John Gibson: Ready to greet them at the door

Go, go, go! Get these trams rolling, gushes Gordon Drummond. He's Harvey Nichols' boss, rubbing his hands and openly admitting he has a vested interest. Trams hot from the airport will terminate on his doorstep in St Andrew Square.

If all goes to the latest plan you'll be able to nip out of the tram, hop into the store and slip into a 995 Burberry or if you're short of a bob, a 750 Dolce & Gabbana jacket.

We were sharing a glass in his eagle's nest of a restaurant (low-flying eagles, Harvey Nicks soars only four floors, tall enough, though, to afford a fine view of a deceptive Edinburgh skyline) and he'd just heard that the airport-to-Square route will be a reality by 2014.

"It's a pity we've had so many trials and tribulations," he conceded, "but we should stop going over old ground time and again. While I can understand why a lot of people are still angry, a decision's finally been taken about the project. Let's get on with it.

"I'm delighted for Harvey Nicks, of course. It's perfection for us. Absolute perfection. Just don't talk to me about a Plan B."

One wonders how Henry Dundas feels about what's all happening to his beloved Square. Henry is undisputed master of everything he surveys from his perch atop the monument in its middle.

Erected in 1823 and financed by the Royal Navy. Dundas was treasurer to the Navy who agreed to build him with his back to the RBS. He lived in the house there. Bankrupted, the story goes, he'd had a spat with the Bank and they repossessed it before he died in 1811.

How does Gordon Drummond know all this? "Our restaurant clientele when they gaze out onto the Square garden keep asking who that bloke is on the monument, so I've got to be genned up," explained Mr D.