JOHN Watson, group finance director at Ogilvie Group, the Stirling-based construction, fleet, IT and surveying business, celebrated his 60th birthday this week – the day before George Osborne’s Budget. Being a numbers man, Mr Watson has developed a clever way of ‘spinning’ his age.

“John turned 60 today…though he prefers to call it ‘50 plus VAT’,” explains Ogilvie group marketing director Nick Hardy. “He is hoping of course that there are no VAT rises in the Budget.” Mr Watson was looking forward to what the Chancellor – himself a master of spin – had up his sleeve. “On a personal note – please don’t put up the price of whisky!” Mr Watson joked.

IT must be some modest comfort for RBS shareholders to learn that investment bank Goldman Sachs has decided that the shares, languishing just above a three-year low, are now rated a ‘buy’. But RBS chief executive Ross McEwan was keen to stress, at a conference run the same day by another big City investment bank – Morgan Stanley – , the unknown “conduct” liabilities for selling mortgage-backed securities in the US. Of course, that all occurred at a time when RBS was conducting itself like...well, an investment bank. And perhaps it is a trifle unfortunate that Goldmans' accolade is to add the stock to its ‘Conviction List’.

LAST week’s annual investment conference in Edinburgh of the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) – the new, cooler name for what used to be the National Association of Pension Funds – had expected to hear speakers raging about the torrent of Budget leaks – since contradicted by newer leaks – suggesting yet another pensions revolution. But PLSA chairman Lesley Williams told delegates: “This was going to be my last opportunity to get on my soap box before the Chancellor delivered his spring Budget and potentially announced some significant changes to pensions tax. But the soap box has been kicked from under my feet – a price I am delighted to pay!”

SPEAKING of taxes, energy comparison site SwitchMyBusiness.com has revealed evidence of what it calls a “kettle tax”. Making regular rounds of tea in the office is costing employers £71 a year for every employee, the company has calculated. An average employee makes three tea rounds per day – or 759 kettle boils per year, at an average of 2.5p per boil, SwitchMyBusiness has discovered. This means a business with just 20 members of staff doing their usual tea rounds will rack up a yearly kettle bill of almost £1,500. Team members who can't work without their morning coffee also cost the business £127 each a year.