PEOPLE: No jerking Joe around after Dragons’ Den deal

Theres no jerking Joe around after this deal

WHAT do a rhinestone cowboy and a taxidermied stoat with an extra strong bottle of ale protruding from its mouth have in common?

Cowboy Joe Walters – who stole the show in a recent episode of Dragons’ Den – has teamed up with the co-founder of Brewdog, James Watt, whose stoat-covered bottle was just one of many stunts that have brought notoriety to the Fraserburgh brewing firm.

After all four dragons competed to buy a share in Walters’s business with its flagship product, Original Texan Jerky, it was Watt who finally clinched a deal.

Walters pitched in a rhinestone suit and stetson and impressed the dragons with his product, eccentric personality and creative pitch – which included a performance of the song Put that Jerky in your Mouth by recording artists Kitty, Daisy and Lewis.

The cowboy signed up with dragon Peter Jones on TV, but the pair later walked away from the deal. However, Watt stuck to his guns, and the investment.

Football and the Fringe

IT MUST be pretty busy in the Standard Life press office these days – the spinners are so caught up in the rough and tumble of the pensions industry that the world outside their Lothian Road HQ gets little attention. Luckily, Nicola McGowan, senior media affairs manager, was delightful company as she took some time out to relax and host The Scotsman business desk for a night out at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

But when it was mentioned that the event was on the same night as a certain historic football match, she seemed surprised: “So who is playing?” she innocently asked. She might not live this down…

Comedy networking event

NETWORKING and the Fringe should go hand in hand. So should business and theatre. This Wednesday morning will see the “Business with Theatre Networking” event at the Pleasance Dome.

Anthony Alderson, director of the Pleasance Theatre Trust, will be opening the networking event with a speech on the benefits of the theatre and business community working together for the local economy. Comedian Sanderson Jones will then be giving a brief address on “tips for networking” based on his unusual and successful strategy for filling his shows – he sells tickets to his shows in person by hand.

Attendees will also get an hour of Big Bite-Size Breakfast Performances and then wine and refreshments, courtesy of Barefoot Wines.

Houston is moving on up

Accountant Mark Houston, managing partner of Johnston Carmichael’s Glasgow office, has taken another step on his meteoric rise up the company ladder.

The 41-year-old joins a company board of just six, to help steer the firm he joined in 2006. Houston became a partner in 2008 and took charge of the Glasgow operation three years later.