Since the start of 2011 we have been involved with a co-operative effort by Business Interests to secure the new Green Investment Bank for Edinburgh.  There seems to be a default position at the Treasury that this should be just one more addition to the pantheon of services centred in London.  We have been arguing that Edinburgh is actually the perfect place for this £3bn investment- bags of financial experience, great research facilities, close proximity to green energy opportunities and a wealth of exiting investments in state of the art renewable technologies.  And who wouldn’t want to live and work in one of Europe’s finest capitals.

We broke this story big style on 30^th March with presentations at the House of Commons and to Business Secretary Vince Cable.  By the end of the day the Conservatives in Scotland were pumping out press releases vowing their undying ardour for the cause.

Find here the 147 pieces of coverage generated (in co-operation with City of Edinburgh Council and the offices of Mike Crockart MP and Mark Lazarowicz MP).

And here is the Scottish Secretary Michael Moore MP (who also happens to be our constituency MP!) explaining to the assembled worthies why Graham Bell Associates sits at the heart of the campaign (observe the logos).

Do you want ground breaking coverage for your business and policy endeavours?  You could do worse than give us a call!

Edinburgh “Natural Home for the Green Investment Bank”.

Edinburgh business is rallying to persuade the government to locate the Green Investment Bank in the city.

The Bank is a government initiative to harness public and private risk capital to spur technological and industrial development in he renewable energy sector.

Ron Hewitt, Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce has called on David Cameron to ensure that the new bank is headquartered in ‘the natural headquarters of the renewable sector in Britain’, saying that

Edinburgh has three key attributes.

1. Scotland is blessed with extraordinary forces of nature that give it a unique advantage in harnessing the powers of wind, wave and tidal stream. Already a third of new UK renewable energy plant is being developed in Scotland, and this is set to grow as the marine technologies mature.

2. Edinburgh has an established cluster of excellence in financial services, law and business services which is already adapting to provide specialist support to the renewable energy sector.

3. Third, the city hosts leading edge research capability in its universities, which almost daily is being augmented by commercial investment in new research facilities by the likes of Mitsubishi, Gamesa and Seimens.

“In Edinburgh we are witnessing something very exciting”, said Hewitt. “The birth of a new industrial sector that combines the economies of scale and specialist know-how to become a world leader”

“The Government has established a forward looking framework of policy that is allowing the sector to flourish. It latest initiative – the Green Investment Bank – is a welcome addition to that. This week I am part of a delegation seeking to persuade the government that Edinburgh must be the logical home for the bank.”

Edinburgh is the home for the new Green Investment Bank Article for Ron Hewitt

Industrial success often grows out of clusters of similar companies and their supply chains gathering together in the same region. There are famous historic and current examples of this phenomenon around the world – silicon valley in California for information technology, the Ruhr in Germany for manufacturing. In Britain we have the City of London for finance and the West Midlands for manufacturing.

Such clusters provide a critical mass to develop a pool of skilled labour that fuel corporate expansion and development. It also allows supply companies to specialise in the particular needs of that industry, whether it is in finance, law, research or marketing. The end result is a concentration of applied knowledge that generates high levels of productivity.

In Edinburgh we are witnessing something very exciting. The birth of a new industrial sector that combines the economies of scale and specialist know-how to become a world leader.

Renewable energy is one of a handful of sectors that is experiencing very rapid growth globally in terms of sales and technological development. The commercial potential for this industry is immense, and Britain has a great opportunity to become a world leader.

Edinburgh is the natural headquarters of the renewable sector in Britain for three reasons.

First, Scotland is blessed with extraordinary forces of nature that give it a unique advantage in harnessing the powers of wind, wave and tidal stream. Already a third of new UK renewable energy plant is being developed in Scotland, and this is set to grow as the marine technologies mature.

Second, Edinburgh has an established cluster of excellence in financial services, law and business services which is already adapting to provide specialist support to the renewable energy sector.

Third, the city hosts leading edge research capability in its universities, which almost daily is being augmented by commercial investment in new research facilities by the likes of Mitsubishi, Gamesa and Seimens.

The Government has established a forward looking framework of policy that is allowing the sector to flourish. It latest initiative – the Green Investment Bank – is a welcome addition to that. The renewable energy sector is unusual in that it combines early stage development risks with capital intensity. A government initiative that helps to bring together risk capital (public and private) with technological know-how is enlightened policy making at its best.

The question remains where to locate this new institution. This week I am part of a delegation seeking to persuade the government that Edinburgh must be the logical home for the Green Investment Bank.

