MARK McLAUGHLIN
Evening News (Edinburgh)
September 2, 2010, Thursday
BANKS and business leaders have warned that more financial job losses are on the way, following the announcement that 600 posts are to be slashed at Standard Life.
The financial giant announced yesterday that the majority of the cuts - 480 posts - would come from its Edinburgh business, but said it would attempt to find new posts within the company for those affected.
However, with more financial cuts looming, many of those facing redundancy may struggle to find another job locally.
City development leader Tom Buchanan said: "We always knew that there would be more job losses in the financial sector. We just want to ensure that we can minimise these losses in Edinburgh and put appropriate measures in place to ensure re-employment."
Standard Life employs around 6000 people in Edinburgh, down from 10,000 in 2004.
The announcement comes on the back of a mass cull at RBS which has slashed 22,600 jobs since the banking crisis began.
Last week, the bank announced it was shedding a further 400 Scottish posts at its Direct Line insurance offices in Glasgow. RBS media relations manager Linda Harper today reiterated comments made by chief executive Stephen Hester that more cuts were on the way.
Insurer Aegon UK is expected to announce up to 600 more job losses later this month.
Standard Life public relations manager Nicola McGowan said: "We are aiming to reduce our reliance on contract staff so 100 of the posts to go will be contractors. We expect a further 100 to go through people moving out of the business naturally by the end of 2011.
"We have created 100 new posts in our technology and innovation business and will endeavour to recruit internally.
"We intend to centralise 50 jobs in the English regions to Edinburgh. Those filling these posts will have the opportunity to relocate."
Graham Birse, deputy chief executive of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, said: "Yesterday's announcement amounts to a reorganisation of their business rather than a dire warning on the future of the sector."
The news comes as it was confirmed that Edinburgh has slipped down from 28th on a list of the world's top financial cities - the Global Financial Centres report by research firm z/Yen.
Showing posts with label Annals of Finance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Annals of Finance. Show all posts
Sunday, 10 October 2010
NEWS: Banking on a decent dram
MARK McLAUGHLIN
Evening News (Edinburgh)
August 13, 2010, Friday
AN award-winning Royal Mile bar is set to open a new "try before you buy" whisky store overlooking The Mound.
Gary Still, owner of Whiski, has applied to turn a section of a redundant Bank of Scotland branch and neighbouring Just Scottish gift store on North Bank Street into a "new concept in whisky retailing".
He said: "I'm going to split up the units into three rooms.
"One room is going to be the whisky store selling all-Scottish produce and the idea is you select your whisky and take it through to the tasting room and sample it before you buy it.
"I'm also planning to open a small bar and bistro in store but it's going to be very low key as I want to keep it completely separate from Whiski on the Mile, which is extremely successful in its own right."
Whiski hit the headlines last summer when Oasis spent seven hours eating and drinking there before their Murrayfield gig, while the bar also served as the backdrop for an advert featuring South American supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio and Essex bricklayer turned serial celebrity philanderer Paul Sculfor shortly after it opened in 2007.
If Mr Still gets the go-ahead by council planners, he hopes to call his new place The Whiski Still and has drafted in Belford Road-based architects KBAD to design the layout.
KBAD is responsible for a string of trendy bars in the city including Orocco Pier's Antico bar in South Queensferry, Grand Cru on Hanover Street and the Voodoo Rooms on West Register Street.
He added: "It's in a fantastic location with great views of the city and it's offering something different from the usual tartan souvenir stores in the area so hopefully it will be successful."
Meanwhile, the owners of Porto & Fi deli in Newhaven have applied to turn the rest of the bank into a bistro under the name Cairn Cakes.
North Bank Street is the second former Bank of Scotland branch facing conversion to leisure in the Old Town.
Antonio Crolla, owner of Dario's on Lothian Road and Bar Napoli on Hanover Street, is also awaiting permission to turn the former Bank of Scotland on Chambers Street into a restaurant.
Bank of Scotland parent company Lloyds Banking Group has agreed to sell off 175 branches in Scotland in the coming years, as part of the state aid remedies agreed with the European Commission in the wake of the credit crunch.
The two branches awaiting a change of use in North Bank Street and Chambers Street have been merged into Bank of Scotland's new flagship branch on the Royal Mile.
Evening News (Edinburgh)
August 13, 2010, Friday
AN award-winning Royal Mile bar is set to open a new "try before you buy" whisky store overlooking The Mound.
Gary Still, owner of Whiski, has applied to turn a section of a redundant Bank of Scotland branch and neighbouring Just Scottish gift store on North Bank Street into a "new concept in whisky retailing".
He said: "I'm going to split up the units into three rooms.
"One room is going to be the whisky store selling all-Scottish produce and the idea is you select your whisky and take it through to the tasting room and sample it before you buy it.
"I'm also planning to open a small bar and bistro in store but it's going to be very low key as I want to keep it completely separate from Whiski on the Mile, which is extremely successful in its own right."
Whiski hit the headlines last summer when Oasis spent seven hours eating and drinking there before their Murrayfield gig, while the bar also served as the backdrop for an advert featuring South American supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio and Essex bricklayer turned serial celebrity philanderer Paul Sculfor shortly after it opened in 2007.
If Mr Still gets the go-ahead by council planners, he hopes to call his new place The Whiski Still and has drafted in Belford Road-based architects KBAD to design the layout.
KBAD is responsible for a string of trendy bars in the city including Orocco Pier's Antico bar in South Queensferry, Grand Cru on Hanover Street and the Voodoo Rooms on West Register Street.
He added: "It's in a fantastic location with great views of the city and it's offering something different from the usual tartan souvenir stores in the area so hopefully it will be successful."
Meanwhile, the owners of Porto & Fi deli in Newhaven have applied to turn the rest of the bank into a bistro under the name Cairn Cakes.
North Bank Street is the second former Bank of Scotland branch facing conversion to leisure in the Old Town.
Antonio Crolla, owner of Dario's on Lothian Road and Bar Napoli on Hanover Street, is also awaiting permission to turn the former Bank of Scotland on Chambers Street into a restaurant.
Bank of Scotland parent company Lloyds Banking Group has agreed to sell off 175 branches in Scotland in the coming years, as part of the state aid remedies agreed with the European Commission in the wake of the credit crunch.
The two branches awaiting a change of use in North Bank Street and Chambers Street have been merged into Bank of Scotland's new flagship branch on the Royal Mile.
Monday, 21 June 2010
NEWS: Costly "Rolls Royce repairs" on Edinburgh houses
MARK McLAUGHLIN
Evening News (Edinburgh)
June 21, 2010, Monday
THERE have been calls for an inquiry into whether the city council is over-using its powers to force repairs on properties - after it emerged almost £30 million worth of work is currently underway in the city.
The Capital is in the unique position of being able to hire contractors to carry out urgent work and then recover the cost from residents or businesses. The statutory notices are often issued when repairs need to be carried out to tenement properties where several owners are involved.
All other authorities have to carry out such repair work from their own budgets so while Edinburgh has 800 contracts ongoing worth £28 million, the rest of Scotland only has £1.3 million.
While the council said the special legislation is designed to "save the built environment of the city", Labour councillor Ewan Aitken said there were now too many cases causing "severe difficulties for staff and extreme distress for residents".
He said: "I have six cases in my ward where there has been a huge variation between estimates and actual cost, and in each case residents feel they have no say on how their money is being spent.
"In one case a few thousand pounds rose to over £250,000.
"Statutory notices are a tool to help maintain the built environment of our historic city in good condition but work loads across the city are causing huge problems for staff.
"This means that communication breaks down, residents feel ignored whilst costs go up and no one ends up happy with the outcome."
Councillor Aitken added: "I don't blame the staff.
"They have an impossible job without the resources to do the task they have been given. A fundamental review is needed."
Councillor Aitken is set to forward a motion calling on the council to recognise the heavy burden of the statutory notice policy, and conduct a full review of the process.
The Labour councillor's call was echoed by the SNP's Stefan Tymkewycz, who has also questioned the existing process.
He said he received many complaints from Edinburgh residents regarding work carried out by the council's building conservation department through statutory notices.
A recent case came to light when the councillor was overseeing work being carried out on a community centre and when he questioned an item of work on the schedule costing GBP 1,368, he said it was removed from the schedule because it was "a mistake".
Councillor Tymkewycz said: "Through my own limited experience of the building trade I understood the technical jargon quoted on the schedule of works and spotted this item on the schedule and questioned it.
"I am left wondering if this and other items of work on this specific job were not challenged if these costs running into thousands of pounds would have been included in the final bill and how widespread are these 'mistakes' made?"
