LUXURY CHRISTMAS EXPERIENCE

Enjoy a magical and memorable Christmas escape with a two or three-night festive stay at Turnberry. Wake up on Christmas Day in one of our exquisite deluxe rooms or spacious suites and admire the enchanting views of the snow-capped mountains on the Isle of Arran.

Wake up on Christmas Day in one of our exquisite deluxe rooms or spacious suites and admire the enchanting views of the snow-capped mountains on the Isle of Arran. In the afternoon, enjoy a sumptuous Christmas lunch with festive favourites including Roast Turkey followed by the indulgent 1906 Vintage Christmas Pudding.

Luxury Christmas Experience inclusive of:

• Tantalising Christmas Day Lunch and evening buffet*
• Three-course dinner on additional evenings in 1906
• Daily breakfast
• Children’s festive events programme

*when overnight accommodation is booked for 25th of December

Terms & Conditions: Full deposit at the time of booking. Subject to availability.

 

HOGMANAY CELEBRATION

Experience a traditional Scottish Hogmanay in the grandest of settings at Trump Turnberry.

Featuring enchanting surroundings combined with world-class hospitality, enjoy a traditional Scottish Hogmanay at our evening reception and Gala Dinner. Be welcomed by our resident bagpiper before an evening of Champagne, exquisite dining and a wee dram to ring in the bells of 2023.

Hogmanay Celebration inclusive of:

• Delectable Hogmanay Gala Dinner on the 31st December
• New Year’s Day Brunch
• Dinner in our signature restaurant, 1906 on other evenings of your stay
• Daily breakfast
• Children’s festive events programme

Terms & Conditions: Full deposit at the time of booking. Subject to availability.

Edinburgh-based Nairn’s is celebrating after winning a highly prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade. Renowned for being one of the highest official UK awards for British businesses, the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise recognise companies who excel in international trade, innovation, sustainable development or promoting opportunity. Started by the Queen in 1965, around 200 companies are bestowed with an award each year after a rigorous evaluation and validation process.

 

Founded in 1896, and independently owned, Nairn’s employs around 220 people across two bakery sites. The business has shown consistent profitable growth to become the UK’s largest producer of oatcakes and a major player in Gluten Free. The product range has continually evolved over the years, but their uncompromising commitment to making deliciously simple, natural and wholesome products remains as important now as it was back then.

 

International expansion is a key driver of the business growth and currently Nairn’s exports to over 35 markets, including the Republic of Ireland, USA, Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, China, the Middle East, Cyprus and the Netherlands. The international strategy focuses on continually widening the portfolio to existing customers and new markets.

 

Nairn’s is well versed in understanding the importance of creating products and packaging that are specific to certain markets in order to ensure customer needs and legislative restrictions are being met. This strategy has driven continued growth of 600% over the last 10 years, reaching £5m export sales in this financial year.  The export team collaborates with international partners to create business plans that are unique to each market, helping ensure products are available at the optimum price and in the right stores.

 

The overall company mission is to drive consistent profitable growth resulting in a commercial aspiration of sales reaching £50m within the next 5 years, and in order to achieve this, Nairn’s international sales growth will accelerate. Exporting is a crucial part of the business and Nairn’s will be investing in order to achieve its goals of having upweighted the international sales team and product range.

 

Martyn Gray, Managing Director at Nairn’s, comments: “Our export growth plans are pivotal to our overall company ambitions and our objective is to grow export sales at a significantly faster rate than domestic sales. Our actual performance has exceeded our planned targets and although the current trading environment is very challenging, we have robust plans in place to ensure we hit our growth targets going forward.”

 

Katie Birrell, Head of International Sales at Nairn’s, comments: “It’s been a very busy few years opening up new markets and working with new distributors.  Trade Fairs and visits to markets have been limited for the last 2 years due to the pandemic, but 2022 will see our team travelling abroad again to spend vital time with our distributor partners, agents and in retail stores. We work closely with our import partners to develop relationships and embed the

brand in the minds of colleagues in market. They are our ambassadors and it’s vital they understand the brand as well as we do. This is a key pillar to our success.  We have experienced strong growth over the last decade and outstanding year on year growth over the last three years and our focus is to grow the Nairn’s brand sustainably and for the long term. As a Scottish-based independently owned business, we are incredibly proud to be recognised with this prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise.”

Property Market Data: Key Points

• During May-July 2022 the average selling price of property across Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders rose by 4.8 % to £288,993.
• Sales volumes dropped by 15.8% during this period, while new property listings dipped 2%.
• The median selling time of property was 13 days.
• On average, properties attained 108.9% of their Home Report valuations at sale.
• 37.9% of properties went to a closing date.

