Legal marathon

THEY are perhaps more used to long-running legal battles than pounding

the streets.

But running enthusiasts at law firm Davidson Chalmers donned their trainers to take part in the recent Edinburgh Marathon Festival, raising thousands of pounds in the process.

The firm’s 13-strong RunDC team (a musical reference for those of a younger vintage) took part in the festival’s marathon, half-marathon and 10K, with each competitor finishing their courses in personal best times. So far their efforts have raised more than £3,600 for charity Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland.

Davidson Chalmers’ solicitor Andrew McDonald, self-appointed coach of RunDC, said: “We’d like to extend our thanks to everyone, including Davidson Chalmers’ clients, who supported the team and gave so generously, helping motivate us to complete

the course.

“Our thanks also to the wonderful Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland staff for their support on the day.”

Dynamic debate

THE great and the good of Scottish IT gathered at Dynamic Earth, in Edinburgh, to discuss the most pressing issues facing the sector recently. Among speakers were Polly Purvis, chief executive of trade body ScotlandIS, and Helen Marshall, head of technology transformation at Yodel. Gordon Kaye, below right, of IT recruitment specialist Cathcart Associates, pictured with joint managing director Sam Wason, said: “Conferences like these are a brilliant opportunity for everyone to come together and learn from one another, learn from what’s happening in the sector and also to discuss openly and honestly about the issues threatening the industry’s growth and what can be done.”

Clapped out cliches

SOMETHING happens when people walk through meeting room doors that radically alters the words they use to communicate.

The trend for executives to adopt horrendously cheesy catchphrases shows no signs of halting, sadly, and thanks to a survey by office firm Londonoffices.com we now know the most annoying of the genre.

These include such hardy perennials such as “there’s no ‘I’ in team”, “thinking outside the box”, “win-win” and “low hanging fruit”.

A spokesman noted: “If used sparingly these phrases can help articulate what you are saying, but constant overuse can leave you sounding as though you have stolen your speech from David Brent.”

Hear, hear, we say – it really is time to kick this old business jargon thing into the long grass…

Rock ’n’ roll bar

WE all know pubs today

are a lot different to what they were a decade ago, especially in uber hipster locales such as Finnieston

in Glasgow.

Liam Gallagher, the cagoule-sporting rock star, summed up how operators have made the transition from spit and sawdust watering holes to craft gin and gastro emporia better than most.

Expressing his contempt for those among us who visit pubs for a “sandwich or some fish”, the controversial musician said he has a more straightforward mission when he visits his local boozer, telling the NME: “I go to get drunk.”

Licensees in Glasgow will be hoping the Oasis star drops by when he is in town for his Barrowlands show on Sunday.