Businesses are set to benefit from a new collaboration between Virgin Trains and Eurostar which creates an end to end rail booking service between major routes and mainland Europe.
In the first partnership of its kind between Eurostar and a UK train operating company, the initiative offers a “one-stop shop” service targeting the Meetings, Incentives, Conferencing and Exhibitions (MICE) market, removing the logistics of having to book separate journeys.
This will enable customers to book a through-fare with Virgin or Eurostar from destinations such as Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham to Paris, Lille and Brussels.
The service also gives organisations and planners the ability to change or transfer tickets between delegates and to book out entire train carriages for events at discounted travel rates.
Groups can choose from Standard or First Class exclusive carriages or a combination of both, including personal branding as well as a variety of catering options.
VIP hosts will guide customers to and from St Pancras on the Virgin Trains leg of the journey.
Customers can now book the entire trip directly through either the Virgin Trains Red Carpet team or Eurostar’s groups team.
There is also an option to book a variety of unique experiences on board Eurostar, tailored for the event or destination, with activities including cheese and wine tasting, discovering artesian history and art classes.
The partnership has already been positively welcomed by European business travellers in Barcelona as it was officially unveiled (27 November) at IBTM World exhibition, with Visit Britain encouraging the overseas market to take advantage of the service.
Head of Offline Channels for Virgin Trains, Adrienne Nankivell, said: “This partnership provides the ideal solution for the business traveller searching for the best way to travel between destinations in the United Kingdom and mainland Europe.By creating a “one-stop shop” booking service we are able to offer a convenient way to travel for large groups who want an excellent customer experience.
“We are very much looking forward to developing this service for those intending on visiting Europe or the UK for business.”
Head of Sales, Simon Tyler, at Eurostar, said: “We are pleased to extend our MICE offer working with Virgin trains to make it even easier for groups to discover a wider range of destinations. Our dedicated MICE experiences have proved popular since they launched this summer, with passengers able to relax and enjoy tailored activities in their exclusive Eurostar carriage. We look forward to launching this partnership and offering even more MICE travellers a journey to remember.”
VisitBritain’s Head of Business Events Kerrin MacPhie said: “We are excited to be part of a collaboration to drive growth to more destinations across the UK for the international MICE market, giving event planners and their delegates the chance to easily explore our wider business events offer.
“This new booking experience provides convenience for the MICE market, easing the planning process and encouraging more international meetings to take place right across our nations and regions. Travelling is part of the meeting experience and by offering seamless transport options it positions the UK another step closer to being the leading destination for international MICE events.”
Commercial property consultant Ryden has named Dr Mark Robertson as the firm’s new Managing Partner. Dr Robertson will take over from Bill Duguid who is moving to the role of Chairman after six years as leader of the firm.
Ryden recently reported a strong financial year with turnover up 19%.The firm has pursued a strategy of maintaining a market-leading position in Scotland while investing in growth in England, opening in London and Manchester in the last 24 months. Operations in England were up by 41% for year ended April 2018.
Dr Robertson joined Ryden in 1993. He was made a Partner in 2000 and became head of the firm’s Planning & Research group in 2004. He is currently Edinburgh Regional Managing Partner and is recognised as Scotland’s leading expert in commercial property market analysis.
Ryden has also revealed other changes to its Managing Group to be put in place on 1 May 2019. Office Agency Partner Arron Finnie will become Aberdeen Regional Managing Partner when John Findlay retires in May 2019. Earlier this year the firm’s Head of Property Management Derek Tillery took over from Ewan Cameron as Glasgow Regional Managing Partner.
Bill Duguid said: “The new look Managing Group is the result of a carefully planned succession process within the firm. A smooth transition is crucial and I am delighted to be given the position of Chair and to continue to work with our excellent management team.”
Dr Mark Robertson added: “This is a fantastic time to be taking over as Managing Partner of Ryden. I’m excited by the progress we are making on the expansion of our English offices and our plans to launch a new service line which will be announced shortly.
Our recent strategy of acquiring talent in specialisms including Project Management, Asset Management and Planning has put Ryden in the position to win UK-wide commercial property advisory contracts. We will be pursuing more of these.
Looking ahead my focus is on continuing to grow Ryden organically by attracting and retaining the right talent and providing them with the tools and environment they require to do an excellent job for our clients. In 2019 we will be investing more in our people strategy and in our use of technology in anticipation of clients’ future needs. I’m confident we will surpass our annual growth target of 10% over the next three years.”
