Big Business Bosses Being Used - Says Cable

Vince Cable speaking in today's Guardian says that businessmen on inflated salaries lecturing the rest of Britain on how to run the country are "utterly nauseating" and "being used" by the Conservative party. This is of course in response to 80 of them signing the Conservative co-ordinated letter on the single issue of National Insurance contributions. As Vince says:

"I just find it utterly nauseating all these chairmen and chief executives of FTSE companies being paid 100 times the pay of their average employees lecturing us on how we should run the country. I find it barefaced cheek."

As is pointed out the fact that Cameron is also asking that senior managers in the public sector should not get paid more that 20 times that of the lowest paid in their organisation would mean that vast majority, if not all, of those 80 signatories would have to take a pay cut to meet such a cap*. Aiden Harvey of Tullow Oil would be top of the heap having to cut his pay by £27m.

Of course there is no mention of the private sector having to following the same restraints as the public sector, how else would Dave get them onside. But as Vince points out this is a dangerous game for a politician who would be Prime Minister to play: We've been there before and being at the behest of business and the city got us into the mess we are in now:

"Brown, having kowtowed to the City for the best part of a decade, and having tried to co-opt captains of industry into the big tent, is in a very weak position."

Vince Cable also says that in the first week of the campaign the Labservatives have not answered the important question of how they will cut the structural deficit the country faces. In other words they are still avoiding that question asked on the Chancellor's debate that only Vince answered with what and how, rather than the when of Darling Osborne. As he points out for six months before the election the Tories were saying the deficit was the number one concern.:

"[They said] we are going to have a collapse of sterling, lack of confidence, bond markets evaporating, but then in the first week of the election, instead of focusing on the deficit, they say waste and efficiency are going to be dealing with the deficit, so completely evading the main issue.

"I am all in favour of getting rid of waste and inefficiency, but what is now being shown by people looking at critically is that it is not an easy route. It is in fact cuts by any other name".

He has pointed out that the Lib Dems have highlighted £10bn above the Government plans that will halve the deficit by 2013-14. That is dealing with the macro-economics of the situation rather than Osborne fiddling about with the micro-economics to suit his parties suitors, as well as the Osborne and Cameron estates.

* The 10 FTSE 100 bosses who signed definitely all fail the public sector cap test.

Local Investment Secured for Town Centres Welcome

Tam Smith has posted a question for me on an older blog entry. He asks:

"Stephen,What do you think of the almost 3 million pounds worth of Town Centre regeneration funding provided by an SNP administration for the constituency we represent.

"We have all been working hard with local groups and our partners in Holyrood to secure such funding thus providing much needed jobs in construction as well as adding a facelift to local shops etc.Where were the Lib Dems when all of this was going on.Come on Stephen let's be positive and work together for the benefit of our local areas.I can assure you it wasn't easy taking part in the bids but it was more worthwhile than critisising [sic] ones web page postings. Tam."

Firstly I welcome the the £2.345 million investment that the SNP administration are earmarking for the town centres of Linlithgow, Bathgate, Armadale and Whitburn. Also for the extra funding that Bathgate's Business Improvement District (BID) Company, Enterprising Bathgate, have also secured from the Scottish Parliament. Although neither of us currently represent any part of the constituency, although very shortly we may both be seeking to do so for all of it.

As for where the Lib Dems have been Tam should ask local business owners just who turned up at their crisis meeting here in Bathgate in June 2005? I'll give you a clue it wasn't any of the local councillors, the MP, MSPs, or 3 of the other parliamentary candidates of the month before. The Lib Dems truly did show they worked for local interests all year round not just at election times. As well as that I've attended meetings about the impact of paid parking to business, residents and others in Linlithgow. As well as meetings that led to Linlithgow becoming a shining beacon of environmentalism in the county.

I've been advocating and been fighting for a fair deal for Whitburn, Armdale, Bathgate, Linlithgow and the other West Lothian town centres that have seemed to suffer in the eight years I have lived here while the Livingston shopping experience grows and increases in size and pull. I've always been there to offer advise and support in their attempts to get a fair deal for themselves, something that the businesses have driven themselves moving forward. I've been working away hard, on the ground, moving things forward for years.

