Sharp lays on curries and pies for birthday bash

Innis & Gunn may not be able to organise a p***-up in a brewery – because it doesn’t own one – but it certainly knows how to throw a birthday party.

Stephen Jackson came top of the global class in two recent accountancy exams. Picture: Contributed

Managing director Dougal Sharp laid on a bumper spread on Thursday night at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh featuring curries, pies and sweet treats such as tiffin to mark his firm’s tenth anniversary.

Sharp was left doubly pleased at the end of the night after winning a £100 bet – he was convinced his 600 guests could drink their way through 8,000 pints of his oak-aged beers and his friends were up to the challenge, with the Prince’s Trust ending up £100 better off.

Bank staff don their tiaras and tutus to raise funds

AN entire team of princesses will be sporting their tutus and tiaras to take part in the Bank of Scotland Great Scottish Run in October.

The “Glasgow princesses” include Wendy Hanson, Shirley Applebe, Jemma Fletcher and Vicki Ronaldson, who will be running the half marathon in memory of Wendy’s fiancé Vincent, who sadly passed away recently. They aim to raise £3,000 for The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice in Glasgow.

Is Jackson the best accountant in the world?

Stephen Jackson, from Ernst & Young in Aberdeen, has clearly taken well to his new profession – coming top of the class among no fewer than 30,000 accountants across the globe.

Jackson was formerly a telecoms manager in Madrid but took the opportunity offered by the financial crisis to take voluntary redundancy and re-train.

He has now achieved the unique feat of finishing first in the world in not just one but two Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) exams.

Stephen finished top in both his Advanced Performance Management and Advanced Audit and Assurance exams.

Craig Vickery, head of ACCA Scotland, said: “Ernst & Young must be delighted that they have such a talented accountant on their staff. Stephen has now concluded his studies and I look forward to officially welcoming him to our global body of members at the new member celebration in Edinburgh in November.”

Green Deal reception has plenty of fizz

Staff at the Scottish Parliament are clearly adept at giving the place a quick makeover, as the members’ dining room served as a networking space for the Big Green Book’s reception on the Green Deal last week.

MSP Murdo Fraser assured the assembled guests that the First Minister had been enjoying his “pie and chips” there just a few hours before, but delegates were clearly assumed to have less robust appetites, as they were treated to canapes and Champagne.

The consensus was that the Green Deal itself has got off to a decidedly slow start, partly due to difficulties of “selling” energy efficiency measures to householders.

The work is paid for by being offset against savings on bills, but industry insiders said the UK government had shown a lack of sales nuance by using the dreaded word “finance” in the description of the package.