Cllr Tymkewycz also said that some of the complaints he receives refer to work that appears over priced and will be seeking a review of the tendering process to ensure that residents are receiving value for money.
A council spokeswoman said: "We are the only Council in the UK which has special powers to recover costs and we use Statutory Notices to proactively save the built environment of the city."
'We're paying for a Rolls Royce service'
WHEN Emma Jane Condon noticed a leak in the ceiling of her Queen's Park Avenue tenement, the neighbours couldn't agree on a price and the council took out a statutory repair notice.
Ms Condon, 41, said: "The council's tender to fix the roof was around GBP 6,000, double our original estimate, and of course once they got going they started to notice all sorts of problems that needed fixing.
"They told us that the rendering also needed repaired, but without consulting residents their contractors went out and bought a quarter of a million pounds worth of sandstone.
"The cost to each tenant has now shot up to £18,000. We're being asked to pay for a Rolls Royce service."
The council said it could not comment on individual cases.
Evening News (Edinburgh)
June 21, 2010, Monday
THERE have been calls for an inquiry into whether the city council is over-using its powers to force repairs on properties - after it emerged almost £30 million worth of work is currently underway in the city.
The Capital is in the unique position of being able to hire contractors to carry out urgent work and then recover the cost from residents or businesses. The statutory notices are often issued when repairs need to be carried out to tenement properties where several owners are involved.
All other authorities have to carry out such repair work from their own budgets so while Edinburgh has 800 contracts ongoing worth £28 million, the rest of Scotland only has £1.3 million.
While the council said the special legislation is designed to "save the built environment of the city", Labour councillor Ewan Aitken said there were now too many cases causing "severe difficulties for staff and extreme distress for residents".
He said: "I have six cases in my ward where there has been a huge variation between estimates and actual cost, and in each case residents feel they have no say on how their money is being spent.
"In one case a few thousand pounds rose to over £250,000.
"Statutory notices are a tool to help maintain the built environment of our historic city in good condition but work loads across the city are causing huge problems for staff.
"This means that communication breaks down, residents feel ignored whilst costs go up and no one ends up happy with the outcome."
Councillor Aitken added: "I don't blame the staff.
"They have an impossible job without the resources to do the task they have been given. A fundamental review is needed."
Councillor Aitken is set to forward a motion calling on the council to recognise the heavy burden of the statutory notice policy, and conduct a full review of the process.
The Labour councillor's call was echoed by the SNP's Stefan Tymkewycz, who has also questioned the existing process.
He said he received many complaints from Edinburgh residents regarding work carried out by the council's building conservation department through statutory notices.
A recent case came to light when the councillor was overseeing work being carried out on a community centre and when he questioned an item of work on the schedule costing GBP 1,368, he said it was removed from the schedule because it was "a mistake".
Councillor Tymkewycz said: "Through my own limited experience of the building trade I understood the technical jargon quoted on the schedule of works and spotted this item on the schedule and questioned it.
"I am left wondering if this and other items of work on this specific job were not challenged if these costs running into thousands of pounds would have been included in the final bill and how widespread are these 'mistakes' made?"
Cllr Tymkewycz also said that some of the complaints he receives refer to work that appears over priced and will be seeking a review of the tendering process to ensure that residents are receiving value for money.
A council spokeswoman said: "We are the only Council in the UK which has special powers to recover costs and we use Statutory Notices to proactively save the built environment of the city."
'We're paying for a Rolls Royce service'
WHEN Emma Jane Condon noticed a leak in the ceiling of her Queen's Park Avenue tenement, the neighbours couldn't agree on a price and the council took out a statutory repair notice.
Ms Condon, 41, said: "The council's tender to fix the roof was around GBP 6,000, double our original estimate, and of course once they got going they started to notice all sorts of problems that needed fixing.
"They told us that the rendering also needed repaired, but without consulting residents their contractors went out and bought a quarter of a million pounds worth of sandstone.
"The cost to each tenant has now shot up to £18,000. We're being asked to pay for a Rolls Royce service."
The council said it could not comment on individual cases.
NEWS: In Vino Pecunia
MARK McLAUGHLIN
Evening News (Edinburgh)
May 31, 2010, Monday
Former managers take over stores from collapsed firm
A GROUP of redundant off-licence managers are going it alone with a new independent drinks chain.
Their new Vino stores will fill the void left by the collapse of First Quench, which saw 1,200 branches of Wine Rack, Threshers, Victoria Wine and The Local close down nationwide at the end of last year, including around 45 locally.
As managers of some the chain's most successful branches they were able to analyse old First Quench sales data and pick the most successful stores.
The first new Vino stores are expected to open on Broughton Street and Grange Loan next week, with a third branch on Comiston Road due a few weeks later.
If the first three branches prove successful the team will then look to expand their chain throughout the city.
The venture is the brainchild of former Grange Loan and Marchmont Wine Rack manager Andrew Lundy, 31.
Mr Lundy, who lives in Mayfield, had been working for First Quench for eight years.
He said: "I saw that the writing was on the wall for First Quench, but I had already been thinking about setting up my own off licence business.
"I was going through area manager training at the time so I had access to the area sales figures, and knew where all the good and bad shops were.
"It's been a long six months but we're now just waiting for the licences to come through, and we should hopefully open up by the end of next week.
"It's incredibly exciting, and we're really confident we can make it work. We're starting with eight staff initially with a combined 60 years of experience in the drinks industry."
The new chain will be lifeline to former managers such as Broughton Street manager Ciaran Moen, 31. He said: "First Quench collapsed on 29 October and I was out of a job on 16 December. It was lucky I had another job in a bar or it would have been a lean Christmas.
"Broughton Street was the biggest-selling branch in Scotland, and I'm looking forward to getting it going again.
"We've already had loads of people coming in and asking when we're going to open as we've been putting the displays up."
Mr Lundy said not being part of a national chain meant they would be able to stock more locally sourced products.
He added: "We've already got deals in place with Innes and Gunn, Inveralmond and Atlas breweries, and I'm a big whisky fan so we'll be stocking plenty of local brands.
"Although we won't be going down the three-for-two route, if we can buy in bulk we can still offer some fantastic deals.
"Most of those supermarket deals are a con anyway as they price up the ticket in order to sell at a 'discount', but my policy will be to stay honest to the customer and only sell alcohol for the price it's worth."
Evening News (Edinburgh)
May 31, 2010, Monday
Former managers take over stores from collapsed firm
A GROUP of redundant off-licence managers are going it alone with a new independent drinks chain.
Their new Vino stores will fill the void left by the collapse of First Quench, which saw 1,200 branches of Wine Rack, Threshers, Victoria Wine and The Local close down nationwide at the end of last year, including around 45 locally.
As managers of some the chain's most successful branches they were able to analyse old First Quench sales data and pick the most successful stores.
The first new Vino stores are expected to open on Broughton Street and Grange Loan next week, with a third branch on Comiston Road due a few weeks later.
If the first three branches prove successful the team will then look to expand their chain throughout the city.
The venture is the brainchild of former Grange Loan and Marchmont Wine Rack manager Andrew Lundy, 31.
Mr Lundy, who lives in Mayfield, had been working for First Quench for eight years.
He said: "I saw that the writing was on the wall for First Quench, but I had already been thinking about setting up my own off licence business.
"I was going through area manager training at the time so I had access to the area sales figures, and knew where all the good and bad shops were.
"It's been a long six months but we're now just waiting for the licences to come through, and we should hopefully open up by the end of next week.
"It's incredibly exciting, and we're really confident we can make it work. We're starting with eight staff initially with a combined 60 years of experience in the drinks industry."
The new chain will be lifeline to former managers such as Broughton Street manager Ciaran Moen, 31. He said: "First Quench collapsed on 29 October and I was out of a job on 16 December. It was lucky I had another job in a bar or it would have been a lean Christmas.
"Broughton Street was the biggest-selling branch in Scotland, and I'm looking forward to getting it going again.
"We've already had loads of people coming in and asking when we're going to open as we've been putting the displays up."
Mr Lundy said not being part of a national chain meant they would be able to stock more locally sourced products.
He added: "We've already got deals in place with Innes and Gunn, Inveralmond and Atlas breweries, and I'm a big whisky fan so we'll be stocking plenty of local brands.
"Although we won't be going down the three-for-two route, if we can buy in bulk we can still offer some fantastic deals.
"Most of those supermarket deals are a con anyway as they price up the ticket in order to sell at a 'discount', but my policy will be to stay honest to the customer and only sell alcohol for the price it's worth."
