BUSINESS DIARY

The business centre, which is home to companies run by some of Lanarkshire's successful young business men and women, is holding a free art exhibition.

It seems the highlight of the show is a display by Graham Young (below), whose work includes radiation warnings made out of socks! Radiation is certainly a new description for an old problem, but it seems Young is also providing a demonstration of the ancient art ``flyping''.

For those in the dark, flyping is an old Scots term for folding socks by turning them inside out, so making them easier to put on, and is - according to Young - a symbol of the way words have become lost through time.

Elaine Symington of the Modyrval Centre told Business Diary: ``We already have musicians, video makers and artists but we still have a few units available for young people between the ages of 16 and 25.''

Young, who studied art after spending 26 years as a health service manager, took several weeks to find enough socks for his display, which aims to make people think more about the power of language in everyday life.

The exhibition runs for two weeks at the centre in Dalziel Workspace, Mason Street, Motherwell.

Firms go into battle for fun

SCOTLAND'S businesses will be battling it out with bows and arrows at Keir and Cawder Estates this autumn. But it's all in a good cause.

They will be taking part in Unity Enterprise's multi-sports day to raise funds for the charity, which provides employment opportunities for disabled and disadvantaged youths and adults. Events include clay pigeon shooting, four-wheel driving, archery, grass karting and quad racing.

It will take place on September 13 and costs #320 (including lunch) for a team of four. If you are interested in taking part, your application should be in by August 16. For details call Unity Enterprise on 0141 849 0400.

New mission for dirty dozen

THE European Commission is looking for the business equivalent of the ``dirty dozen''. The search is on for 12 men or women from UK companies in their late twenties or early thirties to take part in the Executive Training Programme in Japan.

It was set up 17 years ago to increase European industry's effectiveness in the Japanese market by building up a core of executives trained in Japanese business practice, language and culture. More than 600 executives have already completed the 18-month programme.

Participating companies should be exporting to Japan or have clear business plans showing how they see themselves developing trade there or elsewhere on the Pacific Rim.

Applications are particularly encouraged from small to medium-sized concerns, and there's a grant of #90,000 available to first-time participants. To find out more, contact John Patrick at PA Consulting on 0171 730 9000. Closing date for applications is July 31.

DNA diner takes the biscuit

I'VE heard of a few zany ideas in my time, but the thought of a restaurant decorated with DNA banding really takes the biscuit.

It's not surprising that the artist involved, Lucy Byatt, is being supported by intellectual property specialist Murgitroyd and Company.

Byatt has collected strands of hair from the dining room floor of the Pearce Institute in Govan, Glasgow, and made an analysis of the DNA stored at the root.

The information, which is unique to the individual it comes from, will be displayed as a set of coloured bands around the restaurant walls and in the form of stained-glass windows.

There has been speculation about who the DNA belongs to. However, Caroline Sincock of Murgitroyd and Company says: ``The repeated image is a copyright work and has become the intellectual property of the artist. It is her asset, her own piece of work, and as such is legally protected.'' So now you know.

The exhibition opens at the institute on Thursday.

Communication barrier falls

GLASGOW will play host to yet another international training conference next week when 800 delegates from 15 countries gather in the city's Hilton Hotel for the 55th annual International Training in Communications convention.

We are told this is the first time the conference has been held in the UK, and only the third time it has gone outside of the US.

We can only hope the delegates don't have too much difficulty understanding Watt Nicol's accent. Watt is a consultant with Uddingston's Unitec Corporation and will address them on Monday.

Enterprising way to spend a holiday

YOUNG Enterprise Scotland's chief executive recently proved he's every bit as fit as the school children his organisation encourages to set up their own businesses.

Fifty-seven-year-old Owen McGhee has just travelled from Fort William to Inverness by canoe! Accompanied by his former school mate Sam Watt, a civil servant based in London, he covered 60-miles of the Caledonian Canal in three days.

Apparently, the pair like to do something a bit different every year and have even tried free-fall parachuting.

Things got a little hectic at one point during their recent escapade when they were caught up in rough water near Urquhart Castle. ``Just as we thought we might go down, we heard the skirl of a piper on the cliff above us. When the pipes stopped we heard him cry ``On ye go'', which gave us a great boost,'' McGhee explains.

A Highland tale if ever there was one.