form.

“I do think we are seeing economic transition in Scotland as we see the country move from its dependence on the public sector.

“There is a sense that small businesses can help the country recover from recession.

They can play an important role. However, with ninety nine per cent of Scotland’s businesses having less than 50 employees it’s a big challenge.”

The presence of so many SMEs in Scotland has been a key reason behind the country’s under-investment in IT down the years.

Derrick believes that such thinking allows companies to adopt new ways of working.

Being prepared to consider new ways of thinking is something that he himself prizes; already holding a degree in Computing Science, Derrick recently completed an MBA with The Open University.

He said: “I do see opportunities for businesses in the world of cloud computing.

It offers opportunities because it means that companies can operate without needing the technical infrastructure traditionally associated with IT. “That means that they do not need the initial investment to have access to IT solutions and that offers opportunities for them. It allows them to be innovative and leverage established ‘best in breed’s solutions.“ As Scotland works its way through the challenges, Derrick feels that kind of thinking will be ever more important and he remains optimistic that Scotland can rise to the challenge.

He said: “It is a challenging time for us all as Scotland recovers from recession and there is a feeling that business is slower, but that there is still business out there.”

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Coverfeature

Business leads the way

By Graham Bell

In recent decades Scotland has suffered from low economic growth, high public spending, low rates of business formation and low public sector productivity. These problems are interconnected, and so must be the solutions to them.

Ahead of the Holyrood election on 4 May, Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce has published its Business Manifesto – Business leads the Way. It addresses five main areas: n A new approach to government in Edinburgh and Scotland, reforming public sector pay and conditions and introducing new structures in public services; n A public/private partnership for growth, including tax cuts, less regulation, and fundamental changes to education and skills provision; n The infrastructure of growth, supporting ten transport priorities including High Speed Rail and completing the Edinburgh tram project; n The engines of growth, with ideas to promote Edinburgh’s key industrial sectors; n Realising our ambition to be the European leader in renewable energy and achieving a low carbon future.

The 2011 Scottish election is the most important since devolution. It is not simply

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a question of tightening our belts and waiting for growth to resume. We must face some dire circumstances which are not sustainable. The interest charges on the UK government’s borrowing are currently one and a half times the entire Scottish Budget (£46.2bn in 2010 vs. Scottish Budget peaking just under £30bn in 2010, and now falling). Our unfunded pensions’ deficit sits at over £66bn (figure for 2008/9) and an annual contribution of some £2.2bn or 9% of the Scottish budget. (Figures from Audit Scotland April 2010).

Doesn’t that tell you we need to reform the public sector? This is a high priority in the document. And here’s how: 1. Public sector pay and conditions must be brought into line with those in the private sector.

2. Public sector institutions must be given the professional independence to experiment and seek out best practice.

3. Public companies need new corporate structures.

4. Public sector institutions must be made more accountable to users.

But asking for a more efficient public sector doesn’t mean we are the enemy. We’re calling for a new public/private partnership to tackle the problems.

The manifesto lays out a challenge to: n Attract investment rather than managing decline. Lowering our tax base will attract highly skilled and motivated workers.

n Improve our appeal by cutting our cost base – having a better productivity in the public sector is paramount.

n Reintroduce transitional relief to smooth any increases in Non Domestic Rates on revaluation.

n Recognise our fantastic assets base for informatics, bio-life science, digital economy, academics research and development and our natural assets in wind, wave and tidal power and capitalise on them.

n Set a target to reduce council tax and Non Domestic Rates by 15% over the life of the next Scottish parliament.

n Invest in the future: transport, broadband, renewable energy, to create a world leading example of how a low carbon economy can work. n Create jobs in the private sector to replace jobs lost in the public sector.

There is no doubt that the biggest opportunity for growth is the export market.

Whilst we struggle to achieve 1-2% growth China has already bounced back to 10%. And there are Reasons to be Cheerful: Germany and France are enjoying significant growth rates. International trade is the great hope for Scotland’s economy.

n Avoid charges and fees on activities such as parking, planning applications and trading licenses as a proxy for tax rises.

n Get High Speed Rail to Scotland. n Invest in Edinburgh Airport. n Boost road freight transport. n Maximise The Port of Leith and River Traffic. n Build integrated transport with attention to public realm improvements.

Planning, housing and development We give detailed guidance for how to improve the planning process.

Education & Skills Let’s listen to the Scottish Futures Trust about how to build new schools at two thirds the cost.

Scotland needs workers with the full range of academic and practical skills. Let’s give parity of esteem to vocational training and academic skills and fund them properly.

Let’s enable our universities to be world class competitors. Embrace graduate contributions for funding efficacy.

Broadband Lay fibre optic cables and give us a world class service now.

We recognise the principal engines of growth as: n Biotech n Tourism n Cultural Events

The City of Edinburgh can play a major role in this. Edinburgh has many of the attributes to flourish in the modern globalised economy – high tech, high skilled and high value industries, superb cultural amenities, and good education at both the research and schooling levels. Edinburgh and the Lothians account for 21% of Scottish GVA, with a contribution per capita 60% above the national average. The city has the potential to act as a beacon of high achievement in Scotland, Europe and the wider world.

So what are the key targets for action?

Taxation n Avoid increases in Non Domestic Rates.

The promotion of industry

n Manufacturing

n Improved co-ordination of economic development policy.

n Financial sector

n Urgent reform of government procurement procedures. n Renewed investment in air route development. n Emphasise exports. n Consider alternative models for supporting business growth. n Develop political engagement.

Economic growth relies on a connected network of infrastructure that promotes the free movement of goods, services and ideas including: n Finish the tram.

n Renewable energy The details of how we effectively exploit these are all laid out in the Manifesto which you can see on the Chamber’s website. Our parting shot is this: Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce remains committed to working with all levels of government and with all political parties to enable the best economic advantage to be gained for the Capital City and for all of Scotland.We welcome specific responses from Scotland’s political parties as to which of these policies they endorse (or don’t) and how they will be implemented (or statements of alternative approach).

n Build a new Forth Crossing.

you can obtain a copy of the Manifesto by…

n Improve Scotland’s rail network and improve our stations.

http://www.edinburghchamber.co.uk

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Want to be part of the fastest growing online phenomenon?

