The Royal Blind pub quiz is back for 2015 in a new central Edinburgh venue and we hope you will join us for an evening of fun, fundraising and a large measure of mind bending general knowledge questions.

Taking place on Wednesday 20 May at 6.30pm, our new location is upstairs at Hemma on Holyrood Road, EH8 8AU. Hemma means “at home” in Swedish and we hope you’ll enjoy its relaxed café/bar atmosphere.

As before, there will be prizes for best team name (if you’re coming as a team), as well as for the winners and runners-up.

As it is a fundraising event for Royal Blind, we will have a raffle which will give you the chance to dig deep and win one of these fantastic prizes:-

• Complimentary Tour of the Scotch Whisky Experience (family ticket)
• Cut & Blow Dry Appointment at Charlie Miller, Ocean Terminal
• Surf & Adventure Voucher (two adults) with Coast to Coast Adventures
• Two Foxlake Adventures Foxfall Vouchers

Tickets are £5.00 per person. Come on your own, with a friend or as a team (maximum 6 players).

To book tickets, complete our online form or contact Frances in our Marketing & Fundraising team by email or call 0131 229 1456.

 

 

 

 

 

Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) are celebrating the 30th anniversary of EIFF’s UK Premiere of Robert Zemeckis’ legendary BACK TO THE FUTURE in 1985, accompanied by Alan Silvestri’s dazzling score performed live by the RSNO, on Saturday 27 June at the Festival Theatre Edinburgh.

Fans old and new will experience the thrill of BACK TO THE FUTURE like never before – on the big screen with a full symphony orchestra. This presentation will include a newly expanded score by Alan Silvestri with approximately 15 minutes of additional music being prepared by the composer.

Tickets will go on sale Friday 13 March from 10am, and can be bought from the Festival Theatre Box Office, 0131 529 6000 or visit edtheatres.com.

A global cultural phenomenon, BACK TO THE FUTURE was executive produced by Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall and directed by Robert Zemeckis. Starring Michael J. Fox as time-traveller Marty McFly alongside Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson and Crispin Glover, BACK TO THE FUTURE became the highest grossing film of 1985 and launched one of the most successful franchises in Universal’s history.

This special screening will mark the start of a programme to celebrate EIFF’s heritage and legacy over the past 70 years, and has been made possible through the kind support of Sir Ewan and Lady Brown.

Mark Adams, Artistic Director of the EIFF commented: “This live event will delight and enthral in equal measure.  As well as being a major event in its own right, this also marks the beginning of a new set of relationships with Scotland’s National Performing Companies, where we are placing film within the context of other artforms.”

RSNO Acting Chief Executive Kenneth Osborne commented: “To be involved in the 30th anniversary celebrations of this iconic film is quite an honour. BACK TO THE FUTURE is a modern classic, and Alan Silvestri’s dramatic score will be a joy for our orchestra to play. There’s a delightful symmetry to the event also, as we and the audience, in 2015, enjoy a movie about a young man in 1985 travelling back in time to 1955. It promises to be a very special night.”

International law firm Pinsent Masons has today announced plans to launch in Australia.

The firm will launch an infrastructure sector-focused practice in Melbourne and Sydney later this year. It will be led by David Rennick, former CEO of Maddocks, which is one of Australia’s top 20 law firms, and who led a strategic review of the firm’s options in relation to market entry in Australia.

Pinsent Masons five-partner Australian practice will initially focus on the firm’s existing international client base of providers and major funders of infrastructure projects – particularly those situated in Asia Pacific and currently served by the firm’s offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing and Shanghai.

The addition of an Australian practice will benefit Scottish firms exporting goods and services to Australasia, believes Pinsent Masons Scotland chairman Kirk Murdoch.

A recent Global Connections Survey commissioned by the Scottish Government showed Scottish firms export more than £435 million in goods and services to Australia, while the wider Asian market accounts for £2.8 billion of exports.

A number of Aberdeen-based oil and gas specialist firms are engaged in the construction and commissioning of AUD$ 70 billion worth of LNG projects in north east Australia, which will result in Australia providing 8% of the world’s global LNG production.

Kirk Murdoch said: “Our extensive oil and gas expertise in Aberdeen and elsewhere, will dovetail seamlessly with experienced Australian lawyers who know their home patch inside out. This will be a powerful asset for Scottish firms already doing business in Australia and new entrants looking to carve out a slice of the market, in what the World Bank term as one of the 10 easiest places to do business.