Wednesday, 12 May 2010
NEWS: Universities in a fine mess
By MARK McLAUGHLIN
Edinburgh Evening News
25 March 2010
TWO Edinburgh universities have been fined for over-recruiting students during the recession.
Edinburgh Napier University and Queen Margaret University have been fined GBP 338,000 and £42,000, respectively, as part of nearly £1 million of fines handed out to Scottish institutions as a result of a 12 per cent increase in students accepted on university courses last year.
The rise has been attributed to a lack of jobs in the recession.
Aberdeen University was hit with the highest penalty of nearly £500,000, while Robert Gordon University has a fine of £62,000.
The fines were revealed as the Scottish Funding Council announced a 1.4 per cent increase in funding for the 2010-11 academic year, awarding £1.12 billion of funding to Scotland's 20 universities.
However, critics say the £15.3m increase on 2009-10 amounts to a 0.6 per cent funding cut, in real terms, when inflation of 2 per cent is taken into account.
Under the settlement universities will get a total of £994.1m to support their core activities of teaching and research and to help modernise and maintain campuses.
A further GBP 129.5m of cash is being awarded as part of the horizon fund - which supports strategic initiatives such as the pooling of research activities across several universities.
SFC chief executive Mark Batho said: "Maintaining high quality teaching and learning in Scotland's universities has been at the forefront of our minds when making decisions about our allocations for university funding.
"The public spending environment is undoubtedly challenging but the funds which the Scottish Government have made available have allowed us to provide a cash increase for the coming year, reflecting the important contribution that higher education has to make to economic recovery and future prosperity in Scotland.
"These resources will safeguard the stability of the sector and mean that the quality of the student experience is maintained at a high level."
SFC chairman John McClelland said: "Scotland's universities are extremely well-positioned to play a vital role in the country's long-term economic growth.
"Our universities are already leading in areas such as energy and cutting-edge medical research that are at the forefront of innovation and technology. They also produce the skills and attributes in people that help businesses to compete internationally.
"By protecting investments in strategic areas such as skills, employability, and research, this funding settlement is important for both our economy and for society."
However, Liam Burns, president of the National Union of Students, said the decision not to expand university places meant "the door had been slammed shut" for many.
He added: "However, for those that are already at university, this announcement represents protection from course cuts and department cuts."
Mary Senior, of the University and College Union Scotland, called the real-term funding cut "disappointing and embarrassing".
Edinburgh Evening News
25 March 2010
TWO Edinburgh universities have been fined for over-recruiting students during the recession.
Edinburgh Napier University and Queen Margaret University have been fined GBP 338,000 and £42,000, respectively, as part of nearly £1 million of fines handed out to Scottish institutions as a result of a 12 per cent increase in students accepted on university courses last year.
The rise has been attributed to a lack of jobs in the recession.
Aberdeen University was hit with the highest penalty of nearly £500,000, while Robert Gordon University has a fine of £62,000.
The fines were revealed as the Scottish Funding Council announced a 1.4 per cent increase in funding for the 2010-11 academic year, awarding £1.12 billion of funding to Scotland's 20 universities.
However, critics say the £15.3m increase on 2009-10 amounts to a 0.6 per cent funding cut, in real terms, when inflation of 2 per cent is taken into account.
Under the settlement universities will get a total of £994.1m to support their core activities of teaching and research and to help modernise and maintain campuses.
A further GBP 129.5m of cash is being awarded as part of the horizon fund - which supports strategic initiatives such as the pooling of research activities across several universities.
SFC chief executive Mark Batho said: "Maintaining high quality teaching and learning in Scotland's universities has been at the forefront of our minds when making decisions about our allocations for university funding.
"The public spending environment is undoubtedly challenging but the funds which the Scottish Government have made available have allowed us to provide a cash increase for the coming year, reflecting the important contribution that higher education has to make to economic recovery and future prosperity in Scotland.
"These resources will safeguard the stability of the sector and mean that the quality of the student experience is maintained at a high level."
SFC chairman John McClelland said: "Scotland's universities are extremely well-positioned to play a vital role in the country's long-term economic growth.
"Our universities are already leading in areas such as energy and cutting-edge medical research that are at the forefront of innovation and technology. They also produce the skills and attributes in people that help businesses to compete internationally.
"By protecting investments in strategic areas such as skills, employability, and research, this funding settlement is important for both our economy and for society."
However, Liam Burns, president of the National Union of Students, said the decision not to expand university places meant "the door had been slammed shut" for many.
He added: "However, for those that are already at university, this announcement represents protection from course cuts and department cuts."
Mary Senior, of the University and College Union Scotland, called the real-term funding cut "disappointing and embarrassing".
Saturday, 13 March 2010
ANALYSIS: Fuelling the Economy?
MARK McLAUGHLIN
Edinburgh Evening News
8 March 2010
As motorists face another increase in fuel tax at the end of the month, isn't it time the Government stopped punishing road users, asks Mark McLaughlin
EVERYONE knows that Chancellor Alistair Darling has an enormous problem on his hands. Of course, as he feverishly hunts for ways to pay back Britain's staggering GBP 178 billion debt he will be looking for lots of folk to clobber.
Anything that can be dressed up as a green tax - punishing those terrible pollution creating motorists - is going to look particularly tempting.
It is against this backdrop that petrol taxes are set to go up again by another 3p on 1 April.
That will see the average price for unleaded hit 115p a litre, not quite the levels that saw hauliers take to the roads in convoy to protest two years ago, but not a million miles from them.
While among some there is now an acceptance that motorists are always going to get it in the neck, there is a growing opinion that enough is enough.
The outcry over the latest increase is being led by the AA, whose spokesman Luke Bosdet describes the Government's petrol policy as "bananas".
New research carried out by the AA has found that fuel duty is rising in the UK at twice the rate it is on the Continent and at five times the rate in some EU countries.
"We looked at the figures between 24 November, 2008 and 15 February this year," explains Mr Bosdet, "and found that the average increase in other European countries was 5.07 per cent. In the UK, tax has gone up by 11.46 per cent in that period. This compares to just 2.23 per cent in the lowest country, Austria.
"Scotland is almost a cause célèbre for those complaining about petrol prices as volunteer drivers, who take sick people to hospital in their own vehicles, north of the Border were amongst the first to complain about the increase in their expenses.
"If you're only getting paid 24p a mile, the further you travel the more your expenses go up until it gets to the point where it's no longer cost effective to volunteer any more.
"It costs the NHS four times the amount of money to transfer people to hospital in a taxi than it does to pay a volunteer driver, but they're having to rely on them more and more. It's bananas.
"This is just the starting point of the cracks that will start to appear if drivers are forced off the road by ever-increasing fuel duty, which already accounts for 66 per cent of the price at the pumps."
The AA says consumers are struggling at the bottom of the food chain when it comes to fuel prices.
Oil speculators push up prices, then the Government slaps on tax, before hauliers and forecourt operators take their cut.
The result is higher and higher costs at the till.
And it is not just soaring fuel prices that motorists have to swallow, with the cost of on-street parking, permits and fines all seeing inflation-busting rises in Edinburgh in recent years.
Despite the growing tax burden facing motorists, environmental campaigners say the latest move is justified, as the overall cost of motoring is actually falling.
Richard George, road and climate campaigner at the Campaign for Better Motoring, said: "We support the principle that fuel duty should be gradually increased in line with inflation.
"While fuel prices have gone up, the real cost of motoring has reduced dramatically in the last ten years.
"According to the Department of Environment and Climate Change, the cost of running a car has dropped by 14 per cent since 1997.
"In that time the cost of rail has increased by 13 per cent, and the cost of bus travel has increased by 24 per cent.
"Given that buses are often used by some of the poorest members of society, we think it's time that something was done to redress that balance."
The Taxpayers' Alliance, though, is withering in its criticism, insisting fuel duty is simply being used as a "sin tax" to punish people for using their cars in the age of global warming.
"It's a bigger sin tax than cigarettes or alcohol," says the alliance's research director, Matthew Sinclair.
"Some people want to tax motorists off the road, but the reality is that even if you double the number of people using public transport, which will never happen as the current infrastructure just couldn't cope, you would only take 10 per cent of drivers off the road.
"The irony is the Government is taxing people to get to the very offices and industries that are keeping the UK economy moving."
Mr Darling defends the move as part of his overall plans to balance the budget.
