We are delighted to announce that Carbon Financial Partners has won the Professional Adviser Firm of the Year Award for Scotland and Northern Ireland (2015), beating seven other shortlisted firms to the prize, and to top that, went on to win Best Adviser Firm UK.
Carbon’s Investment Director Barry O’Neill collected the awards at a packed presentation ceremony last night, at the Brewery in London. Commenting on the awards he said:
“This is a great start to 2015 and a terrific accolade. The awards give us a chance to showcase our expertise and demonstrate our planning skills and we were up against some tough competition. It’s very rewarding to have our efforts and achievements recognised in this way.”
Entry to the competition required shortlisted firms to select one of three scenarios and then outline what advice they would give to a client in that situation.
The judges praised Carbon on its success, explaining that it was achieved through its demonstration of robust and repeatable process.
Members on the judging panel included Mark Polson, founder and principal of The Lang Cat, Professional Adviser editor Scott Sinclair, Incisive Media editorial director Lawrence Gosling, Partnership director Phil Billingham, Rennison Consulting director Roderic Rennison, and Baillie Gifford marketing director James Budden.
Carbon’s Managing Director Gordon Wilson added today at the news of Carbon’s two awards:
“I am thrilled. I really do think that we have an exceptional team here. Our advisers are highly-qualified, talented, and, I think, deliver some of the best advice in the UK, but it’s one thing for me to say this, and quite another for it to be endorsed by an external organisation. The Professional Adviser Awards are judged by some of the most respected professionals in the industry so we are very proud. To win the Scotland and Northern Ireland award for a second year in a row is pleasing enough, but to then go on and win Best Adviser Firm (UK) is deeply gratifying.”
Gordon Wilson can be contact at gordon.wilson@carbonfinancial.co.uk or on 0131 220 0000
The Royal Blind Week raffle plays a major part in Royal Blind’s week long fundraising campaign which this year runs from 23 February to 1 March.
By spending just £1.00 on a Royal Blind Week Raffle ticket you give yourself the chance to win dinner for two with an overnight stay at The Scotsman Hotel and enjoy 5 Star Luxury in the heart of Edinburgh
The hotel sits within the former Scotsman Newspaper building which was built in 1905 and was designed to dominate the Edinburgh skyline with incredible views of the city’s landmarks. In 2001 it was transformed into The Scotsman Hotel with the original Italian marble staircase, oak panelling, marble pillars and ornate ceilings carefully preserved.
Helen Gallagher, General Manager for The Scotsman Hotel, said: “We are delighted to support Royal Blind which is a local Edinburgh charity providing much needed services for visually impaired children and adults. The lucky winners of the Royal Blind Week raffle star prize will experience an overnight stay with three course dinner for two and breakfast in the hotel, and we look forward to welcoming those winners and helping make their stay extremely enjoyable.”
Davina Shiell, Marketing Manager for Royal Blind, said: “The raffle is a very popular element of Royal Blind Week and our thanks go to Tunnock’s, Nairn’s and Next, as well as The Scotsman Hotel, for the fantastic prizes they have donated. The raffle tickets are currently on sale and I would encourage people to buy one soon for the chance to win a great prize while supporting Royal Blind.”
The Royal Blind Week Raffle prizes are:-
- Overnight stay with three course dinner for two and breakfast in The Scotsman Hotel
- £100 of Next Vouchers
- Nairn’s Hamper
- 1 x 48 box Tunnock’s Caramel Wafers and 1 x 36 box Tunnock’s Teacakes
Tickets cost £1.00 for one ticket and are being sold online in multiples of five. For ticket sales and full terms and conditions please visit the Royal Blind Website www.royalblind.org/royal-blind-week or contact the Marketing and Fundraising Department on 0131 229 1456.
Royal Blind Week is the charity’s annual fundraising campaign which also helps raise public awareness of the challenges faced by blind and partially sighted adults and children across Scotland every day. For more information visit www.royalblind.org/royal-blind-week.
More than 70 organisations attended an informative LinkedIn networking event in Edinburgh organised by Capital Document Solutions.
The seminar, held at Capital’s McDonald Road headquarters, attracted 79 professionals who benefitted from expert advice courtesy of ‘Mr LinkedIn’ Miles Duncan.
