The Bottom Line: Herald Business Diary

THERE was a time when it seemed everything was made in Taiwan. But even an industrial powerhouse occasionally defers to an overseas specialist.

The Bottom Line has learned that a Scottish kilt maker was enlisted to create a tartan marking the centennial of the country's founding.

The Taiwan Scottish tartan, designed in 2011, fuses elements of the Mackay and Maxell tartans with colours inspired by the saltire and Taiwanese flags.

The tartans were selected to honour missionaries Dr George Lesley Mackay and Dr James Maxell for their work in religion, education and medicine in the country.

Every day is a school day, and all that.

France is favourite for working abroad

WORKING for Murgitroyd, the Glasgow-based intellectual property specialist, offers scope for international travel thanks to its network of offices around the world.

But some of its stations are more popular than others, chief executive Keith Young has revealed.

"As we always say, the secondment requests for Belfast are usually lower than for Nice," he said.

"It's a strange thing, but there you go."

Change of tune over banking salaries

ROYAL Bank of Scotland (RBS) deputy chief executive Chris Sullivan managed to raise a few smiles at the Treasury Select Committee recently.

A committee member suggested the £30,000 to £60,000 salary range paid to RBS staff working with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in its general restructuring group seemed relatively modest.

Mr Sullivan then quickly pointed out: "It's not often we get accused of that."

Bonuses all round, then.

Not quite on the ball with recruitment

WE briefly thought Scottish footballer Kenny Dalglish had found a new calling.

However, closer inspection of the press statement from Aspen People revealed a crucial spelling difference. Ken Dalgleish is one of the recruitment specialist's founding directors. He previously turned out for Munro Consulting - not Celtic, Liverpool and Scotland.

Either we need to get to the optician, or World Cup fever has set in.

Slide puts the fun into fundraising

THIS corporate life is a bit of a lark, isn't it?

Resonance Capital director Ken Barrett swapped an afternoon at the desk for a go on a 300-foot water slide at the Skypark office complex in Glasgow.

The slip 'n' side was held as part of Skypark's summer social event, which saw staff hurl themselves down the slide on lilos to raised funds for Cash for Kids.

Angela Higgins of Resonance Capital, a joint venture partner in Skypark, said: "It was a fun day and hundreds of Skypark's workers and their families took part and donated to help vulnerable children and their families. A huge thank you to all of our community for taking part and making a difference."