InCommerce Dumfries & Galloway by Mark Ferguson

INcommerce THE DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

informing the world – the story of BDs adding flavour to your business working in partnership – scottish Power renewables segway at laggan outdoor

ISSUE 3 • SUMMER 2011

Efficiency Through Better Stock Management

urray Farmcare (MF) is one of the UK’s leading veterinary pharmacies, specialising in supplying animal medicines and advising on how to use them. The business was founded in 1972 and is based in Dumfries with most of their customers located in southern Scotland and northern England.

The report produced for MF provided a full, objective picture of the way the current stock management and delivery system operate; the steps where there are problems and potential problems; and a list of recommendations on how to improve the current system. The recommendations ranged from quick fixes to more complex solutions that may also require investment.

With the impending launch of the company’s new e-commerce website, MF was aware that this would impact upon their stock management and distribution system.

MF is now at the point where they are assessing which recommendations to adopt and in what order. In some cases, a cost/benefit analysis is to be undertaken in order to determine which recommendations are to be adopted.

It became essential to look at ways of making the system more efficient while enhancing customer service at the same time.

Andrew Cairns, Managing Director, is clearly delighted with the support he received from SoSBUS.

MF approached South of Scotland Business Solutions (SoSBUS) for assistance in auditing the current system and where appropriate, to present options and recommendations for improvements.

Andrew explained “The ease of accessing the help, the professional and empathetic approach taken by SoSBUS and the fact that the expert provision was available locally, made this a very positive experience for Murray Farmcare.”

Expertise was forthcoming through Borders College and HeriotWatt University, with George Foster of Borders College leading the audit project between October and December 2010. George spent time at the business premises in Dumfries getting to understand the current stock management, ordering and distribution system. This was followed by more detailed desk research, which informed the comprehensive final report.

Murray Farmcare www.mfcnet.co.uk South of Scotland Business Solutions www.sosbus.biz

Sou tho f Scotland

BUSINESS SOLUTIONS Are you an independent business with fewer than 250 staff? Are you located in Dumfries & Galloway? Do you have an idea to develop your business but are not sure how to take this forward? Are you looking to make changes in your business to improve efficiency and performance? Do you want to develop and make best use of the skills of your staff?

If you answer “yes” to all or some of these questions why not contact South of Scotland Business Solutions? We are a professional team keen to listen to your business ideas and discuss your business needs with you. In collaboration with academic experts we can develop a tailored solution that is right for your business.

We are looking forward to hearing from you! Eva Milroy, Business Liaison Officer, tel 01387 734139 or 07711520042, email milroye@dumgal.ac.uk.

Contents News.....................................Page 4 Award Winning Companies.....Page 9 Chamber News....................Page 13

Mountain Bike Business Network..................Page 22 Savour the Flavours Adding flavour to your business................................Page 24 Out and About Devorgilla Gallery..................Page 26 Working in Partnership ScottishPower Renewables.......Page 30 Climate Change Reduce your transport costs.....Page 32 Keep your eyes on the road...............................Page 34 The Challenge of Change Gillespie Gifford and Brown....Page 36 Inspiring Growth Prana....................................Page 38 Economic Commentary.........Page 40 Events Diary.........................Page 42 Creative Clusters...................Page 42 Welcome to New Members......................Page 45 For advertising contact D-Tech on T: 01389 736000 E: sales@incommerce.biz For editorial enquiries contact the Editor, Gordon Mann on T: 01387 247544 E: gordon.mann@crichton.co.uk Publisher: InCommerce Ltd Distribution: D-Tech Distribution InCommerce is published by InCommerce Ltd. Unit 14, Birch Road, Broadmeadow Industrial Estate, Dumbarton G82 2RE. Telephone 01389 736000. Fax 01389 736002. E-mail: info@dtechuk.com. Edited by Dumfries & Galloway Chamber of Commerce, Hillhead House, The Crichton, Bankend Road, Dumfries DG1 4UQ. Tel: 01387 270866 E-mail: gordon.mann@crichton.co.uk InCommerce is fully protected by copyright and nothing may be printed wholly or in part without the written permission of the publishers. The proprietors of this magazine are publishers and not agents, or sub-agents of those who advertise therein. They cannot be held liable for any loss suffered as a result of information gained from this publication. The views expressed by authors of articles published in this magazine are solely those of the author and are not necessarily the views of or shared by the editor, nor the publisher or the directors, shareholders and/or employees of InCommerce Ltd or D-Tech Graphic Design & Print Ltd.

Welcome

ith the dust settling on what has been an extraordinary Scottish Parliament election with an outcome that no one would have predicted we now turn to what this will mean for us in Dumfries and Galloway. Undoubtedly the focus of the new government should be jobs and the economy. The public purse is tight but if we fail to invest in skills, transport, communications and economic development then we put Scotland’s long-term economic wellbeing at risk. Minority government delivered a great deal of welcome consensus over the last four years and the Scottish Government now faces a real challenge to deliver a Scottish consensus from a majority position. It is vital that it continues to engage constructively with the Scottish business community and work as a team alongside the private sector to take Scotland forward in the right direction towards growth. Over the coming months we will seek to engage with all of the MSPs representing this area to press the case for investment in our infrastructure and faster broadband as key components to allow the private sector to grow. We will press the case for continued funding in training and skills and to ensure that investment in Higher and Further education recognises the importance this now has to our region.

You will see that the past quarter has been a busy one for Chamber and saw the launch of our services to help businesses enter or expand in the export market. With the pound at its current value there has never been a better time to export particularly to those countries that are now growing strongly. We also welcomed our new Partner for Business ScottishPower Renewables and there is more information about them in this magazine. With the SNP promise to grow the renewable sector for electricity production Scottish Power Renewables are well placed to take advantage of this. They have an ambitious programme of investment in this region and want to work with local businesses to maximise the benefit of this to our economy. Finally we are delighted that our speaker at this year’s lunch on 25th October is to be Justin Urquhart Stewart of Seven Investment Management. With his characteristic red braces Justin is one of the most recognisable and trusted market commentators on television, radio, and in the press. I am sure that he will have his own views of the economy and will share these with us. With an expected turn out of over 250 this is the not to be missed event for the business community. Trevor Knowles, President Dumfries and Galloway Chamber of Commerce.

Our Partners for Business

A partnership between Barony College, Borders College, Dumfries & Galloway College, Scottish Agricultural College, Heriot-Watt University, University of Glasgow and University of the West of Scotland

THE DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS MAGAZINE • SUMMER 11

Feature Informing the world The story of BDS....................Page 17

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Dumfries Fling

umfries fling warmed the town during a cold snap with four days of live music and dance in the town centre. The event attracted a total of 11,544 attendances from 8,206 visitors, and a net additional expenditure of £140,047 within the region. 24% of visitors were from outwith Dumfries and Galloway, (half from England) and 89% said they would come back. Dumfries Fling was managed and organised by Dumfries & Galloway Arts (dgArts). The Dumfries Fling events on the St Andrew’s weekend in 2010 saw four days of free music, dance, drama and children’s entertainment staged on the Plainstanes by The Midsteeple in the historic heart of Dumfries. Popular headliner bands created an exuberant, high energy feel to the event. A more quirky aspect was inspired by the popular traditions of St Andrew’s Eve which involve a bit of magic divination to help find a husband. Aerialist Cate Ross performed in an Aerial Fireshow Finale which warmed the crowd which had turned out on a bitterly cold evening. An audience member commented: “I thought that the Dumfries Fling Christmas light-up stage at the Midsteeple had great acts - Koda, Finding Albert and More from Jim were all top-notch.” See www.dgarts.co.uk for more information.

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news Boost for Dumfries Town Centre Recent announcements could see four empty shops in Dumfries re-opening as part of the fight back following the recession.

Loreburne Shopping Centre Unit 6 on High Street saw Curvylicious open offering quality lingerie and swimwear. Run by local businesswoman, Laura Marscheider, Curvylicious also provides a measuring service and caters for cup sizes A – K. Another local businessman Deniz Calisci opened in the kiosk in the mall adjacent to the Vending Station. His business is FoneXpert and it carries out mobile phone repairs, unlocking and unblocking phones and offers phone accessories. General Manager of the Centre Jim Ireland said “These two independent businesses increase the offer inside and outside the Loreburne Centre and we wish them both every success for the future. The month of May is quite significant for us as the Loreburne Centre opened its doors twenty years ago with footfall in the opening week at 16,711. By comparison the same week this year will see the weekly footfall at around 108,000 and the average weekly footfall for 2011 will be in the region of 114,000”

aggan Outdoor will be launching off road Segway adventures from 28th May this year. The outdoor activity centre near Gatehouse of Fleet will be the second place in the country to offer the two wheel electric vehicles as part of their activity offering. Duncan McConchie, Director of Laggan Outdoor said “We need to ensure that our products are fresh and new at Laggan Outdoor and Segways fitted the bill. The Segway is so much fun to use and we’re sure it’ll be a huge hit with our customers.” Laggan Outdoor will be offering 1 hour guided Segway adventures for up to 4 people at once. The nifty all terrain versions of the Segway will allow customers to explore off the beaten track and enjoy some of the best views in the region. Visit www.lagganoutdoor.co.uk or call 01557 840217 for more information.

Loreburne Terrace abc recruitment services celebrated its ninth birthday and announced that it is expanding its existing business premises to keep up with customer demand. Clive Rumbold, Director of abc recruitment services, commented “We needed more space as the business grows and the vacant shop Where abc recruitment will be. on Loreburn Terrace is directly below our base allowing us to get a street frontage, more space and inject some life into this part of the town centre – a real win-win situation.” With planning consent already granted work will start soon to convert the run down former taxi office into a bright new welcoming reception for abc recruitment. An added bonus is that the expansion will also allow abc to take on more staff. The development is due to be finished around early summer 2011. An open evening/day will be held to allow the team at abc to show off the new premises.

High Street Multi national bank HSBC announced plans to establish a new branch in Dumfries and is looking at taking over an empty shop on the south High Street. John Rendall HSBC Chief Executive in Scotland visited Dumfries recently where he met with Chamber representatives. He commented: “Currently the nearest branches to Dumfries are in Glasgow and Carlisle. Our investment equates to approximately £1.1 million and will generate 12 new full time jobs in Dumfries Town Centre.” The branch will be staffed with banking advisors, financial planning, mortgage and premier relationship managers with an on-site business banking team managing relationships with businesses turning-over up to £2m. HSBC is one of the largest banking and financial services organisations in the World with over 300,000 employees spanning an international network of around 7,500 offices in 87 countries. Headquartered in London it is one of the UK’s largest companies and principal clearing banks with a domestic network of approximately 1,300 branches, providing the full range of banking and financial services – including personal financial services, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking.

THE DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS MAGAZINE • SUMMER 11

Segway to Laggan Outdoor

news

minerVa PeoPle first for sCotlanD

ith tourism and hospitality at the heart of the economy in Dumfries and Galloway there has been a clear need for better training in customer care for the industry. Minerva People, the award winning training company in Dumfries, has become one of the first in Scotland to offer the WorldHost™ Principles of Customer Service training programme.

an ‘insPireD’ enterPrise

irkcudbright Academy’s Young Enterprise Company are celebrating victory in the recent Young Enterprise Awards scheme and now go forward to the National Competition.

The team used the name Incito and that proved to be an inspired choice. Latin scholars will recognise it as the verb to inspire but it was the inspired choice of product that won the day. The group developed a highly innovative product to raise awareness of sign language from a young age. Fiona Martin, the Company’s Managing Director commented “We produced the book and DVD – taking and editing the photos and videos, designing the cover, laying out the pages ourselves, with advice from a local deaf couple, the Denerleys.”

THE DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS MAGAZINE • SUMMER 11

The company has been busy selling the kit to schools, libraries and individuals all over the region, as well as to Girlguiding Scotland and Waterstones. The product was promoted to Head Teachers as well through a window display on World Book Day in Solway Books in Kirkcudbright.

The team won the overall regional award and also picked up the awards for Best Quality Report and Best Display Stand.