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www.sce-enterprise.com sPeCiAl FeAture

SHORT-TERM TRAINING. FOR THOSE WITH THE LONG -TERM IN MIND. In these uncertain economic times, investment in the training and development of your existing team is one of the most effective ways of making savings and increasing efficiencies. It can lead to more streamlined practices, an increase in staff motivation, and result in longer-term profit and better organisational performance. With training and consultancy services across a wide range of occupational areas, we’re the people to speak to. And that’s the long and short of it. For information on new courses call us today or visit our website for details.

telephone: 0131 535 4800 email: enquiries@sce-enterprise.com

TRAINING FOR TOMORROW

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Edinburgh firm to be Scotland’s first carbon neutral black taxi company Central Taxis in Edinburgh has announced that it will be the first black taxi company in Scotland to go CarbonNeutral® for all booked taxi journeys.

To achieve CarbonNeutral® certification, Central Taxis is working with The CarbonNeutral Company, a world-leading provider of carbon reduction solutions, to reduce its CO2 emissions for booked journeys to net zero, through a verified carbon offset project in China.

By investing in becoming a CarbonNeutral® company, Central Taxis is hoping to lead the way in cutting Scotland’s carbon footprint by taking responsibility for the unavoidable emissions associated with car travel.

Central Taxis is implementing the initiative at no extra cost or surcharge to the customer and all contract customers can now include greener travel in their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities.

To mark the announcement, Central Taxis’ Chairman Bill Purnell was joined by Justice Secretary and local Edinburgh MSP Kenny MacAskill, a long term supporter of the black taxi trade, to unveil a new ‘green’ taxi at Festival Square in Edinburgh.

Commenting on the announcement, Bill Purnell said: “We have always put innovation at the forefront of our customer service strategy and the decision to go CarbonNeutral® for booked journeys is a major milestone for us.”

“As a cooperative company, all of our drivers are behind this move and we are excited about the opportunity this offers our customers to engage in CarbonNeutral® travel.”

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill added: “This is an excellent initiative. Central Taxis do an excellent job in the city of Edinburgh and this announcement is very welcome, particularly at a time when the importance of climate change is being addressed.”

The project used by Central Taxis to offset its CO2 emissions for booked journeys is the Tieling Coal Mine Methane Capture Project, located across six coalmines in the Northeastern Province of Liaoning in China.

This project captures coalmine methane (CMM) and uses it as an energy source to supply gas to homes and local industry in China.

WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILTY Central Taxis is proud to be Scotland’s First CarbonNeutral® Black Taxi Company. Trust Central to save the planet as well as your time.

Make your journey CarbonNeutral® by calling Central.

Business accounts available, please contact 0131 221 2236.

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www.taxis-edinburgh.co.uk

sPeCiAl FeAture

Evaluation - Taking a closer look at the difference you’re making.

Now more than ever, organisations in the voluntary sector and public sector need to make every pound count.

With such financial pressure, they need to know that their money is working really hard for the people they serve – delivering services and projects that make as much impact as possible, as efficiently as possible. They also need to be able to tell other people what difference these projects actually make.

This is where evaluation comes in. Brightpurpose works with voluntary and public sector clients to help them really understand what difference they are making, and to learn from their experiences, so they can make more of a difference in future. We also help them articulate what they’re achieving, so that they can tell a compelling story to their funders and stakeholders and hopefully secure future funding.

We believe evaluation can be a really powerful tool, for making services better and helping our clients do more with their limited resources. Yes we need to look at what’s worked well and what hasn’t worked so well; but what’s really important is to learn from that information, and use it to make future projects even more successful. When something’s gone well, you need to understand

why, and how to replicate it. Otherwise, how can you be sure you’ll have similar success again?

When something has turned out badly, again you need to understand why, so you can avoid that bear trap next time around.

One of the big philanthropic foundations in the USA has caused a real stir in the voluntary sector in the last few weeks. The Northwest Area Foundation has published a report of the lessons learned during that last 10 years of making grants; in particular the things that didn’t work. This is a pretty brave step, going public with your mistakes of the last decade. But it means that others can avoid the costly errors they’ve made, and that helps everyone get better at what they’re doing; not just the foundation, but all the others that read the report.

In essence, that’s what evaluation is about.

Being open to learning from your experiences, understanding the things that did and didn’t work, and using that information to do things better in the future. That means you can make your resources work harder, by investing in the things that will work and not spending on things that

won’t. Ultimately that leads to more impact and your organisation making a bigger difference.

Helen Highley is Director of Brightpurpose Consulting.

Brightpurpose’s evaluation and research team works with public and voluntary sector organisations to understand and maximise the impact of their work.

Our evaluation clients include Macmillan Cancer Support, Comic Relief, numerous local authorities and Scottish Enterprise. Specialisms include employment, enterprise, health and wellbeing, young people’s development, volunteering and economic development/ regeneration.

Contact: interested@brightpurpose.co.uk

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No company is an island …..

Edinburgh-based FreeAgent have just celebrated their fourth birthday. They’ve come a long way since 2007 and believe that much of their success is down to their collaborative approach with both customers and corporate partners. connection. They don’t have to worry about installing new versions of software, or backing up their data, and can collaborate with colleagues, accountants or other advisers through the system. Features such as being able to upload electronic bank statements directly into your accounts and emailing invoices to your own clients all help create a more real-time view of a business’s finances.

FreeAgent’s 4th Birthday Cake

FreeAgent founders Ed Molyneux, Olly Headey and Roan Lavery set out in 2007 with a proclaimed aim of ‘Democratising Accounting’. They had all been working for themselves and saw the need for an online accounting system specially designed to meet the needs of freelancers and small businesses; one that could help put its users in control of their finances.

Most new customers first hear about the service through word of mouth but this is often amplified through social media. Many users contact or talk about the company through Twitter for example, or else post comments and suggest new functionality through FreeAgent’s online forum.

