Testing, testing

Testing, testing

LORD Smith of Kelvin was on good form while touring Aggreko's Dumbarton facility last week.

He was asked to perform the final test on one of the generators which will be used at this summer's Commonwealth Games.

Later the chairman of the Games organising committee quipped: "If anything goes wrong with that one I will probably get the blame."

Giving it away

THE Bottom Line almost choked on its fairtrade coffee when news reached us Barclays has launched a philanthropy guide. Closer inspection revealed Barclays has not compiled a book about its own good deeds, but a guide to charity donations for high net-worth individuals. It comes as research from the bank reveals 38 per cent of said individuals plan to give to charity in their lifetimes.

Question freeze

SHAREHOLDERS appear to be satisfied with the progress of Cumbernauld-based AG Barr, judging by the lack of serious probing at this week's AGM.

In the Q&A session that followed official proceedings, one shareholder asked why the firm's recently launched Irn-Bru ice lolly was not being distributed to "poor shareholders" at the meeting.

Chairman Ronnie Hanna quipped that the freezer at KPMG, the company's auditor and host for the AGM, was not big enough.

Not to be outdone, commercial director Jonathan Kemp added: "The resolutions were too long to hand them out!"

Self-awareness

PIERS Clark, boss of Thames Water Commercial, displayed some amusing self-awareness when he was being interviewed by The Bottom Line yesterday.

Mr Clark, who was outlining the firm's strategy for building its presence in Scotland, halted his flow of thought to exclaim: "I'm astonished, I don't normally speak like this! It just feels like I'm going into trite sales speech!"

Fear not, Mr Clark, you scored very few points on the boardroom bingo chart.

Taxi talk

LORD Smith of Kelvin also senses a growing feeling that Glaswegians are starting to realise what this summer Commonwealth Games will mean to the city.

He said: "I have a rule about these things. I ask Glasgow cabbies to see what they think. They are 100 per cent behind it, which is unheard of."