Indeed there are councillors on both side of the council chamber and our independent councillor who know that I already will happily work with them on issues of mutual interest. Tam should have known from our meetings, or from discussion with his colleagues, that I would have been happy to discuss involvement with such an incentive, yet he lays it down as a challenge, almost as if I and the Lib Dems have done nothing.

Sadly knowing as I do the number of businesses that have already disappeared from many of these town centres the investment is too late for some local business owners. But this investment is better late than never.

In March 2008 the Council said it would be matching the BID funding in Bathgate to make a total of £750,000. Though at the start of this year Enterprise Bathgate valued at £990,000 the benefit their funding would bring to the town where I live. Tam, himself, does seem a little confused about the exact benefit of the Enterprising Bathgate portion of the funding, he starts by saying that West Lothian Council and Enterprising Bathgate are investing a further £800,000 into the pot, then later says that it is £935,000 from Enterprising Bathgate topped up with £260,000 from the council. Maybe he would like to clarify which of the three figures is the correct one.

With so many conflicting figures it is hard for the electorate to discern just what level of investment is to be given. The news was too late for this weeks local papers, so I will get the facts straightened when they are available for everyone.

I've borrowed from Tam's website the full list of the projects that will be included:

Armadale

● develop transport and town centre connections by improving access and developing the streetscape, pedestrian walkways and cycle routes.

● refurbish the Goth Tower clock, together with town centre shopfront improvements and signage.

● develop the public realm at The Cross.


Linlithgow

● improvement to connections between the town centre/rail station/union canal, focusing on Low Port as a gateway.

● improvements in the Conservation Area to retail and business shop fronts together with improved signage.

● in partnership with Historic Scotland develop better connections between the Town Centre and Linlithgow Palace, including improved event access, signage, heritage conservation and other physical developments.

● re-location of new heritage facility into the Burgh Halls.


Whitburn

● address safer connections at The Cross and links to residential areas, transport sites and car parking sites, including measures to enhance mobility, pedestrian and cycle use.

● improvements in the town centre to retail and business shop fronts together with improved signage and better streetscape layout.

● acquisition of derelict land site in Whitburn Town Centre and restoration for development.

Bathgate

● The creation of a town centre Wi-Fi zone in Bathgate for customers and businesses.

● Develop town centre cycle network linking park and ride/transport interchange/town centre, regal conference/Arts Facility/Lindsay house including cycling provisions at each site along with signage.

● The provision of new and improved signage/retail frontage within core business to in Bathgate.

● The provision of a transport interchange to connect Bathgate and Airdrie including new signage, lighting and public information.

There is also £350,000 for Bo'ness and Grangemouth at the northern end of the Westminster constituency which had been secured in the first tranche of funding earlier this year as part of the BID pilot projects.

UPDATE: I notice that the BBC indicates that the Scottish Parliament is investing £1.7 million in to Armadale, Almondvale (what more!!!) and Broxburn. Now I know Linlithgow have got £94k from the Climate Challenge fund, even if Enterprise Bathgate is a seperate endeavour, I take it then than Council funding is coming for the Whitburn elements.

PS I notice that the criticism of Tam's use of quotes on his webpage was taken on board and was actually praised for doing so last night. I'm hoping for an honest campaign heading into the Westminster election, the people deserve transparency and openness in their Westminster representative when they get to decide on who that should be.

SNP Losing Support of Business

While it may retain some high profile businessmen like Sir Tom Hunter and Sir George Mathewson the SNP are losing the overall support of Scottish Business says CBI Scotland leader Iain McMillan.

Talking to the Scotsman he cites episodes such as Diageo being "bullied" over its restructuring plans, the cancellation of the Glasgow airport rail link (GARL) without consultation, the blocking of private sector involvement in running hospitals and prisons and the slashing of the enterprise budget by £74 million next year. He says the SNP are pushing a very public sector agenda at the expense of local private enterprise. A position that was not helped by Nicola Strugeon saying at the recent conference in Inverness:

"We will never put private profit before public services."

One possible exception recently might have been if you were an American property developer. McMillan says there are 'grave concerns' across the business community and that the minimum pricing of alcohol recently was just the tip of the iceberg, saying:

"Minimum pricing is only the latest in a long line of matters coming from the Scottish Government causing businesses serious concern," he said.