A Treasury spokesman says the fuel duty rise is part of plans to halve the UK's massive deficit over four years, once recovery is secured. "Alongside other tax measures and slower spending growth, fuel duty increases are an important part of this deficit reduction plan, as well as supporting the Government's environmental agenda," the spokesman said.
Edinburgh Evening News
8 March 2010
As motorists face another increase in fuel tax at the end of the month, isn't it time the Government stopped punishing road users, asks Mark McLaughlin
EVERYONE knows that Chancellor Alistair Darling has an enormous problem on his hands. Of course, as he feverishly hunts for ways to pay back Britain's staggering GBP 178 billion debt he will be looking for lots of folk to clobber.
Anything that can be dressed up as a green tax - punishing those terrible pollution creating motorists - is going to look particularly tempting.
It is against this backdrop that petrol taxes are set to go up again by another 3p on 1 April.
That will see the average price for unleaded hit 115p a litre, not quite the levels that saw hauliers take to the roads in convoy to protest two years ago, but not a million miles from them.
While among some there is now an acceptance that motorists are always going to get it in the neck, there is a growing opinion that enough is enough.
The outcry over the latest increase is being led by the AA, whose spokesman Luke Bosdet describes the Government's petrol policy as "bananas".
New research carried out by the AA has found that fuel duty is rising in the UK at twice the rate it is on the Continent and at five times the rate in some EU countries.
"We looked at the figures between 24 November, 2008 and 15 February this year," explains Mr Bosdet, "and found that the average increase in other European countries was 5.07 per cent. In the UK, tax has gone up by 11.46 per cent in that period. This compares to just 2.23 per cent in the lowest country, Austria.
"Scotland is almost a cause célèbre for those complaining about petrol prices as volunteer drivers, who take sick people to hospital in their own vehicles, north of the Border were amongst the first to complain about the increase in their expenses.
"If you're only getting paid 24p a mile, the further you travel the more your expenses go up until it gets to the point where it's no longer cost effective to volunteer any more.
"It costs the NHS four times the amount of money to transfer people to hospital in a taxi than it does to pay a volunteer driver, but they're having to rely on them more and more. It's bananas.
"This is just the starting point of the cracks that will start to appear if drivers are forced off the road by ever-increasing fuel duty, which already accounts for 66 per cent of the price at the pumps."
The AA says consumers are struggling at the bottom of the food chain when it comes to fuel prices.
Oil speculators push up prices, then the Government slaps on tax, before hauliers and forecourt operators take their cut.
The result is higher and higher costs at the till.
And it is not just soaring fuel prices that motorists have to swallow, with the cost of on-street parking, permits and fines all seeing inflation-busting rises in Edinburgh in recent years.
Despite the growing tax burden facing motorists, environmental campaigners say the latest move is justified, as the overall cost of motoring is actually falling.
Richard George, road and climate campaigner at the Campaign for Better Motoring, said: "We support the principle that fuel duty should be gradually increased in line with inflation.
"While fuel prices have gone up, the real cost of motoring has reduced dramatically in the last ten years.
"According to the Department of Environment and Climate Change, the cost of running a car has dropped by 14 per cent since 1997.
"In that time the cost of rail has increased by 13 per cent, and the cost of bus travel has increased by 24 per cent.
"Given that buses are often used by some of the poorest members of society, we think it's time that something was done to redress that balance."
The Taxpayers' Alliance, though, is withering in its criticism, insisting fuel duty is simply being used as a "sin tax" to punish people for using their cars in the age of global warming.
"It's a bigger sin tax than cigarettes or alcohol," says the alliance's research director, Matthew Sinclair.
"Some people want to tax motorists off the road, but the reality is that even if you double the number of people using public transport, which will never happen as the current infrastructure just couldn't cope, you would only take 10 per cent of drivers off the road.
"The irony is the Government is taxing people to get to the very offices and industries that are keeping the UK economy moving."
Mr Darling defends the move as part of his overall plans to balance the budget.
A Treasury spokesman says the fuel duty rise is part of plans to halve the UK's massive deficit over four years, once recovery is secured. "Alongside other tax measures and slower spending growth, fuel duty increases are an important part of this deficit reduction plan, as well as supporting the Government's environmental agenda," the spokesman said.
ANALYSIS: Black Horse Tramples Charities
MARK McLAUGHLIN
Edinburgh Evening News
3 March 2010
IN ANY battle there is always collateral damage and the current row between The Lloyds TSB Foundation and the banking behemoth that shares its name is no different.
While the Foundation goes head-to-head with Lloyds Banking Group over a bid to force the Foundation to accept a 50 per cent cut in its funding stream and greater corporate oversight, hundreds of charities stand to lose vital cash which currently funds jobs and provides support to some of the region's most vulnerable people.
The foundation has provided more than £2 million to Lothians charities in the last five years alone, and while the continuation of existing awards has been assured, all new grant applications have been suspended pending a resolution of the dispute.
At the core of the problem is Lloyds Banking Group's decision to end a legal requirement to pay the foundation 1 per cent of its pre-tax profits - established 25 years ago when TSB demutualised to appease savers for the loss of their bank.
The argument could not have come at a worse time for the region's voluntary sector, which is already facing cuts from all four local authorities dealing with funding crises of their own.
The future of Penicuik YMCA is already uncertain as it waits to find out if it will be one of the victims of Midlothian Council's £3.5m cuts this year. It now stands to lose one of its youth workers, whose salary is funded by a £24,000 foundation grant.
Director Keith McIntosh said: "Midlothian Council is our core funder, providing us with around £45,000, and while the foundation funding is an add-on it doesn't mean we take the loss of this funding stream lightly.
"It could result in the end of one of our projects or the closure of a building."
The Lloyds TSB Foundation specialises in funding individual projects, rather than core funding, so charities do not rely upon foundation money to keep their operations afloat. But in some cases these individual projects have the potential to influence hundreds of lives, such as the £12,500 provided to Carers of East Lothian to pay the salary of a carer support worker.
Centre manager Tony Segall said: "Our support workers offer help and advice to those caring for sick or elderly relatives, and often provide respite when they need some time away. The foundation has been paying for one of our nine support workers.
"The woman who currently occupies this post is understandably very worried about her job, but it's not just about her. Over the course of the year she's provided support for maybe up to 100 carers, who will have to go without that support if we can't find alternative funding to fill this role."
Jobs are also under threat at Loanhead Community Learning Centre - a home for more than a dozen organisations such as disability groups, school groups, mother-and-baby groups and leisure facilities such as dance classes.
Centre manager Irene Hogg said: "We have an award of £32,100 over three years to help pay for our development worker, who helps the organisations that use the centre reach their full potential and brings other organisations to the centre.
"We had hoped to apply to the foundation for more funding to keep this position going.
"The foundation is well known for funding salaries, so there is a worry that losing their money may mean jobs are lost in the voluntary sector, and with them the ability to deliver services people rely on."
Epilepsy Scotland faces the loss of its national epilepsy link officer, who arranges public information events throughout the country, including Edinburgh and the Lothians.
Communications manager Allana Parker said: "Epilepsy Scotland will now have to look at other trust and foundations for a grant for this post. Many are giving reduced amounts or nothing at all to charities this year, so it will be difficult to raise this shortfall in the current economic climate.
"It's hard times when charity fundraising has to subsidise much-needed services to vulnerable people with epilepsy."
Edinburgh Cyrenians was the recipient of the one of the largest single grants in the last five years - £186,000 towards the salaries and running costs of a West Lothian drug outreach project.
Despite the loss of funding, CEO Des Ryan supported the Foundation's stance.
He said: "The foundation is not and should not be allowed to become simply an outlet for the 'corporate social responsibility' of the banking group.
"The immediate loss of income will hurt many small to medium charities in Scotland who had been looking to the foundation - including my own - but I fully support their stand against writing off their independence."
Despite posting a £6.3 billion loss last week, Lloyds Banking Group said potential future profits of the newly merged operation are now too large to allow them to siphon off 1 per cent to charity.
It offered the Foundation 0.5 per cent of the group's profits and demanded a greater say in the foundation's affairs.
Sister foundations in England and Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands accepted the deal, but the Scottish foundation said no.
The bank has now given the foundation nine years' notice of the cancellation of this covenant - effectively cutting all ties between the two - but the foundation's shrewd chief executive, Mary E Craig, maintains it has nothing to lose by going it alone.
Ms Craig said: "At the end of the day we will still receive a full 1 per cent of the profits when Lloyds Banking Group starts making money again, which for an organisation of that size should be well within the nine-year notice period.
"That will be double the amount the other foundations will be receiving in that time.