This real-time closeness to customers and their needs was clearly in evidence when FreeAgent was voted Best SME Accounting Software in the 2010 Software Satisfaction Awards. Another survey also found that over 99.5% of their users would be likely to recommend them to a friend.

Four short years later, with several thousand users, industry awards and a growing business both in terms of customers and workforce, FreeAgent are now moving on to the next phase of their development.

It has been four years that have seen enormous change not just for the company but also for how many of us work and communicate, and FreeAgent has been forged in this new way of working.

As a “cloud” application the service is delivered via the internet so users can access it from anywhere they have an internet

A significant contributing factor to this evident customer satisfaction is the investment and focus on customer support. The company has an in-house team of specialists on hand to help users get the most out of the system.

“We are always interested to hear from prospective partners ….the connections they bring can open up what we do to Dr Jennifer Newton whole new audiences” Kevin McCallum, Business Development Director

Kevin McCallum, Business Development Director

This direct contact also gives invaluable feedback from their customers. FreeAgent consider this collaboration with customers, as well as their corporate partners, as key to current and future success.

FreeAgent’s Business Development Director Kevin McCallum believes that partnerships will always be instrumental in driving their continued success: “We benefit from people knowing people. Hundreds of accountants now recommend FreeAgent to their clients, companies such as Bell Telecom in Canada promote us to their business users and our own user referral program is hugely popular. We are always interested to hear from prospective partners from any sector or business type. The connections they bring can open up what we do to whole new audiences and start a new series of conversations which is, after all, what business should be about.”

To find out more about FreeAgent: Try it for free at www.freeagentcentral.com Follow @freeagent on twitter Or call on 0131 447 0011

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Simple Improvement Ltd Training and coaching in continuous improvement

Want to start your own improvement programme?

Need advice to get your projects back on track?

The innovative all-in-one solution for students’ summer storage needs, including: n Collection

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2011 Budget – can you decipher fact from fiction?

Visit our website www.chiene.co.uk to download our free, easy to read 2011 Spring Budget summary If you have a question about the Spring Budget or its impact on your business, contact Gavin Morton or Jeremy Chittleburgh on 0131 558 5800 or email mail@chiene.co.uk

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HSBC announces big expansion HSBC has announced that it will invest £9 million in extending its branch network in Scotland, creating more than 100 new jobs.

The bank, which currently has six branches in Scotland , is set to open its first ever branch in Stirling this summer to bolster its Central Scotland offering. This will be followed by a branch and commercial centre in Dundee and a new branch development in Aberdeen.

Additional branches in new locations including Falkirk, Dumfries and Hamilton are also currently being explored.

Each new branch will offer the full range of retail and business banking services, including dedicated business banking advisors to look after customers in the branch.

HSBC in Scotland has been steadily and consistently growing its operations in Scotland , recently reporting more than 20 per cent growth in income across its SME and retail divisions.

John Rendall, CEO of HSBC in Scotland, said: “This significant investment underlines HSBC’s confidence in Scotland, its businesses and its people.

“Our growth strategy is focused purely on opportunity and demand.

Over the past year, we’ve increased our business and retail lending, increased our SME and personal banking customer base, and experienced an uplift in demand for our services – from premier banking right through to corporate and structured banking.

“By increasing our visibility, we believe we have a real opportunity to continue to attract people to HSBC and bring a new banking dimension to areas where we previously haven’t had a presence.

“HSBC’s heritage is deeply rooted in Scotland and we’re very much looking forward to continuing to build the business throughout 2011 and beyond.” * A £150 million fund set up by Clydesdale Bank to support Scotland’s SMEs during the recession has been snapped up.

The invoice finance fund, issued through Clydesdale Bank’s network of 73 UK financial solutions centres, has been accessed by SMEs for uses including freeing up capital held in reserve for business investment and bridging the gap created by late-payments caused by the slow down. Both banks are continuing their invoice finance service.

The invoice finance fund, which was initially £100m and later extended to £150m, was launched by Clydesdale Bank and its sister bank,Yorkshire Bank, in June 2009 at the height of the credit crunch.

Head of Clydesdale Bank’s National Invoice Finance Team, Martin Rothera, said: “The fund has been welcomed by businesses throughout Scotland and underlines the fact that Clydesdale Bank has remained open for business to support SMEs at a time when other banks were not doing so.

It has been accessed by existing customers as well as more than 200 SMEs which have joined both banks. Invoice finance, sometimes called cash-flow finance, is a Clydesdale Bank sales-driven facility which can be accessed online. It enables business to obtain up to 85 per cent of the value of invoices immediately they are issued with the remainder payable when payment is received.

“Many businesses which have accessed this fund would have found life far harder without it but have been able to gain a competitive edge and will now play a part in driving their local economies forward, creating and preserving jobs as the steady emergence from the downturn continues. Additionally, a number have taken up credit protection to protect their business against future bad debts.”

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Finance sPeCiAl FeAture

Culturing good relations Launched as a breakaway company in 2003, steady growth has seen Express Microbiology provide services to leading UK companies, including Tesco and Marks and Spencer.

“Our accountants warned us that the banks just weren’t lending and that we’d have to approach investors or the government for funds. That wasn’t the case with RBS.” Dr Jennifer Newton, managing director (below) Originally based in Glenrothes, Fife, Express Microbiology moved to new premises in Linlithgow in 2005 and last year reinvested and expanded its laboratory operations and offices. With 20 personnel, including 11 microbiologists, the business has seen steady growth.

Originally specialising in providing microbiology services predominantly to the food industry, Express Microbiology has expanded into water testing for government buildings, health clubs, hotels, swimming pools and public buildings. It is one of the few labs in Scotland to hold UKAS accreditation for legionella detection. Similarly, the company is the only independent, named lab in Scotland for testing for salmonella in samples sent from farmers, an annual legal requirement. And the company works extensively with the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry to provide air and water quality testing.

Travelling to collect customer samples and testing them on the same day is a key aspect of Express Microbiology’s service.