Based on a programme developed in British Columbia WorldHostTM was adapted for the UK by People 1st, the sector skills council for hospitality, leisure and tourism. WorldHostTM was the training scheme that underpinned the success of the Vancouver Winter Olympics and is recognised as a world leader, and Minerva are delighted to make this training programme available to businesses in Dumfries & Galloway. Participants on this programme will gain invaluable skills and techniques that are the fundamentals of service professionalism and will be encouraged to take pride in what they do and where they live. Contact Joanna Woodford at Minerva People, 01387 248244 to book your places.

foCus on young PeoPle

o you think you could spare half an hour to help young people hear about the real world of work? If so then FOCUS would like to hear from you.

FOCUS is a partnership project aimed at 16 to 19 year old young people who may need encouragement and support to identify positive destinations for themselves. The programme works with small groups of young people and activities are based on preparation for life after school. They encourage a FOCUS group to suggest ideas and topics such as training and employment routes, conflict resolution, money matters and more.

It is important for young people to hear from the “voice of experience” and to hear what employers really want from young people (Good attitude? Reliability? An interest in work? Qualifications?) This is your chance to tell them what’s important - and to promote your business to potential future customers! Recently Jim Thompson from Dumfries Technical Services came to deliver a one-day course in “Working in confined spaces”. As well as being relevant to these occupations, the course also covered basic Health and Safety at work topics. If you could spare 30 minutes, or would just like to find out more about FOCUS, contact FOCUS Coordinator Duncan Harkness on 01387 810073 or e-mail focus@ learning2001.fsnet.co.uk for details.

news

Calling all UWS Graduates

University of the West of Scotland was formed in August 2007 with the merger of the former University of Paisley and Bell College. The University currently has around 20,000 students and 2,000 staff based at four campuses located in Ayr, Dumfries, Hamilton and Paisley. The University is keen to keep in touch with all its former graduates and in particular to hear from graduates from the former University of Paisley, Paisley College, Paisley College of Technology or Bell College. To qualify for membership of the Association members of the Chamber must have graduated from University of Paisley or Bell College or any of its former institutions. Crawford Wilson, Marketing Manager for Alumni and Development at the University, said: “We are keen to hear from all of our former graduates. Members of the new Association can benefit from a range of University services, benefits and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) study opportunities, as well as become part of a worldwide community offering networking opportunities to keep in touch with former colleagues”. Any former graduates can register online at www.uws.ac.uk/alumni Update/Register Your Details or contact Crawford Wilson, Marketing Manager, Paisley Campus, Tel 0141 848 3293.

Dumfries & Galloway Tourism Industry Conference

n March over 115 tourism businesses and organisations attended the ‘Getting Fit for Business & Working Together’ Dumfries & Galloway Tourism Industry Conference, organised by Destination Dumfries & Galloway, in partnership with Easterbrook Hall, and in association with Dumfries & Galloway Council and VisitScotland. Conference participants were introduced to and encouraged to get involved in the aims of the Dumfries & Galloway Regional Tourism Strategy 2011-2016 (formally launched at the Conference); learned more about partnership working and national strategies for tourism in Scotland; and enjoyed a lively presentation from keynote speaker Stephen Leckie (Managing Director of Crieff Hydro, Director of Scottish Tourism Forum and Chair of Tourism Leadership Group). Most importantly, tourism businesses had an opportunity to voice opinions, express issues and ideas, network with other tourism businesses and participate in workshops. “It was a great day, just so much energy and enthusiasm from everyone who attended. The industry wants to get involved and suggested many ideas for how we can improve the offering for the visitor to Dumfries & Galloway and how to market more effectively to them. If you could bottle the atmosphere of the day, we’d soon become a must see destination.” Said Wilma Finlay chair of DD & G and Managing Director of Cream o’ Galloway. www.destinationdg.co.uk

THE DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS MAGAZINE • SUMMER 11

niversity of the West of Scotland launched its Alumni Association for graduates in November 2009. Since the launch, membership of the Association has grown to over 15,000, with graduates in jobs throughout the west and south-west of Scotland area and indeed all over the world.

news

Rural Networking

THE DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS MAGAZINE â&#x20AC;˘ SUMMER 11

atStrand Arts, Community and Visitor Centre in New Galloway, managed by Chamber member Glenkens Community and Arts Trust, was the location in April for a visit by the National Rural Network for Scotland, focussing on community enterprise. The management team were delighted to welcome the group from across rural Scotland to share their valuable ideas and experiences.

Rural Network Coordinator Matt Tyrer said, "Once again the CatStrand has delivered a fantastic event for our visiting participants. The CatStrand is a really inspiring place. Not only does it provide a fantastic venue for a whole range of activities, but with the GTI community bus and Glenkens Gazette newspaper also being managed by GCAT they ensure people know about what is happening and can get to the venue from around the surrounding area." The GCAT team included an insight into another new project, with a trip on the GTI community bus to see the site of the Watson Bird Centre in Dalry, another significant redevelopment which is benefitting hugely from experience gained in the development of the CatStrand. The Scotland National Rural Network has been developed by the Scottish Government as part of four linked UK and other European networks.

People Of The Year Awards 2011

tâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time to nominate your local heroes for the Dumfries & Galloway Life People of the Year Awards 2011, which follow the overwhelming success of the inaugural event last year. There was a tremendous response from people across Britain nominating all those local heroes who play such an important part in our community and help make the region the wonderful place it is. Once again the awards are being held in association with Easterbrook Hall in Dumfries, where the special awards lunch will take place on Friday, December 9. For businesses the Enterprise Section has three sections for Business personality of the year, Retailer of the Year and Tourism Champion. There are three other Sections for Community, Arts and Leisure and finally Food and Drink. There is also an overall award and the Dumfries & Galloway Life Special Award. For more information about the awards, nominations and sponsorship opportunities, email Dumfries & Galloway Life Commissioning Editor Andrea Thompson at andrea.thompson@cngroup.co.uk

award winning companies Congratul ations

Loreburn Judged as UK’s Best

If that wasn’t enough to celebrate, Loreburn was also placed 15th in the overall list of the top 100 companies in the public and charity sectors. This is the third consecutive year Loreburn has been named in the elite Sunday Times Top 100 List, and every year it has improved its overall “Best Companies” rating. The Sunday Times Top 100 List is based on the most comprehensive survey of workplace opinion of its kind in Britain. This year over 291,000 employees in 1,165 organisations from the private and public sectors completed the independent surveys. This survey is designed to examine the key components of a happy, engaged and successful workplace. Jonathan Austin, CEO and founder, Best Companies, the name behind The Sunday Times ‘Best Companies to Work For’ comments: “I would like to congratulate Loreburn on their outstanding achievement. This year it is encouraging to see that more and more organisations are recognising the value of employee engagement and are willing to benchmark themselves against the best to ensure they are offering their employees the best possible experience. Organisations like Loreburn have continued to focus on their employees and have been rewarded with an engaged workforce who tell us that this is a great place to work.” These latest awards come hard on the heels of Loreburn’s recent Investors in People Gold achievement.Loreburn’s Chief Executive Officer, Ahsan Khan, commented:

“It is the culmination of the efforts of our management committee who for many years have supported me in making Loreburn an exceptional place to work. “The largely non-financial investment in our people continues to deliver sector-leading performance across all our areas of activity, making a real contribution to life in Dumfries & Galloway. “I am incredibly proud of the team we have at Loreburn. They demonstrate every year that an engaged and enthusiastic workforce means better performance and more satisfied customers. “All my colleagues should take personal pride of this achievement. In my 30 year career, I can honestly say that I’ve never worked with a better team of people. It’s a privilege for me to come to work here every day.” Iain Agnew, Convener of Loreburn, added: “This was a huge achievement for a Dumfries & Galloway business. The Management Committee is immensely proud that Loreburn is up there with the best in the country, showing once again that it is possible to work through very difficult times while keeping our employees engaged, happy and positive. This is fantastic news for the people and communities we serve across Dumfries & Galloway, and the work we do to improve the quality of life in our area. It reflects the value we place on the people we employ and truly embodies our mission statement ‘Making People Matter’.” Liz Smart, Consultant in Public Health, NHS Dumfries & Galloway said: ”Good quality housing has long been recognised as having a major impact on health and wellbeing. Loreburn Housing is playing a major role in health improvement within our region. We congratulate them on their success.”

THE DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS MAGAZINE • SUMMER 11

oreburn, the Dumfries & Galloway housing association, has further enhanced its reputation as one of the UK’s leading employers being named by the Sunday Times as “Best for Wellbeing” in its annual assessment of the best places to work in the UK. Judges praised Loreburn’s variety of flexible working options, including staggered hours, flexi time and job-sharing, and the willingness to accommodate individual needs.

“To be included in this list of elite companies is outstanding; to be named Best for Wellbeing is simply amazing. We were delighted last year to achieve Investors in People Gold and this just tops everything off.

award winning companies Congrat u l at i o n s

We stock a wide range of equipment for game and poultry rearing including: • Manual and Automatic Feeders • Manual and Automatic Drinkers • ATV Accessories • Electric Fencing • Vermin Control Products, including the Solway Multi Larsen Trap, one of the most effective traps on the market • Shooting Lamps and Accessories • Aviary Netting • Incubators and Accessories • Health and Hygiene Products and lots more

We now stock a range of Lyalvale Express and Clever Mirage Shotgun Cartridges Visitors welcome to our warehouse premises at Dundrennan Solway Feeders Ltd, Main Street, Dundrennan, Kirkcudbright DG6 4QH

Tel: 01557 500253 www.solwayfeeders.com

Pettigrew’s of Lochmaben Within walking distance of Kirk Loch, Castle Loch and Mill Loch and the only bait shop in the area.

Fishing Tackle • Bait • Maggots Worms • Ground Bait Ian MacAndrew, Blackaddie House Hotel

Blackaddie House Hotel – success on a plate!

Tel: 01387 811 660 20 High Street, Lochmaben, Dumfries DG11 1NH dug.pettigrew@btconnect.com www.lochmabenbait.co.uk

THE DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS MAGAZINE • SUMMER 11

n the recent Scottish Hotel Awards Blackaddie House Hotel of Sanquhar won three awards, Chef Médaille d’Or, Special Commendation for its Restaurant and the Breakfast Provenance Award, then in the same week they also found out that they were in the final 4 for the Good Food Guide Scottish Restaurant of the Year Award which if they win this will mean they will be in the running for the UK Restaurant of the year award. Ian, Chef Patron of Blackaddie said “Awards like this mean everything to us, it is often difficult for the small business in out of the way places to get recognition and to be noticed and awards like these help to put us on the map, helping to point people towards us. Word of mouth is the best form of advertising one can get and this sort of award is done exactly that way, by personal recommendation, especially the Good Food Guide Restaurant of the Year award. It is because people that have stayed and eaten with us, enjoyed their visit and their experience and have taken the time and effort to write in to the guide about us... to all those people we say a great big thank you. We are trying to put Blackaddie on the international map of destinations to stay at and in turn put Upper Nithsdale and Dumfries and Galloway in general up there with us as a great destination and a great place to visit, these awards can only help that goal.” On top of these Ian has also just been told that he is one of the final 4 for the CIS Scottish Chef of the Year award too! He’s obviously doing something right up there in Sanquhar!

SLATE HAIRDRESSING

17 Bank Street / Dumfries / DG1 2NX 01387 265907 / salon@slatehairdressing.co.uk

JOAN’S HAIRDRESSING

130 Drumlanrig Street / Thornhill / Dumfries / DG3 5LP salon@joanshairdressing.com www.joanshairdressing.com

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chamber news Dumfries and Galloway Chamber of Commerce has been extremely busy this first quarter of 2011 writes Amanda Hannah

PSYBT The start of the year saw a joint event with the Prince’s Scottish Youth Business Trust at the Cairndale Hotel in Dumfries. Delegates heard from three inspiring young individuals who have set themselves up in business, Jill Parker of Jill’s Jewellery and Selina Waller of Greenleaf Photographic Studios, both in Castle Douglas and Carol-Ann Brown of F5 Karting, Dumfries. They spoke of what inspired them to go in to business, what challenges they faced and what the rewards were of running their own business. This was such a positive evening, hearing what three young people have achieved through one of the UK’s hardest economic downturns.