Delegates learned how to make the most of the online professional networking platform and put Miles’ advice into practice in order to win new business and secure more referrals, before enjoying an informal networking session.
Mark Harvie, area sales director at Capital, said: “We’d like to thank Miles for delivering an excellent presentation. It proved to be a tremendous event and I’m sure everyone who attended gained a great deal, especially in terms of how they can use the lessons learned today to open more doors.
“We were overwhelmed by the level of interest we received from clients and contacts in the Edinburgh business community. Following the success of this event we are looking to hold similar informative seminars in future and would definitely consider inviting Miles back.”
Capital gathered extensive feedback from the audience in terms of having them score the event, venue, presentation and refreshments – with Capital’s superb showroom scoring particularly highly.
Typical feedback saw one delegate describe the event as “extremely informative and engaging from start to finish,” while another added “I really appreciate Capital putting on such a helpful and relevant session… first class.”
Established in 1979, Capital provides a range of office document and print solutions including copiers, printers, scanners and software with comprehensive national maintenance and training support.
The company specialises in advising public and private sector organisations on how to rationalise their mixed fleet of copiers, printers, scanners and faxes as well as control and reduce copy/print volumes through significant improvements in document processes.
Capital Document Solutions has 205 staff at operations in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen, Inverness and Shetland. For further information visit www.capital-solutions.co.uk
Edinburgh, Thursday 12 February 2015 – EIFF today announced that the main 2015 retrospective is “LITTLE BIG SCREEN”, which will offer a rare opportunity to see some of the finest American TV movies from the 1960s and 70s.
The retrospective will include screenings of films by some of Hollywood’s biggest directors including Steven Spielberg (DUEL), Michael Mann (THE JERICHO MILE), Tobe Hooper (SALEMS LOT), and Sam Peckinpah (NOON WINE).
Niall Greig Fulton, EIFF Senior Programmer said “With this retrospective we aim to present our audiences with a selection of the most significant titles from a golden era of made for television movies in the US. It is also an opportunity to consider the role of television in relation to cinema. A relationship with an ever changing dynamic that, in this context, has come full circle in recent years; television once again becoming an acceptable and fertile environment for artists primarily associated with the big screen.”
As a companion piece to “LITTLE BIG SCREEN”, the Festival will also be presenting “WALTER HILL: THE EARLY YEARS”. This strand will feature the complete run of Hill’s classic early work from HARD TIMES through to 48 HOURS, documenting the emergence of a vital American talent on the big screen during the same era covered in LITTLE BIG SCREEN.
EIFF’s main country focus in 2015 will be Mexico. Supported by Imcine, this strand will comprise of new features and short films, as well as a selection of retrospective titles offering a glimpse into the cinematic riches coming out of one of the world’s most vibrant cinematic nations.
Continuing the Masters of Animation series, which began in 2013 with a focus on multi-Oscar winner Richard Williams, and the centenary celebration of Norman McLaren in 2014, the Festival will present a retrospective of the work of acclaimed animator Barry Purves. The recipient of more than 60 international prizes, as well as Oscar and Bafta nominations, Barry will present a selection of his short animations and will appear in person to discuss his work as an animator, author, stage director and designer.
…Your conversations matter to your business…
THE CHALLENGE:
You know that under performers affect your bottom line. You want to create a culture where people know how well they are performing and understand the impact of their performance on team goals. You are good at giving feedback, but want to be more focused and structured in the way you do it. You want your team to feel motivated to perform at their best and you want to be able to have the right conversations with staff to keep them motivated. We have the right tools to help you achieve this.
THE SOLUTION
Your people need to understand what they’re doing well and what they need to change to do better. It is crucial to summarise a project or piece of work in a way that helps employees understand their contribution to the company’s aims and strategic development.
THE APPROACH
A half-day workshop from Hunter Adams will give you the right tools, insight and confidence to deliver crucial messages to your team to ensure they are at their best all year round. The aim of the workshop is to empower you to give precise performance feedback to your team. After all, you want you and your team performing at optimum levels.
The workshop is designed to place knowledge, tools, techniques and experience together and push you on your way to giving excellent feedback to your team. We know it feels difficult doing this. But here is the reality: it might always feel difficult, but the more you give feedback using the right approach, the better you will become at it.