 

Selling prices continue to rise as suburbs continue to be popular

The property market continued its upward trend during May, June, and July 2022, as buyers were keen to secure homes across Edinburgh, Lothians, Fife, and the Borders. Across all regions, the average selling price increased by 4.8% to £288,993 year-on-year.

Following the same pattern seen in previous quarters, the highest price increases during May-July 2022 were seen in West Lothian where market activity has accelerated in recent months thanks to buyers seeking larger, more affordable homes within easy reach of Edinburgh city centre. In this area, property selling prices rose by 10.4% to £238,171. Dunfermline, which continues to be a hotspot for first time buyers saw an average selling price increase of 7.7%, taking it up to £193,733 annually. Popular with commuters and young families, perhaps buyers have been seeking out homes in these areas to enjoy the benefits of suburban living balanced with excellent transport links to Edinburgh.

In Edinburgh city centre, average property selling prices rose 6.5% to £312,086. Following a period of high demand for properties in the past year, two-bedroom flats and three-bedroom houses continued to be particularly popular with Edinburgh buyers. While they are showing slight signs of slowing compared to earlier quarters as the market returns to more ‘normal’ levels after the pandemic.

Two-bedroom flats in Edinburgh’s New Town and West End areas sold for £468,181, a 0.8% annual rise. This was followed by Morningside and Merchiston where two-bedroom flats sold for an average of £383,970 – an increase of 17.6%. In Leith, one-bedroom flats sold for 228,559, an increase of 43.5%.

In previous quarters there was high demand for three-bedroom houses in Cramond, Barnton and Cammo but we are seeing signs this is starting to cool off as the average price is now at £377,884, a decline of 5.2% annually.

Dunfermline was one of the top property hotspots for first time buyers in 2021 but demand is starting to decline a little during May-July 2022. One-bed flats in the town were the most affordable property type across Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders during May-July 2022 with an average selling price of £87,858. Two-bedroom flats in the town were also one of the cheapest properties to buy at £129,296. Three-bedroom houses in Dunfermline saw a 22.5% decline in average selling price, taking the new figure to £213,649.

 

Local market activity remains strong

The property market in Edinburgh, Lothians, Fife and the Borders experienced a busy quarter as we start to see more ‘normal’ levels of activity compared to May-July 2021, when the market was starting to recover after the second national lockdown significantly disrupted the buying and selling process.

During this quarter, sales volumes across Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders reduced by 15.8%, while new property listings dipped slightly at 2%.

Two-bedroom flats in Morningside sold in the highest volumes during this period, with levels up 35.3% annually. Four-bedroom houses in Dunfermline saw a 4% rise in sales volumes while three-bedroom houses in the town saw sales volumes fall by 22.5%.

Sellers in Dunfermline were the most active, with the highest volume of properties listed for sale in this area during this quarter, with insertion volumes rising 37.2% annually. Corstorphine also saw an increase here, with insertions rising by 14% year-on-year. However, Musselburgh and Trinity saw declines of 23.2% and 26.8% in insertion volumes respectively.

 

Buyers continue to pay over Home Report value to secure their dream home

Buyers also continued to pay significantly over Home Report value across the board, with properties attaining 108.9% of their Home Report valuations on average – 3.6 percentage points more than May-July 2021. This was perhaps compounded by the number of homes going to a closing date, which rose 3.5% to 37.9%.

East Lothian attained the most over Home Report valuation, with properties achieving 110.2% of their valuations on average – 1.7 percentage points higher year-on-year. This was followed by West Fife and Kinross, which had the biggest jump in percentage points since last year at 4.8%, taking its new total of average percentage of Home Report valuation attained to 109.4%.

Edinburgh continued to be a desirable place to live, with buyers paying 108.9% over Home Report value, a rise of 3.9% annually.

Dunfermline attained the most over Home Report valuation, as buyers here paid on average 110.1%, a rise of 5.7%.

 

Properties still selling quickly in thriving market 

Despite fewer sales and a reduction in new property listings, the Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders market continued to thrive with buyers and sellers facing strong competition in May-July 2022. The median time for properties to go under offer reduced by one day year-on-year to 13 days.

Homes sold the fastest in West Fife and Kinross, West Lothian and Midlothian, in a median time of 12 days. Meanwhile, properties in East Lothian also performed strongly, with a median selling time of 13 days.