Local Development Plan Dumfries and Galloway Council are now working on the new Local Development Plan that will set out the Council’s planning policies for the next five to ten years. The first stage was the publication of the Main Issues Report that identifies those aspects that the Council thinks should be in the final plan. The Chamber has submitted detailed comments on the plan and the full text can be seen on the Chamber web site. The Chamber drew attention to the problems relating to out migration and that this region has the oldest population of any local authority in Scotland. The private sector has also seen a significant reduction in jobs making the area more reliant on the public sector at a time when this is being cut. Some of the key points made by Chamber were:-

The need to encourage investment and to make doing the right thing easy. Support for rural businesses and the creation of employment hubs. The need to protect established businesses from development that may ultimately restrict its operations Support the concept of Dumfries as the regional capital

Wellness

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Another successful exclusive event came to Jacquies Premier Beauty Salon on the Whitesands in Dumfries in February, to launch a new wellness treatments for men. An informal evening with the opportunity to try out various treatments, the evening was both relaxing and fun with prizes, a fundraising activity raising money for Save the Children and a lovely gift bag of Guinot goodies to take away.

Photos courtesy of Allan Devlin, Dumfries & Galloway Life Magazine

THE DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS MAGAZINE • SUMMER 11

Stressed the importance of the Crichton

chamber news Presentation Training Adam Davey Consulting delivered the first of his training workshops on behalf of Chamber on Presentation Skills at the Station Hotel in Dumfries in February. This was an informative and enjoyable day’s training focusing on how to excel in group environments, the pitfalls of presenting and how to maximize the impact of your style when presenting. This was extremely popular and has led to further training workshops being organized with Adam including How to Create and Use PowerPoint Effectively and Tone of Voice Training in March.

Hustings Employment Law A full house for an update on Employment law at the Carindale Hotel heard from top lawyers Lesley May and Wendy Sommerville of Brodies Solicitors. This event covered discrimination, the changes that came in to force with the Equality Act of 2010 and retirement, as well as focusing on changing employees terms and conditions. Lesley prepared a very useful booklet which delegates were able to take away with them for future reference.

Two Parliamentary Hustings events held in April, ahead of the Scottish elections, generated a good deal of interest from around the region. Dumfries and Galloway Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Small Businesses came together to arrange these events, one for the Dumfriesshire Constituency at the Cairndale Hotel in Dumfries (chaired by Cameron Murray of West Sound FM) and the other for the Galloway and West Dumfries Constituency at the Douglas Arms Hotel in Castle Douglas (chaired by freelance journalist, Frank Ryan). Both events proved very interactive with some very good and probing questions being asked by the delegates.

THE DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS MAGAZINE • SUMMER 11

Web Marketing

Chamber member Eskdale Solutions hosted a fascinating and informative web marketing workshop at their premises in Langholm in March covering the five key elements of web marketing: Keyword research, good design, navigation/user experience, content and analytics. The workshop proved valuable for all who attended and delegates left enthused and ready to get to work improving their own web sites.

Exporting March also saw the first of our exporting events delivered in Dumfries. The Smart Exporter Roadshow held at the Aston Hotel in Dumfries is a new project from Scottish Chambers International (SCI) and Scottish Development International (SDI). Smart Exporter is designed to help businesses at all stages of exporting from those just considering exporting to those that have been doing it for years. The Smart Exporter’s largely free services include: specialist advice and consultancy, unrivalled technical support and a dedicated helpline and comprehensive training and skills development including online resources.

For forthcoming Chamber events take a look at the Events Diary on page 46 and contact the Chamber office on 01387 270866 or email admin@dgchamber.co.uk if you would like further information or would like to book yourself on to any of these events.

mentoring

At Bank of Scotland we’re here for Scottish business, supporting opportunities for growth and encouraging enterprise. We are committed to developing long-term partnerships with our customers to offer them the support, guidance and expertise needed to take their business forward. From growing your business in a recovering economy and beyond, you can be sure that we’ll be with you all the way. For more information speak to your local manager David Murray on 07748 14 69 23 or Jane Lenza on 01387 227109 bankofscotland.co.uk/business

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Domestic, Commercial & Agricultural. Insurance Work Also Undertaken • New Builds • Drainage • Alterations • External Works • Extensions • Renovations • Plastering • Rough Casting • Rooﬁng • Scaffolding For a free estimate contact:

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usiness Mentoring is a service that is provided through the partnership of Scottish Chambers of Commerce (SCC) Scottish Enterprise (SE) and the European Social Fund (ESF). It is a FREE service available to any business in Scotland with a turnover in excess of £100,000. Business Mentoring aims to work principally with businesses that are seeking to develop and grow. A mentor is there to support, stimulate and challenge a mentee on a personal and business level and our team of highly skilled volunteer mentors will often help a mentee to view their business in a different light using their knowledge, experience and expertise. Our mentors are established business people in their own right with a unique blend of business and life experience. They benefit from having ‘been there and done that’ and they’re willing and keen to share their skills, knowledge and networks with other businesses. One example of a business flourishing with the aid of a mentor is Craig Denholm’s Tasteee Catering Services. Craig tells us “Tasteee Catering Services was launched with the help of the new Business Gateway in Sept 2008 with the aims of providing good quality outside and contract catering at excellent value and superior customer service. We had managed to secure some local contracts but missed out on a couple of larger ones. After contacting the mentoring project and meeting my mentor he helped me see the benefits of our company over our competitors and how to sell these benefits to prospective customers. This included using our website www.tasteee.co.uk to promote how good our value for money and customer service are. After my first meeting with my mentor, at which we discussed the tendering process, I was successful with the next contract I applied for – Tasteee now caters at the visitor cafe within the Scottish Maritime Museum in Irvine. I am lucky that my mentor started his business in a very similar way to mine and understood the problems we were having and what to do now we are growing. I would thoroughly recommend the mentoring scheme to everyone.”

WILLIAM WAUGH & SONS (BUILDERS) LTD.

SHOPFIT TERS

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FREE ESTIMATES

For more information please call

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Tel: 01387 740216

Fax: 01387 740586 Mob: 07595 280810 • Broadford, Auldgirth, Dumfries DG2 0RT

Craig’s mentor says “The Business Mentoring scheme fills a void between the support of Business Gateway and the leap of becoming an Account Managed Company with Scottish Enterprise. And when it works it’s a win/win situation with not only the mentee getting the potential benefit but also the Mentor. But at the end of the day it’s not a magic wand, the mentee needs to take self responsibility to nurture and foster the collaboration and Craig is a good example of this and it seems to be helping him drive his business forward.” To find out more about the Business Mentoring project please call Lorna on 01292 670158 or email lmercer@ayrshire-chamber.org

THE DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS MAGAZINE • SUMMER 11

We’re here to help Scottish business grow.

S TAT ION HO T E L D U M F R I E S

Hosting a meeting, dinner or small conference?

RESTAURANT • GIFT SHOP • TERRACED CAFÉ Situated at Scotland’s most Southerly Point, 22 miles south of Stranaer, Gallie Craig near Drummore is an isolated rocky promontory on the beautifully coloured cliff headland, and it is this famous landmark that lends its name to the family-run, cliff-top Gallie Craig Coffee House.

Make a positive impression on your clients and guests by choosing the Best Western Station Hotel, Dumfries.

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We have 40 years’ experience of organising successful functions of all types for up to 120 people. Our great food and service, central location and charming surroundings make us an ideal venue for your business or family event. Please give us the opportunity to quote by contacting us:

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Tel: 01387 254316 Email: info@stationhotel.co.uk BEST WESTERN Station Hotel 49 Lovers Walk, Dumfries DG1 1LT

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Email: enquiries@galliecraig.co.uk Web: www.galliecraig.co.uk Address: Gallie Craig Coffee House, Mull of Galloway, Drummore, Stranraer, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, DG9 9HP

We offer a range of short Courses, open learning, vocational qualifications and customised solutions in key business areas including: Care Catering & Hospitality Childcare Computing

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FUNDING SUPPORT

NEW COURSES NOW AVAILABLE • Worldhost – Principles of Customer Service

INDIVIDUAL LEARNING ACCOUNT If you earn £22000 or less you may be entitled to Individual Learning Account (ILA) funding for some of the CTS courses.

• Managing Challenging Behaviour

To find out more contact ILA Scotland on 0808 100 1090 or go to www.ilascotland.org.uk.

• HACCP

FLEXIBLE TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES Flexible Training Opportunities gives businesses with under 50 employees the opportunity to apply for up to £5,000 towards employee training costs. Skills Development Scotland will refund 50% of the cost of up to 10 training courses with a maximum value of £500 per course.

For a full programme and Booking Form, or to find out more about the range of services and courses available from CTS please contact Jackie Kelly on 01387 734198 or email cts@dumgal.ac.uk

For advice on how to apply, call free on 0800 783 6000.

Tel: 01387 734198/9 Email: cts@dumgal.ac.uk www.dumgal.ac.uk

Dumfries & Galloway College Bankend Rd, Dumfries DG1 4FD Scottish Charity Number: SCO21189

Photos ©Louise Llewellyn

feature

the story of BDs by John Hudson

nformation is the world’s most valuable commodity. It has always been essential to good decision-making and without it most activities we take for granted would be impossible. For BDS, based at the Crichton Business Park in Dumfries, information means business. BDS creates, collates and aggregates data.

How do you find that book you need for research? When is that TV channel showing Al Pacino’s films? What is that opera about? And what is the book it is based upon? How do librarians know where a novel or a textbook or a play should be shelved? Who is the composer of this piece of music? Is this video game available yet in the UK? When you use your TV guide, browse for a book in your library, want to know who has reviewed your favourite author, search for tie-ins across media or need to hunt down a publication in the British Library, the chances are that you are using BDS data. “The need for information or what we at BDS call metadata goes back a long way and applies to every culture,” comments Lesley Whyte, Managing Director and one of the founders of BDS. “More recently the growth of electronic media has led to a dynamically growing need to be able to retrieve useful data, whether to drive sales, enhance research, help save lives or preserve a nation’s heritage. BDS is at the forefront of this process.”

Certainly, a brief look at BDS’s client list supports the notion that data is useful to us all. Begin with the British Library, one of the most revered bibliographic institutions in the world and guardian of Britain’s (and a significant part of the world’s) heritage. BDS has held the contract to supply bibliographic data to the BL’s Catalogue in Publication (CIP) scheme since 1995 and recently added the supply of data for classical music releases on compact disc. Moreover, most local authority public library services use BDS data as well.

...the growth of electronic media has led to a dynamically growing need to be able to retrieve useful data….. BDS is at the forefront of this process. “Winning and holding the BL CIP contract has been core to BDS’s success,” continues Lesley. “BDS was founded and still employs a large number of library professionals so we can build into the data that we create all that is necessary for the smooth running of the library catalogue. This is why over 95% of libraries come to us for our data.” More recently the client base has expanded as the company realised the enormous potential of its data, notably after the purchase of London-based home entertainment data supplier Parafax which was to become West10 Entertainment, a wholly-owned brand that BDS uses in the DVD, video games and recorded music trade sector.

THE DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS MAGAZINE • SUMMER 11

informing the worlD

feature cross-referenced and supply data threads for research, as well as applied to specialist uses – such as those used by Publishing Scotland which needs to identify books of Scottish interest. Consistent and accurate categorisation with flexible real-world applications is something on which BDS has built its reputation. Basically, you can rely on BDS data.

Local Origins You may be surprised to realise that BDS has its origin and headquarters and employs most of its staff in Dumfries and Galloway. It has grown consistently since its foundation by Lesley and her fellow director Eric Green along with a handful of colleagues in 1995. It now employs over 60 people in its offices in Dumfries and London and encompasses six brands, each specialising in a different sector.

