The Scotsman back issues from June 2009:
Farewell Norwich Union and viva Aviva as insurance firm joins global brand
Jun 01, 2009; ... AFTER months of television adverts and more than a year after itwas announced, insurance firm Norwich Union will today re-brand asAviva, the name of its parent group. Amanda Mackenzie, chief marketing officer at Aviva, said: "Weoperate in 28 markets across the world, and in 23 of ...
Monday Scrutineer: If you can't beat 'em, why not try the passive approach?
Jun 01, 2009; ... WHEN a leading investment fund manager, handsomely paid for hisstock-picking skills, suddenly declares that he has always believedin passive investing, private investors have good reason to sit upand take notice. The raison d'etre of the fund management industry has been ...
GBP 85m go-it-alone conference centre plan
Jun 01, 2009; ... THE City of Edinburgh Council is forging ahead with its own GBP85 million programme to redevelop the capital's internationalconference centre without a private-sector developer. Managers of the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC),which is owned by the council, expect ...
Shareholders to sue Lloyds over HBOS takeover
Jun 01, 2009; ... PRIVATE shareholders plan to raise funds to sue Lloyds TSB overlast year's HBOS takeover. The UK Shareholders' Association (UKSA) will write to 1.5 millionformer HBOS shareholders to raise money for further legal advice. In March, the UKSA set up an action group to represent ...
CD Of The Week: Doing It His Way
Jun 01, 2009; ... PAOLO NUTINI: SUNNY SIDE UP **** ATLANTIC GBP 12.72 PAOLO Nutini's second album will come as a surprise to anyone whohas consigned him to the same MOR slagheap as Jameses Morrison andBlunt, or who expected him simply to consolidate the success of histwo million-selling ...
New Releases: Pop
Jun 01, 2009; ... EELS: HOMBRE LOBO **** VAGRANT, GBP 12.72 ACCORDING to Eels mainstay Mark 'E' Everett, the Dog Faced Boy ofa previous album has now grown into Hombre Lobo's "dignified oldwerewolf" character, through which he channels his perpetualoutsider's burden of loneliness. This is ...
Critic's Choice
Jun 01, 2009 ... BROKEN RECORDS/SPARROW & THE WORKSHOP Moshulu, Aberdeen, 2 June; King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow, 3June; Doghouse, Dundee, 4 June. Multi-instrumental Edinburgh septet tour in celebration of theirfine ...
Scots MPs in latest expenses revelations
Jun 01, 2009; ... MORE Scots MPs came under scrutiny for their expenses claimsyesterday. David Mundell, the only Tory MP in Scotland, claimed GBP 3,000for 72 pages of publicity photographs on the "out and about" sectionof his website. The Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale MP is pictured ...
Comment: Confusion reigns in lettings legislation
Jun 01, 2009; ... FOR many people, crosswords hold a fascination that tends toperplex those with little interest in word puzzles. I am no expertbut I usually find when I have grasped the theme of the compiler'sclues, progress can be made. Having attended two meetings last weekwith lawyers discussing the ...
Gazetteer: Strange words: Help that goes beyond the pail
Jun 01, 2009 ... IN ITS latest survey, Royal Mail asked small businesses about thestrangest advice they'd ever been given. "You can milk a cow every day but only barbecue it once," wasjudged to be the strangest piece of advice, closely followed by:"Don't pay until you see the whites of their ...
GBP 50m hotel turns shabby into chic
Jun 01, 2009; ... IT IS a far cry from the building's previous incarnation as a run-down office block used by staff in the early days of the ScottishParliament. The landmark site on Edinburgh's Royal Mile, whichstarted out as the home of Midlothian County Council, has beentransformed, becoming home to the ...
Swinney on defensive as councils rubbish Scottish Futures Trust
Jun 01, 2009 ... SCOTLAND'S finance secretary John Swinney hit back last nightfollowing a highly critical report on his flagship public sectorbuilding scheme from Scotland's councils. Council leaders, including Nationalists, warned that the ScottishGovernment's controversial Scottish Futures Trust ...
No fireworks, but membership costs the burning issue
Jun 01, 2009; ... IN THE end, the fireworks at the Law Society AGM failed to burnas brightly as expected, with the society's council winning itsbattle to be granted more time on the issue of membership costs. Aconvincing victory for its motion amendment means it has untilSeptember to bring forward ...
