Author: davepickering

Edinburgh reporter and photographer

New Year, new support for small businesses

Innovate funding to help small businesses grow

s300_BIS_960Most small businesses awarded Innovate UK funding from January 2015 will automatically receive business support to help them grow faster. The new growth support offers small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) the chance to:

  • participate in a growth workshop
  • complete an online diagnostic of their business
  • discuss their business needs with a growth expert to develop a growth plan

Based on the results, SMEs will gain opportunities to get:

  • coaching
  • mentoring
  • entrepreneurial skills training

This will cover areas such as:

  • developing a business model
  • sales
  • strategic marketing
  • access to finance
  • leadership
  • change management

Innovate UK will meet the costs of this SME growth support. It will be provided by different organisations depending on where the SME is based:

This growth support is being offered after a successful pilot project showed that businesses that combined our funding with additional business support were able to grow their businesses more quickly.

SMEs that combined funding from Innovate with business coaching:

  • saw an average 26% increase in turnover
  • created an average 4.6 new jobs

Mentoring and training in business skills also helped businesses to gain confidence and to make the most of their potential.

s300_Bind-a-tex_for_SME_growth_news_storyOne of the companies that took part in the pilot was Bolton-based Bindatex, an innovative small business that is set to more than treble it’s turnover after receiving funding support from Innovate UK and business coaching.

Founder Chris Lever (pictured above) said: “It helped to take me out of the day-to-day production and think more strategically about how I was going to continue moving the business forward. I now have a clearer picture of where I want the business to go.”

See latest funding opportunities

Hogmanay was busiest night of year for ambulance service

Edinburgh emergency calls slightly down on last year

ambulance (2)

Hogmanay was the busiest night of the year for the Scottish Ambulance Service, which dealt with 2,394 calls to its 999 centres across Scotland. Call volumes were 2% lower than last year’s total of 2,443 but the service experienced intense periods of high demand, managing over 250 calls per hour between midnight and 7am.

Additional call handlers, dispatchers and ambulance crews were on duty to deal with the surge in demand across the country, and Cardonald – which covers the West and South West of the country – was the busiest of the three Ambulance Control Centres (ACC). Inverness experienced a 16% increase in call volumes in the north of Scotland.

Between midnight and 7am demand was particularly high across Scotland and during that time ambulance control rooms dealt with 1,829 emergency calls, which was 76% of total demand.

Pauline Howie, Chief Executive, Scottish Ambulance Service said: “As always, Hogmanay was our busiest night of the year and our teams dealt with a high volume of calls across the country. While there were slightly fewer calls overall than last year, the activity at times was intense, with 76% of the workload occurring between midnight and 7am.

“All of the teams in our control rooms and out on the streets demonstrated their professionalism and commitment, doing a fantastic job of delivering care to those in need.”

Totals for each of the three Ambulance Control Centres between 7pm on 31 December and 7am on 1 January were:

(Previous year totals in brackets)

Edinburgh – 971 calls (1019)
Cardonald – 983 calls (1045)
Inverness – 440 calls (379)

Lord Provost launches Fair Trade Awards

logo_fairtradeEdinburgh’s Lord Provost, Donald Wilson, has launched the Fair Trade Awards 2015. Now in their ninth year, the awards recognise the difference that residents, businesses and schools make in promoting fair trade in Edinburgh.

The Lord Provost will invite nominations (or in the case of schools, applications) in four categories – Achievement Award, Newcomer Award, Faith Community Award and Fair Trade Schools Award – before the closing date of 13 February 2015.

The awards will be presented during Edinburgh’s Fairtrade Fortnight, which runs from 23 February to 8 March 2015.

Lord Provost, Donald Wilson, said: “I am very proud of Edinburgh’s long-standing commitment to fair trade and these awards provide us with an excellent opportunity to praise the generous contribution individuals and businesses are making to fair trade throughout the city.

“I would encourage people to have a think about where they shop or where they eat and whether that business or organisation promotes fair trade – and, if so, get nominating!”