Edinburgh based interior design firm, Riddle and Coghill scooped £2,604 for MND Scotland a cause close to the hearts of directors Gus Riddle and Ian Coghill.
The firm became Scotland’s national business golf champions in 2018 and won the lump sum for MND Scotland in the process having qualified as winners of the Edinburgh event.
The donation was presented to MND Scotland representative Morag McGown at their Edinburgh offices near ocean terminal which houses a stunning showroom of kitchens and bespoke interior design solutions.
Morag said “I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone at Riddle & Coghill for their continued support.
“The Business Fours golf tournament is a fantastic event and we’re delighted that the team at Riddle & Coghill won this year, raising an incredible total.
“This money will allow MND Scotland to continue supporting people affected by Motor Neurone Disease across Scotland, and fund vital research into a cure for this devastating illness.”
On what the donation meant to them Director Gus Riddle said “We’re thrilled to have won the Business Fours event and have had a great 2 days across both events, the cracking weather helped.
“To take home the donation for MND Scotland is something which means a lot to us having watched a close family member suffer the fate of motor neurone disease. We’d encourage any business thinking about getting involved to give it a try.”
Riddle and Coghill beat firms from across the country to be crowned national business golf champions at the Business Fours events in 2018, the 2019 events are being launched soon with courses like Gullane, Carnoustie, Murcar Links and Haggs Castle hosting regional qualifying events for local business and full details can be found on their website here.
The socially conscious events company have now raised over £64,000 for charities across Scotland since launching in 2016 an achievement Managing Director John McClarey is extremely proud of.
“We’re thrilled with the positive contribution to the third sector our events are having and thanks to our incredibly supportive clients we hope the figure raised for charity will continue to grow during our 2019 golf and football events.”
As if Christmas wasn’t complicated enough – the gifts, the decorations, the food, the parties, the hangovers – there is an added, and potentially trickier, consideration for separated parents. Where, and with which parent, do your children spend the festive period, especially Christmas Eve and Day? This is an issue that has had the attention of family lawyers, and the courts, time and time again. Christmas is a special time for families, and for younger family members it has extra significance. Many families are able to agree what should happen without legal advice, but many are not. So if legal intervention is necessary, what are the considerations?
Parents often fall into the trap of wanting to look at what is fair in terms of a sharing of time between them – but that is not the principle that the law says should be applied. The over-arching principle is that whatever arrangements are made for a child – including over Christmas – must operate in the best interests of the child. If you think about it, it is understandable that the law should look at it that way as opposed to form the angle of fairness. The legal principle does not always provide an easy answer. In practice, there can be many competing factors that make it very difficult to assess what is best for a child. Here are my five tips for successful Christmas arrangements for separated families:-
- Start communication about Christmas plans early in the year. Even if you have an arrangement that you have agreed should operate year on year, don’t make assumptions. Families consist of a number of individuals, possibly from other parts of the country/world, and all of whom may have an agenda for “the big day”. Families can also change year on year, and changes in a family dynamic may prompt a need to reconsider a pre-existing arrangement.
- The age of your children cannot be ignored; if your children are not on the naughty list and are expecting their annual visit from Mr Claus, parents should anticipate that the children might be confused or worried that they miss out if they are not in their main home overnight on Christmas Eve. As they become older, and their expectations change, organising a sleepover on Christmas Eve at the non-resident parent’s home makes more sense, and if it alternates between parents every year, the kids then experience Christmas with both families.
- Collaborate on Christmas gifts for the children, and consult each other about expectations and spending budgets. You don’t want to each buy the same gift. Perhaps more importantly, the ability of one parent to afford more expensive and appealing gifts when compared to the other can cause resentment and foster bad-feeling that can simmer on well into the New Year and beyond. The failure by one parent to assist in practical terms may breed unhappiness too. Discussing how you approach the presents will help avoid any such problem arising.
- If you think children should spend time with both sets of parents in their respective homes on Christmas Day itself, ask yourself who really benefits from that, and the possible effects on both families if a special occasion is interrupted or delayed by the uplift or collection of children. How will the kids feel about having to leave one home to go to another, half way through a family celebration? Think instead about celebrating the season, not the day. There are plenty of opportunities for get-togethers with friends and family over the holiday period.
