Business Gazetteer - Uniform approach seems to pay dividends

Published on Sunday 14 December 2008 20:20

WHEN NKD Clothing designed the new uniforms for One Devonshire Gardens, NKD owner Gill Eastgate was no doubt hoping for a good reaction from the Glasgow hotel.

But, while waiting to put on a fashion show to let the hotel's bosses see her creations, one of the executives sidled up to Eastgate.

He asked if she could hurry the model along to get changed into a uniform – not realising that the model was already wearing one of his venue's reception dresses.

When the executive was told of his mistake, he said: "Bloody hell, I thought it was her own dress."

Eastgate said: "We are firm believers that staff should look as good, if not better, in their work clothes so I was happy with the client's mistake. However, it was quite amusing he had not recognised his own reception outfit.

"The poor model wondered why things weren't kicking off. She looked great in the dress."

Other companies for which NKD has designed include the De Vere and Malmaison hotel groups.

KILLER QUOTE

WE ARE in a nasty global recession and oil demand will be affected by that. But we are still not drilling enough holes to get enough out of the ground to replace that which we are using even at these lower levels"

Bob Doll, global chief investment officer of equities at BlackRock

GOOD DAY

Ross and Bonnyman

THE Noise Abatement Society has presented the John Connell Award for Technology to Ross & Bonnyman, the Forfar-based maker of doors and lifts for commercial vehicles.

Alan Honig, Ross & Bonnyman's managing director, collected the prize from Celia Barlow MP at the House of Commons.

BAD DAY

Small Scottish businesses

FAILING technology costs small Scottish firms an average of 10,000 through lost business, according to a survey by mobile phone company O2.

More than eight out of ten Scottish businesses said they had lost contracts through not being able to keep in touch with customers and suppliers due to failing IT.

FACT OF THE DAY

$5tn

ABOUT $5 trillion (3.3tn) has been wiped off the value of private sector pension funds around the world by falling stock markets, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

By October 2008, the total assets of private pension plans in OECD countries had dropped by nearly 20 per cent of their value compared with December 2007, when their assets stood at $28tn.