Other UK cities have clear strengths in some of the necessary attributes to create a successful industrial concentration in the renewable energy sector. But only Edinburgh has all of them – access to natural resources, the necessary skills, a nascent industry already in place, a strong research capability, and a tradition of excellence in finance and other aspects of the supply chain.

This government has seen the need to rebalance Britain’s economy away from over-reliance on the City of London, and has taken welcome measures to encouraging economic growth across the range of sectors and regions. Headquartering the Green Investment Bank in Edinburgh would be great step forward to boosting an industrial success story that would benefit the whole of Britain.

Ron Hewitt is Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce

Wednesday, March 30, 2011.

A compelling case for the UK’s first Green Investment Bank to be located in Edinburgh was presented to Coalition Ministers today.

A delegation from the Edinburgh Green Investment Bank Group briefed MPs in the House of Commons before presenting the business case for locating the UK Green Investment Bank in Edinburgh to Michael Moore MP, the Secretary of State for Scotland. The Group went on to meet the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Vince Cable MP, and senior Treasury officials, where they presented the business case for Edinburgh. The Edinburgh campaign has been led by Ron Hewitt, Chief Executive of Edinburgh’s Chamber of Commerce, Mike Crockart, Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West and Mark Lazarowicz, Labour MP for Edinburgh North and Leith. The business case has been prepared by Nathan Goode, a Partner of Grant Thornton Accountants.

The Group has full cross party support and is made up of business leaders from industry, academics and experts within the Financial Services sector.

The case is based upon Edinburgh’s acknowledged expertise in financial services, education, research and development, as well as its growing reputation in renewable energy and low carbon technologies.
Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive, Ron Hewitt said:

“Ministers can feel confident that by opting to locate the bank in Edinburgh they are delivering the best value, expertise and greater opportunities for the clean energy and low carbon sector. We recognise that the Green Investment Bank, located in Edinburgh, must add value and stimulate growth right across the country. Our Group recognises the importance of ensuring that the Bank gets maximum “bang for its buck’’ and believe this can only be achieved through effective collaboration between industry, technology know- how and finance.”

Introducing the event, Mike Crockart MP said:

“A successful Green Investment Bank is the key to switching the UK to a low carbon economy, and the bank’s location is crucial to that success. Edinburgh has a world class reputation for financial services excellence as well as a wealth of highly regarded education and R&D establishments which can provide the technological capability and impetus needed to drive clean energy develop. The bank will be dedicated to investing new, low carbon technologies, where other finance options may not be readily available. This can only be good for Edinburgh, Scotland and the UK.

Nathan Goode, partner at Grant Thornton who prepared the business case said:

“Putting the Green Investment Bank in the right place creates a unique opportunity to create a locational driver for a low carbon virtuous circle, where finance can be used to drive the low carbon industry towards commercialisation. Edinburgh’s credentials speak for themselves and offer a fantastic opportunity to deliver for the whole of the UK. Edinburgh is the 2nd financial centre in the UK and 4th largest in Europe; currently manages 13% of UK assets as well as boasting excellence in project financing and life and pensions. Coupled with its research and development capability and an emerging renewable energy and low carbon technology hub, it makes absolute sense for the Government to choose Edinburgh as the natural location to ensure that this breadth of knowledge and excellence is fully utilised.”

The Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Moore said:

“I am aware of the hard work which has gone into preparing the business case for taking the Green Investment Bank to Edinburgh where it will be able to serve the whole of the UK. I have consistently said I think it makes sense to have it in Scotland because of the unique strengths we have in terms of finance sector, the energy industry and research and I look forward to hearing the city’s bid in detail. I will continue to argue the case for Scotland within the UK Government over the coming months.”

Mark Lazarowicz MP added:

“The Edinburgh case is unrivalled in the UK in my view. No other location in the UK, including London, offers the combination of expertise and investment that the Green Investment Bank requires. We’re working really hard to ensure a positive outcome for Edinburgh when the Government makes its announcement in May.”

For Further information and interviews, contact:
Graham Bell 07899 330550 Graham Birse 07813 604830

The recent visit of Edinburgh Zoo to China to meet with the two giant Pandas, breeding pair Tian Tian and Yangguang has come up with a significant discovery.

Pandas understand Gaelic.

Iain Valentine, Edinburgh Zoo’s director of animals, conservation and education, said “Our team on the ground had spent some hours using English to communicate with our new found friends and acclimatise  them for the trip to Scotland.  Our Chinese was fairly rudimentary- but we discovered that when we reverted to Gaelic there was instant communication.

As anyone who has enjoyed the Chieftains in China LP will know we share with our Eastern friends a tradition in music based upon the pentatonic scale.  We are working on the assumption that a similar resonance is achieved between our traditional languages.

