Stand by your child

THE debate over the EU referendum has barely begun but a flavour of it emerged at last week's Law Society of Scotland conference.

For Keith Ruddock, Weir Group's general counsel and company secretary, the institution conjured up an unusual image.

"I sometimes think the EU is like an ugly baby," he told puzzled lawyers.

"It's hard to love but it's still your baby and you still ought to stick by it."

But he also admitted: "Edward Heath said this was a union that would not impact our sovereignty - right from day one it did just that."

Face off

IT is not often one gets the chance to “bake” a colleague.

But Burness Paull chairman Philip Rodney recently seized the chance to do just that.

Mr Rodney’s came a respectable third in a bake off held to mark the launch of the Burness Paull Foundation cake with a cake emblazoned with an image of managing partner Ian Wattie’s fizzog.

We wonder what Mary Berry would have made of it all.

Giving youth a chance

THE first networking event to be hosted by Young Professionals in Construction (YPiC) has been hailed a big success.

More than 100 guests attended the group’s inaugural event at the Edinburgh offices of Maclay Murray & Spens (MMS), which came up with the idea in collaboration with BAM Construction and 3D Reid.

YPiC was set up to address the lack of forums for young professionals in the sector. More than 250 names have been gathered on its mailing list since its launch less than a month ago, with planning for a second networking now underway.

Linzi Coates-Hedalen of MMS said: “The attendance, and the further interest YPiC has attracted in just a short time, proves there is a need for a relaxed forum for young professionals in the construction industry."

Back on the baking

WHAT is it with lawyers and baking?

Not to be outdone by its Burness Paull counterparts, Edinburgh firm Morisons has lined up cake baking extraordinaire Paul Bradford to speak at its latest food and drink event later this month.

Mr Bradford, who has baked cakes for the Queen and Prince Albert of Monaco, will share the ingredients of its success at Morisons’ Glasgow office on October 22.

He will be joined by John Moore and Tom Lauckner, founders of gourmet sandwich chain Piece.

The power of change

AS Spinal Tap memorably sang on The Majesty of Rock, “the more it stays the same, the less it changes.”

Such wisdom will emphatically not have been uppermost in mind when Scottish accountancy firm French Duncan decided to team up with Scottish Enterprise for an event called “Tomorrow’s World Today”.

But the subject of change was very much be on the agenda.

The event featured a masterclass, and first Scottish speech, by Dr Graeme Codrington, billed as an “export on the future world of work and disruptive change.”

All we can say is that there is certainly nothing more disruptive than the amps being turned up to 11 when you’re trying to work.