THE DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS MAGAZINE • SUMMER 11

British Library Reading Room

Today BDS sells its data to Virgin Media, XtraVision, Gracenotes, Oxfam, Opus Arte and PriceMinister to name but a few of its prestigious list of clients. Emma McMillan, Receptionist at BDS

...the heart of our business is accuracy and delivery. So what is the key to BDS’s success? Data can be broken down into information and organisation. The information needs to be accurate and carry all the details required to satisfy not only today’s demands but also those of the foreseeable future. Data on a book, for example, needs to carry the genre and a description of the plot to satisfy readers but also classification data for libraries, availability for wholesalers, size and weight for delivery mechanisms, and RRP for sales... and that’s just the beginning. One can easily add book jacket image, tables of contents, edition number, whether it is part of a series, ISBN, BIC Code, Library of Congress Subject Heading and a host of other snippets that make the data of use to thousands of people working across as many sectors. As important is the way this information is organised. It needs to be compatible with computer systems and search engines working on diverse platforms. It is also useful if it contains internal tags and links, so that information can be

Eric Green, Business Development Director

Eric, Director of IT and Business Development, elaborates: “At the beginning Lesley was the library specialist and I drove the IT – how BDS coded and delivered the data that we created. Then BDS broadened its skills and moved beyond our core business, books and the library sector, into DVD, Blu-ray, video games, music compact discs and e-books for retail and e-tail. More recently we have expanded into web development and information services. It is still an exciting journey.”

Lesley Whyte, Managing Director

feature

The workforce is key

BDS is now home to six brands: its own, essentially libraryfocused, brand; West10 Entertainment which delivers data to the home entertainment sector; Books & Media which provides an information service on books featured across all media in the UK and Ireland; BookBrunch, a partlyowned e-zine carrying information on the book trade and book culture, and two web development companies, each aimed at different web requirements, Ehaus, specialising in large data sets such as BDS’s own flagship service, BDSLive, and, recent addition, Weesleekit – another Dumfriesshire company – who are noted for their exciting, arthouse design and web development. “Each brand within the business is linked to and generates business for the other brands,” says Eric, “and we feel confident that we can offer the best websites and best information alongside our industry-standard data because the heart of our business is accuracy and delivery. That is what our reputation is built upon and that is what we will maintain in any sector in which we work.”

BDS has a loyal workforce, many of whom have stayed with the company throughout its life. Commercial growth has led to the need for the company to consistently expand its number of employees and today many of its workers are graduates from both Glasgow University’s Crichton Campus and the University of the West of Scotland, situated in the same grounds as BDS itself. “Two main reasons we moved our offices to Annandale House on The Crichton Business Park was the agreeableness of the environment which is important for the general sense of well-being among our staff, and its proximity to a centre of learning. BDS’s strength is its workforce; our staff’s expertise takes a long time to gain and investment to maintain,” comments Lesley. This belief in people offers an interesting slant on a company dedicated to creating information for use in computing systems but as Lesley is quick to point out, “it is the person using the data who is important, what they want and what they need, and it is this that governs the detail that we create. It is the same with our employees. People are at the heart of BDS.” It is remarkable to think that people living in Dumfries and Galloway are responsible for so much of the information we use day to day around the world.

THE DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS MAGAZINE • SUMMER 11

Lesley, Barry Smith, Sarah Armitage (Sales Directors) and Eric

feature

Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in As You Like It at the Crichton 2011

THE DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS MAGAZINE • SUMMER 11

A Culture of Excellence

This people-focused philosophy is also reflected in BDS’s broader belief and investment in the culture of the book and entertainment. Its bestknown initiative has come through its work with Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre on London’s South Bank. “In 2008 the Dumfries and Galloway based arts organisation, The Bakehouse, came to us with regard to a potential visit of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre performing Romeo and Juliet,” recounts Lesley. “BDS immediately saw the potential of hosting the event in the grounds of The Crichton. We helped build an association of BDS, The Bakehouse, the Globe and The Crichton Development Company to bring Romeo and Juliet to Dumfries.” The result was a record turnout for The Globe which has returned every year since. 2011’s performance of As You Like It, for which BDS was again the main financial sponsor was the most successful yet with 1,500 attending the three performances. “Who wouldn’t want Shakespeare as a business partner?” Eric says with a smile. “He is ideal for BDS and its creation of data. He has been published over and over. His plays are first-class entertainment. His stories have been made into films and video games. Music has been written and

played and recorded for generations around the plays and, in the end, people are at the heart of everything he created”. Good data is a recipe for success. Allied to good judgement it makes the world a better place. BDS’s data is employing over 60 people in Dumfries and Galloway, allowing them to bring up their families and live in this beautiful part of the world, and it is also supplying a need, the need for quality information the world over. Next time you borrow that book or rent that film, remember how you came by it in the first place.

Famous Licensed Visitor Centre & Brewery Tap!

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mountain bike business network

he Mountain Bike Business Network has been on the scene now since September 2009 and the last 18 months have passed in a ﬂurry of activity for Project Manager Tracey McNeish.

She said: “From my very first week when I met journalists from Sweden and Spain I’ve been kept busy working to promote Dumfries and Galloway as a premier destination for mountain bikers. “This has meant undertaking a wide range of projects to get the message out there to as many people as possible. “My first priority was to keep members – and potential members - up to date with what I’ve been up to and the monthly e-newsletter now goes out to around 300 recipients. “But for those of you who haven’t signed up here’s a quick rundown of what the MBBN has achieved since September 2009.”

Tourist Leaﬂets In the first phase of the project the MBBN produced an initial run of 10,000 leaflets aimed at tourists visiting the region. The leaflet included a map showing the stanes and Drumlanrig as well as numbered pins and an advert including a picture for each member business. This leaflet was very popular and after 20 new members signed up a second run was printed and distributed throughout Scotland and Northern England. In Phase II the leaflet was expanded to accommodate additional new members and to include information about other activities in the region.

THE DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS MAGAZINE • SUMMER 11

Website

By far the biggest MBBN achievement is the new members’ only website at http://eat-sleep-ride.com which was developed with local design firm InfraRed following a tendering process. The site is designed to be managed by MBBN members and as such is very easy to use. It features an interactive map which can be used to filter businesses by four categories – eat, sleep, ride or other activities. There are currently 92 businesses listed on the site and as it rises up the Google rankings we expect even more to come on board. With this in mind we’re working hard to promote the site in a number of ways. There are bike stickers with the web address on them, a flyer promoting the site and the chance to win an I-Pod for those who register their email address. http://eat-sleep-ride.com is also linked to the official 7stanes site where around 40% of traffic to the site is generated.

mountain bike business network Social Networking

VisitScotland

The website also offers MBBN members the opportunity to make their businesses presence felt on Facebook and Twitter. Each news, event or offer added to the site goes out to the fans and followers on these social networking sites. We are working hard to increase our fans and followers so please link to us on these sites and tell your friends too.

Over the next few months work we’ve done with VisitScotland will start to pay off too. In June and September the MBBN and our website – http://eat-sleepride.com will feature in their monthly e-zines The first will reach 97,000 young people who enjoy active UK breaks and the second will be sent to VisitScotland’s entire database of over 200,000 contacts across the UK.

Events We worked with the 7stanes teams to promote Dumfries and Galloway at events outside the region. The first, at Silverburn Shopping Centre in March, was a great opportunity to make contact with potential new customers in Glasgow. MBBN volunteers went along with bike stickers and leaflets promoting the website. In April MBBN volunteers worked with the new Community Interest Company to give out information, stickers and leaflets to the thousands of people who flocked to the Scottish Bike Show at the SECC.

Doug Knox from Forestry Commission Scotland was supported by the MBBN to run a promotion through www.manchesterconfidential.com. The campaign featured information about the 7stanes and a competition to win a mountain biking holiday in the region with prizes donated by MBBN members. This was backed up by a familiarisation trip by Manchester Evening News journalist Andy Cronshaw who had his piece published in April.

roject Manager Tracey said: “We’ve had a really busy time over the last 18 months but there’s no time for slowing down. We’re already working on the next phase and we’ve got some great innovations designed to market Dumfries and Galloway through state of the art technology. “If you want to be a part of it we’d be delighted to have you on board.” To join the MBBN please contact Tracey McNeish on 01387 702 159 or by email on mbbn@dgchamber.co.uk.

People receiving these e-zines will be able to read about the region as a potential holiday destination and click through directly to the MBBN website. We’ve also secured a place on the European Touring Web Deal for 2011 / 12 which means the web address will feature on the travel deal sections of these VisitScotland websites in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands and Belgium. Last year these sites attracted almost 2 million visitors and this year they’re aiming for even more. Site visitors will be able to read about Dumfries and Galloway as a great tourist destination (in their own language) and click through to http://eat-sleep-ride.com. And finally we’re providing prizes for two competitions – one in store and one direct mail. The direct mail campaign is with outdoor clothing website www.gearforgirls.co.uk. It’s going to target young women who have been identified as a potential customer base for mountain biking holidays in Dumfries and Galloway. The in-store promotion will run in Greaves Sports stores in Glasgow and Edinburgh. The stores’ target customers are young people and families and the two cities in which they are based are key locations from which to attract new customers.

THE DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS MAGAZINE • SUMMER 11

Press

Selkirk Arms

aDDing flaVour to your Business By Lorna Young of Indigo Words, Lorna@indigowords.co.uk

T THE DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS MAGAZINE • SUMMER 11

ourism is big business in Dumfries & Galloway, worth more than £250m to our region’s economy and supporting more than 8,000 jobs. Making sure that the experience of being in Dumfries & Galloway is good, and one that’s worth experiencing again and again, should be a regionwide priority for businesses across multiple sectors, and particularly for those businesses connected with food and drink.

Visitors to Dumfries & Galloway now spend nearly as much on their holiday food and drink as they do on their accommodation. So for businesses servicing the tourism market getting the food and drink offering right can be critical to business success.

…getting the food and drink offering right can be critical to business success. Good food, great business A focus on quality and on providing a memorable food and drink experience is the key to customer loyalty says Dave Smith, Chairman of Savour the Flavours, who runs the Buccleuch Arms Hotel in Moffat. “Think about why people choose to visit an area like Dumfries & Galloway. They’re looking for an all round experience that delights each of their senses. We don’t have big iconic tourist draws in this region, so people who come here are usually looking for a relaxing, pleasurable break, a place to experience stunning scenery, warm hospitality and excellent food and drink. “Provide them with the excellent food and drink they desire and you’ll create a loyal customer, keen to come back again and again. Repeat customers are absolutely critical to business success and that is particularly true for businesses within the hospitality industries.”

Kirkpatrick’s Restaurant

Are you thinking local? Your customers are Surveys have shown that more than 70% of potential visitors to Scotland want to taste traditional dishes, regional specialities and fresh local produce. Most of these visitors say they would be prepared to pay extra for locally produced food in the expectation of freshness, enhanced taste and interest in the community and the area they’re visiting. Dave Smith said: “Hospitality businesses that don’t use and promote local produce on their menus are missing a trick. People visiting an area like Dumfries & Galloway are actively looking for local produce – even more so than the average Scottish tourist. This is a food producing region. Travel through Dumfries & Galloway and food production is everywhere you look. So if you’re not promoting local food on your menu, then chances are you’re not meeting the expectations of a very large proportion of our region’s visitors.”

savour the flavours Buccleuch Arms Hotel

Dave Smith says:

Del Amitri

…businesses that don’t use local produce on their menus are missing a trick.

“We are fortunate to have some truly world class products created in Dumfries & Galloway. Across the food and the tourism sectors we need to start shouting louder Fritto Misto about the quality of our local food and drink. After all, when you’ve got the best on your doorstep, why on earth would you use anything else?” Businesses in the tourism and hospitality sectors who want support and advice on how to introduce local food and drink to their menus are invited to contact Savour the Flavours Project Manager Liz Ramsay on 01644 430 109 or email liz@savourtheflavours.co.uk

Dumfries & Galloway has a large number of artisan food and drink producers, small and micro businesses who have turned their love for food and drink into businesses, creating unique products that are filled with passion. For visitors to our region discovering and sampling these artisan treats is a real joy. In a modern world dominated by convenience and speed, the pleasure of enjoying carefully crafted, high quality local food and drink served in beautiful surroundings by people who are passionate and proud of their creations is a real treat.

