Business round-up

BUSINESS ROUND-UP – IN THE SCOTTISH PRESS TODAY

with DEADLINE NEWS every week day

Monday 15th November, 2010

Business pages

IN THE SCOTTISH PRESS TODAY – YOUR BUSINESS NEWS SUMMARY PODCAST

with DEADLINE NEWS every week day

Thursday 11th November, 2010

 

 

***

QUIET NEWS DAY

Scotland’s leading journalism, PR & social media podcast

with hosts Scott Douglas & Shaun Milne every

Wednesday

Available for download at iTunes, via Liberated Syndication or on the web at quietnewsday.co.uk

Scottish Enterprise spent £100,000 on hiring celebrities

SCOTTISH Enterprise has splashed out more than £100,000 to hire celebrities such as Fred MacAulay, Jackie Bird and Sally Magnusson to attend business events.

The extravagant spending included £23,500 for former Ryder Cup golfer Sam Torrance to give golf tips to potential investors and £12,000 to comedian Fred MacAulay to act as master of ceremonies at two dinners.

The move has been branded “desperate” by David Whitton MSP, Labour’s shadow finance spokesman.

The quango receives a £276 million budget to help boost economic growth in Scotland.

Podcast: Deadline Business Page Round-Up

Friday 5th November

Here are some of the main business stories hitting the headlines today:

Ultravox frontman backs new business mentoring initiative

By Christine Lavelle

LIVE 8 legend Midge Ure was on hand to help launch a new business initiative in Scotland, aimed at creating ‘world class’ entrepreneurs.

Footdown is a support mechanism for those looking to start their own business, which offers advice to even the most experienced in industry.

The project began in 1988 in Bath, with 15 original board members, and finally reached Edinburgh on Wednesday after spreading across several parts of England.

Launched at Murrayfield rugby stadium, the organisation allows business leaders to learn from others’ experience, preventing them from making any of the same mistakes they have seen over time.

The Open could prove a handicap for Scots businesses

By Michael MacLeod

SCOTS firms could be about to find themselves hit by a round of golf related sickies brought on by this year’s Open golf championships.

Not because golf fans are bunk-ering off work to watch the likes of Tiger Woods and co fighting it out at the Old Course in St Andrew’s.

But because usually desk bound amateurs will be inspired to pick up their clubs and do themselves an injury.

Four out of five hobby golfers are expected to pick up some kind of niggle or serious injury in the course of their playing days, according to research by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy.

Now experts are warning The Open makes that risk even higher as workers take to the greens without any proper preparation.

PICTURE OF THE DAY: Cardinal Keith’s kitchen heaven

By Christine Lavelle

SIKH TREATS: Scotland’s Catholic leader rolled up his sleeves and donned a tabard today as he helped out in a Sikh cafe kitchen today. Cardinal Keith O’Brien stopped in at Edinburgh’s Punjab’n Raosi Café – which translates as the Punjabi Women’s Kitchen – in a bid to unite faiths.

Picture by Katielee Arrowsmith

Costcutter boss jailed over £93,000 RBS scam

By Michael MacLeod

A DESPERATE Costcutter boss who conned the Royal Bank of Scotland out of £93,000 has been jailed for a year.

Sri Lanka-born Senthuran Gopalakrishnan, 30, was the manager of two failing franchise cornershops in Midlothian.

He fell into debt for failing to meet sales targets and was isolated by his own family after failing to pay them back borrowed cash.

In a despairing bid to balance his books, Gopalakrishnan exploited the RBS Fast Cash envelope deposit scheme.

He wrote that there was £155,000 on the front of the bank’s business deposit wallets when in fact he had actually only deposited £62,000.

And rather than using the £93,000 to live a life of luxury, he had been buying extra stock and selling it at a LOSS – just so bosses thought his shops were doing well.

The fast cash con only lasted a week, and today he was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

Gang “terrorised” phsychic mum into £16k bank fraud

By Michael MacLeod

A PSYCHIC medium has told of how she was “terrorised” into a £16,000 bank scam by a gang of Asian men who threatened to kill her children if she refused.

Lynne MacNeill, 41, said she was forced to front a plot to get huge loans using fake ID after a clairvoyant session went wrong.

She said a reading that started “friendly and full of banter” ended in “my worst nightmares” when she realised she was working for a criminal Glasgow gang.

She wept at Edinburgh Sheriff Court today as she was spared jail and instead ordered to carry out community service having admitted to being “roped in” to committing fraud.

Conned RBS staff paid £93,000 to Costcutter fraudster

By Michael MacLeod

A COSTCUTTER boss duped the Royal Bank of Scotland into paying £93,000 into his account after he exploited their cash envelope deposit scheme.

Sri Lanka-born Senthuran Gopalakrishnan, 31, wrote that there was £155,000 on the front of the bank’s Fast Cash business deposit wallets.

In fact he had actually only deposited £62,000, but staff at the Edinburgh bank didn’t notice the shortfall until five days later after it had been registered.

By the time the crime was reported, Gopalakrishnan – who holds Danish citizenship – had fled the country.