Scotland’s most promising new comedian will give an exclusive Edinburgh performance at the Scott + Co Scottish Legal Awards lunch and ceremony which takes place on Friday 19 March 2010.

Kevin Bridges, one of the UK’s hottest new comedians and guest star of BBC’s Mock the Week, has confirmed that he will perform to an audience of some 400 guests at the lunch and awards ceremony which takes place at the EICC.

His performance is a major coup for organisers as this event will be his only Edinburgh show despite a UK tour which starts in April in Hull and finishes in his home town of Glasgow where he will perform for 10,000 fans.

Bridges, who hosted a sell-out run at the 2009 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and earned and Edinburgh Comedy Award nomination for Best Newcomer, has appeared on ‘BBC ONE’s Live at the Apollo’ and ‘Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow’.

Joy Glass, Partner at Scott+ Co, the sponsors of the Scottish Legal Awards, commented;

“Pundits predict that 2010 will be Kevin’s year so we’re delighted to secure him for the Legal Awards. He’s had an astonishing rise to prominence and is guaranteed to give the Legal Awards a lot of fun and laughter as we reveal our winners in this important competition.”

Fans of Kevin can watch an extended version of his show at Live at the Apollo to be shown on Saturday 13th February on BBC ONE at 9.45pm. He will also be appearing as a guest on Mock the Week on BBC ONE on Thursday 18th February. Agents acting for Bridges expect to confirm that he will also return to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2010 performing two dates at the Edinburgh Playhouse.

Bridges will be introduced on stage by master of ceremonies, Dougie Vipond, who returns to the event for a second year.

The Scottish Legal Awards competition is the national programme for recognising excellence in Scottish Law. Winners from 21 firms will be announced at the event and finalists include Burness, Biggart Baillie, Brodies are joined by HBJ Gateley Wareing, Morton Fraser, Harper Macleod, Digby Brown and Anderson Strathern. Complementing the field, a number of smaller firms have also been recognised with Miller Samuel, Maloco + Associates and Govan Law Centre also making an appearance.

Limited tickets for the event remain but can be booked by emailing isla@kdmedia.co.uk. Tables of ten cost £900 + VAT including wine and a three course lunch.


About Kevin Bridges

Bridges’ debut show reveals his inner-most thoughts on a variety of topics from his homeland of Scotland to the world beyond. His unique brand of social commentary, astute observations and sharp one-liners arguable make him the hottest comedian to come from Scotland in recent times.

In 2004, aged just 17, Kevin showed his natural gift for comedy when he took his first open mic spot. Now aged 22 his natural gift makes him a regular at major comedy events up and down the country. Kevin stars in the new series of Rab C Nesbitt and will also appear on Mock the Week this month.

Read the coverage in The Scotsman here
Read the article in The Edinburgh Evening News here

REpower UK, one of the country’s biggest suppliers of wind energy, has signed a preferred supplier agreement with British manufacturer, Mabey Bridge, to supply wind turbine towers for many of its UK developments.

The news follows the announcement last month that Mabey Bridge will create 240 jobs in a new £38 million facility in Monmouthshire.

The deal means that the steel tubular towers will be manufactured in the UK for most of REpower’s planned wind farms. The REpower nacelle and the blades will continue to be made to order at the REpower factories throughout Europe.

Rick Eggleston, Managing Director of REpower UK, commented;

“Sourcing our towers direct from the UK has been on our agenda for a while and we’re pleased to have found a reliable and high quality supplier in Mabey Bridge. This agreement gives us a real boost in serving the needs of our clients and will improve our competitiveness in a tough UK market.”

“Local procurement of the towers from a reliable UK manufacturer makes sense. We have met Mabey Bridge many times now and we’re impressed with the high standard of the product and the Mabey Bridge commitment to customer care. We’re confident that we will have a productive and positive relationship with them as we both build our businesses in the UK.”

“With 25 wind farms now running across the country, we are well on our way to delivering our 400 MW target in the spring of this year.”

Lars Rytter Kristensen, Chief Supply Chain Officer, Repower Systems AG adds:

“The preferred supplier agreement with Mabey Bridge confirms our commitment to build up a competitive supply chain in the UK market and will furthermore secure REpower capacity for towers in one of our core markets.”