"In addition, the Foundation also owns 15.7m limited voting shares that will become ordinary shares when the covenant ends. We will be able to sell those shares to give us a large pot of cash at the end of the nine years to keep us going for the foreseeable future.
"But most importantly, we will keep our independence. Even if we accepted the LBG deal there's no guarantee that we would be able to keep funding many of the charities we've helped in the past, as the deal includes a clause which says all donations must fit in with LBG's 'corporate objectives'.
"These objectives will include charities that offer financial literacy or budgeting advice - something we already do through our funding of Citizens Advice Bureaux and Money Advice Centres - but probably won't include a Lothians community centre running a daily lunch club."
Lucy McTernan, deputy chief executive of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, called LBG's severing of ties with the foundation "a shameful decision".
She added: "Voluntary organisations in Edinburgh and the Lothians are facing really tough times at the moment.
"Demand for the services they provide, such as homelessness support and getting people back to work, have been rising rapidly for the last year, yet income has fallen significantly.
"The recession means that grant funding from trusts is drying up and local authorities are looking to the voluntary sector as an easy target for cuts."
WORTHY CAUSES
IN the last five years, the Lloyds TSB Foundation has paid out £2,290,550 to voluntary organisations in the Lothians.
This has ranged from £197,571 awarded to Midlothian Young People's Advice Service in 2005 to support the running costs of the SMART project, working to support young people and their communities in relation to drug and alcohol issues, to £724 to purchase a digital camcorder for the Bonnyrigg & Lasswade Seniors Forum.
Children's charity Children 1st has received the largest share of Foundation grants over the last five years - more than £200,000 in all.
Most of the grants have been awarded to fund the salaries of voluntary workers but they have also gone to fund lunch club meals, adventure holidays for the disabled, trips for at-risk and disadvantaged youths, special needs tricycles, a riding pony for the disabled, IT equipment and church hall refurbishments, among other worthy causes.
CORRECTION: * IN A feature on Wednesday, we reported claims that the Lloyds Banking Group had insisted that "all" future donations from the Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland must "fit in with LBG's corporate objectives". We have been asked to make it clear that LBG only asked for a minority of funded projects to be aligned to its broad objectives such as matched giving by staff.
Edinburgh Evening News
3 March 2010
IN ANY battle there is always collateral damage and the current row between The Lloyds TSB Foundation and the banking behemoth that shares its name is no different.
While the Foundation goes head-to-head with Lloyds Banking Group over a bid to force the Foundation to accept a 50 per cent cut in its funding stream and greater corporate oversight, hundreds of charities stand to lose vital cash which currently funds jobs and provides support to some of the region's most vulnerable people.
The foundation has provided more than £2 million to Lothians charities in the last five years alone, and while the continuation of existing awards has been assured, all new grant applications have been suspended pending a resolution of the dispute.
At the core of the problem is Lloyds Banking Group's decision to end a legal requirement to pay the foundation 1 per cent of its pre-tax profits - established 25 years ago when TSB demutualised to appease savers for the loss of their bank.
The argument could not have come at a worse time for the region's voluntary sector, which is already facing cuts from all four local authorities dealing with funding crises of their own.
The future of Penicuik YMCA is already uncertain as it waits to find out if it will be one of the victims of Midlothian Council's £3.5m cuts this year. It now stands to lose one of its youth workers, whose salary is funded by a £24,000 foundation grant.
Director Keith McIntosh said: "Midlothian Council is our core funder, providing us with around £45,000, and while the foundation funding is an add-on it doesn't mean we take the loss of this funding stream lightly.
"It could result in the end of one of our projects or the closure of a building."
The Lloyds TSB Foundation specialises in funding individual projects, rather than core funding, so charities do not rely upon foundation money to keep their operations afloat. But in some cases these individual projects have the potential to influence hundreds of lives, such as the £12,500 provided to Carers of East Lothian to pay the salary of a carer support worker.
Centre manager Tony Segall said: "Our support workers offer help and advice to those caring for sick or elderly relatives, and often provide respite when they need some time away. The foundation has been paying for one of our nine support workers.
"The woman who currently occupies this post is understandably very worried about her job, but it's not just about her. Over the course of the year she's provided support for maybe up to 100 carers, who will have to go without that support if we can't find alternative funding to fill this role."
Jobs are also under threat at Loanhead Community Learning Centre - a home for more than a dozen organisations such as disability groups, school groups, mother-and-baby groups and leisure facilities such as dance classes.
Centre manager Irene Hogg said: "We have an award of £32,100 over three years to help pay for our development worker, who helps the organisations that use the centre reach their full potential and brings other organisations to the centre.
"We had hoped to apply to the foundation for more funding to keep this position going.
"The foundation is well known for funding salaries, so there is a worry that losing their money may mean jobs are lost in the voluntary sector, and with them the ability to deliver services people rely on."
Epilepsy Scotland faces the loss of its national epilepsy link officer, who arranges public information events throughout the country, including Edinburgh and the Lothians.
Communications manager Allana Parker said: "Epilepsy Scotland will now have to look at other trust and foundations for a grant for this post. Many are giving reduced amounts or nothing at all to charities this year, so it will be difficult to raise this shortfall in the current economic climate.
"It's hard times when charity fundraising has to subsidise much-needed services to vulnerable people with epilepsy."
Edinburgh Cyrenians was the recipient of the one of the largest single grants in the last five years - £186,000 towards the salaries and running costs of a West Lothian drug outreach project.
Despite the loss of funding, CEO Des Ryan supported the Foundation's stance.
He said: "The foundation is not and should not be allowed to become simply an outlet for the 'corporate social responsibility' of the banking group.
"The immediate loss of income will hurt many small to medium charities in Scotland who had been looking to the foundation - including my own - but I fully support their stand against writing off their independence."
Despite posting a £6.3 billion loss last week, Lloyds Banking Group said potential future profits of the newly merged operation are now too large to allow them to siphon off 1 per cent to charity.
It offered the Foundation 0.5 per cent of the group's profits and demanded a greater say in the foundation's affairs.
Sister foundations in England and Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands accepted the deal, but the Scottish foundation said no.
The bank has now given the foundation nine years' notice of the cancellation of this covenant - effectively cutting all ties between the two - but the foundation's shrewd chief executive, Mary E Craig, maintains it has nothing to lose by going it alone.
Ms Craig said: "At the end of the day we will still receive a full 1 per cent of the profits when Lloyds Banking Group starts making money again, which for an organisation of that size should be well within the nine-year notice period.
"That will be double the amount the other foundations will be receiving in that time.
"In addition, the Foundation also owns 15.7m limited voting shares that will become ordinary shares when the covenant ends. We will be able to sell those shares to give us a large pot of cash at the end of the nine years to keep us going for the foreseeable future.
"But most importantly, we will keep our independence. Even if we accepted the LBG deal there's no guarantee that we would be able to keep funding many of the charities we've helped in the past, as the deal includes a clause which says all donations must fit in with LBG's 'corporate objectives'.
"These objectives will include charities that offer financial literacy or budgeting advice - something we already do through our funding of Citizens Advice Bureaux and Money Advice Centres - but probably won't include a Lothians community centre running a daily lunch club."
Lucy McTernan, deputy chief executive of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, called LBG's severing of ties with the foundation "a shameful decision".
She added: "Voluntary organisations in Edinburgh and the Lothians are facing really tough times at the moment.
"Demand for the services they provide, such as homelessness support and getting people back to work, have been rising rapidly for the last year, yet income has fallen significantly.
"The recession means that grant funding from trusts is drying up and local authorities are looking to the voluntary sector as an easy target for cuts."
WORTHY CAUSES
IN the last five years, the Lloyds TSB Foundation has paid out £2,290,550 to voluntary organisations in the Lothians.
This has ranged from £197,571 awarded to Midlothian Young People's Advice Service in 2005 to support the running costs of the SMART project, working to support young people and their communities in relation to drug and alcohol issues, to £724 to purchase a digital camcorder for the Bonnyrigg & Lasswade Seniors Forum.
Children's charity Children 1st has received the largest share of Foundation grants over the last five years - more than £200,000 in all.
Most of the grants have been awarded to fund the salaries of voluntary workers but they have also gone to fund lunch club meals, adventure holidays for the disabled, trips for at-risk and disadvantaged youths, special needs tricycles, a riding pony for the disabled, IT equipment and church hall refurbishments, among other worthy causes.
CORRECTION: * IN A feature on Wednesday, we reported claims that the Lloyds Banking Group had insisted that "all" future donations from the Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland must "fit in with LBG's corporate objectives". We have been asked to make it clear that LBG only asked for a minority of funded projects to be aligned to its broad objectives such as matched giving by staff.
