As the New Year draws closer your company may be considering it’s CSR commitments for 2015. If you are looking for something that will motivate staff, improve relationships and raise lots of money for a fantastic cause then sign up for the Rob Roy Challenge 2015.
What is the Rob Roy Challenge?
This is a hike/run and bike challenge along the Rob Roy Way in the beautiful countryside of Central Scotland. The challenge has three different lengths of route, with the longest stretching over 16 miles on foot followed by a 39 mile bike ride between Drymen and Kenmore. As you cross the finish line, a medal will be placed round your neck and you will join your fellow fundraisers for a fantastic night of food, dancing and celebration.
The 2015 Rob Roy Challenge is on Saturday 20 June and marks the event’s tenth anniversary. Barnardo’s are the chosen local charity partner, which means part of the proceeds raised will go towards supporting Scotland’s most vulnerable children and young people.
Interested?
For a limited time only, registration is £65 with a fundraising target of £350. You’ll receive a medal and goody bag with snacks and refreshments to keep your energy up, a complimentary massage both en route and at the finish hub, a post-race party including dinner, fireworks and a live band and finally a tasty breakfast roll the morning after if you partied long into the night and stayed locally. Go to the website to sign up.
Volunteering at the event
If this sounds like your sort of event minus the miles of walking and cycling then you could always volunteer! We will need around 40 enthusiastic bodies around the course to help with water stops, marshalling and handing out those all-important medals at the finish line.
Get in touch with kara.gillies@barnardos.org.uk if you would like more information about this event or Barnardo’s in general.
Joel Jamieson taking part in the challenge
Commenting after the First Minister’s speech in Glasgow, (1st Dec 2014), Liz Cameron, Director and Chief Executive of Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said:
“Today, our new First Minister committed to an open, working relationship with the Scottish business community. One in which new ideas and approaches driven by what business needs, would be welcomed. This is a positive step forward. The First Minister specifically focussed her attention towards ensuring that Scottish business not only has a competitive environment to work in, but world leading. We share that ambition.
“However, the proof of the pudding is always in the eating. We need to see policies being developed and emerging which match what business needs to enable us to continue to compete, create jobs and increase our investment. My plea is that business is actively engaged at the ideas stage so that we can truly influence and work in an effective partnership with Government. All too often, business is at the end of the government cycle when it is often too late to make any substantive changes in key areas. Perhaps now, is the opportunity to change that culture.
“Our Chamber Network looks forward to working with the new First Minister and her team.”
Edinburgh, 01 December 2014: Innovative cloud accounting company FreeAgent has agreed a new partnership with a unique accountancy service designed to help contractors across Scotland.
FreeAgent, which provides the UK’s market-leading online accounting system specifically designed for contractors, freelancers and micro-businesses, has teamed up with Aberdeen-based Lime Blue Accountancy – the pioneering new service designed to provide specifically-tailored accounting, IR35 and tax advice for contractors. Lime Blue is also the first Aberdeen based Practice to achieve their FreeAgent Accreditation status directly.
Under the partnership FreeAgent will be the chosen cloud accounting solution for Lime Blue, and will provide its multi-award winning system to contractor clients to enable them to manage their business accounts more effectively.
Ed Molyneux, CEO and co-founder of FreeAgent, said: “Lime Blue is a unique accountancy service that is purely focussed on helping to improve the way contractors manage their business finances. And, as contractors are one of the main business types that we’ve specifically developed FreeAgent to cover, it’s a great partnership for us.
“FreeAgent is dedicated to making it as easy and intuitive for contractors and micro-businesses to manage their day-to-day bookkeeping, which in turn means that accountants can foster a deeper understanding of these clients and provide extra value when it comes to managing their accounts.
“We look forward to working closely with Lime Blue as they grow their influence and become a major name in contractor accounting in Scotland.”
Alex Orban, from Lime Blue Accountancy, said: “FreeAgent is an innovative cloud system that expertly meets the needs of contractors and freelancers, so we are very pleased to be working with them.
“Its simple-to-use platform means that contractors can easily get on with the process of managing their day-to-day books, which makes it the perfect solution for Lime Blue to offer to our clients.