Peter Lloyd, managing director of Mabey Bridge, said: "This is fantastic news for Mabey Bridge and we look forward to working with REpower on wind energy projects across the UK."

Since its launch in 2003 REpower UK has delivered 22 onshore wind farms in Scotland, England and Wales and one offshore wind farm, Project Beatrice, in the North Sea. Beatrice consists of two REpower 5M turbines, one of the largest offshore wind turbines available in the world.

REpower UK is an award winning company and has a team of 60 people based in Edinburgh and across the UK. It is wholly owned by REpower Systems AG which operates in 11 countries worldwide.

About REpower UK:

REpower UK is a private limited company wholly owned by REpower AG, the German based manufacturer. It is responsible for sales, installation and servicing of REpower wind farms onshore and offshore. Headquartered in Edinburgh, REpower UK has a team of 60 staff and a growing client list.

About REpower Systems AG:

REpower Systems AG is one of the leading manufacturers of onshore and offshore wind turbines. The international mechanical engineering company develops produces and markets wind turbines with rated outputs of 2 to 6,15 MW and rotor diameters of 82 to 126 metres for almost any location. In addition to this it offers an extensive range of service and maintenance services. The profitable and reliable systems are designed at the REpower development centre in Rendsburg and manufactured at its Husum (North Friesland), Trampe (Brandenburg) and Bremerhaven plants.

The company, which is headquartered in Hamburg and has been listed since March 2002, has over 1,800 employees worldwide and can draw on experience gained in the manufacture and installation of almost 2,000 wind turbines worldwide. REpower is represented by distribution partners, subsidiaries and participations in foreign markets such as France, the UK, Italy, Portugal and Spain, as well as on a global level in the USA, Japan, China and Australia.

Mabey Bridge

Mabey Bridge is a specialist supplier of modular steel bridging, car parks and heavy plated steelwork. The company is part of the Mabey Group, a private family-owned group of companies with a turnover of £150 million and almost 1,000 employees. Mabey Bridge has a turnover of £70m and 400 employees. Based in Chepstow, South Wales, the company's history can be traced back to the construction of Brunel's Wye railway bridge in 1849.

Debt free property developer Macdonald Estates will launch a new UK subsidiary company tomorrow (Monday) in an initiative to double its property work in progress to £300m in the UK.

Macdonald Estates Property Partnerships (MEPP) will source, acquire and develop property for new commercial and residential projects.

The company will work with land and property holders in the financial sector (as well as property companies and the public sector) to structure partnerships and joint ventures that will stimulate development and determine planning solutions to release early realisation of value.

Alan Meikle, a corporate financier and former banker, is to head the MEPP venture which will employ two senior people and who will look for opportunities in retail, commercial and residential development.

Dan Macdonald, chief executive of Macdonald Estates commented;

“The banks and financial institutions are now major property owners in this country with assets that can provide immediate development turnover. Experienced property developers are required to help find the best solutions to realising development value within these portfolios. Through MEPP initiative we want to increase our understanding of the emerging thinking in the financial sector with whom we can structure new partnerships.”

In addition, Macdonald Estates will also open an office in London for the first time in its ten year history. Rick Mai, formerly of Thornfield Properties, will lead the growth of the London business where he will secure new projects, partnerships and joint ventures.

“The senior appointment of Alan and Rick is hugely significant for Macdonald Estates. Alan’s background and his understanding of property are crucial to our success in finding development solutions for land and property. Our strategic aim in MEPP is to secure deals that will offer partnership opportunities with the financial sector.

“Opening in London is essential now. The reality of the changes of the financial sector in Scotland means that decision making has to an extent moved to London. Additionally the potential of the Scottish property market has contracted and we need to expand.

“Investing in the opening of an office in London is a major decision for a company of our size at this time, but we have decided that the City presence is essential to ensure that we can react fast to opportunity, be decisive on project selection and competitive where it counts.”

Macdonald Estates finds itself in a unique and fortunate position at the start of 2010, with no debt, no problem development projects and sufficient work in progress to sustain profitability over the next 2 years. Macdonald is philosophical about the company’s new approach, he continued,

“Our challenge today is to reinvent the business of property development and re-build momentum and profit growth. This in itself will see us having to invent and adopt new development and funding structures, new style partnerships and above all a culture of trust and transparency hitherto, not prevalent in our industry.