Sunday, 14 February 2010
ANALYSIS: The Fall and Rise of Independent Winemerchants
By MARK McLAUGHLIN
Edinburgh Evening News
2 February 2010
FOR 200 years, Cockburn's of Leith has kept Edinburgh's dining tables stocked with some of the world's finest wines.
What successive wars and the great depression of the 1930s could not achieve, the recession and supermarkets' competition has done.
The wine merchant, which served Sir Walter Scott, Charles Dickens and King George IV, has been forced into administration.
It's not the first wine seller to hit the rocks in recent months - and the fear in the industry is that it will not be the last.
At the opposite end of the market, Threshers, Haddows and Wine Rack - which had around 30 stores in the Capital - have been driven to the wall by the same pressures.
While Cockburn's may have been hit by a substantial drop in orders from the major banks, it is our love of the supermarket special offers which are hitting most independent sellers hardest.
The future for many of them looks bleak, according to Steve Mudie, president of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association.
"We have seen the value of alcohol reduced by about two-thirds as multi-retailers (such as supermarkets) are now telling the producers what they're willing to pay for their product," he says.
"When the multi-retailers put the product out at a loss - and are then able to reclaim the VAT on that loss - the small independent retailer just can't compete."
The supermarkets also receive GBP 20 to GBP 30 million a year in "marketing support" from alcohol producers - to guarantee space on the shelves - allowing them to cut prices further.
"The upshot of all of this is consumers have a lower expectation of how much alcohol should cost," says Mr Mudie. "So, if you have a bottle of port that's worth about GBP 8 at market value, consumers will only expect to pay GBP 5 for it.
"The supermarkets claim their offers are all good for consumer choice, but ultimately it will be bad for consumer choice.
"Supermarkets already account for 67 per cent of the alcohol market in the UK and as their dominance increases, the prices will start to rise again with no-one around to challenge them.
"Within two years, the days of cheap supermarket alcohol may be over."
These are tough times for independent traders, says Kenneth Vannan, of Edinburgh-based wine and spirit merchant Villeneuve Wines.
"We have been very lucky in that we had an OK winter. Our only target was to do better than the previous winter and we achieved that, but it's been tough," he says.
"The closure of the First Quench [owner of Threshers, Haddows and Wine Rack] stores led to an increase in sales in two-thirds of our stores.
"All of their old stores are now up for grabs for individuals. Whether they are viable is a different matter, but if they sell interesting products, then there's no reason why they will not prosper."
Newington-based wine merchant WoodWinters' managing director Douglas Wood says it is still possible for independents to prosper. "When someone buys a bottle of wine, we give them more than just a till receipt," he says.
"We e-mail them tasting details, serving suggestions, plus a little bit of information about the region where their wine was produced, so you're adding extra value."
Will Lyons, wine critic for The Reader's Digest and The Wall Street Journal, called the closure of Cockburn's "terribly sad news".
He added: "But it's not surprising. We have seen one of the most difficult trading periods on record for the independent sector. Fortunately, Edinburgh still has a thriving independent wine scene.
"Cockburn's is such a great name, with a rich history, that I would be very surprised if there wasn't significant interest in acquiring the Cockburn's brand."
HEART OF THE WINE TRADE
LEITH was, historically, at the heart of Edinburgh's wine trade, which developed out of the "Auld Alliance".
As well as pledging Scotland and France to support one another militarily against England, the alliance gave Scottish merchants the chance to select the finest of Bordeaux's wines for export.
Cockburn's of Leith was founded by Robert Cockburn in 1796, and before its demise was the oldest surviving wine merchants in Scotland.
The Cockburn's were a well-known family - Robert's brother Henry was the legal and literary figure Lord Cockburn.
The firm shipped orders to customers all over Britain, including Sir Walter Scott and Charles Dickens - on one occasion Sir Walter Scott ordered 350 dozen bottles of wine and 36 dozen of spirits.
The company was awarded a Royal Warrant after supplying wines to King George IV for a state banquet.
In 1993, Cockburn's merged with Edinburgh's first wine warehouse at Devon Place, and in 1998 merged again with JE Hogg of Cumberland Street. It was a meeting of two of the city's best-known independent wine merchants, although Hogg's, founded in 1948, was a relative whipper-snapper.
At the time, managing director of Cockburn's, Peter Gray, predicted that increasing pressure from off-licence chains and supermarkets would spell trouble for independent merchants. He said: "It has all the makings of a disaster for the independents and if they are to survive, they will have to look at joining forces to fend off such competition."
In 2004, after a buyout, the company moved to Abbey Lane, where it remained until closing.
Edinburgh Evening News
2 February 2010
FOR 200 years, Cockburn's of Leith has kept Edinburgh's dining tables stocked with some of the world's finest wines.
What successive wars and the great depression of the 1930s could not achieve, the recession and supermarkets' competition has done.
The wine merchant, which served Sir Walter Scott, Charles Dickens and King George IV, has been forced into administration.
It's not the first wine seller to hit the rocks in recent months - and the fear in the industry is that it will not be the last.
At the opposite end of the market, Threshers, Haddows and Wine Rack - which had around 30 stores in the Capital - have been driven to the wall by the same pressures.
While Cockburn's may have been hit by a substantial drop in orders from the major banks, it is our love of the supermarket special offers which are hitting most independent sellers hardest.
The future for many of them looks bleak, according to Steve Mudie, president of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association.
"We have seen the value of alcohol reduced by about two-thirds as multi-retailers (such as supermarkets) are now telling the producers what they're willing to pay for their product," he says.
"When the multi-retailers put the product out at a loss - and are then able to reclaim the VAT on that loss - the small independent retailer just can't compete."
The supermarkets also receive GBP 20 to GBP 30 million a year in "marketing support" from alcohol producers - to guarantee space on the shelves - allowing them to cut prices further.
"The upshot of all of this is consumers have a lower expectation of how much alcohol should cost," says Mr Mudie. "So, if you have a bottle of port that's worth about GBP 8 at market value, consumers will only expect to pay GBP 5 for it.
"The supermarkets claim their offers are all good for consumer choice, but ultimately it will be bad for consumer choice.
"Supermarkets already account for 67 per cent of the alcohol market in the UK and as their dominance increases, the prices will start to rise again with no-one around to challenge them.
"Within two years, the days of cheap supermarket alcohol may be over."
These are tough times for independent traders, says Kenneth Vannan, of Edinburgh-based wine and spirit merchant Villeneuve Wines.
"We have been very lucky in that we had an OK winter. Our only target was to do better than the previous winter and we achieved that, but it's been tough," he says.
"The closure of the First Quench [owner of Threshers, Haddows and Wine Rack] stores led to an increase in sales in two-thirds of our stores.
"All of their old stores are now up for grabs for individuals. Whether they are viable is a different matter, but if they sell interesting products, then there's no reason why they will not prosper."
Newington-based wine merchant WoodWinters' managing director Douglas Wood says it is still possible for independents to prosper. "When someone buys a bottle of wine, we give them more than just a till receipt," he says.
"We e-mail them tasting details, serving suggestions, plus a little bit of information about the region where their wine was produced, so you're adding extra value."
Will Lyons, wine critic for The Reader's Digest and The Wall Street Journal, called the closure of Cockburn's "terribly sad news".
He added: "But it's not surprising. We have seen one of the most difficult trading periods on record for the independent sector. Fortunately, Edinburgh still has a thriving independent wine scene.
"Cockburn's is such a great name, with a rich history, that I would be very surprised if there wasn't significant interest in acquiring the Cockburn's brand."
HEART OF THE WINE TRADE
LEITH was, historically, at the heart of Edinburgh's wine trade, which developed out of the "Auld Alliance".
As well as pledging Scotland and France to support one another militarily against England, the alliance gave Scottish merchants the chance to select the finest of Bordeaux's wines for export.
Cockburn's of Leith was founded by Robert Cockburn in 1796, and before its demise was the oldest surviving wine merchants in Scotland.
The Cockburn's were a well-known family - Robert's brother Henry was the legal and literary figure Lord Cockburn.
The firm shipped orders to customers all over Britain, including Sir Walter Scott and Charles Dickens - on one occasion Sir Walter Scott ordered 350 dozen bottles of wine and 36 dozen of spirits.
The company was awarded a Royal Warrant after supplying wines to King George IV for a state banquet.