"The appalling way Diageo was treated over its plans to restructure its business, with the First Minister going on the protest rally even though the company was investing £100m in Fife was quite outrageous. We are also angry about the cancellation of GARL with no prior consultation, and then we have the fiasco over the Scottish Futures Trust."

He added in response to Ms Sturgeon's speech:

"Ms Sturgeon's speech that private profit should not come before public services completely misses the point that the two should work in tandem."

McMillan is not alone in his criticism David Watt, head of the Institute of Directors in Scotland said:

"We were quite disturbed over the treatment of Diageo and over the taking away of money from the enterprise budget. The Scottish Government does not seem to have grasped the ramifications of this.

"It also seems completely wrong to cancel infrastructure projects such as GARL when we should be building as much as we can to support the economy and prepare it for the recovery."

While Liz Cameron chief executive of Scottish Chambers of Commerce added:

"If you see the health budget increasing by £94m and the enterprise budget reduced by £74m, it does not suggest the government's first priority to grow the Scottish economy.

"This is not about greedy businesses wanting more money. It is about supporting the economy and social wellbeing of Scotland, which can only be done if people have jobs and an income."

Even the Federation for Small Business is saying that despite it members benefting from a cut in small business rates that it believes small businesses in England are actually receiving much better support.

That was certainly something that we looked to achieve in the Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment in Northern Ireland when I worked there. The heads of the CBI and FSB in Northern Ireland was often consulted and indeed worked closely with that department to encourage business development and sustainability in Northern Ireland. The need in tough financial times for the public and private sectors to work in closer tandem are even greater.

Therefore for the head of the CBI in Scotland to make such a direct statement against the policies here shows a clear break down somewhere. For a party that says on one hand that Scottish business is worthy of world consideration but on the other hand they fail to heed it themselves shows where their priorities really lie.

Golf Week Says Trump Not Playing the Game

There is an article in this week's Golf Week (hattip to Two Doctors) which remonstrates Trump's two headed move into Scottish golf.

First they are very strong about the recent decision of Aberdeenshire Council not ruling out compulsory nature. While there is nothing in the Royal and Ancient's Rules of Golf condemning it Golf Week says:

"The prospect of four families being turned out of their homes for the sake of a golf course does not bear thinking about. I’m sure whole villages have been shifted in other parts of the world to make room for golf courses, but we’re supposed to be civilized over here. Imagine what the families feel like not knowing if they are going to continue living in their own home."

Yes we are supposed to be civilised. The Rules of Golf rely on the competitor marking his own score card. Being honest about a muffed hit if it contacts the ball etc. the rules are very much gentlemanly. Trump may swing a club, but is he really playing the game in his approach to his Menie estate project.

Trump and his lawyers will be saying that they are scanning the full essence of the law, others will argue otherwise, however let's assume for a moment that they are. That may be the case but surely there is some room for the spirit of the laws and fair play as all golfers will tell you is as much part of the game as words in the little book in their bag.

But Trump will argue his he the saviour of the Aberdeenshire economy. This appears to be a line that many on Aberdeenshire Council and the Scottish Executive are taking as a written. Alistair Tait in Golf Week is prepared to stand up to the entrepreneur, better than many of his 'apprentices' and say that isn't necessarily so. He points to other Golf Leisure resorts including Open venue Turnberry where a recent £85 million investment from Leisurecorp is going to take a long time to recoup.

He goes on to say why an upstart should get going any better than an historic course like Turnberry, especially as the property developers mantra of location, location, location is somewhat against it. Turnberry down in Ayrshire has a longer season than Aberdeen, and longer late autumnal days as well.

But there are other financial reasons that Trump is facing, there are already a number of high-end golf resorts in Scotland. Many courses where you can spend £150 to play 18 holes, when they are many gems that are a lot cheaper to indulge in.