Galloway Beef

ABOUT SAVOUR THE FLAVOURS Savour the Flavours is the industry led organisation that supports Dumfries & Galloway’s food and drink industry. Savour the Flavours is funded by LEADER and Dumfries and Galloway Council and it welcomes membership from businesses who produce, use or sell Dumfries & Galloway food and drink. Membership is currently free of charge and businesses can sign up on www.savourtheflavours.co.uk

THE DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS MAGAZINE • SUMMER 11

Because local and quality go hand in hand

Apex Decor Ltd is a reliable and friendly decorator merchant in Dumfries. We pride ourselves on our outstanding service and continue to develop or service and work for our customers convenience. You will not be disappointed when you choose us. Most major brands •Crown Paints • Sandex Paints •McPherson Paints • Sadolin wood care St Marys Industrial Estate, Dumfries DG1 1NA • Tel: 01387 248833 • www.apexdecorltd.co.uk

Roucan Loch Crematorium ‘A Natural Place’

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Budget Boost at Easterbrook We’ll work with you to create a bespoke great value event which fits within your budget. With that in mind: • We’ve introduced a PRICE FREEZE, holding all conference prices at 2010 rates • Delegate packages start at just £15pp or • Cost your event on a modular basis and save ££s • Remember WIFI and parking is always FREE OF CHARGE • Free advice and support from our dedicated events team To find out more, visit our website www.easterbrookhall.co.uk or call 01387 70 20 20

Amanda

recently met Rachel Speedie in Devorgilla Gallery in Dumfries Tell us about yourself I am 24 years old and my hometown is Lockerbie. For the past year I’ve been working and living in New Zealand, travelling through India, Thailand, Malaysia and Australia en-route. I received a phone call when I was on New Zealand’s south island inviting me to be a partner in the Devorgilla Gallery in Dumfries, as well as having my own in-house studio space to work in. An amazing opportunity! The gallery has been in business for just over a year, but I myself have only been back in the country for a month and a half.

Tell us a bit about the business Devorgilla Gallery was set up by John and Jane Young, the current owners, but in the next couple of months John intends to take a few steps back from the organisational side of the gallery, which will allow me to play a more prominent role.

What preparation have you done to successfully take over the business? Taking over the running of a business has been a lot to get my head around. Firstly, I was very much of the mind-set that I would remain living in New Zealand for at least another year and a half. Secondly, I am trained as an artist and have no business management experience so every day is a revelation. It’s proving to be very exciting and greatly enjoyable and I can honestly say I’m thrilled to have taken up the challenge.

Do you need any specific qualifications or training to run the kind of business that you do? I have an excellent support team of highly qualified people around me who are kind enough to offer me help and advice when I seek it in areas I am unsure of. I do, however, think that my training at art school has stood me in very good stead for the line of work we deal in. Creative processes are at the heart of the success of the gallery but I do plan to increase my business skills.

out & about with Amanda

I find it incredible that I can choose where to take the gallery in the future and what paths we are going to go down. We recently started a monthly programme of exhibitions and I love the entire process of putting on a different one every month – my daily surroundings are always changing and it’s glorious to be surrounded by so many beautiful works of art. When the day arrives with the opening of an exhibition you’ve seen grow from the beginning stages right through to the unveiling it is so rewarding. Each week reiterates how endless the scope is on what one can do within an art gallery and I’m looking forward to investigating these horizons.

What’s the hardest thing about running a business? I think what gives me the most butterflies is that ultimately I can dramatically affect the fate of Devorgilla Gallery. I know I have embarked on a huge learning curve.

What advice would you give anyone thinking of setting up their own business? My advice might seem a little romantic at first, but there is a lot of truth in it; you have to aim for the stars as you only get one chance at life and so you have to make the most of it. I believe it is better to regret the things you have done as opposed to the things that you haven’t done, so if setting up a business is your dream, then that dream has to be embraced.

Have you met any interesting people through your work? I have only been in my new role in the gallery for a fairly short time, but have already met an ever-growing list of interesting people. The types of visitors to the gallery vary dramatically, from art collectors to artists themselves to intrigued passers by and I really enjoy chatting to them and getting to know them. In the gallery I am able to meet people I otherwise wouldn’t have been fortunate enough to cross paths with.

What’s the best thing about living and working in Dumfries and Galloway? For me, it’s the natural beauty Dumfries and Galloway has to offer. I have found the surrounding landscapes a feast for the eyes, the people I meet here approachable and friendly and I like how accessible most things are. Over the past year I’ve done a lot of travelling and have been lucky enough to see a fairly sizeable portion of the world, but my overseas experiences have never taken away my affection for this part of Scotland.

What are your aspirations and plans for the future? The future of Devorgilla Gallery holds a lot of potential to grow and prosper. We intend hosting continuous monthly exhibitions by both established artists and emerging new talents and we plan to spread the word of the gallery further afield. I want to make the gallery a place where there is always a reason to return. As a practicing artist, I plan to spend the immediate future working on a new body of work inspired from my travels and the marvelous sights my eyes have seen.

THE DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS MAGAZINE • SUMMER 11

What do you enjoy most about having your own business?

Final Identity:

Know the farmer, know your food Kilnford has been reborn. The old farmhouse and steading have been transformed from a sad dilapidated old farm, to a vibrant food hub that provides the very best local food that is available in Dumfries and Galloway. In recent times, with specialization and the development of supermarkets, it has become increasingly difficult to continue in the traditional way of supplying customers direct from the farm. At Kilnford we are reversing that trend by selling our own Galloway beef, outdoor reared pork and bacon and grass fed Blackface cross lambs in our farm shop with specialist butcher and deli departments. We now offer a retail centre that stocks all the best produce that is available from Dumfries and Galloway, as well as some of the finest speciality foods and wines from around the world which will enhance any dinner table.

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Doing our best, to bring you the best, straight from our farm Kilnford is part of a large mixed farm with land rising from close to sea level at Kilnford up to 700 feet at Ingleston. It is on this high ground that our Belted Galloway cattle and Blackface sheep graze. They live outside all year round and eat the slow maturing grass which is an essential ingredient in producing the natural flavour of our beef and lamb. Our pigs also live outside with each sow having its own small insulated house in which to rear its piglets. There is more to Kilnford than our fantastic farm shop. Enjoy the courtyard and the play area and experience our modern Farmhouse Kitchen Café. Have a walk around the Nature Trail. It’s a whole new shopping experience.

KI LN F O R D B A R N S , T H E G LEN , D U M F RI ES D G 2 8 P T • 0 1 3 8 7 2 5 3 0 8 7 • i n f o @ k i l n f o r d . c o. u k • w w w. k i l n f o r d . c o. u k ADVERTISING FEATURE

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Feel Good Dimensions was launched in August 2010 by Di Livingstone. Increasing people’s health and emotional well-being in a fun and proactive way is at the heart of what we do. Regular exercise is an important part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Dancing your way to fun and fitness is one of the key features of the services Di herself provides. Most people have come across the latest fitness craze - Zumba® - and its popularity continues to grow, as it really is exercise in disguise! Di offers Zumba Fitness® programmes for all, including children (ZumbAtomic®) and older adults (Zumba Gold®). For fans of Strictly Come Dancing, Ballroom Blitz™ has arrived – you too can dance like the stars in this easy-tolearn dance fitness class! These classes are delivered to the general public in the community and/or through schools, work-related activity programmes, and local healthy living schemes. Taking time out to relax is essential and Di offers an ever-expanding range of complementary therapies. Indian head massage and chair massage are particularly beneficial to employee wellbeing schemes, as they are short, targeted treatments that can be delivered on-site.

All McCornack Country Knitwear garments are hand knitted from Pure New Wool yarn. 55 Scotts Street, Annan, Dumfries & Galloway DG12 6JH • Tel/Fax: 01461 204244 Email: nessie@dumfries-and-galloway.co.uk • www.dumfries-and-galloway.co.uk/mccornack

Work is also in progress to produce an online directory of ‘feelgood’ services that are available in the local area. Services to date include: exercise, holistic therapies, music, community involvement, and personal development. Di is keen to hear from any other local community interest groups, small businesses, and health and wellbeing schemes with the ‘feel-good factor’! www.feelgooddimensions.com

focus on our partners

scottish power renewables

Working in partnership By Lorna Young of Indigo Words Lorna@indigowords.co.uk

cottishPower Renewables (SPR) recently joined Dumfries & Galloway Chamber of Commerce as a Partner for Business. The company is part of Iberdrola Renovables, the world’s leading wind Energy Company. SPR is the largest developer and generator of onshore wind energy in the UK, with Europe’s largest wind farm at Whitelee in Ayrshire.

THE DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS MAGAZINE • SUMMER 11

Responsible and sustainable development is at the heart of the company’s approach and they aim to be a responsible developer throughout all aspects of their operations. With one operational windfarm in the region, one under construction, two in planning and several more at the early stages of exploration, Dumfries & Galloway is a particularly important region to the company.

…SPR is taking an unusually responsible approach to development in our region that should reap dividends for local businesses.

Developing responsibly and sustainably ScottishPower Renewables was recently awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development for Whitelee Windfarm in Ayrshire, recognising the company’s commitment to sustainability throughout the development, construction and on-going operation of Whitelee Windfarm. It was noted that the project was a best practice example of habitat management. The windfarm is home to a popular visitor and learning centre which has attracted more than 125,000 visitors and 4,500 school pupils since it opened in September 2009. The £2m facility also acts as a focal point for cyclists, horse riders and ramblers who have taken advantage of 90km of tracks created at the windfarm. For more information please log on to www.scottishpowerrenewables.com or www.whiteleewindfarm.co.uk

A key initiative for SPR is the development and unrolling of a new programme that will introduce skills and local economic support to the area and led by people based in Dumfries & Galloway. Dumfries & Galloway Chamber of Commerce is happy to support ScottishPower Renewables in their desire to maximise the local economic and social benefits that renewable energy developments can create. Through recognising the benefits that partnership working brings and through an ethos to be good neighbours to the communities near their projects, SPR is taking an unusually responsible approach to development in our region that should reap dividends for local businesses.

Powering Local Events SPR sponsor and support a wide range of events across the region. From nationally important events such as the British Pipe Band Championships and Tour Doon Hame; to major regional events like the Wigtown Book Festival; to emerging and community led events such as Stranraer’s Parkfest and the Glenkens Tractor Rally. By supporting events their goal is to make a tangible difference to the economic development of Dumfries & Galloway, recognising the positive effect events have in bringing communities together and to attract visitors to the region from far and wide.

Powering communities A direct benefit from having a windfarm on your doorstep is the community benefit fund, with income to the fund normally linked to the power generated by the windfarm. Completed in 2007 the 12 turbines at Wether Hill windfarm near Moniaive, can generate enough cleaner, greener energy to power the equivalent of 10,000 homes every year – and every year they also generate over £30,000 for the local community. Moniaive is a shining example of a community working together to use those funds to make a real and lasting difference to their town. By supporting events the people of Moniaive are encouraging visitors to the area, driving the local economy and helping to grow real community spirit.

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Thomas Lucas of ScottishPower Renewables Operations Team shows the Skills Project partners and two prospective apprentices around Wether Hill Wind Farm near Moniaive.

Powering skills and employment A report issued for the Scottish Government last year predicted that green energy could create more than 70,000 new jobs over the next 10 years in Scotland, and many people within the industry think the job opportunities could be even higher as offshore and marine energy technologies progress.

…green energy could create more than 70,000 new jobs over the next 10 years. To help Dumfries & Galloway take advantage of these new opportunities ScottishPower Renewables has teamed up with Dumfries & Galloway College and Skills Development Scotland to explore how best to deliver job focussed training to equip local people with the skills needed for a career in the booming renewables industry. Work is well underway on the initial task of researching the potential job opportunities in renewables throughout the region. The next step is to create courses designed around the needs of the industry and this work will be ongoing during 2011. ScottishPower Renewables is particularly keen to help maximise local economic benefits during the construction phase of development of their projects and will be working closely with Dumfries & Galloway Chamber of Commerce to help support this.