“We anticipate our partnership will help thousands of contractors in North East Scotland discover the most effective way to stay on top of their business finances for years to come.”
90 Day Planning Session
What will you achieve in 2015?
What will your numbers look like this time next year?
What will your customers really think of your business?
Welcome to GrowthCLUB, a 90 day planning day packed full of techniques and working practices that guarantees to propel your business in 2015. Planning your business is the single most important thing you can do, so on Wednesday 10th December take time to work ON your business rather than IN your business.
We want to help you understand the numbers, show you top marketing tips, look at your niche, plan to get the right people on the bus and give you all the tools to really make a huge difference to your business.
BOOK BEFORE THE 5th OF DECEMBER 2014 AND WE WILL GIVE YOU 50% OFF THE USUAL PRICE……THAT’S A SAVING OF £147.50!!
Learn all about Fixed Interest Investor Opportunities! At LendingCrowd, Scotland’s first Crowdlending provider.
On Dec 9th at 5.30pm at our 23 Manor Place, West End, Edinburgh.
Investors are excited about Crowdlending returns. And so are we. Come and learn how Crowdlending is enabling investors to directly fund loans to small businesses at our exclusive Seminar. Many UK small businesses are turning to Crowdlending to fund their growth, experiencing difficulties in accessing loan funds via traditional channels.
For investors, attractive returns can range from 5.95% to over 13% (before a 1% annual fee and any losses due to default on the LendingCrowd platform~). And there are further opportunities to suit a greater range of investors on the strength of selecting loans in which they wish to invest based on their risk appetite, industry or regional knowledge…
People can invest as little as £20 into a loan. And, even better, right now we’re running an FounderInvestor programme. This offers investors a 2% bonus on sums invested of £5,000 to £100,000, or a £50 bonus on investments of between £500 and £4,999#
The evening’s event will be hosted by LendingCrowd’s CEO, Stuart Lunn.
Agenda:
- Introduction to Crowdlending
- Investing across the LendingCrowd platform
- Video case studies
- Q&A
Discover why everyone’s talking about it: Register now with Heather.mackay@lendingcrowd.com
Former world champion Formula One racing driver, Sir Jackie Stewart OBE, made a rare appearance in Scotland yesterday (26th November) when he spoke about his personal experiences of living with dyslexia at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh.
The special public event helped raise awareness of dyslexia and improving access to higher education by attracting an audience of over 200 people from across Scotland.
‘An Audience with Sir Jackie Stewart’, offered guests the opportunity to ask the former World Champion direct questions about how he deals with dyslexia.
Sir Jackie left school at 15 years of age, but his dyslexia was not diagnosed until much later. He found his personal voice in sport; first as an Olympic-class shot, then as a three-time World Champion motor racing driver.
He is now President of Dyslexia Scotland and Vice President of the British Dyslexia Association, and is a long standing campaigner for better support for people affected by the condition.
Sir Jackie is Vice-President of the Scottish International Education Trust. As well as being awarded an OBE in 1972 and knighted in 2001, he holds eight honorary doctorates from US, Scottish and English universities.
The event was also attended by Professor Petra Wend, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Queen Margaret University, Sir Tom Farmer, Chancellor of Queen Margaret University; Professor Alan Gilloran, Deputy Principal of Queen Margaret University; and Cathy Magee, CEO of Dyslexia Scotland.
Scottish Chambers of Commerce Network is Scotland’s leading business voice, providing business insight, economic intelligence and business connections.
Responding to the publication of the recommendations of the Smith Commission, Liz Cameron, Director and Chief Executive of Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said:
“The task of the Smith Commission was always ambitious. Lord Smith has completed it fairly and respectfully, giving opportunity to people from all over Scotland to shape and influence a new Scotland.
“We have long called for new ways of working in Scotland to maximise business growth and today’s recommendations serve as a milestone in reaching our potential. The Commission’s recommendations address a number of our key asks in terms of further devolution, including Air Passenger Duty, which must now be devolved and abolished immediately in order to deliver a much needed boost to the Scottish aviation industry. We also particularly welcome the Commission’s call for further consideration of formal schemes to enable international students in Scotland to gain more valuable business experience after graduating.
