Sir Bill Gammell's drive founded Cairn Energy in the early 1980s.

It was he who master-minded the company's expansion and exploration programmes, provided employment and massive share value increase for shareholders and the company continues to make progress in international oil exploration for the benefit of Scotland and the UK .

This is a true success story, now to be penalised when many in London get massive rewards for failure or simply being in post ("Cairn Energy withdraws £2.5m bonus to Gammell", The Herald, January 25).

PIRC (Pensions Investment Research Consultants), the "voice of responsible shareholders", together with Manifest the corporate governance watchdog, fail to criticise, for example, the £10 million bonus for Bob Diamond of Barclays Bank, and many other profligate salary and bonus payments in London while condemning a relatively modest bonus recommended for Sir Bill Gammell, former chief executive and now non-executive chairman of Cairn Energy.

In Cairn we have a company, pioneered by a classic example of an entrepreneur in a risky and dangerous field, taking on multi-nationals and succeeding.

Nigel Dewar Gibb,

15 Kirklee Road,

Glasgow.