- How is your relationship with your ex? Think about inviting the other parent to spend Christmas with you and the children. And don’t automatically exclude any new family members or partners that have emerged since the relationship breakdown. The concept of “the blended family” is normal in other parts of the world (USA/Australia), largely because it is recognised that children of separated parents don’t want conflict and acrimony – just for everyone to get along. It is, after all, only one day out of a whole year.
If your attempts at organising Christmas is proving a worry, our experienced family law team can navigate you through this thorny issue.
Gareth Masson, Partner
Accredited specialist in Child Law & Family Law by the Law Society of Scotland
Family Law
Blackadders LLP
@FamilyLawGareth
www.blackadders.co.uk
Business Fives kicks off in Edinburgh this week with the first of 2 events in the city this winter supported by the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce.
The summer season of Business Fives raised over £20,500 for charities across Scotland and the winter season aims to match this amount and help expand the positive impact on communities across Scotland as a result of the corporate football events.
Edinburgh firms had the choice of two qualifying events with the first on Thursday and the second in the New Year to be held on Tuesday 5th February which is almost sold out already. The five a side events for football loving firms will also take in 3 English cities for the first time before the tournament concludes with the national final back in Edinburgh in March where the national business five-a-side winter champions will be crowned. All three events in the city are being held at the stunning new facilities at Marine Drive, the World of Football venue.
We are pleased to once again be partnering with the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce following the success of the partnership in recent years. Getting the chance to bring business together while promoting a healthy and active lifestyle is fantastic and given the companies already signed up for the November events in Edinburgh that include Johnston Carmichael, SQA, pureLiFi, Vegware, Axios Systems, GLM, Escape Recruitment, Geoghegans, Apex Hotels and Engenico it promises to be another great event.
As a socially conscious enterprise Business Fives have again committed to awarding the winning team with a bumper donation to their chosen charity of 10 per cent from all of the event’s revenue.
The corporate football events with a charitable impact have a host of stellar clients and are an excellent opportunity for teambuilding and networking for footie loving firms as well as raising money for charity simultaneously.
Since launching in 2016, Business Fives have seen year-on-year success having worked with over 500 companies and raising £65,000 for charities in the process.
Business Fives ambassadors former Hibernian manager star and ex-Celtic Ace Yogi Hughes, ex-Hearts star Gary Mackay will be along at the Edinburgh events for a Question and Answer session at the drinks reception.
Tournament founder and Business Fives managing director John McClarey – who also organises a highly-successful Business Fours golf tournament – says “the events have proven to be a very big hit in Edinburgh and we are looking forward to kicking off our winter events in the city. We’ve been really impressed at the charitable efforts from the city of Edinburgh that has lived up to its reputation of having communities at the heart of their work. Given the mix of companies we’ve had involved it promises to be another good networking opportunity.”
The Edinburgh Events
There will be two events taking place in Edinburgh this winter:
Thursday 29th November – Marine Drive, World of Football
Tuesday 5th February – Marine Drive, World of Football
Celebrating 150 years of the biggest and best house parties in Scotland, Crieff Hydro are gearing up for the best Christmas for generations in 2018. At the Hydro, Christmas officially starts in December and lasts the whole month. On Saturday 1st December we’ll be kicking off our festivities with a shiny new Christmas Market. You’ll find us (and 20+ other local businesses) on the Brasserie Lawn from 10am – 6pm, ready to blitz our Christmas shopping, dig into the festive food and drinks and listen to a good few carols sung by school and local choirs.
But the festive cheer doesn’t stop at the Christmas Market. As a Crieff Hydro first, a winter skating rink will be running every day (and night) in December and is open to the public as well as hotel and self-catering guests.
The Hotel will transform their bowling green located in the front lawns into a Winter Wonderland offering winter skating sessions for families and friends throughout the month and sessions lasting 45 minutes are available to book now.
Skaters can twirl and swirl to Christmas music in the undercover rink and enjoy a warming hot chocolate or opt to “ice and slice” – slices of takeaway stone-fired pizza to enjoy whilst watching the fun under a sea of twinkling Christmas lights.
Sessions cost from £7.50 off peak (£10 peak times) including skate hire and can be booked in advance by calling the Christmas team
The hotel’s Piccolo restaurant is being transformed into skating “elf-quarters”, where visitors can check in or book skating, or just buy a warm drink to enjoy whilst watching the festivities.
The skating rink is on from 1st to 31st December from 10am daily and are suitable for families, friends and school groups.
