Soaking Scottish summer sparks Tesco to scrap barbecue food

By Michael MacLeod

TESCO cashed-in on Scotland’s dismal weather by employing their own weathermen to advise them to swap summer barbecues for “rainy day food.”

As the heavens opened above Scotland last week – bringing flooding chaos to roads and rivers – the supermarket giant’s six-strong team of weather data boffins swung into action.

They had already predicted the deluge and quickly arranged for a shop-floor turnaround, clearing shelves of summer snacks and whisking in extra “autumn” food orders in their place.

The store said the soaking summer saw sales of roast potatoes – traditionally a winter food – soaring by a scorching 454 per-cent, while soup sales rocketed by 88 per-cent.

Sales of traditional kids’ board-games were also boosted by the downpours as youngsters spent the end of their summer holidays indoors.

Tesco branded existing weather reports as “unreliable,” instead entrusting their own team in a bid to save hundreds of thousands of pounds in food wastage by matching supply with demand.

Black Watch hero leaves almost £9 million in will

By Alexander Lawrie

A FORMER-Black Watch war hero has left almost £9 million in his will.

Captain John Neil Baillie-Hamilton was a leading member of the Perthshire farming community and owned over 12,000 acres of prime agricultural land near Callander.

Capt Baillie-Hamilton served as an officer in the Black Watch and saw service in India, Germany and in Cyprus during the Suez crisis.

The officer, who owned the large Cambusmore Estate near Callander, Perthshire, passed away on February 15, 2009, aged 82.

His final bequest of £8, 994, 761.21 is largely made up of cash, shares and land.

The wealthy landowner has left the bulk of his estate to his children and wife, but has also gifted his local church a generous £20,000.

Fred the Shred returns to Edinburgh

By Cara Sulieman

SIGNS of Fred Goodwin’s imminent arrival were present on Oswald Road the day before he was pictured returning from France.

Friday night saw a hive of activity outside the home of the ex-RBS chief as his staff prepared for his arrival.

At 9pm a man in a dark blue suit carried two Tesco shopping bags into the driveway of number eight Oswald Road under the cover of darkness.

He was shortly followed by a silver BMW that glided through the gates.

Scotland’s plastic bag use cut in half

By Cara Sulieman

SCOTTISH supermarket customers have cut the number of carrier bags they use by HALF over the past three years.

The seven big players in the market – Asda, Co-op, Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury’s, Somerfield, Tesco and Waitrose – say they have reduced the number of bags handed out by 49 per cent from 78.4 million every month to 39.6 million.

It comes just a year after the Scottish Government set the target of reducing carrier bag usage to 50 per cent across the country.

Each supermarket used their own technique to encourage their customers to reuse bags, with many using current rewards schemes already in place.

Alex Salmond launches new Tesco HQ in Edinburgh

By Oliver Farrimond

EVERY little helps and Scotland’s embattled financial services industry received a much needed boost yesterday as First Minister Alex Salmond officially unveiled the new Tesco Personal Finance headquarters in Edinburgh.

Situated next to the busy Haymarket rail hub, the centre will house almost 500 staff and save almost half a million miles’ worth of driving time a year.

The new headquarters will be one of Tesco’s main offices outside of London, and is expected to drastically reduce congestion, as well as providing a base for the supermarket bank to expand its services.

Unveiling the headquarters’ opening plaque, First Minister Salmond said: “Tesco’s decision to establish its personal finance headquarters in Edinburgh signifies its commitment to building its business in Scotland.”

“Having seen their track record and approach to business, I am absolutely certain that they will be one of the fastest-expanding financial organisations in the country.

Made in Scotland – Harry Potter’s uniform

By Michael MacLeod

A SCOTS wool firm which supplied the Hogwarts uniforms for Harry Potter films is now selling them to wannabe wizards.

The annual “back to school” battle between stores is sure to be a spellbinding one, with young fans of the JK Rowling books and films begging their parents to kit them out like the School of Witchcraft stars.

Ayrshire’s Lochaven International created 400 jumpers and cardigans for all except the first of the wizard’s movies, including the latest silver-screen flick; Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, to be released in July.

But the company only decided to turn the deal into a magical piece of business when fans of the smash-hit films bombarded them with emails, demanding their own Potter costumes.

And the company’s boss hopes they can take on Asda and Tesco in the school uniforms war by offering exact replicas of the Potter casts outfits.

Tesco beefs-up meat security as thieves target prime steak

By SHAUN MILNE

BULLISH thieves have forced supermarket giants Tesco to beef up security at its fresh meats counter as shoplifters target prime STEAKS.

Brazen shoplifters in Edinburgh have zeroed in on the Tesco Express store in Edinburgh’s busy Tollcross area making off with “armfuls” of meat, including the prime cuts.

A sign at the store reads: ‘Due to the increase in theft of fresh meat from this display, if you require any meat to purchase, please contact any member of staff.’

Some of the tasty haul would usually earn store bosses as much as £16.21 per kilogram for fresh sirloin steak.

Tesco hires weathermen

By Cara Sulieman

SUPERMARKET giants Tesco have hired a team of weathermen to make sure that they are stocking the right things – and hopefully boost sales.

Six experts have been brought in the hope that they can stop shops from running out of popular goods and cut waste by having less unwanted food.

If the country is set for a sunny spell, then more burgers and sausages will go on the shelves – but if cold weather is predicted then comfort food like puddings and soup will be wheeled out.