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free aDViCe to reDuCe transPort Costs

THE DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS MAGAZINE â&#x20AC;˘ SUMMER 11

usinesses across Scotland are able to benefit from free advice from the Energy Saving Trust (EST) on how to save transport costs and reduce the environmental impacts of travel. Businesses can apply to have Travel Plans or Green Fleet Reviews completed for them by experienced and qualified consultants. An effective Travel Plan can help organisations to cut the cost of business travel, reduce transport-related carbon emissions, minimise duty of care risks, manage on-site car-parks more effectively and/or improve access to the workplace. The EST Travel Plan grant is available to Scottish sites that attract 50 or more trips per day by staff and/or 10,000 trips per year by visitors. A Green Fleet Review will generate a series of recommendations on how organisations save money and cut the carbon emissions of fleet operations. This EST grant is open to organisations operating fleets in Scotland of 20 or more cars or vans of less than 3.5 tonnes. JMP Consultants is one of the providers of these services for the EST and now has a Dumfries-based team offering advice bringing detailed local knowledge of issues facing your business and the town. If you are interested in finding out more, contact Amanda Holden of JMP on 0141 226 6924 or amanda.holden@jmp.co.uk. Eligibility criteria apply for the free advice, and support is available to help you complete your grant application and achieve your goals.

Independent Estate Agent Residential & Commercial Sales & Lettings • A personal approach • 7 Day availability • Confidentiality • Accompanied viewing service • Same day follow up on viewings • Superb website • Local advertising • Professional particulars • Buyer/tenant matching • Friendly staff PROPERTY VALUATIONS AND ADVICE ARE FREE All our properties for sale are advertised on Rightmove. Independant Mortgage Adviser George Watts FPC.CEMAP who has over 15 years experience in Financial Services is available for appointments in either of our offices or in the privacy of your own home. If you are looking to purchase a new property/re-mortgaging your current home or just require financial advise, please contact our Annan or Lockerbie office, or call George direct on 07737111294. Consultations are free. Our success is due to a combination of experience, professionalism and a love of property. We look forward to sharing these qualities with you. 87 High Street, Lockerbie, DG11 2DA Tel: 01576 204400 93 High Street, Annan, DG12 6DJ Estate Agency Tel: 01461 205690 Rental Dept Tel: 01461 205691 Email: linda@ljresidential.co.uk rentals@ljresidential.co.uk

w w w. l j r e s i d e n t i a l . c o . u k

title Keep your eyes on the road

THE DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS MAGAZINE • SUMMER 11

nsuring that your vision is good enough to drive safely may seem like common sense for a lot of people, but worryingly it’s something that often gets overlooked by employers.

At present there is no legal obligation for employers to make sure their drivers comply with minimum sight requirements. Once a driver has passed the mandatory driving test sight assessment they are not required to prove the fitness of their eyesight again during their working lives. However in 2011 this is set to change. New EU legislation is due to be introduced making it mandatory for all employees who drive whilst on company business to have their eyes tested regularly in order to keep their licences. The current proposal states that holders of commercial licences (category C & D vehicles) will have to have their eyes tested every five years and holders of private licences (i.e. bikes, cars and most vans) every 10-15 years. Each EU member state has until 2013 to translate the directive into national law. However, at a time when many businesses are struggling to make ends meet, a lot of employers will no doubt be questioning who will fund the sight tests – the company or the driver? Jill Davies, Chief Executive of Westfield Health, the official health cash plan provider to the British Chambers of Commerce, suggests that the responsibility will fall to the employer to provide access to regular sight tests.

Jill said: “Practically speaking, it doesn’t really matter who pays, as long as the requirements are met. But as eye tests become a mandatory job requirement for drivers and an essential part of operating a business in compliance with health and safety regulations, many employees will be expecting their employer to fund the cost. “Employers will therefore be looking for the most costeffective way to ensure staff can gain access to optical care whenever they need it – whilst keeping additional administration and paperwork to a minimum level. “A corporate-paid health cash plan is an obvious solution, as staff can manage their own sight tests, booking appointments at a time and place convenient to them and claiming back the cost of the test and glasses (up to the limit provided) directly from the policy provider. “For a relatively small cost, this system helps the company to ensure its drivers meet the necessary requirements, without the extra paperwork.” The Westfield Health Chamber Primary Health Plan is available to all members of Dumfries & Galloway Chamber of Commerce, providing cash back towards the cost of optical care as well as other forms of healthcare including dental treatment, physiotherapy and diagnostic consultations. The plan also provides fast access to MRI, CT and PET scans, a 24-hour counselling and advice line and up to six face-to-face counselling sessions or cognitive behavioural therapy sessions. For more information, please contact Westfield Health on 0845 602 1629 or visit www.westfieldhealth.com/chamber

Galloway Tanks offers unique tank driving experiences, situated in the rolling farmland of Galloway, South West Scotland. 18 Tons of steel, 240Hp, are you up to the challenge? We have an interesting mix of British and American military vehicles:

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The logic behind the new CR-Z may not be rocket science, but it is Honda science. You see, we wanted to create a hybrid that was also thrilling to drive. Without any compromises. So that’s why you’ll find three completely different driving modes - Sport, Econ and Normal - for three completely different driving experiences, all in one car. More fun? You do the maths. Speaking of which, prices start from £16,999. Book a test drive today.

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feature

the Challenge of Change By Lorna Young of Indigo Words Lorna@indigowords.co.uk

THE DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS MAGAZINE • SUMMER 11

hen the recession hit and the housing market stalled solicitors firms across Scotland had to cope with a sudden drop in business. Valerie McElroy of local firm Gillespie Gifford & Brown talks about the challenges of the last 3 years.

“Telling six people they were being made redundant was the worst thing I’ve ever had to do in my professional career,” says Valerie McElroy, Dumfries Resident Partner at Gillespie Gifford & Brown LLP. “These were really good staff but because of the downturn in the property market during the recession we just couldn’t sustain them. Fortunately all of them got new jobs and we’ve since recruited two new solicitors, but even so, it was a very difficult time.” While the crash of the property market was responsible for a career low, property also gave Valerie one of the highlights of her career so far. Fresh from the University of Dundee Valerie’s first post after graduating was a Trainee Solicitor with Dumfries & Galloway Council. She quickly took on more responsibilities, becoming Principal Solicitor for Conveyancing and carrying out all the legal work relating to the purchase by Dumfries & Galloway Council of the Crichton site, an experience she describes as “unbelievably exhausting but exhilarating”. A move into private practice followed in 1997 joining Gillespie, Gifford & Brown and becoming a partner in early 1998 when she started running the Dumfries office.

…the firm remains accessible and connected to local people and businesses. Gillespie, Gifford & Brown, or GG&B as it’s often referred to, is one of the largest and most well established legal firms in southern Scotland. It’s an amalgam of four firms, of which McGowans, based in Dumfries, was the most recent addition in 1993. GG&B covers a wide geographic area with bases in Kirkcudbright, Castle Douglas,

Dalbeattie and Dumfries and the retention of an office in each town ensures the firm remains accessible and connected to local people and businesses. Like most legal firms in Dumfries & Galloway GG&B provide a broad legal service including general chamber practise, estate agency and conveyancing, general advice, civil and matrimonial matters, agricultural law, employment law and services for elderly clients such as wills, trusts, powers of attorneys, guardianships and estate planning. Again like most legal firms in the region, services relating to property traditionally made up a significant proportion of the firm’s turnover, so when the recession came it dealt the firm a sore blow. Valerie said: “It was October 2008 when things changed, and they changed dramatically. Of course we could see the economic changes coming but there was very little we could do, as a business, to stave off the impact. The firm had to rationalise because we knew it was going to be a long time before either the property market got back to pre-recession levels, or before other business filled the gap from a reduced property related turnover. “Over the last few years we’ve seen not only a reduced property market but increased unpredictability within that market. Traditionally there’s very clear seasonality in property but it’s very unpredictable now and we don’t see any sign of that changing in the near future.”

Solicitors firms are at the very heart of communities, particularly in rural areas like Dumfries & Galloway, supporting people through life’s milestones – from the joy of a first house purchase to the heartbreak of bereavement. Having such a strong link with the circumstances of customers’ lives means that increasing ‘sales’ to grow the business can be difficult. “People don’t really want to see a solicitor, we’re a service people use if they really have to and our business is very much dependent on customers walking through our door. So while we can’t guarantee footfall what we can do introduce cost savings and identify opportunities for growth. That’s what we’ve focussed on as a business over the past couple of years and we’re always looking for new, better ways of doing things.” Maximising internal efficiency through improved IT case management systems and looking at cloud based servers are two ways that technology is streamlining processes, while anticipating and responding to local demographic changes are changing the balance of services that the business provides. Valerie has identified one of her favourite areas of work as elderly client services, and with an aging population, this area also has significant potential for business growth. “I’ve always enjoyed supporting older clients plan for their future, giving them peace of mind by anticipating situations and putting measures in place to make sure they will be secure no matter what circumstances or health problems they might face in the future. Services like powers of attorney and estate planning are ways that people can take control of an uncertain future. “It’s a lovely feeling to know that you’re doing a good job for your client, helping to take a weight off their shoulders and providing support for some people who simply can’t cope any more.

It’s the people side of our work as solicitors that’s important... “It’s the people side of our work as solicitors that’s important, helping people and feeling that you’re making a difference.”

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Working with Salon Director Gill Goldie, Carolyn devised a comprehensive 100 week in-house training programme to run alongside the Level 2 SVQ in hairdressing. Andrew excelled on the course, finishing his level 2 SVQ in less than a year – half the time it normally takes. Inspired by Andrew’s development Carolyn realised the potential to grow her own team, transforming young school leavers into confident stylists.

insPiring growth By Lorna Young of Indigo Words Lorna@indigowords.co.uk

THE DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS MAGAZINE • SUMMER 11

our years ago Carolyn Kennedy had the opportunity to realise a dream of running her own hair and beauty salon. Now Carolyn and her team at Prana are being recognised for their innovative approach to training that’s inspiring many young people to discover their natural talents.

With a life-long love of hair and beauty, and a background in marketing within the education sector Carolyn Kennedy embraced the opportunity to run her own salon. An understanding of the industry as a customer gave Carolyn the insight to make radical changes to the business she took over in Castle Douglas, introducing a wholly ‘guest’ focussed approach based on Aveda’s holistic philosophy of health and beauty aromatics, wellbeing and caring for the environment. For Carolyn Prana Hair and Beauty is more than just a business. The word prana comes from the Sanskrit word for breath, the very essence of life, and the mission at the salon is to create a sense of harmony in body, mind and spirit. Carolyn said: “Our guests are important to us and we endeavour to give guests the best time every time they come in. We offer guests the opportunity to feel at peace with themselves both while they are with us and, more importantly, for that peace to linger with them long after they have left our company. Delivering that guest focussed experience is down to two things – the Aveda products and approach, and the service our stylists and therapists provide.” Embarking on her new business with enthusiasm and passion, a comment by the salon’s youngest member of staff transformed Carolyn’s approach. Carolyn added: “I had quite a few members of staff who had been with the previous owner of the salon. Almost immediately after I started Andrew came to me and said ‘Carolyn

How are you going to train me? now that you’ve taken over the salon how are you going to train me?’ I stopped in my tracks, realising that I had the opportunity to combine my passion for hair and beauty with my understanding of training and education.”

“I decided I wanted to recruit 16 year olds each year for hairdressing, so I worked with Castle Douglas High School to identify school leavers with potential and so far I’ve taken on 4 trainees directly from school. It’s very satisfying working with the school to benefit young people, and very rewarding helping them to develop their skills and confidence. For young people who perhaps didn’t excel in an academic sense, give them a brush and a hairdryer and they can create something they didn’t know they had within them.”

Last year a letter from a 5th year student took that joint working with the school a step further. The student was interested in a career in hairdressing and requested timetabled weekly work experience in the salon. Gaining more insight into the career than a week’s work experience could ever provide, the twice weekly sessions at Prana have given her the chance to experience the job in a very real way. She loved it and blossomed within Prana’s nurturing environment. The student has now left school and this month started full time with Carolyn’s team. Prana’s approach to training and working collaboratively with education providers was highlighted on a DVD for the Scottish Executive outlining the curriculum for excellence, and Carolyn is in talks with the school to become an accredited training centre delivering Intermediate 1 and 2 qualifications in hairdressing. Through her focus on training and a commitment to enhancing the guest experience Carolyn has created a thriving business that’s at the very heart of its local community, actively supporting local fundraising initiatives and events.