“While extremely important, Scottish exports extend far beyond oil and gas and we will be ready to assist operators in the food and drink, textiles, engineering, telecommunications sectors and professional services, who have identified opportunities in Australia.”

Australia is the 9^th largest direct investor in the UK and last year Australian oil and gas contractor Clough created 100 jobs when it opened an operations centre in Glasgow to serve North Sea and European clients.

Joining Rennick as founding partners are Greg Campbell and Simela Karasavidis, currently partners of Maddocks, Michael Battye, a former Pinsent Masons lawyer currently in private practice in Adelaide, and Andrew Denton, a construction disputes partner who will relocate from Pinsent Masons’ London headquarters. Adam Perl also joins the team from a senior in-house legal position at Australian infrastructure giant, Leighton.

Richard Foley, Senior Partner at Pinsent Masons, said: “This is a significant and hugely exciting development for the firm. Our vision is to be an international market-leader in the global sectors in which the firm operates.

“We have done our homework on the market and taken the time to recruit a top quality team. We are confident that, through a keen focus on the infrastructure sector initially and a real commitment to innovative delivery of high quality legal services, we will have a compelling proposition for existing and potential clients.”

David Rennick added: “Pinsent Masons has one of the strongest brands of any law firm operating in the global infrastructure sector and I am thrilled to be involved in helping the firm further extend its reach by opening in Australia. It is clear that there is significant opportunity and appetite for the firm here and we have an opportunity to bring a new kind of law firm to the Australian market, with an internationally recognised brand, and that excites me.”

“The firm’s 30-year heritage in Asia is a particular distinguishing factor, as is the depth of its specialism in particular sectors.”

The firm’s decision to open in Australia comes following a period of significant international expansion by Pinsent Masons. In 2012 the firm opened offices in France and Germany, while in 2013 the firm launched in Turkey through a joint venture.

Asia Scotland Institute is trying something new this month, something ambitious.

Six months in the planning, our inaugural “Building Bridges: Connecting Scotland with its International Communities” conference (www.buildingbridgesconference.co.uk) will be held at the RBS conference centre at Gogaburn on 17 and 18 March.

We’ve booked some great speakers, including Elizabeth Linder, Facebook’s government and politics specialists for Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

And we have a series of excellent talks and panel discussions lined up, all with a clear goal in mind: to explore how Scotland can best connect with the approximately 50-million people around the world who are linked to us by heritage or by a strong affinity to our country.

Offering his support, Lord Livingston, Minister of State for Trade and Investment, said: “Scotland’s future is as part of an interconnected and highly interdependent world.

“The diaspora of Scots living abroad and people who have come here to live and work, either as students or businesspeople, are part of that rich international community. We must make the best of those connections and the goodwill that the Scottish brand has.

“The ‘Building Bridges Conference’ is a welcome way of providing impetus to boosting Scotland’s efforts to succeed, especially in the high growth markets of tomorrow.

“As a proud Scot I am delighted to support Scotland’s efforts to increase exports and increase the number of businesses attracted here from abroad.”

Of course Asia Scotland Institute’s main focus remains Asia. Our primary mission is to support entrepreneurial Scots who seek to make the most of what is being called the Century of Asia.

But for two days we are broadening our remit; we are going global. We hope you can join us on 17 and 18 March for what promises to be a great conference.

• Mattioli Woods plc recognised in second edition of London Stock Exchange’s 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain report 2015
• Identifies fastest-growing and most dynamic small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) in UK
• Recognition of Mattioli Woods’ continued success in becoming one of the UK’s leading providers of wealth management and employee benefit services.

Mattioli Woods plc has been identified as one of London Stock Exchange’s 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain.  The report is a celebration of the UK’s fastest-growing and most dynamic small and medium sized businesses.

To be included in the list, companies needed to show consistent revenue growth over a minimum of three years, significantly outperforming their industry peers.  More detail on the methodology can be found in the report online at www.1000companies.com.

Mattioli Woods is one of the UK’s leading providers of wealth management and employee benefit services. Over the past 24 years, Mattioli Woods has created one of the most successful businesses in its area of expertise, becoming an AIM-listed company with over 6,000 clients.  It now has offices in Leicester, Aberdeen, Glasgow, London and Newmarket.