“It is a change that recognises the adoption of a new culture and management style which is exhaustively more intense and detailed.”

In line with this changing nature of the property industry, Macdonald Estates has acted swiftly to reorganise its core business and management staff.

Directors Stewart McPhail and Joe Noble will lead a programme of planning applications for new projects in Scotland, concentrating on the absolute requirement for pre-engagement with communities, Councillors, Council officials and other affected parties well in advance of applications. This will work towards partnership approaches that will nurture common objectivity between parties that traditionally have often found difficulty in coming together.

The promotion of Alastair Ness will see him lead a staff of three assistants to head new business in the retail sector in a major move to consolidate and grow our core business particularly in Scotland. Alastair and his team will identify and secure development projects for new investment, with an estimated ten new planning applications expected in the first six months of this year.

Macdonald continued:

“Our focus is not to rescue troubled sites. We will seek and expose good opportunities where, by taking a different approach to commercial and residential use, mix, masterplanning, planning and density capacity, we can create a new formula to provide the best solutions.

“I am convinced beyond doubt that we can create the occasion and the cause for a new-style development era. By re-evaluating what previously created our successes and re-working more intensively and creatively, we will produce profitable partnerships.”

Kevin Robertson, managing director, Macdonald Estates, commented

“It’s the right time to launch MEPP. It is clear from various conversations that we have had with the main financial players that they are now looking to get to work on the significant property portfolios that they hold directly.

“Given our proven track record, and the dramatic change in the competitive landscape over the last year, we consider that Macdonald Estates is exceptionally well placed to assist the banks and others in working assets. Our approach is one that is founded on a genuine partnership philosophy. We believe that this, allied to the quality and diversity of the skill base and culture within Macdonald Estates, will prove invaluable to our selected partners going forward, particularly in relation to more challenging and complex real estate projects.”

NOTES TO EDITORS

• Alan Meikle joins MEPP as Corporate Finance Director on 1 February 2010. He brings extensive property and corporate finance experience from his previous senior roles including property lending at Anglo Irish Bank and RBS, Corporate Finance Director at AWG Property and Corporate Finance Associate with British Linen Advisers.
• Rick Mai, joins Macdonald Estates as Development Director London from 1 March 2010. Rick returns to Macdonald Estates having previously worked with the company in 2002- 2004. He joins from Thornfield Properties where until January he was a Director.

Scotland’s most prestigious property awards programme has launched for a third year with a promise to showcase the best in new build housing across Scotland.

The Scottish Home Awards 2010, sponsored by Ros.gov.uk, is now open for entries from a diverse range of housing covering slick city apartments to rural conversions and affordable housing.

New categories for this year include Designer House of The Year, Rural Development of the Year and Sales and Marketing Team of the Year. There are also two new categories for housing associations.

The new awards are joined by the usual favourites which together make up 18 categories covering the breadth of the industry.

Winning a Scottish Home Award will leverage sales, boost your team and provide endless marketing and publicity opportunities. So come on, what are you waiting for?

Download your entry guide here

For a full list of categories click here

Read about the programme in the Scotsman click here

Register for updates click here


Guidelines for Entries

Entries are welcomed from house builders, housing associations, architects and developers. Entries should consist of a written entry of up to 1000 words and be accompanied by location plan, floor plans, specification, marketing materials and photography or CGIs. Nominated developments must be in Scotland and have commenced construction between September 2008 and March 2010.

Deadline for entries: Thursday 1 April 2010 12 noon.

Thanks to our sponsors and partners: Ros.gov.uk, Gillespie Macandrew, Family and The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and Scotsman.com

The finalists of the Scott + Co Scottish Legal Awards 2010 have been revealed.

21 firms and companies have progressed to the awards finals of the prestigious programme which recognises excellence in the Scottish legal profession.

Firms large and small have been announced as finalists in 12 categories, covering major aspects of private practice in Scotland.

Burness, Biggart Baillie, Brodies are joined by HBJ Gateley Wareing, Morton Fraser, Harper Macleod, Digby Brown and Anderson Strathern. Complementing the field, a number of smaller firms have also been recognised with Miller Samuel, Maloco + Associates and Govan Law Centre also making an appearance.

