Barfly: Horses for business courses

AT FIRST glance there doesn’t appear to be an obvious connection, but a new venture is convinced that horses can play a role in the boardroom.

Lead Rope, which is based near Lockerbie and run by horse-lovers Mioto Dunnington and Nicole Simpson, has developed an “equine assisted development” programme which utilises ponies in non-ridden activities. It is designed to help business folk with “stress management, team building and conflict resolution”, as well as improve their “problem solving, decision making and creative thinking skills”.

Certainly makes a change from paint-ball.

Credibility down the pan

SOCIAL networking site Linkedin has been described as Facebook for business people using it as a forum to boast about their achievements. So it came as an eyebrow-raiser when the director of a luxury housebuilder in Edinburgh announced on his profile that he had “done a poo”, which his contacts in the business world were probably not very keen to know. Shortly thereafter, he posted a profuse apology – apparently his children had happened upon an opportunity to “frape” (the term used to describe someone hijacking your social media outlet) his profile. Perhaps there is a lesson in the old adage: never work with animals or children.

Bonzer beer exports

The land that gave us Foster’s, Castlemaine XXXX and other fuel for lager lovers is set to be taken over by a new red head – or at least a ginger beer.

Williams Brothers has signed up Melbourne-based Brook Brothers to distribute its Scottish alcoholic ginger beer in Australia, building on an existing contract to sell Brothers Cider.

Exports are nothing new for Williams Brothers though – the firm has traditionally shipped beer to North America, Scandinavia and other parts of Europe but has also signed up customers in Asia and eastern Europe in more recent years.

Let’s hope the firm will be toasting success with its latest venture. Barfly will drink to that.