And that’s when you’ll get the responses you want from your team.
COURSE OUTLINE
During this session we’ll blend theory, practice, observation, reflection and action planning. We’ll cover the following topics:
- Why feedback matters and what employees want
- Overcoming fears about delivering feedback
- Being courageous in difficult situations
- Delivering feedback that matters
- Inspiring your team to achieve their potential
Workshops on the crucial skills required to deliver performance messages to your team will be held:
Wednesday 11th March 2015, 13:30 – 17:00, The Sheraton, Edinburgh, £275 + VAT
Click here to book: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/face-it-under-performers-affect-your-bottom-lineyour-conversations-matter-to-your-business-tickets-15534731801
Tuesday 12th May 2015, 13:30 – 17:00, The Sheraton, Edinburgh, £275 + VAT
Click here to book: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/face-it-under-performers-affect-your-bottom-lineyour-conversations-matter-to-your-business-tickets-15534815050
Pole Position Conference – Thursday 26th February 2015, The Carlton Hotel, Edinburgh
Edinburgh Chamber Members, Santander Corporate & Commercial Banking, are headline sponsors for a free event taking place later this month at the Carlton Hotel that will explore opportunities for companies interested in trading with Poland. Keynote speakers include Fergus Ewing, Minister for Business, Energy & Tourism and Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs.
In addition to hearing more about the opportunities Poland can bring Chamber members, there will also be networking opportunities during the day with both Polish and Scottish SMEs.
For a detailed agenda and the opportunity to register for the event, please click on the link below:
http://en.polishbusinesses.co.uk/pole-position-conference/
To compliment their support of Scottish businesses seeking to internationalise, Santander Corporate & Commercial Banking are also running 3 subsidised trade missions in May and June of this year to Spain, Poland and Mexico. Ambitious Scottish businesses interested in finding out more should contact Steve Hand from Santander either on e-mail (steve.hand@santander.co.uk) or by phone (mobile 07771 506701).
Airport starts New Year with plans for airline growth and terminal development Following a record-breaking year, Edinburgh Airport has started 2015 in a strong position with passenger figures up 7% on 2014.
The airport saw significant rises in both domestic and international traffic thanks to various short haul and long haul routes operating which weren’t in place last year.
A total of 628,285 people travelled through Edinburgh Airport in January, a rise of 7% on 2014.
Domestic traffic rose by 7.2% in January with a total of 344,840 passengers travelling through the terminal. This is primarily due to Ryanair’s new three-times daily service to London Stansted and BA Cityflyer’s London City service which is now operating 12 times per day. With FlyBe also launching a new London City service in October and increased British Airways flights, passengers have the choice of over 50 daily London flights.
International passenger numbers also increased significantly with 283,445 people travelling, an increase of 7.1% on 2014. This increase is a result of Ryanair’s new four-times daily service to Dublin, increased capacity on Paris Charles De Gaulle with AirFrance’ HOP! service, as well as Qatar Airways’ five per week service to Doha which started last May.
After enjoying such a record-breaking year in 2014 for passenger numbers, the airport is confident 2015 will be just as successful with various new routes launching this spring, including Etihad Airways’ first route between Scotland and Abu Dhabi and a new service to Madrid with Iberia operating from April.
Just last month the airport announced a new £50 million airside investment plan which will see a new immigration facility and more aircraft stands created, tripling the capacity for larger aircraft over the coming years.
Gordon Dewar, Chief Executive of Edinburgh Airport, said: “Following our record-breaking year in 2014, we’ve started 2015 with a spring in our step and a renewed focus on what we want to deliver for our passengers.
“We saw a great performance from our new domestic services last month, with more new routes launching this spring, and are continuing to develop our facilities for passengers and airlines. The next few months will be an exciting time for our airport.
“With the RBS 6Nations now underway, we’re expecting to be busy with thousands of rugby fans travelling through the airport over the next few weeks. Edinburgh is a city with year-round appeal, from our amazing festivals to Michelin-star restaurants, there is something for everyone.
“We want to show our passengers a good time and will be pulling out all the stops to ensure they have the very best experience in 2015.”
Edinburgh 2015 2014 Change
Domestic 344,840 321,482 7.2%
International 283,445 264,702 7.1%
Total 628,285 587,194 7.0%
The moving annual total for the year ending 31 January was 10,211,242.
