Brand new way to launch a pub chain

SCOTTISH & Newcastle plays up to its role as a brand-led company, but few breweries could claim to have as loyal a brand following as Speights, based in Edinburgh's southern-hemisphere sister, Dunedin, New Zealand.

Since featuring a heavily branded bar in a series of now famous advertisements, 13 Speights bars have been built around the country.

That formula is now set to enter the UK. But rather than build one of its bars in London to quench the thirst of the tens of thousands of ex-pats based in the city, the New Zealand brewery built one at home and shipped it across the world.

A crew of young Kiwis has even manned the bar for several hours a day as it sailed via Samoa, the Bahamas, New York and now London, with the latest Speights Ale House due to sail up the River Thames this morning. Gazetteer will be represented at this evening's party.

So popular is the bar expected to be that the brewery is running a ballot for tickets. However, with a nation mourning its rugby world cup exit, the mood could be more sober than Speights had hoped.

GOOD DAY

Orangutan

PLANS to develop a ground-breaking lifting device, called Orangutan, which could cut the cost of wind turbine maintenance, received a boost yesterday when ITI Energy announced that three Scottish companies had won contracts to test the design.

BAD DAY

Gordon Ramsay

CHELSEA Travel Management was reported to be taking the celebrity chef’s company, Gordon Ramsay Holdings, to the High Court in England. A writ claims that Ramsay’s firm made 26 bookings through Chelsea between January and April this year, but only 12 were paid.

KILLER QUOTE

IT IS certainly challenging at the moment, yes. But we are warriors."

Tom Dalrymple, pictured, founder of Scottish no-frills airline Flyglobespan, talking about current industry pressures

FACT OF THE DAY: 15.3m

THE amount of money paid out by HBOS today as some 160,000 private shareholders receive their interim dividends.

The average Scottish shareholder will pocket 96. The interim pay-out of 16.6p a share is up 23 per cent on this time last year. Company secretary Harry Baines said: "Our 160,000 Scottish shareholders have again benefited from increased profits and dividends."