Looking at Edinburgh specifically, the fastest-selling homes could be found in the East, North and West of the city with a median time of 13 days. When analysing specific housing types, two-bed flats in Leith Links and Leith were snapped up quickly, going under offer in nine and 11 days respectively. The biggest change for property selling times in Edinburgh was for two-bedroom flats in Newington, which sold 13 days faster than in May-July 2021, in 11 days.  

Paul Hilton, CEO of ESPC, commented: “It’s been another busy quarter for the property market, with sustained growth across many areas, including in the average selling prices of property, and the amount over Home Report valuation that buyers are willing to pay.

“The latest figures show family homes, and flats in the desirable areas of Easter Road and Leith have been especially popular, and we hope to see continuing demand for homes in the city this year.

“For buyers starting out on their property journey, Leith and the surrounding neighbourhoods, and Dunfermline both offer great opportunities in terms of pricing and the volumes of available properties.

“If you are considering buying or selling in any of our of these areas, get in touch with your local ESPC solicitor estate agent today.”

Today (4 August), Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal attended one of the final rehearsals of The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo ahead of its official opening night on Friday 5 August. All performers from this year’s Show, Voices, took part in the rehearsal at the Redford Barracks, giving Her Royal Highness an exclusive preview of their stunning musical and cultural showcases and military precision.

Over 900 performers from across the globe are taking part in this year’s Tattoo. Voices, is a celebration of expression, giving a stage to performers and acts from around the globe to share their voices through spoken word, song, music and dance.

Crowds will gather at Edinburgh Castle this summer, from 5 August – 27 August, for the cultural spectacular, which returns for the first time since 2019.

Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at edintattoo.co.uk/tickets or on the phone on 0131 225 1188.  

Turner & Townsend has called for a fundamental re-evaluation of the role of the Cost Manager, as the built environment sector tackles the need to quantify carbon as well as capital cost when planning and delivering new investment.

The global professional services company has launched its Embodied Carbon Calculator, a bespoke software tool that enables clients to evaluate the carbon footprint of projects from an early design stage, covering cradle to practical completion of the product and construction process.

The calculator allows Turner & Townsend’s Cost Managers to benchmark, model and track carbon values for materials across the full cycle of a construction process.  The tool is designed to follow established project planning stages, starting from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) stage 2. It aligns with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) New Rules of Measurement 1 (NRM1) and third-party standards such as the UK Green Building Council, as well as benchmarking performance against industry targets proposed by LETI. Turner & Townsend’s ambition is that the tool will allow it to create a market-leading database of global benchmarks and best practice.

The proprietary software fully integrates with the business’ existing benchmarking and cost planning applications, incorporating the management of carbon as a currency seamlessly with its capital equivalent. Both currencies are managed in parallel via the same custom application.

Patricia Moore, UK Managing Director, Turner & Townsend said that the launch of the new tool reflected the changing role of the Cost Manager for a new era:

“As the industry commits to meeting net zero, we see a fundamental shift in the role of the Cost Manager to now control and account for the two currencies of construction – cost and carbon.  Through the creation of our new Embodied Carbon Calculator, we can ensure that there is clear integration of these priorities on our clients’ projects.

”The investment we have made in our digital capability has enabled us to build an application that can provide consistent and accurate assessments of a project’s embodied carbon count from an early design stage. This will play a vital part in our clients’ journey towards a robust, measurable net zero ambition. Unlocking innovation like this is key to ensuring that our industry is part of the solution to tackling the pressing social, environmental and economic challenges we face.”

Turner & Townsend traces its roots as a traditional quantity surveyor to Darlington in 1946. In recent years the business has delivered a major investment programme to digitise cost management. The Embodied Carbon Calculator is the latest milestone on that journey.  The next step in the development of the tool will be to measure operational carbon to provide Turner & Townsend with a digitally enabled whole life carbon capability.

The business’ approach to carbon accounting has three essential features that align with its cost management service: 1) Setting the carbon baseline to serve as a benchmark target; 2) Developing a counting to zero route-map to improve the project’s carbon performance; 3) Applying consistent measurement at each of the RIBA work stages to allow greater control and achieve the client’s desired outcome.

Matthew Collins, Senior Specialist – Construction & Infrastructure Management, RICS, said: “Turner & Townsend’s Embodied Carbon Calculator is exactly what the industry needs to help bring the impacts of embodied carbon to the forefront of discussions with clients and end users. Enabling the embodied carbon of project designs, across all stages, to be measured in accordance with the RICS Professional Statement in Whole Life Carbon Assessment and reported in a consistent way, will allow more informed decisions to be made with respect to cost and carbon. This will help achieve the governmental targets around net zero which have been set both nationally and internationally.