Negotiation guru brings some fresh ideas to the table
Jun 01, 2009; ... READING William Ury's CV, it is hard to pick out one highlight -because there is too much to choose from. Where do you start? How about founding an internationalnegotiation network with former US president Jimmy Carter, orhelping the US and Soviet governments create crisis centres ...
Music Review: The Gossip
Jun 01, 2009; ... THE GOSSIP **** The Arches, Glasgow A COUPLE of years ago Beth Ditto, The Gossip's formidablefrontwoman, went from underground punk diva to crossover pop icon inthe course of one hit single. But the girl who now hobnobs with KateMoss and co was still excited by the presence ...
12,000 have marathon licked
Jun 01, 2009; ... FROM elite runners to participants in fancy dress and even anamputee competitor using crutches, almost 12,000 people braved thefierce heat yesterday to complete the capital's most popular evermarathon. A record number of people donned their running gear or superherocostumes to ...
Monday Interview: Willi Heller: Carried along by the winds of fortune
Jun 01, 2009; ... WILLI Heller hates to lose - although he admits he loses 50 percent of the time. Luckily, the mild- mannered Canadian can still getby doing what he does, which is building wind farms. Heller's company, Falck Renewables, has developed five onshorewind farms in Scotland and a ...
Bed-tracking system may be just what the doctor ordered in superbug fight
Jun 01, 2009; ... COMPUTER software that allows hospitals to track patients withinfections could prove vital in managing serious superbug outbreaks,experts believe. The program, which can help monitor cases of diseases such asMRSA and Clostridium difficile, is being used at Aberdeen ...
Alliance puts its trust in equities and sees asset values top FTSE
Jun 02, 2009; ... DUNDEE-BASED investment group Alliance Trust has revealed thatits net asset value rose 2.5 per cent in the first quarter of theyear. Alliance claimed that this figure compared favourably with theoverall rise in the FTSE 100 index which increased 2.3 per cent inthe same period ....
Aviva cuts Scottish expansion by half as crunch bites
Jun 02, 2009; ... INSURANCE giant Aviva has scaled back plans for expansion inScotland as part of its strategy for coping with the credit crunch. David McMillan, chief operating officer for Aviva's generalinsurance arm, told The Scotsman yesterday the group was likely totake on only around half the ...
Music Review: Nicola Benedetti & The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Jun 02, 2009; ... NICOLA BENEDETTI & THE ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA **** PERTH CONCERT HALL A FEW years ago, when she was first being hailed as one ofScotland's most exciting emerging talents, a teenage NicolaBenedetti played Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto with the RSNO. It wasprobably a ...
4,500 financial jobs at risk ... but report claims all is rosy
Jun 02, 2009; ... Alex Salmond was not present at report's launch, which wasattacked by members of Edinburgh's financial community Picture: IanGeorgeson SOME 4,500 staff have been served with redundancy notices byScottish banking, life and asset management companies governmentfigures have ...
Support for India project puts GBP 250m on Cairn Energy
Jun 02, 2009; ... CAIRN Energy's value jumped by GBP 250 million yesterday afteranalysts at one of the world's most influential investment banksgave the group's Indian projects the seal of approval. Goldman Sachs said investing in Cairn India was the best way totake advantage of improving ...
Oil firm's Cameroon boost
Jun 02, 2009; ... BOWLEVEN, the cash-strapped oil and gas company, moved closer tosecuring funding for further drilling yesterday, after releasing areport predicting 50 million barrels of oil could be extracted fromone of its discoveries in Cameroon. Aim-listed Bowleven, which does not have the ...
Sir Tom looks to bankroll anti-sleaze candidates
Jun 01, 2009 ... SCOTTISH entrepreneur Sir Tom Farmer may help bankroll an anti-sleaze campaign at the next general election, it was disclosedyesterday. The Kwik Fit founder is understood to be considering givingfinancial help to candidates bidding to oust MPs caught up in theWestminster ...
CBI welcomes signs of the credit freeze beginning to thaw
Jun 02, 2009; ... FIRMS across Britain are still struggling to raise money, butmarket conditions for business finance are easing slightly, a reportfrom the CBI revealed today. The latest survey from the business group showed that a net 20per cent of firms found it more difficult to raise new funds ...