Skating can be booked on the day, but spaces are filling on this unique festive fun. Advance bookings are recommended to avoid disappointment. Book by calling 01764 651561 or email ice.rink@crieffhydro.com
FAQ:
Ages: from 3 years and up.
Hire skates must be worn
A limited number of skating Penguin supports are available per session for young children.
Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult
Bookings should arrive 15 minutes before their session time starts.
Times:
£7.50 Off- peak sessions– Monday to Friday daytime
10.00am – 10.45am
11.15am – 12.00pm
12.30pm – 1.15pm
1.45pm – 2.30pm
3.00pm – 3.45pm
4.15pm – 5.00pm
£10 weekday evenings and all day weekend sessions
10.00am – 10.45am
11.15am – 12.00pm
12.30pm – 1.15pm
1.45pm – 2.30pm
3.00pm – 3.45pm
4.15pm – 5.00pm
EDINBURGH Napier’s work to train the next generation of cybersecurity experts has been endorsed by the Government organisation aiming to make Britain the safest place to work and do business online.
The university’s BEng (Hons) in Cybersecurity and Forensics has become the first undergraduate course in the UK to be fully certified by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), whose parent organisation is GCHQ.
The announcement is another accolade for the university’s Cyber Academy, which takes the fight to cyber criminals by working with a series of organisations to design effective measures to prevent and investigate security breaches.
The BEng course helps meet the UK’s growing demand for security engineers by adding specialist knowledge of digital forensics, data security and software development to undergraduates’ general computing skills and network knowledge.
In gaining NCSC certification, the Cybersecurity and Forensics course had to meet rigorous assessment criteria, demanding well-defined content delivered to the highest standard to satisfy a panel of experts drawn from industry, academia and government.
NCSC-certified courses help students make informed choices when looking for a highly valued qualification, and employers to recruit skilled staff and develop the cyber skills of existing employees.
NCSC-certification also boosts universities’ efforts to attract high-quality students from around the world, helping make the UK resilient to cyber attack and one of the most secure spaces to do business in cyberspace.
In addition to the newly-certified BEng degree, Edinburgh Napier’s MSc in Advanced Security & Digital Forensics – where teaching is informed by cutting-edge research and the work of external partners in finance and law enforcement – is one of a series of postgraduate Masters courses across the country which have already been certified by NCSC.
And spinout companies which were launched from research projects at the university’s Cyber Academy are now making headlines in their own right.
ZoneFox – which grew out of university PhD research and specialises in cloud-based insider threat detection – was recently taken over by California-based cybersecurity giant Fortinet, and Cyan Forensics, which has developed digital forensic technology to help catch criminals faster, has brought in nearly £1.5million in funding since it was founded in 2016.
Professor Bill Buchanan, who leads the Cybersecurity subject group and research centre, said: “Our programmes have been designed with an industry focus, but also with a strong academic foundation. The certification thus showcases both the quality of our academic environment, along with the quality of our graduates.”
Chris Ensor, NCSC Deputy Director for Skills and Growth, said: “I am delighted to see Edinburgh Napier becoming the first university in the UK to achieve full certification for this undergraduate degree which combines study of both cybersecurity and forensics. Certified courses are an important aspect of our continued efforts to provide the right environment to deliver the next generation of cybersecurity professionals.”
Professor Sally Smith, Dean of Computing at Edinburgh Napier, said: “The programme team and the wider subject group have worked extremely hard to create an exceptional course and achieve this external certification, which enhances the already excellent reputation which we have for cybersecurity at Edinburgh Napier University.”
Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh is inviting art and textile lovers to watch the cutting off of Water Surface 2018, its newest tapestry, and celebrate its 10 years in the In firmary Street studio.
Water Surface 2018 is almost four metres square and has been hand-woven over the past six months by master weaver David Cochrane and junior weaver Ben Hymers.
The tapestry was inspired by a photo of the Crinan Canal taken by Cochrane around 20 years ago, and depicts the qualities of water and the ephemeral effect of light.
The cutting off ceremony on Tuesday 4 December will be the first time the weavers, guests and Dovecot team get to see the tapestry as a whole.
Since March, visitors to Dovecot have been able to watch David and Ben weave sections of the tapestry on the loom; the process obscures the full tapestry from being seen at one time.
Celia Joicey, director of Dovecot, said: “This year we are celebrating 10 years in the former Infirmary Street Baths. It seemed fitting for one of our master weavers to create a tapestry that reflects the properties of water while celebrating our contribution to Scotland’s fine art and textile scene.