Inclusion in the London Stock Exchange’s 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain list comes off the back of recent strong results which saw the company report a 23.4% increase in revenue for the first half of this financial year.

Ian Mattioli, CEO of Mattioli Woods said: “We are delighted to be recognised as one of London Stock Exchange’s 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain.  As we enter our 25th year, we are witnessing very exciting times for the business as we look to position ourselves as a leading 21st century financial services provider.  Recognition like this serves to reinforce our ethos and rewards the hard work shown by our employees to get us where we are today. ”

Xavier Rolet, Chief Executive, London Stock Exchange Group said: “This report is a significant part of London Stock Exchange’s broader campaign to support UK high growth companies in their journeys from Start-up to Stardom and to create an entrepreneurship revolution.  I’m delighted that a strong alliance between UK Government, financial market participants, investors, entrepreneurs and companies has been created to support these inspiring businesses.”

A full searchable database of all of the companies along with a downloadable pdf of the publication can be found online at www.1000companies.com

Clean technologies of the future line up for Scotland’s first dedicated showcase for commercial green industry innovation

Imagine a future where carports generate electricity, food is produced on Micro Farms, cars run on whisky, heat comes from mines and millions of people in Africa can be pulled out of the poverty cycle because of green innovation happening now in Scotland.

This future may not be far away thanks to innovative technology concepts from companies shortlisted for the first Cleantech Innovate Scotland 2015, an extension of the UK’s largest commercial showcase of early stage green innovation, run in London since 2012. Today organisers ecoConnect have announced the 25 finalists who will present live in front of an audience of investors, buyers and industry specialists at Glasgow’s Technology Innovation Centre.

The Scottish showcase will be held in Glasgow on 4 June 2015, in partnership with Zero Waste Scotland. The chosen finalists will have the opportunity to pitch their technologies and compete for a cash prize of €20,000.

“The first Cleantech Innovate Scotland presents a great opportunity for companies in Scotland to showcase their pioneering solutions being developed in the cleantech sector and to collaborate and network with investors.

The transition to a low carbon economy presents enormous economic opportunities for companies to develop and implement new technologies. The Scottish Government is committed to supporting businesses across Scotland to realise these opportunities.” Fergus Ewing MSP, Minister for Energy, Business & Tourism. Keynote speaker on 4 June.

In its third year in London and first in Scotland, Cleantech Innovate showcases early stage companies that, with the right investment, will underpin Britain’s green economy. Finalists are drawn from a variety of organisations, including university spin-outs, corporate R&D departments and individual entrepreneurs, and are chosen to present on the basis that their innovation is both investable and scalable and will benefit the Scottish economy.

For the full list of finalists please visit: Cleantech Innovate Scotland – Finalists 

All British Airways customers arriving at London City from three UK airports now have the chance to ‘fly’ through the airport thanks to an exclusive bag collection service.

Following the successful trial of ‘Carousel Collection’ provided by AirPortr, the UK’s first airport premium luggage concierge service, on specific British Airways routes, the service has  been extended to all of the airline’s 124 domestic flights into the Docklands airport every week.

It means customers arriving from Glasgow and Edinburgh don’t have to worry about collecting their bags if they have a busy schedule, they can be picked up from the carousel and delivered to an address of their choice within the London M25 area.

Since its launch the exclusive ‘Carousel Collection’ upgrade has been offered free of charge to British Airways Executive Club members who booked a standard AirPortr bag delivery service.

Executive Club members will continue to get free upgrades but now all other customers can have their bags collected from the carousel from just £10 in addition to the normal delivery charge.

They can book the on demand service from any device, right up to take-off so they can just land and leave at London City knowing their bags will be collected by AirPortr and delivered to their destination the same day.

Chris Nash, British Airways’ customer experience manager for London City Airport, said: “Many business customers choose to fly with us into London City thanks to its location so close to the corporate heart of the capital. They’ve told us their priority when they land is to head straight to the office so we’ve launched this service with AirPortr to enable them to do just that without worrying about any luggage they’ve checked in.

“Having successfully trialled ‘Carousel Collection’ it’s a natural step for us to roll out the service from all our UK destinations to London City and extend it to all British Airways customers, not just Executive Club members.