Building an understanding RBS banked the company prior to its split from the larger group and Managing Director, Dr Jennifer Newton, has seen no reason to change that. “RBS has been very good to us,” she says. “I’ve personally known my bank manager for some 15 years, which not many people can say.

That consistency means a lot and makes a great deal of difference.

“The bank supported the launch of the business back in 2003 by providing a business loan and then supported our move from Fife into the central belt through a loan to buy the building. Our latest expansion plans fell right at the heart of the credit crunch in 2009 and

our accountants warned us that the banks just weren’t lending and that we’d have to approach private investors or the government. That wasn’t the case with RBS. So I approached RBS who, on the basis of our long-term relationship, were able to restructure the borrowing to accommodate our expansion plans. It was very important that they did, as it helped us to secure an RSA grant from Scottish Enterprise, who wouldn’t have backed us if the bank hadn’t been prepared to.”

growth ambitions Having made a name for them-selves in the Scottish market, Express Microbiology has plans to increase its market share in Scotland and is looking to partner with labs based in England to secure national contracts. As Jennifer explains: “Many of our larger customers want to streamline their supply chain, so we need to be able to offer a national service.” Summing up how RBS has supported her business ambitions, Jennifer concludes: “As well as providing funding to help me to realise my business plans, my relationship with the bank has given me so much more. Laurence Wilson my Relationship Manager offers a realistic opinion, without shattering my dreams, and helps me to look at the better options for the company. Being flexible and understanding the dynamics of the business make a big difference.”

To find out how we could help your business grow, visit rbs.co.uk security may be required. Product fees may apply. over 18s only.

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

“Our accountants warned us that the banks just weren’t lending and that we’d have to approach investors or the government for funds. That wasn’t the case with RBS.” Dr Jennifer Newton

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activitymix implements employee engagement programmes to attract, engage, retain, motivate and reward staff.

Win a Wild Card entry for your company to this year’s Highland Games of Edinburgh.

Visit www.activitymix.com and answer the following: According to The CIPD, what is the average cost of replacing key talent?

With activitymix, clients attract and retain best talent by demonstrating a culture based around healthy competition, reward, recognition, leadership opportunity and community engagement.

All entries to be received no later than 31st May 2011. Entry, rules and enquiries via:

gordon.fraser@activitymix.com Tel: 07815 513099

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Inthe Inthespotlight Company name: People’s Postcode lottery Who? Jo Bucci, Managing director Website: www.postcodelottery.com

1. What were you doing between 10 and 12 this morning?

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

I was conducting our weekly management meeting – I’m not a big fan of management by email, so I try and meet up and talk to the team as much as I can.

Spare time only really happens at the weekend, so I’ll watch my children’s sports matches, catch up with friends and generally relax!

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

The political hurdles we face in launching a society lottery driven to raise much needed funds for good causes give us more challenges than I believe we should encounter.

3. What do you consider your biggest business triumph?

In a relatively young business, every step forward could be considered a triumph – and there have been many in the last few years!

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

I’m not sure I could narrow it down to just 3 stages – but my roles as Commercial Managing Director for Capital Radio, Deputy Chief Executive for Leicester City Football Club and MD of People’s Postcode Lottery have certainly been varied!

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

I try to keep work and family life separate and think that balance is very important. Weekends are sacred family time, with family meals and lots of activities with my three children.

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

Ultimately it’s the people in the business that make it a success – and employees who look for opportunities rather than focussing on challenges are a big part of this.

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

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

I’m a member of Scotland’s 2020 Climate Group, aiming to fulfil the realisation of Scotland’s Climate Change Delivery Plan, and a Trustee with the People’s Postcode Trust – a funding organisation for small community groups and charities.

Success breeds success and creates teams that respect each other. So success comes first in my book!

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

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

That’s difficult to say – every position I’ve held has been dramatically different but hugely enjoyable! I’m open to all opportunities.

Be yourself, enjoy what you do and find a great mentor. Take any opportunity given to you; it’s important to gain insight into all areas of a business.

10. Who is your hero?

Many of our supported charities blow me away with their passion. Laura Lee, CEO of Maggie’s Centres is truly inspirational, having driven the charity above and beyond its original vision.

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

I would love to host Margaret Thatcher, to experience her honesty, strength of character and radicalism firsthand.

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

My family. My children support each other in a way I never imagined possible as I am an only child. Each other’s happiness is a priority and the most important treasure I have.

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ChamberAwards Growing Edinburgh businesses urged to enter prestigious awards The best businesses in Edinburgh are being encouraged to demonstrate the city’s entrepreneurship by entering a top award - as well as a chance to share in £50,000 worth of cash prizes.

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has launched its successful Chamber Awards 2011 to help reward and recognise the most innovative and successful businesses across the region and in the UK that are playing such a vital role in the country’s economic recovery.

This year’s awards come in the BCC’s ‘Year for Growth’, in which it hopes to help increase private sector expansion by campaigning to remove the barriers to business growth.

President Neville Reyner, CBE DL, said: “Hard-working small and medium-sized businesses are providing the backbone for our economic recovery. There are some remarkable and innovative companies in Britain, and the Chamber Awards recognise those firms striving to grow in the face of a tough business environment.

“We need to restore confidence to those business owners that will drive Britain’s future growth. Working with businesses, local authorities, the Government, European policy-makers and opinion-formers, we want to remove the barriers companies face in expanding their businesses. If our small and medium-sized businesses are doing well - it’s good news for all of us. These awards are designed to reward and recognise that success.”

Businesses can enter the following categories this year: • Business of the Year, Most Promising New Business, • Entrepreneur of the Year • Achievement in International Business • Excellence in Customer Service • Excellence in People Development • The Sustainability Award • Finding New International Markets • Innovation through Technology

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All regional winners will go through to the national finals where they could pick up a national award in their category as well as being in with a chance to collect the award for the most outstanding business achievement - and its £25,000 prize.

Last year four Edinburgh businesses picked up awards in the Chamber’s Scottish regional awards.