In 2014, the capital saw its fair trade status renewed for the tenth year in a row. last year’s winners included the Fair Business Alliance Ltd, who introduced fair trade plantain crisps to the market, and Gorgie Dalry Parish Church which was recognised for promoting fair trade across the city. Their Saltyard coffee shop serves fair trade hot drinks and snacks and promotes Created Gifts, Tearfund’s fair trade range, while a mural at their entrance demonstrates their support for fair trade to all those who enter.

Awarded in the schools category last year was St George’s Junior School, whose pupils engaged with local shops to stock fair trade products.

Visit the Council’s Fair Trade webpage for further information and to make an online nomination for the 2015 awards.

The award categories in full:

Achievement Award

This award is for any organisation, business or individual based in Edinburgh showing outstanding commitment to fair trade over a long period of time and has enhanced fair trade within the city.

Newcomer Award

This award is for any organisation, business or individual operating with fair trade in Edinburgh for five years or less which has adopted fair trade products as a key part of the business and promotes fair trade in their marketing.

Faith Community Award 

This award is for a faith community in Edinburgh that can demonstrate a strong commitment to fair trade and provide evidence of fair trade activities in the faith community.

Fair Trade School Award 

This award is for any school that can demonstrate a strong commitment to fair trade activities throughout the school and its community. Each school must apply through the school community, for example, by parent/teacher council, Eco schools team, fair trade group, for consideration. The school can be working towards Fairtrade status but should not yet have received it.

Small Is Beautiful

This new award is for small organisations or business projects based in Edinburgh, which promotes Fair Trade or Fair Trade products.

STV Edinburgh gets ready to roll

STV_Edinburgh presenters_Nov11_ghp_67New city TV channel STV Edinburgh will launch next Monday (12 January) at 7pm with the first ever broadcast of The Fountainbridge Show.

Also included in the launch night schedule are Edinburgh’s Murder Mysteries at 9pm, STV Edinburgh News at 10pm and Peter & Roughie’s Football Show at 11pm.

Popular archive programming will return to the STV Edinburgh schedule on Tuesday 13 January with the very first episode of Take the High Road at 5.30pm. STV Edinburgh will also broadcast one hour of non-English speaking content per week with Polish drama, Czas Honoru (Days of Honour), beginning on Friday 16 January, with subtitles.

STV Edinburgh will be on air midday to midnight each day with an entertaining mix of news and features, live and interactive formats, and quality acquired and archive programmes.

Paul Hughes, channel editor for STV Edinburgh said: “The response from local people to the launch of the brand new channel has been fantastic. We’ve been inundated with requests from local bands and chefs from the capital who want to appear on the The Fountainbridge Show which is really encouraging ahead of launch.

“STV Glasgow launched to a terrific reception last June and we anticipate the people of Edinburgh will welcome this new platform that will reflect everything going on in the city on a daily basis.”

The Fountainbridge Show will be presented nightly from the studio by former Heart and Real Radio breakfast show host, Ewen Cameron and broadcaster and presenter Hayley Matthews. The Fountainbridge News will air from 6.30 – 7pm every evening, followed by The Fountainbridge Show from 7 – 8.30pm.

Ofcom announced the award of licences to STV for Glasgow and Edinburgh in January 2013. STV Edinburgh will be delivered in partnership with Edinburgh Napier University, offering students the opportunity to work in a live television environment. STV has also submitted applications to Ofcom to deliver local TV in Aberdeen, Ayr and Dundee.

STV Edinburgh will broadcast on Freeview channel 23, Sky channel 117 and Virgin channel 159 and will be available to watch live on the STV Player. Ahead of the channel’s launch, viewers will be asked to retune their televisions to pick up the Freeview signal for channel 23.

Pictured: George Ward, Hayley Matthews, Zara Janjua and Ewen Cameron.

Nowhere to hide after park cleanup

Community_Payback_7__2_West Pilton Park has been cleaned up by a team of unpaid workers as part of the latest strand of the local  anti-crime campaign, #StrongerNorth.

#StrongerNorth complements ongoing community safety measures but is a specifically targeted effort to deal with crime and to make the community a safer and more pleasant place to be. Involving police, the council and the local community, the #StrongerNorth initiative was set up in response to an escalation of antisocial behaviour in the area which culminated in the stabbing of a Chinese man last October.