“Time is of critical importance and our priority is to ensure that the Scottish business community is at the core of implementing these recommendations.
“Now, the responsibility is on politicians to come together and focus their collective talents and skills to deliver upon these recommendations and create the new Scotland which has the right economic levers to support our businesses, which are the creators of jobs and wealth.”
Sunday 7 December and Edinburgh Rugby’s European journey continues with Round 3 of the Challenge Cup v London Welsh ko 2pm. The visitors have recruited heavily over the summer and snapped up no fewer than 24 new faces including marquee arrival and 2011 world cup winner Piri Weepu of New Zealand! It’s shaping up to be a great game.
In addition to an exciting game of rugby, it is officially Edinburgh Rugby’s Christmas Jumper day! We are inviting you to dig out your festive woolly or get knitting or crafting quicky as there is a major prize at stake, yip you could be the lucky winner of THE Edinburgh Rugby Christmas stocking (with a few surprises hidden inside)!
Flinty and company will be scouting the ground and will select the best knits for Boogie to judge at half time (aided by some crowd participation we’re sure!)
Buy tickets and more information at: http://admin.edinburghrugby.org/match-report/edinburgh-rugby-vs-london-welsh-sun-07122014-1400
To celebrate our 25th Birthday we are offering all Edinburgh Chamber Members a 10% Discount.
With 2015 soon upon us, OmniSafe Limited will not only celebrating a New Year but also a significant company milestone. OmniSafe Limited is proud to celebrate its 25th anniversary by introducing our new Business Development Manager, Emma Burnett and by offering Chamber Members a guaranteed 10% discounted on all of their Electrical Safety Testing.
Like any long established business, OmniSafe has experienced many changes, challenges and accomplishments throughout the past 25 years. What began a small microwave safety testing company based in Edinburgh eventually grew into what is now a thriving, nationwide electrical safety testing company, specialising in Electrical appliance and Microwave safety testing. With the appointment of our new BDM, we foresee many more successful years to come with an exciting plan for further company expansion.
Emma joined OmniSafe this year with a brief to ‘modernise and grow’ this business and, until the year end, Emma is offering Members of the Chamber discounted rates for their electrical testing services.
‘What I am able to offer is a guaranteed lower price for Portable Appliance and Microwave Safety testing than what you are currently paying combined with, almost certainly, a better service than you are used to. For a limited period, I am offering you a discount of 10% on your last testing cost – assuming ‘like for like’ quote. This offer will be available until the end of December 2014 and is for any testing carried out during the 12 months of 2015, ending 31 December 2015.’
As OmniSafe Limited celebrates 25 years of excellence, we would like to thank all of our customers and staff for all their hard work and contributions. Without this, OmniSafe would not be the success it is today. We could not be more grateful for all your continued support. Moving forward, we hope to continue to provide the highest standards of electrical safety testing at genuinely competitive prices to ensure that all of our customers operate in safe working environments.
For more information on the services which we provide, please visit www.omnisafe.co.uk or contact Emma Burnett, Business Development Manager on 0131 558 8740 or emma.burnett@omnisafe.co.uk.
Emma Burnett – Business Development Manager
This year’s Black Friday, November 28, should be the biggest online shopping day ever in the UK and one Scottish charity is hoping their fundraising will feel the benefit!
Rowan Alba services help the most vulnerable in the community – people of all ages whose lives are in chaos. This could be due to domestic abuse, drug or alcohol dependency or mental health issues.
They provide accommodation for those who are homeless or at risk but, more importantly, we provide the support of staff to prevent homelessness, help people stay in their own homes, resolve their problems and find hope for the future.
Fundraising is no easy matter but Rowan Alba use one tool that is – www.easyfundraising.org.uk
Registering with easyfundraising and supporting Rowan Alba means every purchase online generates a free donation to the charity. And it doesn’t cost the shopper a penny!
You can raise funds by shopping at over 2,700 top retailers including John Lewis, Apple, Amazon, M&S and Argos.
Turn this Black Friday into a brighter future for Edinburgh’s most vulnerable people by going to www easyfundraising.org.uk and supporting Rowan Alba Limited before you shop.
More on Rowan Alba at www.rowanalba.org
