Donald MacLeod

Stuart Patrick, Glasgow’s diplomatic CEO of the city’s Chamber of Commerce, didn’t mince his words in The Herald last week. In a very welcome critique of the city’s SNP/Green administration, he said: “There has been no shortage of criticism levelled at Glasgow City Council for the management of the city centre.”

Stonegate Pub Company, the largest in the UK, owners of 4,500 managed houses which include successful brands such as Yates, Walkabout and Slug and Lettuce, is seeking to refinance debts worth a staggering £2.6 billion.

I laughed out loud on Monday when a friend sent me a copy of The Outjoyment Report, a major camping study carried out by Liverpool John Moores University, Sheffield Hallam University and The Camping and Caravanning Club.

I laughed out loud on Monday when a friend sent me a copy of The Outjoyment Report, a major camping study carried out by Liverpool John Moores University, Sheffield Hallam University and The Camping and Caravanning Club.

I HAD to crack open a bottle of JD to drown my sorrows this week.

THIS Sunday, the FIFA World Cup 2022, the most expensive tournament ever held, finally kicks off in Qatar, when the oil rich hosts take on Ecuador, in the colossal tented Al Bayt Stadium. An apt sounding name, given it's one of eight specially built or refurbished multibillion pound stadiums, commissioned for the event.

AS the seasons change our unusually mild autumn begins to blow into a bleak, recessionary winter of discontent. Groups representing huge swathes of the hospitality and brewing industry, UKHospitality, the British Beer & Pub Association, the British Institute of Innkeeping and Hospitality Ulster, last week warned that that unless the UK and its devolved governments take their fears seriously and act quickly, the new year will prove to be the final straw for many businesses.

REMEMBER, remember the Fifth of November? Well, I’ve no doubts that tomorrow evening’s annual Specsavers Scottish Music Awards 2022 (SMAs), will be an unforgettable and truly memorable event.

THIS week the revolving door of No 10 was again spinning at full pelt, with the ridiculed and incompetent Liz Truss exiting, her place taken by Rishi Sunak, the youngest Prime Minister in 200 years and the first Asian to become leader of the country.

AS the numbers of businesses refusing to accept cash in the UK continues to increase, the sinister and relentless march to become a cashless society grows apace.