West Pilton Park has now been tidied up by the Community Payback Order team, with overgrown weeds and trees trimmed to make it a more attractive resource for people to use and for them to feel safer while they do so.

Forth Councillor and community safety spokesperson Cammy Day said: “I’m really pleased with the work carried out to the park by the Community Payback team – it shows how simple things like clearing overgrown, unkempt areas can make places feel safer and less intimidating.

“This is a continuation of all the good work being carried out as part of #StrongerNorth and follows the recent community clean-ups, which led to several tonnes of rubbish being removed.

“There is a real sense of community amongst the people living in the area and the goal of #StrongerNorth is to capture that feeling and to take actions like these that deal with the problems people have raised with us.”

Inspector David Happs said: “#StrongerNorth is a key local priority for Police Scotland. We are fully supportive of the work undertaken by the Community Payback Team and we applaud efforts by Edinburgh Council to improve community safety in the Forth area.

“We are also pleased to see this enhancement to the local environment and believe it to be a key part of the Stronger North initiative. By clearing away this undergrowth, it will make the area significantly safer and it will hinder the disposal of stolen vehicles.”

 

Taxman reveals top ten excuses

Ten of the most terrible excuses for missing the 31 January tax return deadline have been revealed today by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

s300_hm-revenue-customsMany of the excuses claim it was someone else’s fault – pets, girlfriends, work colleagues and even the President of the United States are named and blamed for taxpayers’ tardiness!

The excuses were all used in unsuccessful appeals against HMRC penalties for late filing and payment. Here’s the full list:

  • My pet dog ate my tax return…and all the reminders.
  • I was up a mountain in Wales, and couldn’t find a postbox or get an internet signal.
  • I fell in with the wrong crowd.
  • I’ve been travelling the world, trying to escape from a foreign intelligence agency.
  • Barack Obama is in charge of my finances.
  • I’ve been busy looking after a flock of escaped parrots and some fox cubs.
  • A work colleague borrowed my tax return, to photocopy it, and didn’t give it back.
  • I live in a camper van in a supermarket car park.
  • My girlfriend’s pregnant.
  • I was in Australia.
OBAMA: it's all his fault!
OBAMA: it’s all his fault!

HMRC Director General of Personal Tax, Ruth Owen, said:

“People can have a genuine excuse for missing a tax deadline, but owning a pet with a taste for HMRC envelopes isn’t one of them.

“You need to file your 2013/14 tax return online, and pay what you owe, by 31 January. But it’s best to do it now, to allow plenty of time to sort out any issues with your return. That way, you’ll avoid the busy period for our phone lines as the deadline approaches”.

All outstanding 2013/14 tax returns must now be submitted online, as the 31 October paper-filing deadline has passed. To send an online tax return, you must be registered for HMRC Online Services. This involves HMRC sending you an Activation Code in the post, and you need to allow 10 days for it to arrive.

Simple, straightforward advice on Self Assessment can be found at HMRC’s new Facebook page.

Help and advice on filing your return – including how to register for online filing – is also available from the GOV.UK website or the Self Assessment helpline on 0300 200 3310 (open 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday, and 8am to 4pm on Saturday).

More free school meals now on the menu

Free school meals now on the menu for all P1-3 pupils across Scotland

dinner1colour

Schools across Scotland are now serving up free school meals to every Primary 1-3 pupil, following the Scottish Government’s expanded free schools meals policy coming into effect today. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon took the opportunity to visit her old primary school and said Scotland will reap the benefits of the free school meals policy.

The measure will benefit an additional 135,000 pupils across Scotland and will save families of every eligible child at least £330 a year.

The Scottish Government is providing revenue funding of £70.5 million over two years to deliver the commitment, supported with total additional capital funding for all 32 local councils in Scotland of £24.8 million.

Speaking on her visit to her old primary school, Dreghorn Primary in North Ayrshire, the First Minister said: “This is an exciting and historic day for Scottish education. It’s the beginning of a new year, a new school term and free school meals are now on the menu for all Primary 1-3s. Great things are going on at schools across Scotland and it’s a privilege to be back at Dreghorn Primary as First Minister, as my experiences here had a huge role in shaping my life.