MacAskill's 'no police racism' claim angersboy's mother
Jun 02, 2009 ... JUSTICE secretary Kenny MacAskill came under fire from the motherof murdered black teenager Stephen Lawrence yesterday after sayingthere was no racism in the police. Scots police forces had become more ethnic minority-friendlysince an inquiry called them "institutionally racist" a ...
Review calls on fiscals to lead death inquiries
Jun 01, 2009; ... FATAL accident inquiries should be manned by specialistprocurators fiscal to help ease delays and anxiety for relatives,according to a senior sheriff. Investigations into accidental deaths should also take priorityover virtually all of the current cases heard in sheriff ...
Move over, Darling, say his angry constituents
Jun 02, 2009; ... AS THE temperature soared in Alistair Darling's Edinburgh SouthWest constituency yesterday, many voters were becoming increasinglyhot under the collar about the conduct of their MP. Outside the Tesco supermarket in Colinton Mains the expensesscandal had clearly angered most of the ...
Former wife of Scots lord arrested in US
Jun 01, 2009; ... THE former wife of a Scottish aristocrat has been arrested in theUnited States eight years after disappearing and leaving behinddebts of GBP 130,000. Lady Amanda Bruce, 41, was held in Carmel, California, in Aprilfacing charges including trespass and burglary. She was later ...
It's Fair been a scorching month on Scottish island
Jun 01, 2009; ... A SCOTTISH island has enjoyed a sunnier May than anywhere else inthe UK. The aptly named Fair Isle, between Orkney and Shetland, has had279 hours of sunshine - more than anywhere else in Britain. In contrast, England and Wales experienced just 226 hours ofsunshine and ...
'I put out my hand but he couldn'treach', says friend of drowned boy
Jun 02, 2009; ... A HEARTBROKEN teenager last night told of how she tried to saveher friend from drowning in a river. Martin Moriarty, 13, was overcome by strong currents as he swamin the river Tweed on Sunday evening. Sindy Collins, 14, a fellow pupil at Kelso High School, saidthere was ...
Scots fall agonisingly short of final flourish on home soil
Jun 01, 2009; ... AFTER six tournaments without a point, Scotland finished the IRBWorld Sevens Series with back-to-back semi-final appearances andplayers cursing the fact they had failed to topple the newly crownedseries champions. That in itself was a measure of how far Scotland have come in ...
This red tape will force us to take officers off streets, say police chiefs
Jun 02, 2009; ... NEW laws forcing police to share more evidence with defencelawyers would lead to a "significant" cut in the numbers of front-line officers, a chief constable has warned. Stephen House, of Strathclyde Police, is cautioning MSPs againstapproving SNP plans for strict rules over which ...
Attendance falls but SRU upbeat
Jun 01, 2009; ... THE growth of the Emirates Airline Edinburgh Sevens remains awork in progress after the tournament suffered a slight drop inattendance figures. However, the SRU was in no doubt that those whosavoured the third Murrayfield tournament would have leftrhapsodising about the event ....
Early sample-taking will go with the grain
Jun 02, 2009; ... LONG-TERM decision-making has never been more important for theagricultural industry. One serious error could be crucial,especially in the arable sector where margins are closely dependenton the cost of inputs and the eventual realisation value of crops. Grain prices have been on ...
Two Scottish children are struck down by swine flu
Jun 01, 2009; ... TWO Scottish children were yesterday confirmed as having swineflu as the number of probable cases in the country continued toincrease. Meanwhile, the entire third year of an Argyll school is to bekept at home after a pupil there emerged as a "probable" case of thevirus ....
Hi-tech tagging goes down to wire
Jun 02, 2009; ... THE battle may not yet be lost, but it will come down to the wireas Scottish sheep farmers take their argument against the compulsoryelectronic identification of every animal to what will be a closecall. Surveys have indicted that if the proposal becomes law, up to 30per cent of ...
One in 17 Scots forced to have a tooth removed in the last year
Jun 01, 2009; ... SCOTLAND'S dental record is so bad that one in every 17 Scots hadto have a tooth removed last year, according to new figures releasedyesterday. A total of 300,000 people had tooth extractions on the NHS in2008, the first increase in five years. Of these, 63,000 were underthe age ...