All our plans for signage will now be bilingual.  After all- Pandas only breed when they really feel at home.”

We are having a second open day for 2010 on Saturday September 18^th 11am-4pm here in the Scottish Borders. There is no charge for entry, but we welcome donations. These are in aid, once again, of Friends of African Nursing. We provide some lunch without charge and invite visitors to bring food to share. We also sell books on the day, along with preserves, plants and anything out the garden produce wise that’s surplus! In this case 50% goes to the charity and 50% is returned to producing more (by covering costs).

Last Open Day was at the peak of the soft fruit season. This one will be peak of the top fruit season. Still lots of practical learning opportunities, and always jobs to be done. Children welcome. No dogs in the garden.

This forest garden is nearly twenty years old since it was planted on a quarter acre of rather uninteresting weeds. Much has changed.

Invitation is by RSVP so we have a good idea of numbers. If you respond we will e-mail you directions. About fifty people came last time (from as far as four hours drive away). Sometimes it’s possible to arrange lift shares for people. It’s also helpful if three or four people can offer to help on the day.

Many thanks

Graham

No surer sign of summer than our new call ducks producing their first ducklings. 

This fine lady has just hatched nine.

These are “Call Ducks” and are quite cute, some call them the bath toy duck. They are small, cute and very energetic ducks and here at Garden Cottage as well as the new arrivals, we have 4 Adults, 3 females and 1 male. This is the first hatch of ducklings for our adult ducks.

When sitting on the eggs the Call duck is very protective of their clutch, hiding well in the undergrowth or under objects. So dedicated to their role, that even when a garden strimmer passes within inches of the nesting duck, she doesn’t move an inch.

This is the second clutch of eggs this year, but the first to hatch. The ducklings are kept in a protective run with their mother to prevent predators attacking them during their first days. Predators such as Crows, Cats, Sparrow Hawks, have been noticed to increase after the ducklings arrived on the scene.

The run is secure and has a shelter for mother and ducklings and a small pan of water, enough to allow the ducklings to be introduced to water but not enough for them to drown in should they become water logged.

Human contact during the hatching stage of their development is kept to a minimum as the Ducklings have a strong ability to readily imprint  on the first creature they see that is bigger than them because they know they are the same species as the creature they see upon hatching, this ability makes them follow other species such as dogs or humans.

Beltane is the tradition of celebrating the warming of the weather and the pastoral summer when herds were put out to summer pasture.  

A Beltane festival occurs on April the 30^th on Carlton Hill in Edinburgh, but this is to keep it in line with the more modern May Day. In the past the Celtic quarter day Festival was celebrated halfway through May. In Ireland it was celebrated on the 11^th of May, but here in Scotland it was celebrated commonly on the 15^th May.

So we decided to have our own Beltane and celebrated it at the traditional time of year which was fortunate because Beltane was on Saturday 15^th May this year.

A few friends were invited to celebrate with a curry, a fire and some fireworks were set off to end the evening.

It wasn’t the evening of wild abandon as is the case on Carlton hill, but everyone came out around the fire after enjoying a sumptuous meal served by Nancy and Myself and as you can see Everyone enjoyed fuelling the fire.

The old Carmichael’s has undergone a major refurbishment and customers are now greeted with a bright and pleasant local shop.

Carmichael's Declared Open!

Local shop owner Wasim and his family have invested time and money to ensure the people of Coldstream continue to receive value for money and have a local shop with better facilities.

Carmichael’s closed it’s doors on the 11th of February for 10 days whilst a major refurbishment of the premises took place.

Although the shop opened its doors on Monday 22nd, it was officially opened by local MSP John Lamont (who kindly provided the photographs) with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Wednesday 24th Feb.

The opening was attended by local patrons of the shop who were greeted with a buffet and a glass of wine (or 2) to celebrate the fantastic achievement.

Even shoppers who called in to shop during the ceremony were greeted by Wasim, and being a true salesman, he guided them to the buffet or offered them a tray of food or a drink during their visit. He did slip out on occasion though, but only to take plates of food to owners of other local shops who couldn’t attend.

John & Naureen

The conversation was primarily about the new shop, and everyone agreed that the transformation to the Carmichael’s they had known for so long, had not only made the premises look bigger, but the shelving made it easier to reach the products.

However, the conversation was dominated by expressions of how pleasant, hardworking and friendly Wasim, his family and all the staff are.

I wholly agree with this and would also add, what a fantastic chef Naureen is! and live in hope that her meals will soon be seen on the shelves in Carmichael’s.

Many commented on the new chillers, that accommodated a range of soft drinks, beers and wines and all were very happy to see the change to the old shop.

