By Ian Fraser The Scotsman September 29th, 2007 WHEN Katherine Garrett-Cox announced she was quitting her job as chief investment officer at Morley, the fund management subsidiary of insurance group Aviva, to move to the investment “backwater” of Dundee, it prompted much speculation in the pubs and wine bars of the City. The consensus was […]
By Ian Fraser Financial Times FTfm section September 24th, 2007 One of the first things Katherine Garrett-Cox did on joining Dundee-based Alliance Trust in May was ask if she could meet some investors. The very next day, the fund manager who became known as Katherine the Great while at Hill Samuel in the 1990s, trekked […]
By Ian Fraser The Herald September 24th, 2007 Anton Colella, chief executive of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland, has nailed his colours firmly to the mast of quality rather than quantity. Unveiling a new strategy aimed at ensuring Icas’s qualification is regarded as pre-eminent among accountancy qualifications, Colella said: “Keeping CAs clearly ahead […]
By Ian Fraser Financial Times September 20th, 2007 Contrary to expectations, the inexorable decline in Scotland’s base of quoted companies has not slowed demand for professional services in Scotland. Indeed, the country continues to punch well above its weight in most professions, including law, accountancy, actuarial consulting and chartered surveying. In each of these areas […]
By Ian Fraser Financial Times September 20th, 2007 When Dell unveiled plans in February 2005 to create 400 jobs in Glasgow, with the help of a £7.5m grant from the Scottish government, the announcement was initially greeted with scepticism. During the electronics downturn of 2000-2002, several overseas multinationals that had also received such incentives – […]
By Ian Fraser Financial Times September 20th, 2007 Robert Crawford, who since last November has been executive director responsible for business development and commercialisation at Glasgow Caledonian University, cites the example of Bolt Baranek & Newman to illustrate Scottish universities’ traditional disdain for commerce. In the 1980s, BBN, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based consultancy whose innovations include […]
By Ian Fraser The Herald September 17th, 2007 There has been a changing of the guard among Scotland’s largest law firms, with McGrigors slipping from fifth to sixth position, and fellow Glaswegian firm Golds falling three places from second to fifth. Their places were taken over by Dundas & Wilson, Shepherd & Wedderburn and Brodies. […]
September 16th, 2007 The financial crisis that was sparked by reckless lending and corruption in the US housing market and exacerbated by the myopic greed of banks and hedge funds and weak regulation on both sides of the Atlantic has entered an uglier phase. On Friday, September 14th, the crisis spread to the UK high […]
Dundee and Edinburgh September 13th, 2007 Gosh, what an exciting life I lead! My last few articles have been on topics including: The future of PPP/PFI in Scotland – can it survive the regime of first minister Alex Salmond, a self-declared PPP-o-phobe? A recent change in Spanish takeover law that is expected to make it […]
By Ian Fraser The Herald September 10th, 2007 Picture credit: Johnnie Walker Black Circuit Paddock Party 2008 – Courtesy Riche Monde Sdn. Bhd. It is rare for a company’s financial and accounting team to a have major role in shaping its future corporate strategy. However, the finance department at Diageo Scotland has re-written tradition. Led by […]