Business gazeteer

IT IS a difficult time for sun-worshippers, hampered by the credit crunch and the soaring value of the euro.

No longer able to jet off for their usual fortnight in the south of France, they are boosting their pasty spirits with a quick visit to the beauty salon to recreate the expensive golden glow usually acquired on holiday.

But according to one Scottish furniture restorer, it is not just people who need that seasonal confidence boost, but also their chairs and tables.

Aberdeen-based Gatts says there's nothing better to raise the spirits of your slightly glum table than a fake tan.

Apparently, pale-looking items of furniture are able to be given a "shiny, St Tropez finish" after being put through Gatts' "spray tanning booth".

Doug Tough, general manager of the firm's traditional crafts division, explains: "

"Many people enjoy a quick top-up spray tan – so there's no reason your furniture shouldn't enjoy a touch up every now and then."

FACT OF THE DAY

7,935

ACCOUNTANCY firm Martin Aitken & Co has raised 7,935 for Yorkhill hospital in Glasgow so far this year.

The practice's latest fund-raising scheme was to auction off the services of the firm's five-a-side football team. Players cut grass, washed cars, made lunches, teas and coffees, and coached youth football teams to raise 1,625.

The team wanted to raise 700 so it could enter the hospital's five-a-side tournament.

KILLER QUOTE

"MAYBE we'll get lucky and everything will be fine, but I wouldn't count on it. There are a lot of dangers still out there."

Douglas Elliott, a fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former investment banker, commenting on banks' ability to repay loans from the US government

GOOD DAY

Scottish students

THIRTY-FOUR Scots undergraduates have won eight-week placements with firms including IBM in China, GSK in Singapore and Bayer in Germany through a SaltireFoundation scheme backed by Scottish Enterprise.

BAD DAY

Big spenders

A SURVEY by online management company WebExpenses found 26 per cent of firms plan to amend their policy on claiming back travel, hotel and meals because of the credit crunch.