“As a Government, we want to do all we can to make sure every young person has the best start in life and can make the most of their time in school. The delivery of free school meals for all Primary 1-3 pupils underlines our commitment to doing all we can to support the development of our young people and tackle inequalities in our society, including the scourge of child poverty. That’s why I am delighted that this policy is worth at least £330 to families of every eligible child across Scotland.

“School lunches are hugely important in supporting a pupil’s ability to learn. We know from recent studies that free school meals improve nutrition and health among pupils, which can only help improve attainment in schools.

“Here at Dreghorn, the headteacher, Philip Gosnay, and his team have done a great job to prepare for the expansion of free school meals and I know that all over Scotland other councils and schools have been doing all they can to ensure our nation’s future will reap the benefits.”

Philip Gosnay, Head Teacher, Dreghorn Primary School said: We are all thrilled that the First Minister has chosen her old Primary School to launch this new initiative. Research has shown that free school meals impact positively on the health and social development of children. It is vital that we, as educationalists, take this opportunity to use the provision of free school lunches to reinforce the connection between what we eat and our health and well-being.

“Throughout Scotland, children have been successful in gaining skills, knowledge and experience about healthy eating. Our focus now lies in ensuring that they consistently put this knowledge into practice, making good choices for a long, productive and healthy life.”

The introduction of free school meals for all P1-3 pupils has been supported by a range of campaigners against child poverty including Child Poverty Action Group Scotland, Children in Scotland, One Parent Families Scotland, churches and trade unions.

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Free school meals are already available for Primary school children of any age under certain criteria. This includes parents in receipt of income support; income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance; any income-related element of Employment and Support Allowance; Child Tax Credit (with income lower than £16,010); both maximum child tax credit and maximum working tax credit (with income lower than £6420) and support under the Immigration and Asylum Act and Universal Credit:

Call to employers: make the living wage your New Year resolution

Campaigners are calling for employers in Scotland to commit to paying the living wage in 2015.

More than 30 Scottish employers signed up to become become accredited Living Wage Employers last month, meaning that all their staff will now be at least £7.85 an hour.

There are now 94 Living Wage Employers in Scotland. Of the 32 new organisations that have joined the accreditation scheme 70% had less than 50 employees and 38% had less than 10 employees. The majority of the newly accredited organisations are private sector companies.

Peter Kelly, Director of the Poverty Alliance, who host the Scottish Living Wage Accreditation Initiative said: “We have seen a significant increase in enquiries from employers about Living Wage accreditation since Living Wage Week at the start of November, when we reported that the number of Living Wage Employers in Scotland had tripled to 60. Since then, an additional 32 Scottish employers have gone on to become accredited, including Digby Brown law firm, Heart of Midlothian football club and An Clachan Café in Glasgow.

“This is great news, especially for those workers that get a pay rise as a result. It is clear that in-work poverty will remain a real problem for thousands of workers in Scotland in 2015, but if more employers commit to paying the living wage we can begin to make a real impact.

“We are here to help and advise employers who wish to be recognized for paying the living wage. We have been overwhelmed by the response from Scottish employers in the last few weeks and look forward to working with many more in 2015. The living wage is a key way of ensuring that more workers have a prosperous New Year.”

Graham Bell, Managing Director of Glasgow-based retailer Guitar, Guitar who also have shops in Edinburgh and Newcastle said: “Our staff are our greatest asset, and the backbone of our company. By moving onto a living wage, we are solidifying our commitment to the well-being of our employees, their families and the future of our local community. It is a move we’re very proud of.”

Newly accredited Strata Cleaning are the first cleaning firm in Scotland to become Living Wage Employers. The company’s Director, Steven Homer, said: “We made a strategic decision at the formation of the business that it would stand out from the majority of cleaning companies by committing to our staff to adopt the Living Wage threshold for all staff employed by us.

“Within the cleaning sector it is common practice for many staff to be paid at the National Minimum Wage. Our business strategy is to provide a specialist cleaning service where our product knowledge, operating skills and a high level of customer service are paramount. We believe that a part of creating this culture within our business from the very outset is to recognise that it is our staff who are the main customer facing element of our business.

“Our many years of experience teaches us that staff who feel they are correctly rewarded will be much more positive and go that extra step in meeting our customer needs. We believe that long term this will be a major business benefit rather than a cost to us.”