Is writing for business stopping you getting on with business?
Written communication is a vital part of how organisations, big and small, conduct their business. Yet the prospect of putting fingers to keyboard to compose that company report, customer brochure or trade article, can still induce a sense of dread in many of us.
It needn’t be that way. At Reporting for Business we’re offering all fellow ECC members their very own writing check-up, absolutely FREE. Send us a sample business document of any type (preferably one that typifies your writing style), and we’ll be happy to diagnose your condition and prescribe some remedies!
– we’ll point out what’s already great about your writing,
– we’ll tell you where we think you could improve, and
– we’ll give you tips on how to make the writing process easier for you and your readers!
Please note that we also handle academic and technical documents.
Visit our website to find out more about us or contact me, Emma, directly on 07879 608504 or by email at info@reporting-for-business.com.
2015 is bringing about some big changes here at Heehaw. We’ve wound down our digital, web and print work, and we’ve returning to our roots; redeveloping Heehaw from Digital Agency to Video Production Company. It’s been a fantastic decade of building brands, understanding audiences, and creating bespoke communications for our clients, but now we’re taking all of that vital experience and focussing it on our core strength; our video, film and animation production work.
Our video department has had a fantastic 2014, building some new relationships with some fantastic companies, as well as creating brilliant new work for clients we’ve worked with for years. 2015 got off to an excellent start with a film trip to Hong Kong and we’re in the middle of producing exciting video projects for Standard Life, SSE, Destination Stirling, ICAS and the City of Edinburgh Council. We’re also working on a documentary about the legendary night club The Hacienda!
We’ve got a shiny new production office in Great King Street lined up and we can’t wait to get our gear in there and the big screen on the wall!
If you already work with us the likelihood is you’ll already know how excited we are about this move because we won’t have been able to shut up about it, but if you aren’t one of our clients, and you want to know more, just give us a shout and we’ll fill you in. Please do check out our new showreel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKuHg7bP5XI
The Balmoral’s Michelin-starred restaurant, Number One, unveils an elegant new look following a full refurbishment by Olga Polizzi, Rocco Forte Hotels’ Director of Design.
High quality craftsmanship and local artists and builders who share a passion for attention to detail has ensured that the new look Number One offers a fresh, contemporary style while retaining the warm and inviting atmosphere which guests have enjoyed since the restaurant opened in 1997.
The £200,000 refurbishment project has increased the capacity of the restaurant by 12 covers offering additional space for Michelin-starred dining in Edinburgh for guests and local visitors alike.
Standout design elements include striking dove grey wool banquettes with golden yellow leather accents, elegant Lyndon Albany chairs with distinctive button backs and solid timber oak flooring throughout the restaurant.
Art is once again at the centre of Number One with a large format triptych print of a Scottish oak tree by Adam Ellis complementing the existing artwork from the Royal College of Art in London which hangs on the rich red lacquered walls.
In the bar lounge area, a daisy gerbera broadloom wool carpet by Ashley Hicks and two iconic duck feet lamps by luxury lighting company Porta Romana add an element of surrealism to the restaurant.
Head Chef Brian Grigor has redesigned the menu in line with the new refurbishment. The finest Scottish produce remains at the heart of the menu with international ingredients such as Périgord truffle and Valrhona chocolate introduced to enhance the Scottish flavours.
In addition to a 3-course à la carte menu at £70, a new series of tasting menus presents a unique dining experience at Number One. A 4-course Scottish Experience Menu at £75 offers a taste of
the finest seasonal Scottish dishes such as Brian Grigor’s signature Balvenie smoked salmon, hand-dived Dingwall scallops and Orkney beef fillet.
A 7-course Chef’s Tasting Menu at £79 offers a selection of Scottish and international cuisine while a 10-course Prestige Menu at £110 gives culinary connoisseurs the opportunity to meet the chef in person and select their favourite ingredients for the menu.
3-course À la carte Menu £70
4-course Scottish Experience Menu £75
7-course Chef’s Tasting Menu £79
Sommelier’s Tasting Wines £55
Sommelier’s Prestige Tasting Wines £85
10-course Prestige Menu £110
Sommelier’s Tasting Wines £90
Sommelier’s Prestige Tasting Wines £135