In 1993, Cockburn's merged with Edinburgh's first wine warehouse at Devon Place, and in 1998 merged again with JE Hogg of Cumberland Street. It was a meeting of two of the city's best-known independent wine merchants, although Hogg's, founded in 1948, was a relative whipper-snapper.
At the time, managing director of Cockburn's, Peter Gray, predicted that increasing pressure from off-licence chains and supermarkets would spell trouble for independent merchants. He said: "It has all the makings of a disaster for the independents and if they are to survive, they will have to look at joining forces to fend off such competition."
In 2004, after a buyout, the company moved to Abbey Lane, where it remained until closing.
Monday, 19 October 2009
ANALYSIS: Pirates of Finance
Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
September 9, 2009
As the Royal Bank of Scotland breaks from the pack to slash charges for customers who go overdrawn, Mark McLaughlin looks at the possible long-term effects, especially as the banking sector faces the final stage of a court challenge by the Office of Fair Trading over the validity of the fees
IT IS the great consumer rebellion, to use the words of the customers' rights champion Which?.A mass uprising of more than a million banking customers to reclaim billions of pounds' worth of unfair bank charges.
The Royal Bank of Scotland announced this week that it was slashing its charges for customers who go overdrawn.
Although it is not the first British bank to react to mounting pressure ahead of a UK Supreme Court ruling on punitive overdraft charges, its jump has been the biggest to date.
The good news is that experts believe other banks will be already weighing up the need to trim their charges in order to stay competitive.
As well as an attempt to preempt the upcoming court ruling, RBS's move has widely been seen as a direct response to Which? research that placed it at the top of a league of shame for overdraft charges earlier this summer. In other words, it's that customer revolution - and the threat of millions of us taking our money elsewhere - that has prompted action.
"We see this move as just another twist in the consumer rebellion that started around 2006, when well over a million people submitted challenges to reclaim their bank charges," says Which? personal finance campaigner Phil Jones.
"Bank charges are worth GBP 25 billion to the banks every year, so there's a lot of money at stake and the banks are taking this to the highest court in the land because they don't want to pay back the money."
In the two years since the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) launched its test case to prove that charging exorbitant amounts of cash for going over pre-agreed overdraft limits, often by little more than a few pennies, it has cut a swathe through the courts. The OFT won the first two rounds - at the High Court and the Court of Appeal, which both decided in its favour - but the banks then took it to the final court of appeal in the House of Lords.
This responsibility has now been passed on to the new UK Supreme Court and there is an expectation that it may too rule in the OFT's favour.
But regardless of the outcome of that crucial case, the consumer champions are insistent that the only way of making sure you get the most from your money is to be ready to shop around.
"Statistically, you're more likely to change your marriage partner than change your bank," says Phil Jones.
"People sign up to a bank in their youth and never change, often through fears that their standing orders or direct debits will go astray, but this is how people end up getting a raw deal.
"Changing is easier than many people think and most banks will offer to bring your direct debits over without any hassle, and if any do go astray the bank really should be reimbursing you."
While consumer groups have lauded RBS's decision as a step in the right direction, they point out it still only gives the bank a mid-table ranking in the Which? league of shame.
Other banks that appear to be offering a good deal on unauthorised overdrafts, they warn, may be clawing it back from other charges.
Halifax Bank of Scotland, for example, gets a glowing report in the unauthorised overdraft table, with charges of just GBP 15, but were found to be charging huge authorised overdraft charges of GBP 108 a year. HBOS defends its charges, pointing out it has an easy to follow structure.
"The account is based on a simple daily charging structure for using an overdraft -GBP 1 a day for using an arranged overdraft up to GBP 2,500 and GBP 2 a day for arranged overdraft balances above this," said an HBOS spokesman.
The advice for anyone who is unhappy with their bank is simply to shop around, but don't just look at unauthorised overdraft charges, warns price comparison website moneysupermarket.com. These charges are not the only way the banks make their money at your expense.
Some banks pile payment charges - where customers have paid for an item when there wasn't enough money in the account - on top of the unauthorised overdraft charge and they can often be more expensive.
Nationwide, for example, charges GBP 20 for the unauthorised overdraft, and GBP 30 for the unpaid item.
Ian Williams, director of communications at moneysupermarket.com, says: "Some banks have already made a move to reduce their bank charges, so RBS isn't the first. It's a competitive market so other banks will follow suit if appropriate.
"The banks have always argued that their charges reflect the costs associated with managing unauthorised borrowing. If this is the case, I would question how they have been able to reduce their costs so significantly."
UNAUTHORISED overdraft charges (GBP )
You pay heavily for going overdrawn without arranging it with the bank first
HSBC [a] 0
Halifax/Bank of Scotland [b] 15
Barclays [c] 22
Northern Rock 28
Cahoot 30
Nationwide 41.5
Lloyds TSB 42
Natwest/RBS 70
Abbey 65
First Direct 75
Smile/Co-operative Bank [d] 80
Norwich & Peterborough BS 88
Alliance & Leicester 90
Table shows what banks in Britain charge for an unauthorised overdraft of GBP 30 for three days, including charges for a GBP 10 cheque on day one, a GBP 10 direct debit on day two and a GBP 10 standing order on day three that the bank pays. Figures don't include interest. [a] Assumes customer has had an overdraft review in the last six months. HSBC doesn't charge for paid items of GBP 10 or less, but charges would be applied for paid items of more than GBP 10. [b] If account funded with GBP 1000 a month, customer gets GBP 5 credit monthly regardless of unauthorised borrowing. [c] GBP 22 reserve usage fee (one fee per five consecutive working days). [d] Assumes this is not the first informal overdraft during the year, so therefore the service charge of GBP 20 has been included.
AUTHORISED overdraft charges (GBP )
The charges that you pay per month for an arranged overdraft vary widely
First Direct 17
Cahoot 21
Norwich & Peterborough BS 21(Gold Account)
Abbey 28 (Preferred Overdraft current account)
NatWest/RBS 33
Smile 34
Nationwide 40
Lloyds TSB 40
Barclays 41
Co-operative Bank 54
Alliance & Leicester 60(Overdraft cost after 1 yr)
HSBC 67
Halifax/Bank of Scotland 108
Northern Rock 110
Table shows annual cost of a GBP 500 authorised overdraft for 2 weeks a month with British banks, assuming you pay in GBP 1000 a month.
Edinburgh Evening News
September 9, 2009
As the Royal Bank of Scotland breaks from the pack to slash charges for customers who go overdrawn, Mark McLaughlin looks at the possible long-term effects, especially as the banking sector faces the final stage of a court challenge by the Office of Fair Trading over the validity of the fees
IT IS the great consumer rebellion, to use the words of the customers' rights champion Which?.A mass uprising of more than a million banking customers to reclaim billions of pounds' worth of unfair bank charges.
The Royal Bank of Scotland announced this week that it was slashing its charges for customers who go overdrawn.
Although it is not the first British bank to react to mounting pressure ahead of a UK Supreme Court ruling on punitive overdraft charges, its jump has been the biggest to date.
The good news is that experts believe other banks will be already weighing up the need to trim their charges in order to stay competitive.
As well as an attempt to preempt the upcoming court ruling, RBS's move has widely been seen as a direct response to Which? research that placed it at the top of a league of shame for overdraft charges earlier this summer. In other words, it's that customer revolution - and the threat of millions of us taking our money elsewhere - that has prompted action.
"We see this move as just another twist in the consumer rebellion that started around 2006, when well over a million people submitted challenges to reclaim their bank charges," says Which? personal finance campaigner Phil Jones.
"Bank charges are worth GBP 25 billion to the banks every year, so there's a lot of money at stake and the banks are taking this to the highest court in the land because they don't want to pay back the money."
In the two years since the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) launched its test case to prove that charging exorbitant amounts of cash for going over pre-agreed overdraft limits, often by little more than a few pennies, it has cut a swathe through the courts. The OFT won the first two rounds - at the High Court and the Court of Appeal, which both decided in its favour - but the banks then took it to the final court of appeal in the House of Lords.
This responsibility has now been passed on to the new UK Supreme Court and there is an expectation that it may too rule in the OFT's favour.
But regardless of the outcome of that crucial case, the consumer champions are insistent that the only way of making sure you get the most from your money is to be ready to shop around.
"Statistically, you're more likely to change your marriage partner than change your bank," says Phil Jones.
"People sign up to a bank in their youth and never change, often through fears that their standing orders or direct debits will go astray, but this is how people end up getting a raw deal.
"Changing is easier than many people think and most banks will offer to bring your direct debits over without any hassle, and if any do go astray the bank really should be reimbursing you."
