Monthly Archives: February 2009

A tale of two countries – Britain and Germany – in treatment of Iceland

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The UK, to our enduring shame, used anti-terrorist legislation to seize the UK assets of Icelandic banks judged to be failing. One of the banks, Kaupthing, says that this action by the British Financial Services Authority (FSA) forced it into a bankruptcy it might otherwise have avoided. Kaupthing is suing the FSA with the support of the Icelandic Government and says that it will take its case to Europe if necessary.

The reaction of German investors has been very different. It was reported today (10th February) that around 30,000 German investors had a total of around US$426 million in Kaupthing when it went down last October.

A group representing these account holders came to Iceland to
discuss the situation with Icelandic authorities and met the Minister
of Business Affairs Gylfi Magnússon on Friday 6th February. 

Karlheinz Bellmann, one of the group, came to Iceland to seek compensaation last November after the collape of Kaupthing. He saw then, at first hand, the suffering of many Icelanders hit hard by the crisis and decided to return and contribute to Icelandic society. He says Germans are generally compassionate towards Icelanders and the difficulties they are facing.

A group of the German investors who have lost their money has made an initial gesture of support when they were in Iceland on Frday last, donating a total of around US$1,300 and sweets to a Reykjavik charity, Maedrastyrksnefnd, which distributes food to needy residents.

One of Mull’s Sea Eagles seen over Carlisle and Annan

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Sea EagleA white-tailed Sea Eagle, not seen in the skies around Cumbria for 200 years, has been seen over Carlisle and Annan on the south west Scottish border. It is thought to be a juvenile bird of around a year old, from the breeding programme on Argyll’s Isle of Mull, possibly on a wide-ranging search for a mate after leaving the parental nest.

These birds are vast – with a wingspan of around eight feet so the unexpected sighting has caused a lot of excitement. The Sea Eagle was re-introduced to Britain during the 1970s on the Isle of Rum on Scotland’s west coast, followed by a further establishment on the Isle of Mull.

One of the best websites to learn about the Mull Sea Eagles is the RSPB’s blog, Mara & Breagha, the winer of the Best Wildlife Website Award in the ForArgyll Awards 2008.

The photograph above of a white-tailed Sea Eagle by Tobias Biehl is reproduced here under the Creative Common licence.

Lighthouse Caledonia announces asset sales and refinancing

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Lighthouse Caledonia has announced today (10th February) a series of actions designed to address what it describes as its ‘constrained liquidity situation’. It is:

  • selling assets and biomass
  • agreeing refinancing of tis long term debt with its major lender
  • converting its accrued short term debt into long term debt with the agreement of a major creditor
  • agreeing the writing down of a proportion of its accrued short term debt with the same creditor

The immediate concern in Argyll, host to several of the Lighthouse Caledonia businesses, is with the proposed sale of assets and biomass – so here are the relevant deails announced by the company. It proposes to:

  • sell its Loch Seaforth site to Marine Harvest for £2.35million gross
  • sell its Loch Eriboll site to Scottish Seafarms for £0.5million gross

The sale of these assets will reduce the company’s harvest volume from 25,500 gwt to 23,500 gwt for 2009.

The company then proposes to sell biomass at Ardyne and Strone to EWOS for £2million gross. This is proposed under the following terms described by Lighthouse Caledonia:

  • EWOS will purchase the biomass at a fair value, feeding the fish to harvest weight and covering the feed cost and mortality risk
  • Lighthouse Caledonia will take the other associated costs and will buy the biomass back from EWOS at the point of harvest and at a pre-defined price. 

The proposed refinancing arrangements depend upon a successful  equity issue of 150million Norwegian Kroner. The Company is seeking to raise new equity of 150-200million Norwegian Kroner (NOK) through what it describes as ‘a private placement’ with existing shareholders and new investors. 

The application period for this will be from today – 10th February – to 13th February 2009 at 18.00 hours Central European Time (CET) and the period may close earlier or be extended at the Company’s discretion. The subscription price will be NOK 0.10 per share and the minimum subscription amount in the private placement will be NOK 500,000.

Should this equity issue succeed, the agreed refinancing arrangements include:

  • extending the maturing of its long term debt from 5 to 8 years
  • reducing its long term loan from £20.6 million to £15.1 million through the sale of assets and through debt repayment  with semi-annual instalments of £1.07 million – the first payment being due on 3rd March 2010
  • adopting a new convenant structure described as having: ‘…minimum equity ratio of 35% and NIBD/EBITDA by Q4 2009 of max 4.5x based on EBITDA for the last 3 quarters in 2009 annualised’

In the restructuring of its short term debt the company has made the following arrangments with a major creditor:

  • to write down £1million of accrued short term debt
  • to convert £3.6million of accrued short term debt to a subordinated loan on the same terms as the restructured long-term loan facility from the main lender which is described above

The company’s announcement contains other regulatory and historical financial performance details but the above is a summary of the key actions it is proposing now to take.

Clearly what is now crucial for the company is the success of the equity issue open for subscription from today until 18.00 CET on Friday (13th February). As For Argyll has reported within the last few days, Lighthouse Caledonia has said that it will make an announcement on or before Monday 16th February. This announcment wll be dictated by the results of the equity issue. Matters wil now be resolved quickly one way or the other.

Big boost for Creative Scotland in first reshuffle in Scottish Government

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Michael Russell Culture MinisterAlex Salmond today removed three Government Ministers, saying: ‘There have been no failures in the ministerial team, but I have asked them to make way to give colleagues an opportunity to show what they can contribute’.

Giving way are Culture Minister Linda Fabiani, Schools Minister Maureen Watt and Housing and Sports Minister Stewart Maxwell.