Finsbury soars on news of bid interest
Jun 02, 2009; ... BAKERY firm Finsbury Food Group has confirmed that it hasreceived a preliminary takeover approach - just two years after itmade its biggest ever acquisition, north of the Border. But the firm, which is headed by Scot Martin Lightbody andemploys about 1,600 staff in Scotland, ...
Things looking up for car dealer after GBP 210m boost
Jun 02, 2009; ... LOOKERS, one of Britain's biggest car dealers and owner of thevenerable Taggarts brand in Scotland, has been given a GBP 210million shot in the arm by its bankers after confirming that it hadreversed into the red last year. The group, which operates some 120 retail outlets across ...
Positive outlook as companies forecast decline to slow
Jun 01, 2009; ... BUSINESSES expect the pace of economic decline to slow markedlyover the next quarter, a survey suggests today. Firms told the latest business trends survey from accountancyfirm BDO Stoy Hayward that they believed the UK economy would shrinkat just half the pace of recent financial ...
Retail sales slump set to continue as shopper numbers fall
Jun 01, 2009; ... RETAIL sales will continue to fall as the recession dentsemployment and consumer confidence, a report revealed yesterday. Thegrim outlook for retailers comes on the back of new figures thatreveal the number of Scottish shoppers venturing out on to the highstreet fell by more than the UK ...
Salmond to be scrutinised
Jun 02, 2009; ... TWO former presiding officers of the Scottish Parliament willdecide whether Alex Salmond misled MSPs over absconds from prison,it was announced last night. George Reid and Lord Steel of Aikwood will deliberate on MrSalmond's performance at First Minister's Questions last week ...
The Word
Jun 01, 2009 ... Celsius adj. pertaining to a ...
Widow appeals for help in tracing husband's killer
Jun 02, 2009; ... A DEVASTATED widow yesterday paid tribute to her "quiet andgentle" husband who was stabbed to death following a night out withbusiness colleagues. Gillian Bennett appealed for the public's help in tracing theperson responsible for the murder of her husband, Alan, three daysafter ...
Scots fall agonisingly short of final flourish on home soil
Jun 01, 2009; ... AFTER six tournaments without a point, Scotland finished the IRBWorld Sevens Series with back-to-back semi-final appearances andplayers cursing the fact they had failed to topple the newly crownedseries champions. That in itself was a measure of how far Scotland have come in ...
Scottish MPs In The Spotlight
Jun 01, 2009 ... MORE Scots MPs came under scrutiny for their expenses claimsyesterday. David Mundell, the only Conservative MP in Scotland, claimed GBP3,000 for 72 pages of publicity photographs on the "out and about"section of his website. The Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale MP is ...
Sir Tom may fund anti-sleaze drive
Jun 01, 2009 ... SCOTTISH entrepreneur Sir Tom Farmer may help bankroll an anti-sleaze campaign at the next general election, it was disclosedyesterday. The Kwik Fit founder is understood to be considering givingfinancial help to candidates bidding to oust MPs caught up in theWestminster ...
Loser? Susan Boyle's laughing all the way to bank
Jun 01, 2009; ... SCOTS singer Susan Boyle is still set to earn a fortune after herovernight success on Britain's Got Talent - despite failing to winthe reality TV contest. Experts are predicting the 48-year-old church volunteer has thepotential to become a major recording artist within months ...
Scottish Cup Final: Falkirk ratings
Jun 01, 2009 ... DANI MALLO The goalkeeper was virtually a spectator for much of a tamefinal. May have been slightly off his line for Nacho Novo's goal,but can hardly be blamed for failing to stop a wonderful strike. 5/10 JACKIE McNAMARA Played his part in helping Falkirk press ...
Brave play of Bairns a fitting tribute to Gowans memory
Jun 01, 2009; ... WITHOUT knowledge of the backstory, the temptation might be todescribe Falkirk's defeat to Rangers in the Homecoming Scottish Cupfinal on Saturday as a disaster, an injustice. Or even a tragedy.But manager John Hughes would be the first to up-braid anyone beingoverly dramatic, to use ...
Novo wondergoal a cruel blow to brave Falkirk Spaniard delivers record 17th domestic honour for Smith
Jun 01, 2009; ... Rangers 1 Falkirk 0 AS WALTER Smith eclipsed one of Sir Alex Ferguson's manageriallandmarks on Saturday, he might also have been tempted to emulateone of his close friend's most infamous post-match assessments. It was immediately after the 1983 Scottish Cup final, ...
