Comment & Opinion

TIMING, so the mantra goes, is the golden rule of comedy. That being the case, one can only conclude that finance minister John Swinney has no delusions of abandoning the day job in favour of a role as a stand-up. Take last week’s announcement by the Scottish Government that it intends to fall in line with Westminster and delay the next rating revaluation from 2015 until 2017. While the subject of property rates can never be described as a laughing matter, there was some irony in the fact the decision came in a consultation paper titled ‘Supporting Business – Promoting Growth’.

The right database can streamline your bar, restaurant or hotel business, writes IT consultant Richard Walsh BY the time you’ve looked at three new cars...

AS I sit at my computer, stroking my (Movember only) moustache and contemplating the latest developments in the trade, I find myself becoming more...

But ministers’ plans to bring empty buildings back to life could backfire IN a leisure sector which has not had its troubles to seek over...

THIS month I’d like to draw your attention not to the wonderful world of wine, but to a craft brewer that I think is...

IT wasn’t so long ago that it seemed positive steps would finally be taken to improve the tempestuous relationship pub tenants often have with...

FIRST Drinks, the distributor of Glenfiddich, Sailor Jerry and Hendrick’s, has appointed its first head of on-trade. Andrew Clifton, who joined from PepsiCo, heads...

Operators must get their offer right as consumers’ expectations rise, says foodservice analyst CONSUMERS’ appetite for eating out at lunch time is set to grow...

OCTOBER 8, 2012 will go down as a dark day in the Scottish licensed trade’s history. Administrators acting on behalf of WaverleyTBS announced that there...

THE rise and rise of Scotland’s small brewers has been something to savour in recent years. And happily, there’s still no sign of the...