The firms included green energy pioneer Locogen, which scooped the Most Promising New Business Award in Scotland for its innovative rural partnerships to build wind turbine projects across the UK. The awards are backed-up by high profile sponsors including, the Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest, BT, Dell, and DHL. The regional winners will be announced in September, followed by the national awards ceremony at London’s Connaught Rooms on November 24. To enter the awards online go to www.chamberawards.co.uk and for any further information you can contact the Chamber Awards Team on 024 76 47 2593 or email awards@chamberawards.co.uk The closing date for entries is June 24.

Chamber Awards incentive – It’s a win, win deal!

To encourage our members to showcase their talent by entering the Chamber Awards 2011 - we are offering a reward to any business within our network that submits an application!

Edinburgh Chamber will commit to giving all our members who enter one or more categories of the awards a free advertising slot in one of our e-newsletters, worth £200*.

Better still, we will give any member who is crowned a regional winner a year’s free membership to the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce.

If that’s not a win, win deal, we don’t know what is! *Please note:The timing of your free advertising slot will depend on the number of applicants as well as the availability in our e-newsletters.There are 5-6 advertising slots per month and paid-for advertising will be prioritised. Adverts need to be supplied by the advertiser, to Chamber specifications. One free advert per member company.

sPeCiAl FeAture

Abolition of the default retirement age Lindsey Cartwright

Partner, Employment Law Team Morton Fraser LLP

Lindsey Cartwright is a partner in Morton Fraser’s Employment Law Team which has a dedicated focus group for retirement age issues.

Despite resistance from many employers’ groups, from 1 October 2011, the default retirement age will be abolished. What happens then?

Employers can still retain a fixed retirement age provided this can be objectively justified.

The key is that it must be a “proportionate response to a legitimate aim”. We need to look at past case-law to predict how cases will be dealt with in the future. By doing that we can predict that the following reasons are likely to be “legitimate aims”:n to promote opportunities for younger workers; n to make workforce planning easier by having a realistic long-term expectation as to when vacancies will arise; n to limit performance management discussions, thereby contributing to a congenial culture; and n to ensure that an employee is physically fit enough to perform their role.

Determining the “legitimate aim” is only the first hurdle. Employers must also be able to show that there is a genuine need for that aim (and have evidence). They must also show that there is no less discriminatory way of achieving it. For example, instead of a blanket assumption that people become physically less capable at a certain age, can you ask employees above a certain age to undergo a fitness test each year? You should have considered this and ruled it out on reasonable grounds. That might be tricky.

What to do about this?

1. Set your instincts aside - years of conditioning will tell you that you need a retirement age.You may not. Think about it. Assess what you currently do and why.

2. Identify any urgent issues. This will include anyone already under notice of compulsory retirement, or anyone who is about to get such a notice (which you can still do on or before 5 April 2011 for employees retiring before 1 October 2011). They will want to know if that is still the plan. Finally, anyone due to retire in the 12 months following 1 October 2011 will want to know what their employer’s intentions are so that they can make arrangements.

3. Consider any physically-demanding roles.

Consider having a separate retirement age for those roles, but only after having considered the other options. Obtain some evidence about the particular physiological aspects of the role and whether this tends to decline at a particular age or stage of life.

4. For other roles, do you have an overarching business requirement which would demand that there is a cut-off point for ending peoples’ careers? If so, obtain evidence about that. Consider what that cut-off point might be and why. Consider other ways of doing this and have evidence available that you have carried out this exercise.

5. Communicate with your employees. If possible, agree the change. Revise your employment procedures accordingly.

6. If you retain a retirement age, devise a fair procedure to be followed before dismissal.

7. If in doubt, the safest bet is to treat all employees equally, regardless of age (although there is an exception for group risk insured benefits), such as death-inservice benefit or critical illness cover.

Whilst it is tempting to bury your head in the sand and wait for more case law guidance, don’t!

Employees like to know what to expect and like to be included in that process.

Think about the issues, think about fairness and address this. That will underline your ability to lead and manage your business in a proactive way, which can never be a bad thing.

If you would like to discuss any of the issues raised in this article, please contact me to arrange a free consultation on 0141 274 1141 or at lindsey.cartwright@morton-fraser.com

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Data Protection Compliance Virtually every business processes personal data - customer names and addresses, staff details, suppliers’ details, etc. This must be handled correctly. Many businesses also process “sensitive� personal data, such as health details, ethnic origin, political opinions and religious beliefs. This must be handled even more carefully.

Greater customer awareness, together with increased powers and a more proactive approach from the Information Commissioner are making Data Protection Compliance more important for all organisations. While 100% compliance is unlikely for most businesses a proportionate response should be adopted. For example investment in data security will depend on both the likelihood and potential damage of a data breach.

For small businesses, possibly less than 10 employees, it is likely that one person with suitable training can support staff to maintain an adequate level of compliance without formal policies and procedures.

Larger organisations need policies, procedures and regular staff training, all co-ordinated by a Data Protection Officer. A large business will be able to dedicate a member of staff to this. Most SMEs will not wish to make this level of investment and should consider an Outsourced Data Protection Officer (ODPO). The role of the ODPO is to consider the personal data requirements of the organisation and, in consultation with staff at all levels, to develop appropriate policies and procedures and to undertake staff training. Subsequently the ODPO would be available as required to deal with Data Subject Access requests, complaints, ongoing training for existing and new staff, changes in legislation and the data protection implications of new products and services.

NB This item does not constitute legal advice.

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Computer Law Training Ltd Telephone 0773 0937 357 Email tim@computerlaw.org.uk

Asktheexpert Q: I’ve got a website and want to get more traffic to it. What should I do?

A: Firstly: not all traffic is equal. If you sell

men’s shoes, you don’t want to chase traffic looking for ladies dresses.You need to get more traffic that is relevant to your business proposition. Before you do anything, spend time working out what it is your customers are searching for (and not just what you think they are searching for).

In the UK, around 75% of all internet users use search engines. That’s great news, because it means you can target what people are looking for from their search terms.

