- Council’s capital borrowing to fall
- Frank is not for retiring
- Celebrating Chinese New Year at Waverley
- Society of Young Publishers Conference
- Newest restaurant in town
The amount of money borrowed by the City of Edinburgh Council to fund capital expenditure is set to fall over coming years.
The Council’s Annual Treasury Strategy 2016/17, to be discussed by members of the Finance and Resources Committee later this morning aims to ensure the Council meets its funding and borrowing needs while securing new funding at the lowest rate.
The report highlights the Council’s successful approach to funding capital expenditure by reducing cash deposits. The underlying need to borrow forecast is to reduce by £140m from £1.510bn to £1.370bn between 31 March 2015 and 31 March 2021.
The reduction in borrowing is estimated to generate over £6m worth of savings by 2016/17, which have contributed towards the Council’s overall savings requirement.
Finance Convener, Councillor Alasdair Rankin, said: “Having just set the budget for 2016/17 the Annual Treasury Strategy further demonstrates our continuing commitment to manage the Council’s finances.
“With borrowing forecast to decrease over coming years we are set to save on associated costs such as interest payments allowing us to focus spend on the areas where it matters.”
Edinburgh’s 2016/17 Budget, set last week, aims to make £85.4m of savings while protecting frontline services, and has set out proposals for the following three years.
Read the full Annual Treasury Strategy 2016/17 report..
Frank Sweeney, born in Edinburgh in 1941, says the secret to a long and happy career is getting up early and getting to work on time.
Frank, who has taken care of corporate clients at Macdonald Houstoun House Hotel for over a decade lives in Armadale, West Lothian. He officially retired from his position as maintenance manager at the hotel in 2006, but decided to stay on with the hotel after the group offered him a position managing the hotel’s meeting facilities.
Mr Sweeney, 75, has no plans to stop working until he is at least 80 years old and hopefully beyond. Having looked after clients ranging from BSkyB to Scottish Water, Frank says that the secret to success is getting out of bed early, arriving ahead of time, and being organised. Whether it be talking to the hotel’s chef to make sure the bacon sandwiches are kept warm if there’s a delay, or arriving early to set up the room as only Frank knows the customer likes it to be; time management is key.
An example of his success and much to his embarrassment, came two years ago when Frank received a standing ovation in recognition of his great service, from one the UK’s largest banks after a week-long meeting at Houstoun House.
Frank said: “If I could offer young people who are about to embark on their careers any advice, it would be to learn how to work with people, what makes them tick, and to be nice. Working life is all about creating human relationships. If your customers trust you, and know that you are there to make their day that much better, then the rest will take care of itself.”
Edinburgh’s Waverley Station will be hosting a Chinese New Year celebration at the beginning of the year of the Fire Monkey.
The celebration will take place this Friday, 5 February 2016 between the hours of 12:00pm and 4:00pm with a traditional Lion Dance taking place at 1:00pm and an official event opening at 1:15pm.
As a part of the Waverley Market re-opening, the celebration will take place inside the station by Platform 2.
The event is entirely free of charge, and also includes several hands on activities and performances for both adults and children. Handmade arts & crafts, snacks and drinks will also be available for purchase from both the Chinese community and the broad range of traders that are part of the weekly Waverley Market.
Nick Barley who runs the Edinburgh International Book Festival is to deliver the keynote speech at the first Society of Young Publishers conference 2020: A Publishing Odyssey on 18 March 2016 at the Lauriston Hall.
Nick Barley (selected as an industry trendsetter in The Bookseller’s Top 100 list) has worked his way through the industry, moving from being a publisher at Blueprint to editor of The List to his current role of director at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, a post he has held since 2009.
In recent years, the Book Festival has hosted names such as Reverend Jesse Jackson, George RR Martin, Jacqueline Wilson and Malala Yousafzai.
With a consistent push to innovate, bringing more international work to Scotland, tackling hard-hitting topics from politics to mental health and experimenting with the format of events, the Edinburgh International Book Festival is at the forefront of what book festivals can achieve.
2020: A Publishing Odyssey is a must-attend event for showcasing the diverse mix Scotland’s publishing industry has to offer.
The Edinburgh Reporter met the founder of restaurant chain Byron last night at the opening of the latest member of the Byron family on North Bridge.
Storm Henry had held him up at Edinburgh Airport as the ground crew there would not attach the jetty to allow passengers to disembark due to the high winds, but he was quick to regain his composure on arrival.
All ground services suspended at EDI – that is the jetty which is too dangerous to attach they say @byronhamburgers pic.twitter.com/zpCdY6ryeW
— Tom (@tombyng) February 1, 2016
You can watch the interview here:
The Edinburgh Reporter News from Phyllis Stephen on Vimeo.
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