People: When chit-chat at work is welcome words in here

Published on Friday 20 August 2010 14:34

THE "world's smallest conference centre" comes to the Scottish capital next week when Andy Green brings his "creativity doctor" service to the Edinburgh International Marketing Festival (EIMF).

Green will be visiting businesses on Wednesday to deliver his 49-minute "One Man Pecha Kucha" - Japanese for "chit-chat" - in which he will condense 30 years of experience and five books on creativity into talks for small groups.

He will also use his travelling conference centre to deliver one-to-one advice surgeries in firms' offices, "to help solve problems, spot opportunities and provide tips and advice to improve creative and flexible thinking skills".

Green says: "The festival is about celebrating creativity - so we are putting it into practice - by bringing the festival to different workplaces around Edinburgh and sharing the buzz and inspiration."

On Monday, The Scotsman's own Bill Jamieson will be chairing the judging panel at the "brands of the future" competition, where six Scottish firms will be slugging it out for the top title and 8,000-worth of business advice.

Julie McElroy, star of the BBC2 series Beyond Boundaries, is getting creative when it comes to her latest venture - she wants the Scottish financial community to help her set up a "business hub", which would allow disabled people to work alongside their able-bodied counterparts and improve companies' performances.

McElroy, who has cerebral palsy, acts as a motivational speaker. For more details about her project, email [e-mail]

Meanwhile, Lloyds Banking Group has also been getting creative when it comes to filling vacancies.

Alison Nicolson, former area director for Glasgow and the West of Scotland, and Jane Clark-Hutchison, previously head of sales compliance, are to take on the dual appointment as head of business development on a job-share basis.

Ian Pearson, the former Treasury and business minister and chief executive of a private equity company, has been appointed as a senior adviser to Maven Capital Partners, the private equity business created in a buy-out from Aberdeen Asset Management.

New face on board for McGill's Buses' Barrhead depot

COLIN Napier is hopping on board McGill's Buses as he takes up the position of eastern area manager.

Napier, formerly of Coakley Buses & McKindless Buses, will be in charge of the company's Barrhead depot and will be responsible for the expansion of its Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire networks.

Greenock-based McGill's runs more than 130 buses on 40 routes, employing 250 staff. Managing director Ralph Roberts joined from Arriva in June.

Staying with transport, and RH Freight has hired two freight account amanagers for its Glasgow branch.

Ryan Redpath and Scott Wilson are part of RH's plan to grow its sales force at its 14 depots from 100 to 140 over the next two years. Commercial director Peter Isler says: "Despite the challenging environment, we believe it's crucial to invest in our team at the current time to achieve our long-term goals."

The newly appointed freight account managers were recently brought together from all over the country to RH's Nottingham headquarters.

GOOD DAY

GERMANY may have managed only third place at the World Cup in South Africa, but the country's finance minister is toasting an extra bit of froth to the nation's coffers. Tax income rose sharply last month on the back of bumper beer sales. The government said income from tax on beer was €73 million (60m) in July, up 9.1 per cent compared to the same period last year.

BAD DAY

Philipp Schindler

GOOGLE'S vice-president for northern and central Europe was forced to defend the website's "street view" online application following concerns over privacy. Schindler says that only in Germany are consumers given the right to opt out of having their homes shown on street view - which shows photographs of buildings - before the feature has even started.