Google’s search engine market share is a shade over 90% and there are two ways to get traffic directly from Google:

Chris Liversidge, Managing Director, Queryclick.com Bryan Leslie

1.You can pay for ads displayed alongside Google’s results (called Pay-Per-Click or PPC), or 2.You can optimise your website to be returned in the main listings (called Search Engine Optimisation or SEO).

You should target one or two phrases, and focus on longer variations of each phrase, which show a greater intent to ‘convert’.

For example, rather than the generic “men’s shoes”, you might target “buy designer men’s shoes”, or perhaps “second-hand Dolce & Gabbana shoes”.

Chris Liversidge, Managing Director, Queryclick. com The Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce offers a range of marketing services to businesses, from open workshops to inhouse consultancy. To find out how we can help you implement cost-effective search engine marketing, please see our website www.edinburghchamber.co.uk or contact Jamie Lovie on 0131 221 3191, email: jamie.lovie@edinburghchamber.co.uk

GetwithIT

By Bill Magee

Scottish Business Technology Writer of the Year

Put your skills to the test Never has there been a more crucial time to pool our resources when it comes to showing the world what Scotland has to offer in terms of talent and inventiveness.

Brendan Dick, BT’s Scottish Director, says it’s all about identifying and sharing knowledge and experience – and none more so when it comes to displaying our technological strengths.

Brendan, a member of the Scottish Government-led Skills Utilisation Leadership Group, says there is a need to raise awareness of how best use of skills in the workplace can have wide-ranging and long-lasting benefits.

Where technology comes in is by acting as a driver and facilitator to ensure we maximise increased productivity levels and efficiencies

in business and commerce, as well as in the wider society.

One way to improve performance is by enlisting in the Investors in People Scotland Impact Programme, in partnership with Scottish Enterprise, and receiving £1,000 funding in the process if you get your application in quick enough.

IIP’s partnership manager Vicki Maclean says a series of coaching sessions help identify key objectives and challenges for your organisation and how best to achieve them.

A Scottish-based small or medium-sized privately owned business, with less than 200 employees, can attend sessions in Edinburgh with workshops tailored to a specific business or sector.

Firms that have gone through IIP have improved their profitability by £406 per person, on average, according to research analysis by Frontline Consultant.

The Impact Programme can also lead to, or result in, full IIP accreditation. For more details, visit: www.iipscotland.co.uk

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Need to improve communication and collaboration without draining IT resources?

Dream of a truly flexible platform to fit your IT needs?

Wish you could have it for a predictable, low monthly cost and reduced capital expenditure?

The Microsoft® Business Productivity Online Suite can help.

The Business Productivity Online Suite is a set of messaging and collaboration solutions hosted by Microsoft. It can help:

The Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite includes:

n Decrease your infrastructure spending while increasing communication capabilities. n Connect your people by giving them an intuitive and affordable way to share information, files, business processes, calendars, instant messages, and more. n Scale your business with a click. The flexibility of hosted cloud computing means that you can deploy the solutions you need, when you need them.

It’s enterprise-level services at a reduced overall cost.

Put the Microsoft® Business Productivity Online Suite to work for your company today.

Buy now - prices start from £1.34 per user To learn how you can take advantage of the Business Productivity Online Suite, please contact: T: 0131 220 9224 F: 0131 202 0919 E: sales@CrocodileBusinessSolutions.com W: www.CrocodileBusinessSolutions.com

Gettingstarted Q1: Tell us a bit about your business?

We are a newly constructed, zero carbon eco fishery, with corporate facilities and a coffee shop.

Q2: What gives your business ‘the x-factor’?

We are the first company in mainland UK to be powered totally off grid by wind, hydro and solar power.

Q5: What has been your greatest business success to date?

Acquiring planning permission on the 40 acre rural site for this massive project - then constructing it. Try digging a million tons of dirt; forming large lochs; creating a huge wildlife sanctuary; and then constructing a 640 square metre autonomous building…it takes it out of you!

Q6: What has been your lowest moment?

Q3: What motivated you to set up in business for yourself?

Name: Francis Gilhooley Business name: Leadburn Manor Fly Fishing Centre Start up date: December 2010 Website: www.leadburnmanor.co.uk

I always wondered why there is no such thing as a golf course-style business for fly fishing. There is now. We selected the site very carefully to create a green project, with water running through the site for hydro; a nice breeze at 1,000 ft for wind power; and a clear southerly aspect for solar.

Q4: What do you like most about working for yourself?

I like making all my own decisions and being able to maximise my ambitions. I also like not having any electricity or fuel bills.

December 2009 when the bank pulled out on us, and we sat in limbo for seven months.

Q7: In terms of business achievements, where do you want to be within the next 5 years?

I want Leadburn Manor to be a hub of corporate entertainment during the week, and a busy family orientated outdoor leisure facility at weekends, putting smiles on the faces of families from near and far.

Q8: What would be your top tip to someone thinking of starting up their own business?

Ask for twice the money you think you’ll need, so you can afford cost over-runs.

Helping Scotland’s graduates onto the career ladder A hundred of Scotland’s brightest and best students are taking their first steps on the career ladder.

A new, highly successful Graduate Intern Programme, part-funded by the Scottish Government, is helping students to make a contribution across the public, private and third sectors.

expects to be able to support another one hundred graduates across yet more Scottish organisations in 2011 and beyond, even looking to extend the placements internationally.

The Intern Programme is the brainchild of the Centre for Scottish Public Policy (CSPP), an independent think tank. Each placement, lasting a minimum of three months is paid, either through the government grant or by the organisation itself.

Joy Lewis, CSPP’s Intern Programme Manager, said: “In the current economic climate, it is a real challenge for graduates to get their first foot on the career ladder and this Programme helps them achieve much needed work experience and skills, whilst making a real difference. Many charities and voluntary groups, as well as small to medium

The CSPP is now gearing up for the second year of the Programme and

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sized private businesses are really benefitting from the supply of high quality, new talent who add real value to their organisation.”

Participating organisations in the first year of the Intern Programme have included Chamber members McGrigors LLP, Capability Scotland and Edinburgh City Council.