The weather has a profound effect on the nation’s buying habits, with the smallest change in temperature changing sales dramatically.

Driver pocketed cash pick-ups

By Paul Thornton

A LOOMIS security driver who pocketed over £5,000 of cash he was paid to pick-up from shops because he was struggling with mortgage repayments has avoided jail.

John McPhee, 28, fudged collection forms detailing how much money he collected from Tesco and Woolworths stores before stashing the cash in his car.

He also switched security bags to cover-up the stolen money before swiping his illegal cut and using it to live off of.

McPhee, who was sacked following the thefts, told police he took money because he “thought it would solve some of his problems”.

But his scam was rumbled after bosses at Loomis investigated discrepancies between an automatic scanning system and McPhee’s hand written route forms.

At Edinburgh Sheriff Court he ordered to repay £5,365 to Tesco and Woolworths after sneaking money from their stores in summer 2007.

Sheriff Ailsa Carmichael described the sneaky scam as “a breach of trust” and ordered him to do 240 hours of community service.

The court heard how McPhee had been working as a driver custodian for the security company, driving around shops picking-up money to bank.

He would collect the money, putting it in a sealed bag with a unique barcode which was scanned to record how much was in it.

But McPhee would fiddle his own paperwork and scan fewer bags than he should have as part of his con.

He also switched money bags so that he could take money without anyone noticing.

But when his scam was uncovered, police interviewed him and he admitted he had taken £1,305 from a Tesco store in South Queensferry in July 2007.

McPhee told officers: “There were hand held scanners and I scanned the money bags but for some reason it did not scan properly. When I noticed it didn’t tally I realised it had not registered.”

He took his chance to take the money, thinking he would never be caught.

“I thought I would solve some of my problems and I thought I would get away with it,” he said.

McPhee said he had been struggling to pay his mortgage and, despite trying to sell his home, he could not find a buyer.

He said: “I put it in my holdall, I took it home with me at the end of my shift and kept it in my car and spent it as I went along.”

McPhee denied any knowledge of similar thefts at Woolworths and Scotmid shops in Edinburgh despite staff members claiming he took the money.

Several members of staff from Woolworths spotted a £4,060 theft from a shop in Lothian Road, also in July 2007.

Sheriff Carmichael also returned a not proven verdict on an alleged £1,680 theft from a Scotmid after a one day trial in October.

But a lone worker at Scotmid was unable to corroborate the allegation he also nicked £1,680 from an Oxgangs supermarket in June that year.

Depute fiscal Karen Rollo said there was “a clear pattern that shows he systematically stole from his employer”.

She told McPhee: “You had a scam going that allowed you to steal. You took advantage of the method in which that scanner operated to steal.”

McPhee remains unemployed and must pay back the money at £20 per-week.

His lawyer George Henry said: “He is a family man and and it seems that the motivation for the offences relates to the very significant financial problems the family face.

“He has shown genuine remorse and is desperately keen to repay this money.”

Sheriff Carmichael added: “This is a matter involving a breach of trust which the court takes very seriously.”

Woman killed by truck at crossing 231

By Michael MacLeod

A WOMAN has been killed after being run over by a lorry at a pedestrian crossing.

The pensioner was walking across Edinburgh’s Meadow Place Road when she was mown down.

Witnesses suggested the truck went through a flashing amber light, but police were unable to confirm the circumstances, describing it only as ‘a tragic incident’.

The woman’s handbag and Tesco shopping bag were left lying on the crossing, while her body and the vehicle were around 10 feet further towards the Drumbrae Roundabout.

Witness Steven Marcos, 35, from Australia, was leaving nearby PC World when he heard traffic screeching to a stop.

He said: “I’ve seen some things in my life but nothing as full-on as that.

“I was there less than ten seconds after it happened and tried to cross the road but then noticed the truck driver was out looking under his wheels.

“There was a woman crying hysterically in the car behind she must have seen the full thing.

“I was bloody shocked, the poor old woman can’t have stood much of a chance.”

Another onlooker, Irene Stepson, 54, said the traffic lights were well known locally as an accident hotspot.

She said: “The truck’s gone through a yellow flashing light and not seen her.

“You don’t see many cars waiting for the green light, it’s a horrendous crossing.

“If you step out five seconds after the green man starts, you will not get across.

“That’s definitely what’s happened here, because if the lady’s old she won’t have been able to run ahead maybe the driver’s not seen her.”

The MKM Building Supplies truck had a driver from the company’s Longstone plant at the wheel.

The company’s director Robert Graham said he was aware of the accident but hadn’t spoken to his driver.

He said: “I’ve heard what’s happened and it sounds like a very tragic accident.

“As far as I’m aware and from what I’m told, our driver is okay but I’m not in a position to comment further.”

Officers from Lothian and Borders police spoke to witnesses of the collision, but said they were keen to speak to more.

In charge of the incident scene, inspector Steven Dolan said: “About 1320 hours, from the information we have, an elderly lady has been killed after being struck by a lorry.

“We know she was crossing the road, but really don’t know the circumstances yet, other than that this is a tragic incident.

“We don’t know who the woman is, what her age is or any of that detail yet, but her family will be informed as soon as possible.

“We have spoken to a number of witnesses, but given the busy junction here I am hopeful of speaking to more and appeal to anyone who saw anything to come forward.”