Joy Glass, Partner at headline sponsor Scott + Co said,

‘Once again it was a privilege to be on the judging panel. Our judges this year were a lively mix of the established and some new faces. While the number of entries overall were marginally down on last year, the number of firms who had entered were up on 2009. Despite the tough economic times, it is clear that firms still see advantages in entering the Awards. The competitive environment has become more robust in the last twelve months, so picking up an award is extremely valuable in helping to attract new clients.

The shortlisted and winning entries are of a very high standard, showing that the Scottish legal industry has lost none if its capacity for effective, innovative work.’

The winning entries will be revealed at the awards ceremony on Friday 19 March 2010 at Edinburgh’s EICC when over 400 practitioners from across Scotland join to celebrate the legal profession’s most celebrated annual event.

The finalists emerged following the judges debate, a panel discussion of all the entries chaired by Margo MacDonald MSP. 14 experts from business, law and politics including Andrew Cubie, Michael Walker, former chairman of Maclay Murray Spens, and Professor Robert Black of Edinburgh University participated in the day’s events.

THE 2010 FINALISTS

The Hotel du Vin Private Client Team of the Year
Archibald Campbell and Harley
Morton Fraser

Employment Team of the Year
Burness
Miller Samuel
Morton Fraser
Paull & Williamsons

The Grant Thornton Litigation Team of the Year
Digby Brown
Govan Law Centre
Harper Macleod
HBJ Gateley Wareing

The Scottish Paralegal Association Paralegal of the Year
Mary Anne Swan, Nicholas J Scullion & Co.
Sarah Chambers, Archibald Campbell & Harley

The MCL Public Sector Law Team of the Year
Anderson Strathern
Biggart Baillie
Harper Macleod

Ros.gov.uk Property Team of the Year
Maloco + Associates
Morton Fraser
Simpson & Marwick

Specialist Lawyer of the Year
Alison MacNeil, Miller Samuel
Andrew Rigby, Brodies
Ed Watt, HBJ Gateley Wareing
Graham Walker, Road Traffic Law
Iain Nisbet, Govan Law Centre
Karyn Watt, Anderson Strathern

The Law Society of Scotland Support Team of the Year
Ampersand Advocates
Millar & Bryce
Morton Fraser

Woods of Perth Training Provider of the Year
Central Law Training
The Law Society of Scotland

The DX Firm of the Year
Digby Brown
Harper Macleod
Morton Fraser

There will be no finalists announced for Family Law Team of the Year or The Scottish Law Directory Rising Star of the Year and the winners will be announced on the day.

The Scott + Co Scottish Legal Awards lunch and ceremony takes place on Friday 19 March 2010. To book at table please click here.

The prestigious business awards programme for Scottish lawyers has revealed new sponsors, categories and judges in advance of its glittering ceremony held in March of next year.

The Scott + Co Scottish Legal Awards, known as the Oscars of the profession, has secured hefty five figure sponsorship from a number of high profile businesses and will raise funds for Children 1st, the national children’s charity.

The awards, chaired by Margo MacDonald MSP, will recognise, reward and celebrate the best of Scottish legal talent in a year when the law remains at the forefront of current affairs and is a major driver for the Scottish economy.

Joining Ms Macdonald will be new judges Professor Robert Black of Edinburgh University, Professor Alan Page of Dundee University and Shennagh Adams, Keeper of the Registers of Scotland.

The awards programme has been operated by PR firm KDMedia since 2003 and this year is sponsored by Scott + Co and supported by DX, Registers of Scotland, The Law Society of Scotland, GP Wolffe, Grant Thornton UK LLP and The Scotsman.

Firms across Scotland are invited to nominate themselves in any of 13 categories as follows:

• PRG Employment Team of the Year
  
• GP Wolffe Family Law Team of the Year
  
• Grant Thornton Litigation Team of the Year
  
• Scottish Paralegal Association Paralegal of the Year
  
• Hotel du Vin Private Client Team of the Year
  
• Ros.gov.uk Property Team of the Year
  
• MCL Public Sector Law Team of the Year
  
• The Scottish Law Directory Rising Star of the Year
  
• Pilgrim Systems Specialist Lawyer of the Year
  
• The Law Society of Scotland Support Team of the Year
  
• Woods of Perth Training Provider of the Year
  
• The Scotsman Lifetime Achievement Award
  
• DX Firm of the Year
  

KDMedia has been appointed as PR suppliers to Scotland’s largest independent firm of Chartered Accountants after successfully winning a four-way pitch.