For more details, go to the ‘Adopt an Intern’ tab on the CSPP website: www.cspp.org.uk

Businessnews Accolade for airport

Fighting the flab

Edinburgh Airport has been named as one of the leading airports in Europe for customer service.

Chamber member Arriba works with individuals and groups on how to lose weight safely and keep it off.

The accolade has come from the Airports Council International (ACI), which named Edinburgh Airport one of Europe’s leading airports in its Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards 2010.

The Capital’s airport was named with Malta, Porto, Zurich and Copenhagen as the top five airports for customer service and facilities in Europe. It is the largest UK airport to be named in the awards, which measure customer feedback in 209 airports worldwide.

Edinburgh Airport Managing Director Kevin Brown said: “I’m delighted with this award, particularly as it is based on the feedback of our passengers. 2010, with its ash, snow and other challenges, was a difficult year for the team at Edinburgh which makes this feat all the more impressive.

Fiona Savage, of Arriba, said: “It is all about empowering people with the knowledge of diet, nutrition and metabolism, how to overcome obstacles and plateaus, and adopt a lifestyle that supports excellent long-term health.

“I’m proud of the way that my team met these challenges head on whilst maintaining focus on the needs of our passengers. Our drive is to provide a diverse choice of routes with excellent facilities and we will continue to do this.

“We’re not complacent and will be working hard to maintain our position in this select group and meet our aspiration for Edinburgh to a leading European airport.”

New website Edinburgh Airport Fire Training Centre is developing a new website to promote its courses and facilities. The site, at http://www.eaftc.co.uk/ offers information about the Edinburgh Airport Fire Service to personnel who are employed to carry out Rescue and Firefighting (RFF) duties at licensed aerodromes, personnel with training requirements, decision-makers and those responsible for booking training.

Colin Murray, Edinburgh Airport Fire Manager said; “The website development project marks a new and exciting chapter for our Fire Training Centre. Our key objective is to showcase our facilities, and promote our courses in an engaging way to the right audiences.”

“Losing weight and keeping it off comes though commitment to change and using the knowledge gained, empowering individuals to make health choices to lose weight safely, improving health and reduce diseases associated with being over-weight. This knowledge can not only improve individuals’ own health, but the health of their families, and making small steps towards a healthier nation - knowledge we should all have been taught at school.“ Fiona, who has more than 30 years of healthcare experience, knows what she is talking about. She said: “I have lost weight myself so I understand the issues, taking the first step is the difficult part, after that I found I lost 1-2 lbs weight every week, I was never hungry and replaced poor eating habits with positive habits based on facts. “

Are you making the most of your Chamber membership?

Call 0844 736 2992

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You know the dull, repetitive parts of your work?

Edinburgh Girl Friday because time is precious...

Do you ever wish there were more than 24 hours in a day?

Have you ever needed to be in 2 places at once?

Our clients don’t.

Edinburgh Girl Friday is a new Lifestyle Management and Personal Concierge business based in North West Edinburgh offering high quality help at home and errand-running services to individuals, families and small businesses.

We aim to provide whatever assistance you need to make life easier, less stressful and to give you more time for doing the things that you enjoy.

We use techniques from artificial intelligence to: analyse your data automate tasks find and correct errors in your documents generate documents and data

We offer a flexible range of services that aim to give you the right help when it’s needed whether that is just occasionally or on a regular basis.

Our services include: • Errand-running • De-cluttering • Grocery and personal shopping • Pet services • Event assistance • Help moving home • Delivery wait in • Admin tasks A free initial consultation is offered to discuss your requirements and how we can help.

Please visit our website www.edinburghgirlfriday.co.uk for further information

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mail us: info@codeus.net call us: 0741 20 87 652 visit us: www.codeus.net codeus.

T: 0131 4673594 M: 07951 759724 E: info@edinburghgirlfriday.co.uk

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

BC The April/May 2011 Our registered address is Niddrie Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH16 4EA.

Chambernews DM Hall introduces payment scheme Chartered surveyors DM Hall has stepped in to ensure continued funding for home sellers following the withdrawal from the market of one of the main payment management agencies.

A professional photographer can help you make a lasting impression

Catch your customer’s attention We live in a visual culture. We absorb and digest information at an incredible rate using our senses to help us make decisions in the blink of an eye.

Within a split second your customer has probably already decided whether the image you are putting across is one they want to be involved in, making it increasingly important to get your visual message right.

If you’ve worked with a professional you’ll know how they can use their skills to craft images that stimulate your customers and communicate the right messages. When you hire a visual creator you’re not paying for their ability to operate a camera, you’re paying for their years of experience in communicating effectively.

It may be tempting to cut costs by trying to do it yourself, but does owning a camera replace the training and wisdom that comes from a life dedicated to making images? If you’ve cut corners on your visuals, all the time and effort you spent crafting your project may be wasted.

As a recent sign up to the Edinburgh Chamber, Maverick Photo Agency offers a wide range of photography and video services to a variety of clients from media virgins to seasoned professionals. Since their launch in 2008, the company has quickly established a reputation in producing high quality affordable imagery which has lead to working alongside top names such as The Guardian, The National Library of Scotland and WWF. If your company is looking for exciting visuals Maverick are currently offering a 10% discount to Chamber members.

For more details, visit: www.maverickphotoagency.com

Because upfront payment for Home Reports is a significant factor for some people who are keen to put their house on the market, DM Hall is introducing its own Payment Plan to assist sellers with affordable stage payments.

The initiative will ensure that sellers can spread the cost of their Home Report over three manageable instalments, with no upfront payment, allowing instant access to the market at a time of their choosing.

Alasdair Seaton, residential property partner at DM Hall’s Dunfermline office, said:

“This is a new system we have devised to make the process of putting a house on the market as easy as possible for both clients and agents.”

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Boost for arts funding Figures released by Arts & Business show that private investment in culture in Scotland was £41.7 million in 2009/2010, a 6% increase from the previous year.

Business investment increased in line with inflation in contrast to an average fall across the UK of 11%, in part due to the Scottish Government’s continued funding for New Arts Sponsorship grants scheme that encourages sponsors.

