Business Diary: The Scottish financial services industry has by and large resisted the adoption of the ridiculous names favoured by many of their southern competitors.

The Scottish financial services industry has by and large resisted the adoption of the ridiculous names favoured by many of their southern competitors. Geographical monikers Scotland, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow are particular favourites, or, failing that, they go for the dull and reliable such as Standard or Alliance.

One notable exception is Glasgow's Resolution Asset Management which, not content with launching joint venture businesses Argonaut, Cartesian, Hexam and Maia, is to rename itself Ignis.

Now Scottish Life, owned by mutual Royal London, has decided to jump on the silly name bandwagon. When its offshore business is combined with newly acquired Scottish Provident International next year it is to be dubbed Royal London 360.

David Kneeshaw, chief executive of "Royal London 360", commented: "The vision we have for the new international business is ideally captured within its new name, Royal London 360."

But just in case we all get carried away with excitement, he added, in more of a 180 about-turn than a full spin: "It's not that we actually operate in all international markets, more that we're capable of doing so."

Show must go on ... with the understudy
TREVOR Matthews, the former head of Standard Life's UK business who decamped to take on the myriad challenges of Friends Provident, is displaying some of the wiles necessary to survive as a FTSE-100 chief executive.

Matthews, as part of his efforts to rejuvenate the company's corporate pensions offering, invited fellow Australian Senator Nick Sherry, the country's minister for superannuation, to address a dinner of retirement industry movers and shakers at Gleneagles.

Unfortunately Sherry cancelled at the last minute. The guests were warned that Matthews instead would deliver the speech and, much to his delight, just one guest pulled out.

He has a plan for the next event. "I'm going to tell them that Bill Clinton is the speaker, but he's not coming either."

Scots diet powers lawyer to the top
COMMERCIAL lawyers are not known for their lack of ambition. But George Frier, head of corporate at McClure Naismith, is taking things a bit further than most with claims he will become the top lawyer in Africa - at least for a day - next month.

In October, Frier will be trekking 19,563 feet to the top of Kilimanjaro, in aid of the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice in Glasgow.

At least he should have plenty of provisions. His sponsors include Tunnocks, food distributor Dalziel, Whyte & Mackay and Loch Muir Salmon.

Whisky tracked on its migration east
CHIVAS Brothers, the Paisley-based division of Pernod Ricard, is also displaying its international side. A consignment of Chivas Regal 12-year-old whisky will be the first cargo shipped as part of the BBC's "The Box" project, which aims to tell the individual stories behind the global economy. Tracked via a GPS transmitter, the whisky will be collected from Paisley, taken to Southampton and then shipped to Asia.

Its journey can be tracked on the BBC website.

Selling Scottishness spells disaster
WORKERS at Mentholatum, the East Kilbride-based operation of Japanese conglomerate Rohto, are to educate their overseas colleagues about Scottish culture next week.

Company salespeople from locations as disparate as Saudi Arabia, Kenya and Albania will converge at Cameron House on the shores of Loch Lomond to participate in what is being called the 2008 Mentholatum Highland Games.

They will pay homage to an event that dates back to the 11th century and King Malcolm III by participating in traditional contests such as, um, wellie throwing, target fly fishing and something called laser clays.

But forget the dubious heritage - will it teach them to spell?

"International community to learn to hurl the hagis!" proclaimed the company's press release, twice.