Johnston Carmichael with offices in 11 locations across Scotland has 45 partners and delivers first class services to a number of industries notably, leisure, tourism, retail, agriculture and professional services.

Sandy Manson, Chief Executive of Johnston Carmichael, commented;

“KDMedia offered a thorough and strategic insight into our PR requirements and we were impressed with the level of skill, experience and understanding of the team. We are looking forward to working with KDMedia.”

Johnston Carmichael specialise in providing a comprehensive range of high-quality accountancy and business services to an impressive list of entrepreneurs, owner-managed businesses, partnerships, companies and individuals.

One of the world’s most advanced suppliers of wind turbine technology has renewed its UK public relations contract with KDMedia.

REpower UK which manufacturers, services and installs wind turbines across the UK, has worked with KDmedia for over a year and has renewed their contract for PR and event management services.

Henning von Barsewisch, Managing Director of REpower UK, commented;

“We have been very impressed with the services from KDMedia and look forward to further success in managing our media profile and creating inspiring events for our customers.”

REpower UK is a private limited company wholly owned by REpower AG, the German based manufacturer. It is responsible for sales, installation and servicing of REpower wind farms onshore and offshore. Headquartered in Edinburgh, REpower UK has a team of 60 staff and a growing client list.

Scotland’s housing industry showed fighting spirit as the winners of the 2009 Scottish Home Awards were announced at a packed out event held on Friday 26 June 2009.

300 guests from 35 companies celebrated at the annual lunch and ceremony, the culmination of a national competition which recognises and rewards excellence in house and home creation in Scotland.

Edinburgh house builders, AMA (New Town) Ltd, collected the ultimate prize of the day, the 2009 House Builder of the Year, sponsored by Gillespie Macandrew. The company had scored highly with three developments; the Printhouse, Edinburgh, Caer Amon, Edinburgh and Springside, a new development in the Fountainbridge area of the city.

Elgin-based Springfield Properties collected the most awards with three prizes for Apartment of the Year (Nairn Road, Forres), Conversion of the Year (Rathven Parish Hall in Grampian) and House of the Year for the Newton Highland houses in Alness, Ross-Shire.

Speaking at the event attended by house builders, architects, housing associations, Alex Neil MSP, Scotland’s Minister for Housing and Communities congratulated the entrants and announced £9m of new funding for the building of 1300 new council houses in Scotland. The news takes government funding for council houses up to £26m in 2009 alone.

In the affordable sector, Edinburgh based Home Scotland collected the award for Housing Association of the Year and Hillcrest Housing Association collected the development award for Gilmour’s Close in Edinburgh.

Chair of the judging panel, Margo MacDonald MSP commented;

“I am very impressed to see so many firms engage positively with the Scottish Home Awards. Positivity is a powerful thing and it’s very important that you take the time to celebrate your achievements in good years and in bad.”

Competition judge Dan Macdonald, Chief Executive of Macdonald Estates plc, also took to the stage to introduce the House Builder of the Year Prize. He commented;

“AMA showed real passion and sincerity in its work and produced leading edge results which always made a positive contribution to the built environment.”

The 2009 Scottish Home Award Winners:

Affordable Housing Development of the Year
WINNER: Hillcrest Housing Association, Gilmour’s Close, Edinburgh

Apartment of the Year
WINNER: Springfield Properties, Nairn Road, Forres

Architectural Excellence Award
WINNER: AMA Homes & Richard Murphy Architects, Caer Amon, Edinburgh

City Apartment of the Year
WINNER: Gladedale Capital, Quartermile, Edinburgh

Community Partnership of the Year
WINNER: Dumfries and Galloway Housing Partnership & R&D Construction Group Ltd, Ailsa Gait, Stranraer

Conversion of the Year
WINNER: Springfield Properties, Rathven Parish Church Hall, Grampian

House of the Year
JOINT WINNERS: Country Lifestyle Homes, The Clyde, Lanark
Springfield Properties, The Newton Highland, Alness

Large Housing Association of the Year
WINNER: Home Scotland

Luxury House of the Year
WINNER: Lorn Macneal, Woodlands: Grange Loan, Edinburgh

Waterside Development of the Year
WINNER: Applecross, Eskbridge, Midlothian