The Herald

Boost in Activity at Beattie Should Bring Profit Hike; Performance Bonuses to Replace Staff Shares Scheme

BEATTIE Media, the Scottish public relations company, opened new offices in Manchester and Birmingham this week amid an upturn in activity expected to yield a substantial hike in profits. Following a group restructuring, however, founding owner Gordon Beattie has scrapped a share option plan which could have seen some staff eventually take a 20% stake in the business. A new bonus scheme has been introduced under which about 20 executives will receive annual bonuses based on the performance of...

Cable & Wireless Shares Soar On Strength of Turnaround

CABLE & Wireless, the UK's second-biggest phone company, saw its shares leap yesterday after narrowing second-half losses and reinstating the dividend pay-out for shareholders. The London-based group delighted investors by saying it had turned around a decline in sales at its core UK business and unveiling a full-year dividend of 3.15p per share, more than expected.

Cairn Energised by Indian Drilling Results

Shares in Cairn Energy rose 3% on news of encouraging appraisal drilling on the first of three transformational finds the company has made in Rajasthan, India this year. Edinburgh-based Cairn said the fourth appraisal well on the Mangala find had encountered good quality oil spread over a wide area.

Court Date Set for Awg Dispute with Morrison

UTILITY AWG yesterday revealed that its drawn-out legal dispute with the former directors of Morrison Construction would reach the High Court in May next year. The company is pursuing well-known Scottish businessman Sir Fraser Morrison, along with Stephen McBrierty, for an estimated (pounds) 130m of damages but the case has been persistently postponed. Despite claims that the delay indicated a lack of evidence to pursue the case, AWG has always maintained the legal action is a live issue.

Expro International Intends to Create 50 R&D Jobs in Aberdeen

EXPRO International expects to create around 50 jobs in Aberdeen as the struggling oil services company boosts spending on the development of higher-margin technologies. Increased investment in the research and development function in Aberdeen comes after a good year for the North Sea operations of Expro, which employs around 600 workers in the Granite City.

Rose-Tinted Specs Could Give M&S Vision to See Off Green

LAST night Marks & Spencer landed a further blow on rag king Philip Green's hopes of taking over the troubled group. Having abruptly jettisoned its own top management on Sunday, M&S has now won a temporary High Court injunction preventing Green's legal advisers, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, from advising the world's 84th richest man on his promised bid for Britain's largest clothing retailer. Green's lawyers have until 10.30 this morning to appeal.

Plans to Manage Any Outbreak of Bse in Sheep Welcomed

BSE, the disease which has seen huge numbers of cattle culled over the last eight years, has never been found in the sheep flock. However, all European Union member states are obliged by legislation to have a contingency plan to meet such an occurrence. The Scottish Executive yesterday published a revised plan along with the department of the environment, food and rural affairs, and the devolved administrations in Wales and Northern Ireland. The first contingency plan was issued in July 2001,...

Overhaul at Sit Brings Improved Returns

SCOTTISH Investment Trust, the (pounds) 960m independently- managed global trust which has been under fire from activist shareholders over corporate governance and performance, has said returns have improved since a reorganisation under a new manager in January. SIT said it had streamlined and restructured its portfolio following the retirement of manager Ian McLeish and of two other long-serving senior managers.

Upbeat Intense Secures New Round of Funding; Opto-Electronics Firm Insists It Will Break Even by End of 2005

INTENSE, the Scottish opto-electronics firm which makes chips for the telecoms, defence and printing sectors, yesterday said it expects to complete a new multi-million-pound funding round by the end of the month and that it remains on target to break even by the end of 2005. The assurances of David Lockwood, chief executive of the Lanarkshire-based company, come in stark contrast to the "fundamental uncertainty" warning slapped on Intense's latest set of financial results by its accountants C...

Yeats Limps Out of the Derby; Major Blow for O'brien, but Other Runner Is Backed

Snow Ridge's odds were shortened at the head of the Derby market after Aidan O'Brien announced that his unbeaten charge, Yeats, was a non-runner in Saturday's race due to a muscle problem. Yeats had been favourite for the leading colt's classic throughout the winter, but bookmakers' lists are now headed by the Godolphin runner as Frankie Dettori seeks a first victory in the race.