But then it goes on to the battle Trump has entered into at the home of golf St. Andrew's to try and acquire the old university residence of Hamilton 'Hammy' Hall. Townsfolk there are already upset that preferential tee times are being given to the wealthy patron of the Old Course Hotel and fear that the acquisition by Trump or Herb Kohler who owns the Old Course Hotel. However, there is a local hope in a consortium fronted by Richard Wax. The former course designer is concerned that another part of St. Andrews heritage would fall into the hands of only the wealthy elite, severing further the ancient message of accessibility for all. He says:

"The town’s core message is 'golf for all' but increasingly 'Private/Keep Out' signals are being generated to the detriment of the image of the town"

"Our project is conceived to regenerate the economic life of St. Andrews and Fife. It would bring quality business into town on a year-round basis for the benefit of hotels, bed and breakfasts and the commercial activity across the board."

We've yet to see how this second front of wealth seeping into golf turns out. But the fact that a top golfing publication is challenging the Trump project may well make the entrepreneur shank his opening drive out on the tee box this morning.

Bhoy Bans the Black Stuff

You know I'm kind of wishing that should Labour manage to hang on to Livingston whenever Jim Devine finally goes that the researcher who has left (and has still not recieved the travel payments owed) gets employed as the new MPs researcher. I'm not just saying that as they are a relative of a good friend but because of the following.

Jim Devine has decided that the people of Scotland should take action against against Diageo on August 12th. Now that is good. But Jim Devine has only named one Diageo product and from the title you can guess which Irish favourite that would be. Quite a statement for a Celtic fan to ban his fellow fans possible favoured tipple. The issue is that if you want to strike a message to the giant producer Diageo what is wrong with the rest of their product range, here is where a little research comes into playing. By the power of Google within 20 seconds I was directed to the Wikipedia page for Diageo which list all their products, so Jim what is wrong with boycotting the rest of these on August 12th?

Diageo is the holding company for some of the most recognizable alcohol brands, including:

• Beer: Guinness, Smithwick's, Red Stripe, Harp Lager, Kilkenny, Kaliber (non alcoholic)
• Scotch whisky: Johnnie Walker, Justerini & Brooks (J&B), Bell's, Black & White, Vat 69, Oban, Talisker, Lagavulin, Glen Ord, Glenkinchie, Dalwhinnie, Cragganmore
• Baijiu: Shui Jing Fang
• Vodka: Smirnoff (Smirnov in Russia), Cîroc, Silent Sam, Popov, Ketel One
• Gin: Gordon's, Tanqueray, Gilbey's, Booth's
• Rum: Captain Morgan, Bundaberg, Pampero, Myers'
• Bourbon: Bulleit Canadian whisky: Crown Royal, Seagram's
• Irish whiskey: Bushmills
• Tennessee whiskey: George Dickel Tequila: Don Julio, José Cuervo
• Schnapps: Black Haus, Goldschläger, Rumple Minze
• Mixed drinks: Archers, Pimm's, TGI Friday's
• Liqueur: Baileys, Sheridans, Yukon Jack, Godiva's
• Wines: Sterling Vineyards, Piat d'Or, Barton & Guestier, Beaulieu Vineyard, Blossom Hill, Canoe Ridge Vineyard, Acacia, Chalone, Provenance, and Rosenblum.

That's just for starters Jim or are you just trying to blame this all on the Irish. When Grand Metropolitan were an equal partner is setting up Diageo in 1997 and have actually saved a number of Scottish Whiskys as a result, something that has been forgotten a little in the latest Johnny Walker controversy.

Not that Innocent?

One of the things I loved about the success of Innocent the smoothies and natural drink manufacturers was that they weren't some big corporation trying to hitch unto the socially conscious bandwagon. However, now that Coca Cola have invested £30million for a 10-20% stake in the company I hope that the principles and morals of the company will not be swamped to appease their new partner.

The fact that PepsiCo had already bought up rivals PJ Smoothies four years ago does make one look at the purchase of Innocent in a different light. Is this the latest step in the war between the two global giants? Are they shifting their concentration from the highly sugared carbonated market as their customers are becoming more conscious of their health.

The co-founders of Innocent Richard Reed, Adam Balon and Jon Wright do insist that the ethos of their company will not shift with the investment of Coca Cola but this injection of cash plus the experience of their new partner will help them expand into the European market. I hope you are right guys and do not lose the heart of what your product is all about.