Hot desking

Keith Skeoch, 16 years at Standard Life, is today enjoying his second day in the top job. But will he abandon his palatial office in Standard Life Investments’ George Street HQ, for decades the wood-panelled seat of power for group chief executives, but now the preserve of SLI’s leader? If the new chief decamps to the executive floor at Lothian Road, he may no longer have an office at all - or even his own desk. Departing colleague David Nish led his subtle cultural revolution from the front, by turning the floor from partitioned executive bubbles into a hotdesking free-for-all. The new boss’s office strategy will be watched with interest.


Lowe hits a high


MANY business owners never really relax, even while on holiday.
Saltire Pubs supremo Billy Lowe admitted he would take “stresses and strains” with him wherever he was.
But after selling his business to Glendola Leisure, he said: “When I woke up on Saturday [after the deal] I had a particular smile on my face for the first time in years. It was this feeling of freedom. It’s quite interesting to have that.”


Fit for work ...


WE like a bit of corporate lingo at The Bottom Line so were tickled to see Cairn India launching a “wellness programme” for 120 employees at its head office.
The lucky souls selected for CairnFit are getting tailored yoga, functional fitness and running activities. The company ominously warned it plans to introduce similar schemes across other sites, although there was no mention of whether the activity will be optional.

... Not fit for work


IT is always amusing to hear the tall stories people conjure to take the day off work.
The good folks at HR Dept, the human resources consultant, have compiled a poll of the top five “sickie” tales.
We particularly like the brutal honesty of one worker, who left his superiors under no illusion as to why he needed a day in front of Bargain Hunt. “A worker called in sick saying that he was hungover,” HR Dept reported.
There is really not that much to add to that.


Magic moments


STANDARD Life likes to take the long view, as both old and new chief executives demonstrated when chatting about the group’s half-year results on Tuesday.
David Nish said the venerable institution was “coming up to 200 … This business has got something magical about it”. His successor Keith Skeoch volunteered that he was “acutely aware that Standard Life has its 200th anniversary” in prospect.
But magic can only go so far – Mr Nish vanishes unexpectedly after a six-year spell, and his successor was quick to add that with the big anniversary not due till 2025, “one thing I can guarantee is I won’t be here”.