“As part of our continuing service to our Executive Club members we will still be offering the service free of charge to them.  Also we are working with AirPortr to ensure that British Airways will be the first airline to offer an ‘International Carousel Collection’ service when it launches on flights from Europe, hopefully later this year.”

Randel Darby, AirPortr CEO, ”We have consistently heard back from our customers how beneficial the service is in terms of how passengers are both planning and then the subsequent benefits and experience that they are feeling when experiencing Luggage Freedom.

Travelling luggage free and heading straight for the ‘exit’ and therefore gaining more time in their day allows the traveller to be more productive and efficient with their time and we are even seeing passengers deliberately choosing to fly with British Airways in order to specifically benefit from ‘Carousel Collection’ and AirPortr delivery.”

Feedback from customers on the new service during the trial period showed:

• 100% flawless service and delivery record
• Regular and repeat usage of the service by a number of Executive Club Members
• Particularly strong demand from frequent business travellers flying into London City from Edinburgh
• It has helped frequent business travellers reduce travel costs by opting to use public transport as they no longer have to consider carrying heavy bags
• Enabled quicker and easier travel around London, driving productivity
• Journey time savings of up to an hour allowed customers to either fit in another meeting or catch a later flight through London City Airport

AirPortr prides itself on a 100 per cent perfect delivery record and security is of paramount importance to them. Luggage is securely tagged and GPS tracked in real-time, and customers will receive text or email updates for further details please visit portr.com.

Ahead of National No Smoking Day on 11 March, Donald MacKinnon, director of legal services at Law At Work looks at how e-cigarettes are changing the face of smoking in the workplace.

“Since the introduction of a total ban on smoking in the workplace in 2006 (for Scotland and the following year for the rest of the UK), cigarette breaks have become far more obvious to everyone.

“Smokers are now pariahs at work and are seen spending their working time huddled outside in the rain. On average, a smoker spends approximately an hour on ‘fag breaks’ – which over a working life is a year spent away from their desks. Another study found that 30 per cent of smokers used more than an hour a day smoking up to 20 cigarettes just during work hours alone.

“With so much working time lost and the potential health damage to their staff, it is no wonder that employers brought in policies to manage the smoking situation. However, the rise of the e-cigarette has thrown all this hard work up in the air.

Working Time Regulations stipulate that most employees are entitled to one unpaid 20-minute break during a working day of longer than six hours. Britain’s workers are well known for working some of the longest hours in Europe and experts back up the claim that regular breaks (time away from the computer screen, stretching your legs) is good for you.

Yet, while some employers recognise that e-cigarettes can be used successfully by employees to wean themselves off the hard stuff – in turn reducing the amount of time spent away from their desks – few are likely to have a policy on their usage in the workplace.

There is currently no legal imperative to prevent employers allowing the use of e-cigarettes at work, however, few will want them to be smoked in the presence of others, due to company image (even though no ill health aspects to passive smoking from them).

Failure to adhere to an employer’s smoking policy can, and does, result in disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal. Increasingly, employers are taking a harder line in relation to the use of e-cigarettes at work. However, care needs to be taken to ensure that employers have up to date policies on the use of e- cigarettes at work.

Cautionary tale from the tribunals – Insley v Accent Catering. 

In a recent employment tribunal case, a school catering assistant claimed that she had been constructively dismissed by her employer after a complaint was received by the employer from the Headteacher that Ms Insley had been seen using an e-cigarettes in front of pupils.

The employer convened a disciplinary hearing and warned that this was potentially gross misconduct.  Ms Insley resigned prior to the hearing. The tribunal did not uphold the employee’s claim.  She had resigned too early – the employer hadn’t yet reached a decision on whether or not they were going to dismiss her.  Had they dismissed though, they might have had a challenge in showing that it was gross misconduct as the policy in question only covered cigarette smoking and not e-cigarettes.

Organisations have a difficult juggling act to perform for their staff. Balancing carefully the negative associations of lost working time against the positive aspects that breaks (whether for smoking or not can bring) including the opportunity for colleagues to socialise with each other, helping to build team morale and the exchange of views and ideas.

So where does this leave organisations today?

Simply that no matter what their views are on e-cigarette use, they must build it into the employee policy if they want a consistent approach to managing their staff.