“Water Surface 2018 is a beautiful tapestry that epitomises the creativity and skill of Dovecot’s weavers. There are hundreds of colours in the piece, and its scale is quite imposing.
“David’s other water-inspired tapestries have ended up in a country home in Scotland and a lakeside lodge in Canada. We’re sure the Water Surface 2018 will find its home in a likewise enviable location.”
The cutting off ceremony will take place 17:30 to 19:00 on 4 December 2018 at Dovecot Studios, 10 Infirmary St, Edinburgh EH1 1LT
Tickets are now available for £25. The price includes a drink on arrival, live music, access to the viewing balcony and a Q&A session with weavers David Cochrane and Ben Hymers.
Visit www.dovecotstudios.com for more information and to purchase tickets.
As the temperature continues to drop, ScotRail Alliance ‘winter readiness’ teams will be at key stations meeting customers and helping them prepare for travel this winter.
Over the next two weeks, a series of winter roadshows will take place at busy stations across the country, including Glasgow Central and Queen Street, Stirling, Dundee, Haymarket and Edinburgh Waverley.
Customers can find out more about how ScotRail will keep them informed during service disruption using the ScotRail app, social media, email alerts, station help points and announcements.
The roadshows are an opportunity for the ScotRail Alliance to explain how weather can have a huge impact on trains and where some conditions make it too unsafe to run them.
ScotRail has committed to update customers about any change or cancellation of services due to severe weather by 4pm on the day before.
Winter readiness teams will be at the stations between 3.30pm and 6.30pm.
ScotRail Alliance Head of Customer Operations Phil Campbell said:
“Winter weather can be challenging for everyone, whether it’s disruption to train services or even just getting to and from the station.
“ScotRail Alliance teams across the country will be working flat out to keep customers moving over the next few months – from snow ploughs travelling the network to colleagues gritting station platforms to keep them safe.
“We’re introducing even more tools to provide real-time information, and these roadshows are just another way for everyone to keep in touch with us. We hope lots of our customers will stop for a chat.”
Stagecoach East Scotland received multiple accolades at the 2018 UK Bus Awards.
The company was recognised in categories covering people, operations, marketing and the community at the 23rd annual awards ceremony held in London last week (Tuesday 20 November).
One of the highlights of the night for the company was winning the silver in the New Horizons Award for its ‘How do I catch a bus?’ project, in partnership with Deloitte Digitial. ‘How do I catch a bus’ focussed on making it easier for passengers to use bus services in St Andrews by reimagining the look and feel of timetables, signage and customer communication.
Stagecoach East Scotland were also awarded bronze in the ‘Putting Passengers First’ category for the same project.
The company received the silver award for their Express City Connect service in the Award for Sustained Marketing Excellence category, having won the bronze award in the same category for the last 2 years.
Stagecoach East Scotland’s Express City Connect network operates high-quality coach services across Fife and into Edinburgh, Perth, Dundee, Aberdeen and Glasgow. Facilities such as leather seats, on board toilets, power sockets, air conditioning and free wifi have helped make the services an attractive alternative to the car, achieving increased passenger numbers.
In addition to this, St Andrews Depot scooped the silver Top National Bus Depot Award. The depot also previously won gold in the same category in 2016. The operations in East Scotland overall were also finalists in the ‘Top Shire Operator’ category.
Employees Thomas McGovern and John Millar received Special Commendations in the Unsung Heroes category. Thomas’ dedication to high levels of customer service has earned him numerous customer commendations, while John was nominated for his unwavering dedication to running the Blairgowrie depot.
There were also plenty of award wins for others across Stagecoach Group, including a gold award in the ‘Making Buses a Better Choice’ category for its Bus Services in New Residential Developments guidance which delivered guidelines that can be used by all stakeholders across the UK to ensure that significant housing development proposals are bus-friendly.
Jon Oakey, Acting Managing Director for Stagecoach East Scotland said: “To be recognised in so many categories is fantastic for us and is testament to the continuing hard work and dedication of the team in East Scotland.
“We’re extremely proud of the team at St Andrews for their continued success at these awards, including their involvement in the two ‘How do I catch a bus’ projects, our marketing team who continue to achieve passenger growth through creative campaigns and consistent branding, and of our two Unsung Hero finalists Thomas and John. It is the commitment of all these individuals in providing a strong customer focus which ensures we can continue to provide the best possible bus and coach services day in day out across East Scotland.”