We’re all now familiar with the cost of living crisis – how households are struggling to keep up with bills and afford the rapidly rising cost of food, fuel and other essentials.

But there’s another crisis, similar to the struggle households are going through, which is dramatically hitting businesses, and that’s the ‘cost of doing business’ crisis. Firms across the country are being confronted by rapidly rising costs of vital raw materials, fuel, wages and, of course, energy.

The Balmoral, a Rocco Forte Hotel in Edinburgh, will welcome Fred MacAulay back to the capital for an evening of decadent drinks, delicious food and late night stand up comedy. The Balmoral is inviting guests to get into the festival spirit with a hearty supper and an impressive line-up of comedians this August.

Kicking off the first show of the evening, Fred MacAulay hosts stand-ups Marc Jennings, Krystal Evans and enjoys topical banter with Seann Walsh. A second performance of the night will see stand-up sets by Mark Nelson and Ray Bradshaw and  late night conversation from Jo Caulfield.

Fred MacAulay and Friends:

Thursday 4th August 2022

Marc Jennings, Krystal Evans & Seann Walsh

7pm to 8.45pm

Fred MacAulay

Having presented the very funny MacAulay and Co on BBC Radio Scotland for almost 18 years and with tv appearances, including Mock the Week, QI and Have I Got News For You,  Fred’s on air witticisms and on screen reputation are the product of years of experience on the live circuit, including a stint as the first ever-Scottish compere at the Comedy Store in London.

Marc Jennings

Scottish Comedian of the Year winner in 2019, Marc Jennings is a regular panellist on BBC Scotland’s satirical quiz show Breaking The News and has garnered a significant online following after several clips of his stand-up went viral, amassing millions views and a large social media following.

Krystal Evans

An American comedian based in the UK, Krystal’s sharp cynicism and confidence on stage is “Just perfect” says ‘Broadway Baby’. Krystal has been named as a Leicester Mercury New Comedian of the Year finalist and Scottish Comedian of the Year finalist.

Seann Walsh

One of the UK’s most exciting (and funny – obviously) stand-up comedians, Seann quickly gained well deserved praise and admiration from the likes of Jack Dee and the late Jeremy Hardy….and of course Fred! Appearances on BBC’s Live at the Apollo, Michael McIntyre’s Roadshow and 8 out of10 Cats ensured that Seann was on an upward trajectory towards

 

Fred MacAulay and Friends:

Mark Nelson, Ray Bradshaw & Jo Caulfield

9.30pm to 11.15pm

 

Mark Nelson

Mark is a regular headliner at many of the UK’s top stand up comedy clubs and his own one-man shows at Edinburgh Fringe and Glasgow Comedy Festival always sell out.

During the various lock-downs, Mark was the host of The Stand’s regular online gigs which generated tens of thousands of viewers globally. Mark hosts BBC Radio Scotland’s show: The Good, the Bad and the Unexpected and nearly all of tonight’s comedians have been guests on his show.

Ray Bradshaw

Ray Bradshaw is an international, multi award-winning stand-up comedian who has sold out shows globally. Ray was handpicked to support John Bishop on his recent UK arena tour and has previously supported Frankie Boyle on his last two tours. His last show Deaf Comedy Fam was a huge success and won awards both in the UK and Australia, leading Ray to become the first comedian ever to win a Scottish Culture Show Award.Ray is also a regular host of the hit Radio Scotland show Off the Ball and has numerous tv and radio appearances under his belt.

Jo Caulfield

Described by The Observer as “one of the finest female comics at work” and by The Scotsman as “quite simply, a damn funny woman” Jo can regularly be seen headlining the UK’s biggest and best comedy clubs.

 

Tickets are £45 per person. Tables can be booked in groups of 2 to 10. A minimum of two tickets must be purchased. For more information please visit: :https://www.roccofortehotels.com/hotels-and-resorts/the-balmoral-hotel/season-of-royal-jubilation/fred-macaulay-and-friends-at-the-balmoral/ or to book contact: sales.balmoral@roccofortehotels.com

We’re all now familiar with the cost of living crisis – how households are struggling to keep up with bills and afford the rapidly rising cost of food, fuel and other essentials.

But there’s another crisis which is dramatically hitting businesses, and that’s the ‘cost of doing business’ crisis.  Firms across the country are being confronted by rapidly rising costs of vital raw materials, fuel, wages and, of course, energy.

In order to cope with these dramatic cost increases, firms need to get a grip on their expenditure.    Installing a smart meter is a positive step in taking control of business outgoings.

Firms with 10 employees or less could be eligible for a smart meter.  To find out more please click here. You can also contact your energy supplier or broker.