...people still want to feel good about themselves... “We’ve seen very little impact from the recession and I think that comes down to the choices people make. Fundamentally people still want to feel good about themselves, they might be cutting back in other areas of their life, but they still want to treat themselves now and again and have a quality hair and beauty experience. For many of our customers their time with us is something they simply won’t cut back on, and it’s reassuring that our customers value their time with us so highly.”

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THE DUNBARTONSHIRE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

ISSUE 11 t MARCH 2011

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Andrew Beattie Pranaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first trainee is now a Senior Stylist, ambitious and keen to develop his own skills as well as supporting the development of new trainees. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been privileged with my training and experiences from starting out my career in Prana. Carolyn allowed me to drive my passion and supported me in completing my SVQ training in record time â&#x20AC;&#x201C; within a year! I moved to Edinburgh to develop myself further and to explore the industry more deeply. I returned to Prana in Castle Douglas in September 2010 to continue developing my career where Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m working together with the Salon Director Gill and Owner Carolyn to develop the business and Pranaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s profile within the hairdressing industry. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m focused on sharing my experiences through supporting the training programme at Prana, working with the next generation of Castle Douglas hair stylists and continuing to develop my own technical skills within the Aveda network.â&#x20AC;?

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THE DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

ISSUE 3 t SPRING 2011

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economic commentary D&g DemograPhiCs leaD to DouBle DiP By Professor Hervey Gibson, CogentSI Hervey.gibson@cogentsi.com

f wars can be contained, population changes and climate change will be the dominant global economic issues of the next few decades. Increasingly it looks like world population will peak around the middle of the century. Despite an upsurge in the birth rate, Dumfries and Galloway’s population has been going down for the past three years.

THE DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS MAGAZINE • SUMMER 11

Falling population has been the main driver of the double dip recession we are now going through. As the world recession took hold between 2008 and 2009, our local unemployment (which had been falling since 1996) turned around, and rose quite steeply. It levelled off at about 3000 claimants, and even began to drop slightly in early 2010. Since then it has started to increase, and the latest figures as I write (April 2011) show a marked upward movement:

out statistically what is going on – the only other sector to take a heavy jobs hit was retailing. The supermarkets employed about 125 more people, but the job losses amongst smaller more specialised shops were more than double that. But back to building: the decline in the industry was not just a consequence of the fall in confidence as George Osborne’s cuts loomed. That, on a national scale, was what brought down Exeter-based Connaught Homes, once the biggest contractors for local social landlords DGHP. Continuation contracts from them were picked up by R&D construction (Robison and Davison), together with major refurbishment/regeneration work and social new building which was intended to safeguard the company’s workforce. But in the aftermath of the cold winter, banking difficulties pushed R&D into administration as both their private sector and public sector work came under pressure at the beginning of April, coinciding with the end of the public sector financial year. The sluggishness in the private housing market shows up not so much in house prices, which in March were only about 5 per cent down on their spring 2008 peak, but in market turnover. In early 2010 sales had begun to recover from the worst of recession, but now they have slipped again and are running at below 150 a month, compared with a rate of 290 at the peak. Very few of them are new houses.

Most of this can be traced to the fall in the construction industry. Between 2008 and 2009 the number of building jobs in the region fell from 3200 to 2600, and unemployment rose from 2000 to 3000. Across the whole economy – apart from the public sector where the published employment figures are so erratic it’s impossible to work

Weakness arises because the region’s population has been falling since late 2008. A number of significant changes in the region’s population dynamics have brought that about, but some of the demographic things that set our region apart from others have stayed the same, and one key one has improved. To get a balanced view we need to look at all the key components.

economic commentary

On the births side, numbers have been going up in the past few years. From fewer than 1300 a decade ago, there are now more than 1500 births per year. This is all the more remarkable because the number of females of childbearing age has been falling, so there has been a significant recovery in the birth rate, up about a third since the turn of the century. The natural shrinkage of our population because deaths exceed births is usually made up by people moving in, with net in-migration peaking at 1300 in 2003-2004. However there were a paltry 16 net in-migrants in 2009-2010. Who usually moves in? A key group, end-career and early retirement incomers aged 50-65, numbered less than half the peak value last year. There were 290 net movers, rather than the 600-odd in 2004 or the 430 per year since the millennium. As usual, Dumfries and Galloway saw no net movement of 20 to 30 year-olds, although obviously significant numbers enter and leave the region. But the influx of 30-50 yearolds, which can reach as many as 600 per year and usually averages around 300, completely dried up. At this key point in the personal life cycle, when people often move for career reasons but also because they want better housing

...the inﬂux of 30-50 year-olds ...completely dried up... and somewhere pleasant to bring up the kids, we made no gains at all. And for every couple that comes, on average there is one child (or a fraction more), so the in-migration of under-16s completely dried up as well. That’s not good for keeping our schools financially viable, and completely

offsets the benefits school rolls would have made from the rising birthrate. In happier times in-migration generated a demand for at least one new house every day. Its complete disappearance is the most profound way that the current recession is hitting our economy. In-migration won’t come back until confidence and job prospects can pull people in, or until a drop in house prices here (or big rises elsewhere) make Dumfries and Galloway a significantly cheaper place to live. However, all is not doom and gloom on the demographic front. The bleeding wound that all rural communities right across Scotland face is the loss of people in their late teens, to go to further and higher education and jobs in the cities. All rural areas lose late teenagers, and everywhere with a decent number of higher education places gains them (Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee, Stirling, St Andrews, Paisley). Because we lacked higher education, at its peak, in 2000, net out-migration from Dumfries and Galloway of the 16-20 age group reached 660. That had the same effect on our social balance and economic viability as King Herod killing all the first-born.

...The Crichton campus is of such great value to our community. The problems caused by that are one of the key reasons the Crichton Campus is of such great value to our community – it’s not large enough to stem the flow, but it is making a positive contribution. Over the last few years the campus has become established, and is now seen as offering opportunities for locals, and as an educational draw for people from away. Over the past four years netout migration of the ‘off to college’ age group has fallen to 330, at least making a start on balancing our human resources, and setting up a long term economic future. So as education cuts continue to hit the headlines, we need to be sure that the axe does not slice through this precious lifeline.

THE DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS MAGAZINE • SUMMER 11

One thing has stayed the same: there are a lot of deaths. That’s not because we are unhealthy. In fact it’s a compliment to us and our health service that we are particularly healthy. Age-for-age we die at only 93 per cent of the average Scottish rate. But we are rather old, and getting older, so 1800 or so of us move on every year.

events diary SEPTEMBER employment law update 1st September 2011 Venue: TBC; 5:30pm for 6.00pm start – 7.30pm A return visit by popular demand. Legal experts from Brodies LLP provide an employment law update looking this time at the issue of taking on employees, contracts of employment, terms and conditions etc. Cost: £5 per head for Chamber members, £10 per head for non-Chamber members networking with Cumbria Chamber members 15th September 2011 Smiths Hotel, Gretna Green ; 12:30pm – 2:30pm Our successful joint networking event with Cumbria Chamber of Commerce and Industry returns to the Smiths Hotel at Gretna Green. Come along and pop your business card in the hat to be in with a chance of speaking for a minute to spread the word about you business to Cumbria. Why not take a stand at this event to showcase your business? Cost: £15 for members of either Chamber; £20 for non-members of either Chamber for a stand: £25 for members of either Chamber; £35 for non-members of either Chamber managing Performance and staff appraisals 21st September 2011 Dupont Teijin Films Premises, Drungans, Cargenbridge, Dumfries; 9:30am – 12:30pm Presented by the experts from ACAS - learn about the importance of performance management – getting the best from your workforce and dealing with people fairly (whatever their age).

THE DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS MAGAZINE • SUMMER 11

Cost: £45 + Vat per person.

OCTOBER annual Chamber lunch 25th October 2011 Easterbrook Hall, Dumfries; 11:45am – 2:30pm Our extremely successful annual lunch takes place with guest speaker, Justin Urquhart Stewart, Marketing Director and co-founder of Seven Investment Management. He helped found Broker Services, which became Barclays Stockbrokers where he served as Corporate Development Director. He was named Favourite Financial Personality by Proshare, writes regularly for national magazines and newspapers and frequently appears on television and radio. tickets: £25 + Vat per ticket (Chamber members); £30 per ticket (non-Chamber members) table of 10: £250 + Vat (Chamber members); £300 + Vat (non-Chamber members)

Creating Scotland’s Garden Route Working with Eric Brown and Trevor Jones of Barony Business Development Centre six prominent gardens in Rhins of Galloway joined together to create Scotland’s Garden Route, an initiative they hope will boost garden visitor numbers by 50% over the next two years. Comprising of Logan Botanic Garden, Castle Kennedy Gardens, Dunskey Gardens, Glenwhan Gardens, Logan House Gardens and Ardwell Gardens, the Gardens of Galloway are all situated within a 5 mile radius and offer visitors a horticultural treasure trove. Recently the group embarked upon a campaign to promote multiple garden visits, with each garden highlighting and encouraging visitors to explore the others. The project has involved the development of a brand, a website, a leaflet with a visitor passport discount scheme and signage. Enjoying gardens and exploring the natural world are among the most important drivers for tourism in Dumfries & Galloway. This project plays to the region’s strengths, harnessing the experiences, the creativity and the passions of the people involved in the project and drawing together the unique and varied garden experiences under one engaging concept. www.scotlandsgardenroute.co.uk

Nurturing better book sales Wigtown was selected as Scotland’s National Book Town in 1997 and over the years many book related businesses have started up in, or moved to, the small Galloway town. Since then the way members of the public access and buy books has changed dramatically. The impact of Amazon transformed book sales, while the internet and websites such as Ebay and The Book Depository provided sellers with new routes to market, bringing the romantic notion of used book shops filled with shelves of dusty texts firmly into the 21st century. Creative Clusters supported the formation of the Wigtownshire Booksellers Association, encouraging book sellers to work together to share best practise and to market the town. The next project will be to assist those booksellers not currently selling on line to develop an on line presence. This involves supporting individual traders get their catalogues online, providing resource support to help with listing the 1,500-2,000 minimum titles needed to create a successful online book selling business.

creative clusters a more CreatiVe way of Doing Business

furniture maker Daniel Lacey

By Lorna Young of Indigo Words Lorna@indigowords.co.uk

he South of Scotland Creative Clusters programme is inspiring groups of businesses to work together creatively and supporting individual businesses working in the creative sector to grow and develop.

Cllr Roger Grant, Chair of Planning, Housing and Environment Services Committee commented: “A creative business is a very broad term and this project applies to a number of specific sectors, including businesses that have a very clear creative focus such as graphic designers, film makers and architects right through to food and drink and tourism businesses, often working in collaborative and innovative ways. It’s a tremendously exciting project and it’s very rewarding for the Council to be helping businesses to grow and succeed.” The Creative Clusters programme is attached to Dumfries & Galloway Council and strongly aligned to the Business Gateway, with a remit to provide grants and 1 to 1 support to businesses and groups. The programme was born from a realisation that existing services were not meeting the very specific needs of the creative sector, while both south of Scotland local authorities identified opportunities to encourage a collaborative approach to regional economic development. Halfway through the programme the Dumfries & Galloway Creative Clusters project is well on its way to meeting its original objectives. Successes have included supporting a number of individuals and businesses to develop their business and create new jobs, for example assisting acclaimed furniture maker Daniel Lacey to relocate his business back to Dumfries & Galloway from Buckinghamshire.