Avoiding January sales key to Rangers' day in the sun
Jun 01, 2009; ... WHENEVER it was suggested to Ally McCoist that he appeared to beanointed with a greater level of good fortune than most during hisplaying career, his response was typically sharp. "You can't be lucky 355 times", he would observe with a glint inhis eye, the reference to the record ...
Man 'shocked' by extortion claim
Jun 02, 2009; ... A MAN accused of extorting GBP 10,000 from a bank worker told ajury yesterday he had been "shocked" by the allegation. Stephen Dobson, 39, of Portobello, Edinburgh, and his brother,John, 36, deny blackmailing the man over his relationship with aprostitute. Stephen Dobson ...
McAlpine wins GBP 39.7m Aberdeen deal
Jun 02, 2009; ... SIR Robert McAlpine Ltd, one of Britain's leading constructioncompanies, yesterday won the contract to transform Marischal Collegeinto the city council's new corporate headquarters. The firm has been awarded the GBP 39.7 million building contractas part of a refurbishment scheme ...
Freshwater loch flies the flag for Scotland's best beaches
Jun 02, 2009; ... A HIGHLAND loch in the foot-hills of the Cairngorms has becomethe first stretch of fresh water in Scotland to gain a covetedquality award for its beaches. Loch Morlich, surrounded by forests and the stunning backdrop ofthe peaks of the northern Cairngorms, was used as a main ...
Boutique music festival will go ahead despite slow sales
Jun 02, 2009; ... THE heir to an 800-year-old Ayrshire castle vowed yesterday thatan alternative music festival held in the gardens of the estate willgo ahead despite only a fraction of tickets being sold so far. David Boyle, Viscount Kelburn, said the event was a "massiverisk" but insisted it ...
Wood Group deepens its Asia Pacific interest
Jun 02, 2009 ... WOOD Group, the Aberdeen energy giant, has continued itsexpansion into the Asia Pacific region, buying a controlling stakein an Australian support services business. The Scots firm said it was buying 51 per cent of Darwin-basedRegional and Northern Maintenance Service (RANMS), ...
Poundland piles on the profits
Jun 02, 2009; ... BARGAIN hunters have helped Poundland to a 47 per cent surge inannual profits, the discount retailer revealed today. The firm - which sells everything for GBP 1 - said like-for-likesales were up 2.1 per cent in the year to 29 March, while operatingprofits rose to GBP 11.8 million ...
Flight 447 joins grim toll of air disasters
Jun 02, 2009; ... THE last major incident involving an Air France plane was in July2000 when one of its Concorde supersonic airliners crashed justafter take-off from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. All 109people on board the New York-bound flight were killed, along withfour on the ground ....
Telecom firm could answer call for Royal Bank Pakistan buyer
Jun 02, 2009; ... A FOURTH potential buyer for Royal Bank of Scotland's Pakistanibusiness has thrown its hat into the ring, it was confirmed by thebank yesterday. Orascom Telecom of Egypt and Rojhan Capital have expressedinterest in taking over the bank's Pakistani business, acquired whena ...
Wanted: Good ideas for the old Royal High School. Apply now
Jun 02, 2009; ... A WORLDWIDE hunt to find a new use for the building long toutedas a home for the Scottish Parliament has been launched. Edinburgh City council officials have been forced to put theformer Royal High School, one of the city's best-known landmarks, upfor grabs after drawing a blank ...
Susan Boyle hasn't a hope in hell of a normal life back home, friends warn
Jun 02, 2009; ... SUSAN Boyle has "no hope in hell" of finding peace in her hometown as the ongoing media clamour over her welfare and future showsno sign of abating, friends warned yesterday. Having been catapulted from anonymity to worldwide fame in lessthan two months, the 48-year-old was ...
Football fans may be at risk as Scottish swine flu cases double
Jun 02, 2009; ... THE number of cases of swine flu in Scotland has more thandoubled in 24 hours, as evidence started to emerge that the virus isspreading in the community. Health secretary Nicola Sturgeon said that 23 new cases of theH1N1 virus had been confirmed, bringing the total number in ...