Scottish cultural organisations raised an additional 48% in funding from trusts and foundations compared with the previous year, far ahead of the UK average increase of 11%.

Individual philanthropy decreased for the second year in a row, continuing the interruption of its growth since 2001.

Barclay Price, Director of Arts & Business Scotland, said: “These positive figures

indicate the continuing attraction of the Scottish cultural offer and the excellent work being done by fundraising staff within cultural organisations to make a persuasive case for private investment in the face of the recession.

“As the recession is far from over in Scotland, it is crucial that we work with the cultural sector to nourish all forms of private sector investment, and are therefore delighted that in the current year the Scottish Government have again given us funds to incentivise new business sponsorship.

“The further decrease in individual philanthropy is of concern, and we hope that our partnership with the Centre for Charitable Giving and Philanthropy will provide intelligence and ideas that can assist cultural organisations to raise a greater share of their funding from individuals.”

The Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce welcomes its latest member companies: Apex Rapid Clean Arbonne Brain Train Academy CHP Solutions City Circle UK Limited CJM Alba Limited De Vere Venues Barony Castle The Edinburgh Clinic The Edinburgh Recruitment Agency Environmental Resources Management Limited Exova

Edinburgh-based developers set to revolutionise Glasgow bar scene Innovative Edinburgh-based web development company, xDesign365 has launched a mobile application that could change the way Glaswegians plan their nights out.

The WhereToNow app will feature information on Glasgow ’s bars and restaurants, allowing users to search an extensive range of establishments from their Smartphone. Designed with the consumer in mind, the app makes choosing where to eat or drink incredibly easy, with category searches, descriptions, maps and directions. Accessing the latest deals and events at participating bars and restaurants throughout the city, the app will act as a point of information for locals and tourists alike.

“The inspiration for this came from our client’s own user experience,” says Martin Alderson of xDesign365. “We were all

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surprised to find that existing apps for finding bars and restaurants still tend to be focused on the US , or at very best, London-centric. He wanted us to develop an app for the Scottish market that really reflected the diverse bar and restaurant scene north of the border. Other apps for this market have suffered from incomplete databases of Scottish businesses, so we thought it was about time to address that.”

The app has been developed in conjunction with Glasgow-based businessman, Kenny McQuarrie, who was impressed with xDesign365’s vision for the application. “xDesign365 have been a pleasure to work with and have helped create this excellent app with its related website and mobile site,” says Kenny. “I highly recommend them for anyone looking into creating an app and will definitely work with them again in future.”

Geneva Management Limited Ian Farquharson Consulting T/A Auditel Imperative International Property Ltd Interface Financial Lifestyle Company Scotland, The Mikes Fishing Tackle Ltd North See Media Limited T/A Hotels.Tv/Edinburgh Ology Coaching Rachel Scott Couture Rowan Alba Limited ScotlandIS Sharpe Thinking Sheehan Kelsey Oswald Sleep Scotland Stephen Loy Building Services Tay to Tweed Hypnotherapy Thistle Storage Equipment Vetos Energy Limited Wincanton Records Management

Chamberappointments Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce New appointments steven Murray

toni-Michelle lee

Steven has joined the Membership Services Team as Assistant Administrator.

He will be assisting with a range of admin tasks as well as building a prospect database for the membership team.

Toni has joined the Chamber’s Membership Services Team to work with our Partners in Enterprise.

She will look after our existing Partners in Enterprise, acting as account manager for key contacts, as well as exploring opportunities to build new partnerships.

Edinburgh Chamber’s Partners in Enterprise

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

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Moversandshakers IFB appoints Head of Sales Internet for Business (IFB) has appointed Alison Marwick to head up the company’s Scottish sales team. The newly-created position of head of sales is part of the company’s growth plans and will see Alison take responsibility for IFB’s Scotland wide sales.

Alison has more than 15 years of sales experience within the information technology and retail sectors and her appointment ties in with the opening of a £10 million high specification data centre in Aberdeen, which will act as a new headquarters as well as housing business suites for IFB clients.

Graeme Gordon, operations director of IFB, said: “Alison is an enormously talented individual with a background in sales and consultancy with small, medium and large enterprises. The business acumen she brings to our business will further strengthen our support to customers as we seek to expand our presence in the marketplace.”

Alison said: “IFB has an excellent reputation as an innovative solutions provider for core business ICT infrastructure services. Its success story is one I relish becoming a part of and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to manage, motivate and coach our sales team to meet the challenging targets the company has set for itself.”

Hoping for success dr Aileen Patricia lothian, who designs Science, Engineering and Technology programmes to give pupils hands-on experience of Science, Engineering and Technology, is hoping for continued success for the initiative.

Dr Lothian leads the Young SET Ambassadors programmes and delivers energy and renewables projects, recycling projects and carbon emission programmes to schools and SET companies in the East Lothian, Midlothian, West Lothian and Edinburgh areas.

The Young SET Ambassadors programmes have been successful with the winners of the Edinburgh Awards Day final reaching the UK finals in London. The energy and renewables programmes was awarded third-equal in the UK science and engineering finals in 2010 and the recycling programme Edinburgh winners have reached the UK finals which will be held in March 2011 in London.

New position for Mark HSBC has appointed Mark tate as the bank’s first Head of Commercial Banking in Scotland.

The post has been created in response to increased demand for HSBC’s commercial banking services across Scotland. Mark will oversee the Central and North Scotland teams, led by Area Commercial Directors David Scott and Susan Rowand, respectively.

Mark joined HSBC’s graduate programme in 1990 and has held a range of senior positions across the bank, most recently as Head of Corporate Banking, HSBC Bank Kazakhstan, for the past two years.

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John Rendall, CEO for HSBC in Scotland, said: “Whilst managing HSBC’s growth in Kazakhstan, Mark worked with many Scottish businesses, primarily in the oil and gas sector. I’m confident Mark’s expertise will be appreciated by our clients and potential clients, particularly in developing markets, who are looking to expand their international outlook.

“HSBC has a very strong appetite to grow the commercial business in Scotland across all business sectors and we are investing heavily in people and premises to achieve this.”

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