- Edinburgh joins the European Cities Marketing Association
- Lothian Buses recognised for environmental efforts
- Mother’s Day 2016
- Rob Deering
- Canned Laughter
Edinburgh has now joined the prestigious group European Cities Marketing Association through its official promotional body Marketing Edinburgh.
The capital is the first Scottish city to join the group and only the second in the UK after Belfast.
The announcement came at the annual Spring Meeting in Madrid last week. There are currently 100 cities who are members of the organisation.
ECM is the only organisation to work with leisure and meetings industry and helps members strengthen their destination marketing offering.
John Donnelly, Chief Executive of Marketing Edinburgh said: “Joining ECM marks a gear change for Edinburgh’s proactive marketing strategy. We are collaborating and learning from some of the most successful destination marketing organisations in Europe, sharing knowledge, research, innovative ideas and developing new products.
“When it comes to attracting leisure and business travellers to Edinburgh, our main competitors are not UK-based, it’s the likes of Vienna, Florence, Madrid and Copenhagen. Being able to share best practice, gain insights and learnings from our European counterparts, enables Edinburgh to raise its competitive game and benchmark our marketing strategy and future success for the city.”
Ignasi de Delàs, President of European Cities Marketing said: “We are thrilled to welcome Edinburgh as a member of European Cities Marketing. And I am sure that Edinburgh as well as our 100 members will all benefit from this new arrival in the ECM family to meet, share and grow!”
Lothian Buses won an award at the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce Business Awards earlier in the week for their approach to environmental matters.
The company has invested over £18.5 million in environmental improvements such as the 60 diesel-electric hybrid buses they have introduced in the last 18 months.
As a result the company’s carbon footprint has been much improved, and two thirds of their fleet is now at Euro 5 Standard or above.
Jim MacFarlane, General Manager of Lothian Buses, said: “We are delighted to have been selected as a winner in this category and thank the Chamber for recognising the work we’ve been doing to ensure our services are of a consistently high environmental quality.
“Lothian Buses is committed to serving communities throughout Edinburgh and the Lothians, with environmental impact a key pillar in making sure we succeed in this.”
David Birrell, Chief Executive of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, said: “The calibre of entries was very high in all the categories this year. The sustainability award was particularly hard fought. We were impressed by the holistic approach Lothian Buses is taking to embedding sustainability principles across the organisation.”
The awards, held at the city’s Sheraton Hotel, are now in their fifth year and celebrate the contribution that local businesses make to the capital.
The firm was also shortlisted for its corporate social responsibility work, recognising its support for Fresh Start, a charity that helps people who have been homeless to get established in new homes.
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[mc4wp_form id=”169103″]We have already produced for you some suggestions as to what you might do with your mum this Sunday 6 March 2016 in our list here, but the suggestions keep on coming!
At the Royal Yacht Britannia they offer Champagne Cream Tea for Mother’s Day in the Royal Deck Tea Room.
The tea will come after a tour round the ship which was for so long a real favourite of Her Majesty the Queen and now a five star visitor attraction.
The Royal Deck Tea Room has great views to the River Forth and the afternoon tea will include a glass of Veuve Cliquot rosé along with a scone and clotted cream, served with Britannia jam. All of the food served on Britannia is made on board and the menu also featured Cullen Skink soup, Shetland oak smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwiches.
More information here.
This Saturday 5 March 2016 Rob Deering one of the UK’s foremost stand-up comedians will be on stage at The Studio at The Festival Theatre along with Micky Bartlett one of Ireland’s rising stars.
The evening will be compered by Scott Agnew who will attempt to keep comedians and audience in check!
Deering was the host and writer of three series of Out to Lunch on BBC Radio 2. He also hosted 99 Things to Do Before You Die on Channel 5. He has always been an ardent quiz fan.
It all started aged 12 when his extrovert nature and love of a good quiz led to his first TV appearance, on the successful and well-known TVam game Crack It. His rubbish answers meant he failed to win the Sinclair ZX Spectrum for his school!. Since then he has appeared on Channel 4’s Fifteen to One and won both a special edition of the Weakest Link and an edition of Celebrity Mastermind.
For further information on Gilded Balloon Comedy at The Studio at The Festival Theatre go to: http://www.gildedballoon.co.uk
Straight after their successful pantomime run at the King’s which ended just over a month ago, the trio of Allan Stewart, Andy Gray and Grant Stott are set to wow audiences once more with their new play Canned Laughter.
Read more about the play and watch the trio along with Gabriel Quigley who joins them to play their agent and sister trying to explain what this play is really about over here.
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