Wasim & Naureen with John Lamont

Wasim and Family moved to Coldstream from Glasgow less than 6 months ago, and have quickly earned a place in the hearts of many Coldstreamers and forged solid friendships. This blog follows on from a previous blog that highlighted the importance of local business during the time Coldstream was cut off by the snow, when the larger corporations like Co-op failed to obtain supplies of milk, fresh bread, fresh fruit & veg and fresh meat, it was the local businesses that came through for us.

I would also like to congratulate G.J Sanderson our local butcher on winning top awards for their Haggis & Black Pudding Pie and their Steak Pie. Out of 83 contestants, our butchers won joint first. Starting off with 100 points they lost only two points, resulting in 98 points for their product.

And this also highlights the commitment our local business’ have to our continued custom. Carmichael’s has not only undergone an expensive refurbishment but a change of supplier to ensure that prices maintain to be competitive and affordable. Our butcher has gone to great expense to ensure their product is proven to be at the top of it’s class.

Our small local businesses do a great deal behind the scenes to attract our attention and favour our custom, I for one have noticed and I am applauding their loyalty to me, a local.

Sean

 Coldstream is slowed by the silent weather. Snow has quietly but consistently fallen for nearly three weeks and has diminished the supply chain into the town.

Luckily Coldstream still has local Bakers, a Butcher and a Hardware store. Supplies of bread, milk and meat are still strong in these essential local shops, the milkmen keep delivering to the doorstep, whilst the larger concerns run out.  (Not that I’m crowing about that as a Co-op member!)

More emphasis is starting to gain momentum for supporting the dwindling local shops as they fall to the larger supermarkets. And with extremes of weather comes an even greater need to support and sustain what is finally seen as  important services to a local town,the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker.  Luckily he hasn’t been needed yet as the electricity has held out. 

Also useful as our dispersed electronically dependent business model has continued to function through days when the main roads were shut, it went down to -11 centigrade, the buses and trains were cancelled and the world became silent beautiful and potentially deadly.  We’ve all been able to communicate with each other, clients and the media; written parliamentary briefings and lead articles for the papers; arranged broadcast interviews; and researched and promoted policy papers.  Rural based doesn’t mean we’re other than resilient, reliable and ready!

All around local people pull together to keep us all open for business and supplied.  Special thanks to Henry Wallace and the Scottish Borders Council team and to Colin Macgregor (and Richard who dug us out, especially!) at Coldstream Mains for their tireless efforts.

Coldstream will naturally be concerned with immediate impact.

The floods hit Coldstream in the evening but thankfully no major issues were reported.

However there is a crucial sustainability issue that also needs to be considered.

On the Tweed, Ghillies cover the river beats, and speaking to one  Ghillie who covers the Tweed between Coldstream and Cornhill, he was matter-of-fact when it came to the flooding and the inability to fish the river during the floods:  “You just can’t fish!” and this is the recognition of many fishermen during the floods. We know of certainly one Welshman who travelled up for a day’s fishing on the Tweed, only to be greeted by a river that was 1/2 a mile wide in areas.

Needless to say that Fishing day was a “wash out”.

The flooding of Leet Water was high, not the highest, but enough to make cars, buses and people stop to look.

The area in the photos is a natural nursery for the Salmon and Trout:  many parr are seen here. And the Leet Water is usually only 5ft wide,.  But what is of concern to the Ghillies is the affect that this huge volume of water will have on the redds of the Salmon and the impact of it will only become apparent in 3-6 years time. The Tweed generates a lot of business and is one of the few places in Britain that the Atlantic Salmon can be caught reliably.

A fantastic Scottish song improved by Robert Burns.
Learn the words today and their meaning.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?

CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We’ll tak a cup of kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

And surely ye’ll be your pint-stowp,
And surely I’ll be mine,
And we’ll tak a cup o kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

We twa hae run about the braes,
And pou’d the gowans fine,
But we’ve wander’d monie a weary fit,
Sin auld lang syne.

We twa hae paidl’d in the burn
Frae morning sun till dine,
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
Sin auld lang syne.

And there’s a hand my trusty fiere,
And gie’s a hand o thine,
And we’ll tak a right guid-willie waught,
For auld lang syne

Meanings

auld lang syne – times gone by
be – pay for
braes – hills
braid – broad
burn – stream
dine – dinner time
fiere – friend
fit – foot
gowans – daisies
guid-willie waught – goodwill drink
monie – many
morning sun – noon
paidl’t – paddled
pint-stowp – pint tankard
pou’d – pulled
twa – two

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auld_Lang_Syne

This is the song we sing in Scotland when we say goodbye to people.