The fostering of a collaborative approach by groups of businesses has been one of the major successes of the project so far and the hope is that these supported groups will continue to grow, evolve and succeed in future years. Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Business advisor Eric Brown leads the programme for the region and has a remit to support a wide range of businesses sectors: “Encouraging groups of businesses to work together is perhaps one of the most challenging aspects of the project, but it’s also one of the most rewarding. So far I’ve worked with a number of groups including a group of gardens in Galloway, helped set up the first regional Farmers’ & Community Markets Association, supported a group of book sellers to access bespoke training and I’m currently working on an exciting new project that’s encouraging the business to business creative sector right across the region to link together. The first half of the project has been about laying the foundations for these collaborative projects so it will be very interesting to see what develops.” Individual businesses or collaborative projects that are interested in finding out more about the grants and support available through the Creative Clusters programme should phone the Council on 030 33 33 3000 and ask for Eric Brown Business Adviser or email eric.brown@dumgal.gov.uk .

THE DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS MAGAZINE • SUMMER 11

Dumfries & Galloway is a naturally creative place with an impressive artistic heritage and a thriving contemporary arts and crafts scene, but creativity in the businesses sphere has traditionally been less visible in our region. The South of Scotland Creative Clusters Programme launched 18 months ago seeks to change that. This 3 year joint project between Dumfries & Galloway Council and Scottish Borders Council is supported by the European Regional Development Fund, with programmes in the two regions operating independently to enable each to reflect and respond to local business needs.

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welcome to new chamber members Dumfries & Galloway Seniors Forum 24 Academy Street, Dumfries DG1 1BY Contact: Carole Williams Tel: 01387 279500 Website: www.dgsf.org.uk The Forum is the voice of seniors throughout Dumfries and Galloway, representing their views at both local and national level. Refrigeration (Mitton) Ltd Polar House, East Norfolk Street, Carlisle CA2 5JL Contact: Brian Whelan Tel: 01228 522481 Website: www.refrigeration-mitton.co.uk Air conditioning, refrigeration and catering equipment sales and service. Hania Proudfoot Consultancy – A Healthy Business West House, Moffat DG10 9EY Contact: Hania Proudfoot Tel: 07957 605047 Website: www.ahealthybusiness.co.uk Provides workplace safety and health improvement advice and support and policy development support for employers on drugs, alcohol, tobacco; stress management; absence management; accident recording; health and safety action planning; health promotion/ lifestyle awareness raising events. Also provides support with staff health needs assessments – free consultations for small to medium sized enterprises. The Loreburne Shopping Centre High Street, Dumfries, DG1 2BD Contact: Jim Ireland Tel: 01387 267201 Website: www.loreburneshopping.co.uk Enclosed shopping centre with 38 shops and stores plus underground car park. D-Tech Graphic Design & Print Ltd Unit 14, Birch Road, Broadmeadow Industrial Estate Dumbarton G82 2RE Contact: Mark Ferguson Tel: 01389 736001 Website: www.dtechuk.com Graphic design and publishing. Publishers of InCommerce magazine. Carlisle Audi Kingstown Broadway, Kingstown Estate , Carlisle CA3 0HA Contact: Rob Westgarth Tel: 01228 544455 Website: www.audinorthwest.co.uk Supplier of new and used approved Audi vehicles. Authorised repairer for all Audi vehicles and parts supplier.

Ashleigh (Scotland) Ltd Lochar House, Dumfries, DG1 3NU Contact: Douglas Small Tel: 01387 711500 Website: www.ashleighconstruction.org Construction and building works. Jas P Wilson Industrial Site, Coast Road, Dalbeattie DG5 4QU Contact: Billy Wilson Tel: 01556 612244 Website: www.jaspwilson.co.uk Manufacturers, importers and exporters of all types of forest machines. Rennie & MacNeillie Wealth Management 25 Buccleuch Street, Dumfries DG1 2AT Contact: Brian Rennie Tel: 01387 247757 Website: www.rennieandmacneillie.co.uk Rennie and McNeillie Wealth Management are representatives of St James’s Place Wealth Management, which is one of the UK’s leading wealth management organisations. They provide face-toface advice to corporate and private clients on a comprehensive range of wealth management services including investments, retirement planning, trust and estate planning and protection. DG Voice Midsteeple, High Street, Dumfries DG1 2BH Contact: Heather Hall Tel: 01387 257770 Website: www.dgvoice.co.uk A voluntary organisation and registered charity ensuring organisations such as the Council, NHS and other service providers consider the needs and rights of all disabled people in everything that they do. The organisation supports any disabled person on any matter concerning them; working for better access to transport, shops, public buildings, education, employment, housing etc; raising awareness of disability issues; a central point for representative consultation between disabled people and other agencies. The organisation gathers and provides information on disability issues and holds

Bell Ogilvy Chartered Accountants 36 King Street, Castle Douglas DG7 1AF Contact: Craig Kerr Tel: 01556 502377 Website: www.bellogilvy.co.uk An independent firm of Chartered Accountants based in Castle Douglas providing accounting, personal and business taxation and business advisory services to clients throughout Dumfries and Galloway. James G Findlay Ltd Unit 14 Kempleton Mill, Twynholm Kirkcudbright DG6 4NJ Contact: James Findlay Tel: 01557 860124 Website: www.jgfindlay.co.uk Traffic management, grounds maintenance and civil engineering. GGI Performance Consultant Riverslea, 80 St Mary Street, Kirkcudbright DG6 4GJ Contact: Susan King Tel: 01557 339437 Website: www.ggiperformanceconsultant. co.uk The coaching journey can set you on a journey of self discovery that will have a profound effect on your business success, sporting and other skills and the quality of how you relate to others at work and with your family and personal relationships. System People English Gate Plaza, Carlisle CA1 1RP Contact: Barbara Craig Tel: 01228 530132 Website: www.system-people.co.uk System People’s aim is to provide you with the highest calibre of staff and then work with you throughout the whole employee lifecycle, to ensure they become valued team members from day one. System People’s portfolio includes: Leadership Development, Professional Selection, HR Consultancy, CRB Disclosures, Recruitment, Cleaning and Outsourcing. PRANA Hair & Beauty Ltd 140-142 King Street, Castle Douglas DG7 1LU Contact: Carolyn Kennedy Tel: 01556 503652 Website: www.pranahairandbeauty.co.uk Exclusive Aveda hair and beauty salon.

Weesleekit Ltd 5 Ladyknowe, Moffat DG10 9DY Contact: Steve Kirkpatrick Tel: 01683 221991 Website: www.weesleekit.co.uk Weesleekit Ltd provide creative design for branding, graphic design, printed literature, websites, exhibition, signage, video, photography, copywriting and advertising. They are experienced professionals who are passionate, flexible, and a friendly team who you can work with on a personal level to achieve successful solutions. Solway Feeders Ltd Main Street, Dundrennan, Kirkcudbright DG6 4QH Contact: Jane Smith Tel: 01557 500253 Website: www.solwayfeeders.com Mail order game and poultry rearing equipment. 8020 IT Ltd 38 George Street, Dumfries DG1 1EH Contact: Jez Draper Tel: 01387 250008 Website: www.8020ltd.com 8020IT Ltd provide revolutionary IT Management services to local businesses.

Affiliate Members

Dumfries Academy Academy Street, Dumfries DG1 1DD Tel: 01387 274350 Website: www.dumfriesacademy.co.uk St Joseph’s College Craigs Road, Dumfries DG1 4UU Tel: 01387 252893/261077 Kirkcudbright Academy St Mary’s Wynd Kirkcudbright DG6 4JN Tel: 01557 330440 Stranraer Academy McMasters Road, Stranraer DG9 8BY Tel: 01776 706484 Website: www.stranraeracademy.co.uk

THE DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS MAGAZINE • SUMMER 11

New Members

Slate Hairdressing 17 Bank Street, Dumfries DG1 2NX Contact: Lesley Greenlees Tel: 01387 265907 Manager Lesley Greenlees is a Wella Professionals Master Colour Expert, making her a member of the hairdressing elite and head and shoulders above the competition in South West Scotland. If you would like a complete new colour, brand new colour effects, the latest celebrity colour craze or simply want advice, contact Slate Hairdressing.

Imagination meets engineering. Meets competitive finance. Very few cars have stayed as true to their original concept as the new Audi A7 Sportback. Yet it’s also a remarkably practical car, incorporating innovative features like quattro® all-wheel-drive and optional head-up display in an attractive four-door design. Below you’ll find a competitive finance agreement that’s designed with the same care and attention to detail.

Solutions representative example from Audi Finance based on 10,000 miles per annum† for the A7 Sportback 3.0 TDI SE Multitronic Duration 23 monthly payments of

3 years £529.00

Customer deposit

£8,572.19

Centre deposit

£2,250.00

Recommended on-the-road price

£43,760.00

Amount of credit

£32,937.81

Optional final payment

£20,007.00

Total amount payable

£49,404.19

Total amount payable by customer

£47,154.19

Acceptance fee* Option to purchase fee** Rate of interest Representative APR

£125.00 £60.00 7% fixed 7.3% APR

Carlisle Audi Kingstown Broadway Kingstown Industrial Estate Carlisle Cumbria CA3 0HA 01228 544455 www.carlisle.audi.co.uk Official fuel consumption figures for the A7 range in mpg (l/100km) from: Urban 26.2 (10.8) – 49.7 (5.9), Extra Urban 42.8 (6.6) – 60.1 (4.7), Combined 34.4 (8.2) – 55.4 (5.1). CO2 emissions: 190 – 135g/km. Retail sales only: *Payable within first payment. **Payable with optional final payment. †10.80p per mile excess mileage charges apply. Further charges may be payable if vehicle is returned. Indemnities may be required. Subject to status. Available to over 18s from participating Audi Centres only (subject to availability) for vehicles ordered before 30 June 2011 and delivered by 30 September 2011. The quoted ROTR prices and finance examples shown reflect the current rate of 20% VAT. Offers may be varied or withdrawn at any time. Audi Finance, Freepost Audi Finance.

Make Minerva People your instinctive 1st choice for Training and Recruitment We are now mid way through 2011 already. Have you been in touch with Minerva People yet to see how they can help your organisation to develop and expand your teams either through training and/or recruitment so that you can take on the opportunities to develop and grow your business? Minerva is passionate about and experienced in helping people and organisations throughout Dumfries and Galloway and has done so in many different ways over the years. Minerva achieved its highest accolade of becoming the ‘Learning Provider of the Year’ at the Scottish Modern Apprenticeship Awards 2010 so we know “we are the best”. Our success has without doubt been through strong, positive partnership working with individual employers, specific sectors and learners. We can provide skills, learning and employability opportunities to many. As economic conditions continue to remain tough, training and recruitment budgets tighten, Minerva understands that these services must be flexible and effective to deliver results and a return on investment whether financial or in time. As a local, home grown company operating and delivering in this region we understand many issues and

concerns and would welcome the opportunity to come and visit you to discuss your needs. From these visits we can hear exactly what your requirements might be and then tailor a customised package to help you. Minerva will then develop an ongoing working relationship with you so that we can inform or update you on any new developments in training, new people on our recruitment database and new funding opportunities to assist organisations, thus helping Dumfries and Galloway become a recognised region that is dynamic and growing. Many people when they meet us are so surprised at the large portfolio of qualifications available, range of people on our recruitment agency, breadth of talent and expertise in our team and the network and partnerships we participate with - so why not join them - contact Minerva now to find out more. New Minerva People has become one of very few licensed trainers in Scotland to deliver the WorldHost® a world-class customer service programme developed to raise the standard and delivery of customer service training throughout Scotland. To be ahead of the field with your customer service then please contact us to find out more.

Winner ‘Learning Provider of the Year’ Scottish Modern Apprenticeship Awards 2010

Training We provide specialist vocational training in: • Management – from Team Leader to Chartered status • Administration including Executive PAs, Medical and Legal • Hospitality including Personal Licence Holder, Food Hygiene • Childcare • Learning and Development • Customer Service • IT and Microsoft Applications incl ECDL • Accounts –Book-keeping, Sage and Payroll

Recruitment Minerva’s recruitment department provides a full tailored recruitment service for Temporary and Permanent job opportunities within Dumfries and Galloway. Why not ask one of our specialists to come out and visit you to discuss your individual needs. Please contact for expert advice.

Minerva People Limited, Queensberry House, 147 High Street, Dumfries DG1 2QT Tel 01387 248244 • Fax 01387 269508 • info@minervapeople.co.uk • www.minervapeople.co.uk