While consumer groups have lauded RBS's decision as a step in the right direction, they point out it still only gives the bank a mid-table ranking in the Which? league of shame.
Other banks that appear to be offering a good deal on unauthorised overdrafts, they warn, may be clawing it back from other charges.
Halifax Bank of Scotland, for example, gets a glowing report in the unauthorised overdraft table, with charges of just GBP 15, but were found to be charging huge authorised overdraft charges of GBP 108 a year. HBOS defends its charges, pointing out it has an easy to follow structure.
"The account is based on a simple daily charging structure for using an overdraft -GBP 1 a day for using an arranged overdraft up to GBP 2,500 and GBP 2 a day for arranged overdraft balances above this," said an HBOS spokesman.
The advice for anyone who is unhappy with their bank is simply to shop around, but don't just look at unauthorised overdraft charges, warns price comparison website moneysupermarket.com. These charges are not the only way the banks make their money at your expense.
Some banks pile payment charges - where customers have paid for an item when there wasn't enough money in the account - on top of the unauthorised overdraft charge and they can often be more expensive.
Nationwide, for example, charges GBP 20 for the unauthorised overdraft, and GBP 30 for the unpaid item.
Ian Williams, director of communications at moneysupermarket.com, says: "Some banks have already made a move to reduce their bank charges, so RBS isn't the first. It's a competitive market so other banks will follow suit if appropriate.
"The banks have always argued that their charges reflect the costs associated with managing unauthorised borrowing. If this is the case, I would question how they have been able to reduce their costs so significantly."
UNAUTHORISED overdraft charges (GBP )
You pay heavily for going overdrawn without arranging it with the bank first
HSBC [a] 0
Halifax/Bank of Scotland [b] 15
Barclays [c] 22
Northern Rock 28
Cahoot 30
Nationwide 41.5
Lloyds TSB 42
Natwest/RBS 70
Abbey 65
First Direct 75
Smile/Co-operative Bank [d] 80
Norwich & Peterborough BS 88
Alliance & Leicester 90
Table shows what banks in Britain charge for an unauthorised overdraft of GBP 30 for three days, including charges for a GBP 10 cheque on day one, a GBP 10 direct debit on day two and a GBP 10 standing order on day three that the bank pays. Figures don't include interest. [a] Assumes customer has had an overdraft review in the last six months. HSBC doesn't charge for paid items of GBP 10 or less, but charges would be applied for paid items of more than GBP 10. [b] If account funded with GBP 1000 a month, customer gets GBP 5 credit monthly regardless of unauthorised borrowing. [c] GBP 22 reserve usage fee (one fee per five consecutive working days). [d] Assumes this is not the first informal overdraft during the year, so therefore the service charge of GBP 20 has been included.
AUTHORISED overdraft charges (GBP )
The charges that you pay per month for an arranged overdraft vary widely
First Direct 17
Cahoot 21
Norwich & Peterborough BS 21(Gold Account)
Abbey 28 (Preferred Overdraft current account)
NatWest/RBS 33
Smile 34
Nationwide 40
Lloyds TSB 40
Barclays 41
Co-operative Bank 54
Alliance & Leicester 60(Overdraft cost after 1 yr)
HSBC 67
Halifax/Bank of Scotland 108
Northern Rock 110
Table shows annual cost of a GBP 500 authorised overdraft for 2 weeks a month with British banks, assuming you pay in GBP 1000 a month.
NEWS: RBS in Fraud Probe
Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
February 2, 2009
THE Royal Bank of Scotland is investigating an alleged insurance mis-selling plot at one of its Edinburgh branches.
Six members of staff, including the branch manager, are understood to have been suspended following claims they were double-selling insurance in order to secure higher bonuses. They are also said to have enticed customers with promises they would be entered into a prize draw which they had no chance of winning.
RBS has two tiers of home insurance - standard and elite - and the staff are said to have been using a system which confused customers into signing up for both.
When customers agreed to buy one tier of insurance, they were sent paper work for both, leading many to wrongly sign and return the two sets. Those customers were then charged twice and the staff claimed double points towards the bonuses awarded to their branch.
One RBS source said: "The customers invariably became confused and signed both of the policies and sent them back - perhaps thinking it was a duplicate of the same form - and so would be signed up to two insurance policies and charged twice.
"The bank awards 110 bonus points for each policy sold, and staff were claiming points for each policy they sent out, meaning they were getting double points each time."
Employees in the best branches stood to win a GBP 400 prize and larger annual prizes such as holidays.
The branch involved, which has around a dozen employees, is said to have just been docked almost 10,000 points, suggesting around 90 customers may have been double charged.
It is understood a senior manager spotted discrepancies between the number of policies sold and the number of customers.
The source claimed staff were under "intense pressure" to sell the products, and that the pressure had intensified as the effects of the banking crisis took its toll on RBS.
The staff are also said to have signed customers up to the bank's New Year's Resolution prize draw under false pretences.
"It was basically a hook to draw customers in. Customers were supposed to be entered into a draw to win GBP 5000," said the source.
"Staff would phone up and offer a variety of products based on the customer's resolution for their finances. The branch ran out of official forms, but continued to take details.
"Customers were promised they would be entered into a prize draw, but they had no chance of winning.
"The draw was due to take place on January 10, but staff were still offering prizes on the 10th in order to solicit business."
The source claimed customers have not yet been refunded.
RBS said an investigation was underway into the allegations, but refused to confirm or deny whether the staff had been suspended. An RBS spokeswoman said: "RBS takes such allegations extremely seriously and always investigates them thoroughly.
"We have rigorous processes in place which we regularly review to ensure that all staff carry out their duties in full compliance with our policies and procedures.
"If there is ever any evidence of wrongdoing, we immediately take appropriate action. It would be entirely inappropriate to make a comment on this matter at this time as it is still the subject of an ongoing investigation."
Banks can face severe penalties for mis-selling insurance, but action is usually taken by the Financial Services Authority in cases involving far larger numbers of customers. The RBS source said police had not been contacted.
Edinburgh Evening News
February 2, 2009
THE Royal Bank of Scotland is investigating an alleged insurance mis-selling plot at one of its Edinburgh branches.
Six members of staff, including the branch manager, are understood to have been suspended following claims they were double-selling insurance in order to secure higher bonuses. They are also said to have enticed customers with promises they would be entered into a prize draw which they had no chance of winning.
RBS has two tiers of home insurance - standard and elite - and the staff are said to have been using a system which confused customers into signing up for both.
When customers agreed to buy one tier of insurance, they were sent paper work for both, leading many to wrongly sign and return the two sets. Those customers were then charged twice and the staff claimed double points towards the bonuses awarded to their branch.
One RBS source said: "The customers invariably became confused and signed both of the policies and sent them back - perhaps thinking it was a duplicate of the same form - and so would be signed up to two insurance policies and charged twice.
"The bank awards 110 bonus points for each policy sold, and staff were claiming points for each policy they sent out, meaning they were getting double points each time."
Employees in the best branches stood to win a GBP 400 prize and larger annual prizes such as holidays.
The branch involved, which has around a dozen employees, is said to have just been docked almost 10,000 points, suggesting around 90 customers may have been double charged.
It is understood a senior manager spotted discrepancies between the number of policies sold and the number of customers.
The source claimed staff were under "intense pressure" to sell the products, and that the pressure had intensified as the effects of the banking crisis took its toll on RBS.
The staff are also said to have signed customers up to the bank's New Year's Resolution prize draw under false pretences.
"It was basically a hook to draw customers in. Customers were supposed to be entered into a draw to win GBP 5000," said the source.
"Staff would phone up and offer a variety of products based on the customer's resolution for their finances. The branch ran out of official forms, but continued to take details.
"Customers were promised they would be entered into a prize draw, but they had no chance of winning.
"The draw was due to take place on January 10, but staff were still offering prizes on the 10th in order to solicit business."
The source claimed customers have not yet been refunded.
RBS said an investigation was underway into the allegations, but refused to confirm or deny whether the staff had been suspended. An RBS spokeswoman said: "RBS takes such allegations extremely seriously and always investigates them thoroughly.
"We have rigorous processes in place which we regularly review to ensure that all staff carry out their duties in full compliance with our policies and procedures.
"If there is ever any evidence of wrongdoing, we immediately take appropriate action. It would be entirely inappropriate to make a comment on this matter at this time as it is still the subject of an ongoing investigation."
Banks can face severe penalties for mis-selling insurance, but action is usually taken by the Financial Services Authority in cases involving far larger numbers of customers. The RBS source said police had not been contacted.
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