Docherty Is Happy to Go Dutch

hockey The sport's governing body in Scotland has agreed to a request from the Dutch Hockey Association for Laurence Docherty to play for the Netherlands. A statement claimed Scottish Hockey Union directors had expressed disappointment that the 22-year-old from Edinburgh had chosen not to continue playing for Scotland and Great Britain. However, they agreed not to stand in the way of his desire to play for the Dutch, and wished him good luck.

Karen Giles Says This Is a Match Made in Heaven

In new manager Jose Mourinho Chelsea have indeed discovered a kindred spirit. For a club that now believes anything is possible given the requisite number of euros, here is a coach with so much self-belief that his considerable welcoming party at Stamford Bridge yesterday was lost for words. As introductions go, it was a tour de force: "I am the European champion. I think I am special." The Premiership and those prickled by Mourinho's arrogance will enjoy testing that resolve in the months to...

Raith Find No Betting Evidence

Raith Rovers have told the Scottish Football League that their own internal investigations into allegations of a (pounds) 250,000 betting scam have produced no evidence, writes Mark Wilson. "We spoke to several people last week and held a board meeting on Monday," said Turnbull Hutton, the club chairman. "No actual evidence has been given to us and there have been no admissions on the part of anyone of involvement in any betting issues. We have now conveyed that to the league.

Two-On-One Beach Drill Accident Leaves Philip Facing Knee Reconstruction Surgery

Instead of preparing for Friday's Test against Samoa and a sixth Scotland cap, Tom Philip is facing knee reconstruction surgery and nine months of intense rehabilitation after a seemingly innocuous accident on the beach left him with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament. Matt Williams, the Scotland coach, said the damage was done in a collision with Dan Parks, but Philip revealed that it happened when he ran into Simon Webster and Andy Henderson during a two-on-one defensive drill.

Spl Credibility Takes Further Battering Over Inverness Row; Milne and Dick Lambast State of Top Division

THE credibility of the Scottish Premier League was further undermined last night when two member clubs with a vested interest in the outcome of Inverness Caledonian Thistle's bid for SPL membership expressed embarrassment at the state of the top division. On the same day as Ken Mackie, the Inverness chairman, notified the Scottish Football Association of Caley's intention to appeal the decision against their groundshare proposals with Aberdeen, Stewart Milne, the Pittodrie chairman, accused t...

Arab Station Screens Video of Hostages; Kidnapped Italians Appear Fit and Well

THREE Italian hostages taken hostage in Iraq weeks ago were shown in a video broadcast last night on an Arab television station. Four Italian men working as private guards in Iraq were kidnapped on April 12. Soon after, the captors executed one, Fabrizio Quattrocchi, and issued a videotape of his killing.

D-Day: European Diplomats Fear Us President Will Draw Parallels with Iraq

BEFORE the D-Day commemorations can begin, parts of Europe will be taking part in their very own B-Days. As part of a diplomatic offensive, George W Bush will be calling on Rome and Paris ahead of a visit to Normandy.

Happy Reunions for Ta Troops After Five-Month Tour

Troops from the 51st Highland Regiment - including a solicitor, teacher and fish farmer - yesterday returned home from a five-month tour of duty in Iraq. The 36 soldiers, all from the Territorial Army, had an emotional reunion with their families at Cameron Barracks in Inverness.

Palestine and Israel Unite to Save Dead Sea; Joint Project to Increase Water Level

Israel and Palestine are supporting a project to save the Dead Sea from extinction. It emerged the two communities put aside historic differences to support a plan to save the ecosystem of the sea, whose water level is dropping.

Upsets and Cartoon Capers; Highers Report; in the Final Part of Our Series Reviewing the Higher Examinations, We Ask Teachers for Their Expert Assessments of the Papers, and Pupils How They Think They Have Performed

HISTORY WITHOUT exception, all our reviewers teach the later-modern- history option and many expressed disappointment that certain stalwart topics - the growth of democracy, the Liberals and welfare reforms and the rise of Hitler - did not appear. This, they felt, left many students with a restricted choice of questions they could answer.