Graeme Thomson, a member of staff at Timber Company Group in Dumfries, is directly affected by his employers’ decision to implement the living wage. He said: “I have recently started working with DTCG and already I feel like a valued member of staff. I was recently informed that DTCG have become a living wage employer, consequently this directly affected myself, making a positive contribution to my salary.

“As expected this has been hugely beneficial. At present I am currently saving for a deposit to take my first step on the property ladder. The increase in my wage makes living month to month that little bit easier whilst saving a large portion of my monthly wage. Working for this increased and fairer wage will make a huge difference to me and many others who will now feel more valued at work and encourage working harder.

“Since joining the company I have been encouraged through continuous development to both learn through further education and hands on work experience to better myself and add to my skill set. Moving to a living wage employer is another reason why I feel privileged to have found employment with the Dumfries Timber Company Group”

Colin Cameron , Operations Director, Dumfries Timber Company said: “We firmly believe that signing up to the Living Wage will only benefit the company. By treating your staff with respect, of which paying the Living Wage is only a part, you get a more contented and motivated staff.

“Respect is always a two way thing, and is extremely beneficial to both sides. Low wages was one of the factors that led to the formation of Dumfries Timber Company. Previously, we worked for one of the large national companies and we were constantly frustrated with the wage structure they had in place. When we started Dumfries Timber Company 7 years ago, the members of staff who joined us were immediately paid more than they were before.

“By signing up to the Living Wage, there are added benefits to our Company such as low staff turnover. We believe that, if you treat your staff with respect in other areas as well as salary, there will be an increased awareness of our company.
Signing up to the Living Wage scheme, will also bring benefits when we are looking to recruit new staff.”

The 32 Living Wage Employers who have become accredited in the past month are:

• Aberdeen YMCA
• The Social Enterprise Academy
• Ypeople
• Harper Macleod LLP
• Cutting Edge Engineering Ltd
• Scotwest Credit Union Ltd
• Conveyancing Direct
• Scottish Out of School Care Network
• Gavin Watson Ltd
• Lift Control Ltd
• Digby Brown LLP
• Dumfries Timber Company Ltd
• Energy Action Scotland
• Heart of Midlothian PLC
• ITC Training Academy
• Strata Cleaning Limited
• Animac Vets Ltd
• Muehlhan Surface Protection Limited
• Third Sector Dumfries and Galloway
• Saltire Roofing and Building Ltd
• Scottish Parliament
• An Clachan Cafe
• Scottish Youth Parliament
• Crannoch Residential Child Care Resource Ltd.
• Village Vets
• GuitarGuitar
• Neil Findlay MSP
• The Spark
• Nutrend Office Furniture
• Trade Right International CIC
• teclan ltd Digital Marketing
• The Royal Bank of Scotland

A full list of all Scottish Living Wage Employers is available at: 

Letter: bearing the burden

Dear Editor

When Chancellor Osborne made his autumn statement  I believe he did his best to confuse most people with his ‘percentages of this and percentages of that’ but he did make one thing perfectly clear: the cost of closing the deficit will continue to be passed on to the working population by cutting public services and benefits, holding down wages below inflation and telling people to work harder and longer.

THe crisis we are in was cused by financial institutions, speculators and banks worldwide, but of course the blame is put on to others: stories are being repeated over and over again to get people to accept them as truths. First the Labour government was to blame, then it was the scroungers, the work-shy, the disabled, people living longer, families having one bedroom too many – all of these stories designed to set once section of society against another, enabling crippling policies to be imposed on all whilst constantly repeating: ‘it’s the only way’, ‘it is in the national interest’ and ‘we are all in this together’.

It is the classic Tory approach of divide and rule, enabling them to impose drastic cuts on 90% of the population; I say 90% because the top wealthy 10% are not affected or bothered.

If money was borrowed creating a deficit that has to be repaid, from whom was it borrowed? At what interest rate was it borrowed? Was it at a fixed rate or was money lenders’ method used? We need to know, but whatever the answers there is no need to inflict such damage on people’s lives – with promises of more to come.

The 90% of the population didn’t create the problem but are being made to bear the burden.

A. Delahoy

Silverknowes Gardens