Michael Russell, the current Environment Minister moves to take over Culture from Linda Fabiani who was regularly found wanting in her role. This has been most keenly felt in the mess that has been made of the Scottish Government’s forward-looking strategic initiative to combine the current Scottish Screen and Scottish Arts Council into a unitary bodty, Creative Scotland.

The two bodies have, under cover of compliance, had room to scrap like the proverbial ferrets in a sack and manoevre incessantly to preserve their vested interests against the common interest. A minister with credibility in the role and the personal authority to carry it, as Michael Russell possesses on both counts, could have achieved the transition cleanly. Mr Russell now inherits a lumpen morass and will have some serious stable cleaning to do.

The Minister will also have work to do in refreshing the perception of arts and culture today by those steering its development. For Argyll noted that, in the recent intelligent structuring announced by Ewan Brown – appointed as Chair of Creative Scotland in November 2008 – there was an omission of some concern.

The published structural division of cultural sectors showed no evidence of a real grasp of the role the Internet is playing and will develop in creativity and in the relationship between the creator and the audience. This is not simply a commercial relationship. It is an interactive relationship – with all that this implies for the creative process and the fluidity of the ‘product’ – and it is technologically a highly skilled area for development. Scotland is well placed to set out to take the lead in this field.

In this promotion Michael Russell will work directly under the First Minister’s with the formal title of Minister for Europe, External Affairs & Culture. His new responsibilities include: Europe, external affairs, culture and the arts, architecture, built heritage, Historic Scotland and lottery funding, major events strategy, Gaelic. This brief is understood to cover the Independence Referendum to come in 2010.

Mr Russell’s move is accompanied by new additions to Government – backbenchers Alex Neil, Keith Brown and Roseanna Cunningham.

  • Roseanna Cunningham takes over from Michael Russell as Environment Minister under Cabinet Secretary Richard Lochhead
  • Alex Neil, who fought to the last to save the Bank of Scotland, takes up a revised post as Minister for Housing and Communities under  Cabinet Secretary Ncola Sturgeon
  • Keith Brown becomes Minister for Schools and Skills under Cabinet Secretary Fiona Hyslop

Another change in the reshuffle is the logical addition of Sport to the existing portfolio of responsibilities held by Public Health Minister, Shona Robison.

The First Minister says: : ‘The SNP group is extremely fortunate in having such a strong team of backbenchers and the purpose of the reshuffle is to give talented individuals such as Alex Neil, Roseanna Cunningham and Keith Brown the opportunity to make their contribution to government and the delivery of vital public services for the Scottish people’.

The overall picture of this reshuffle demonstrates the maturity and internal cohesion of the Scottish Government. The First Minister has promoted Michael Russell – one of the candidate’s who stood against him in the election for party leader following the resignation of John Swinney. He has brought in to Government Roseanna Cunningham, another such candidate. He has also brought in Alex Neil, who withdrew his own candidacy for the leadership after Alex Salmond publicly blamed him for having consistently sabotaged John Swinney’s authority..

This is a confident reshuffle to the credit of all concerned and one determined to maximise the impact of the spectrum of ability available.

The photograph above of Michael Russell outside the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood is issued by the Scottish Government and is reproduced here under the Creative Commons licence.

Council defends against criticism by National Autistic Society report

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A report – commissioned and published by the National Autistic Society (NAS) – has  criticised Argyll and Bute and  Dumfries and Galloway councils. They have been identified as the only two of Scotland’s thirty two councils that are failing to show evidence of improvement in their care for adults suffering from autism.

The report has been concerned with two key points:

  • good statistical records – the existence of a secure figure for the number of adults with autism in their areas
  • the existence of a named person in charge of meeting their local needs in autism care

Argyll and Bute Council has given For Argyll a statement in its defence which says: ‘Argyll and Bute Council is committed to providing high quality services including those to people with Autism.

‘The learning disability service is currently being reviewed and as part of this review the Council will look at what data we hold in relation to service users with Autism.

‘Contrary to claims in the report, Argyll and Bute Council do have a named contact with responsibility for Autism and the National Autistic Society Scotland were made aware of this in early November, well in advance of publication’.

This unequivocal fact would seem to suggest that there are flaws in the security of the conclusions of the NAS report.

UK Government admits cost of 2012 Olympics has risen again by £50million amid fears that Scotland may be hit again

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Highlands and Islands MSP, Dave Thompson has seized on an admission by the UK Government that the cost of the 2012 London Olympic stadium has soared again — by almost £50 million.

Scotland – alongside the other regions – is already suffering cuts to the funding available to its good causes and community projects from the Lottery whose funds are being consistently siphoned off to prop up the Olympics budget. The concern now is that these cuts are virtually certain to deepen.

The UK Government, which has committed itself – or rather, committed the UK -  to borrowing at levels unprecedented in history has nowhere else to go than to the Lottery – directly raiding the pockets of ordinary people – twice.

Such raids take the money spent in hope by the people and then take the one type of return they may realistically hope to receive on their investment – some local, social and economic uplift in funding for community initiatives.

Dave ThompsonMr Thompson says: ‘Labour’s Olympic budget is completely out of control. Just where is the money coming from and where on earth has it been going to? This increase of £50 million is only adding to the  £1 billion in cuts to the Scottish Government’s budget already planned by the UK Treasury.

‘The Highlands & Islands are already facing an estimated £82.88 million in planned cuts because of Labour, yet Gordon Brown has no problem finding additional monies to fund the Olympics.

‘Of course the Olympics is great news for London, but good causes in Scotland, Wales and across the English regions should not be short-changed to subsidise these games.

‘If there was an Olympic medal for financial mismanagement and bungling, the UK Government would get gold’.

Fatal road accident on A82 at Luss

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There was a fatal road accident on the A82 at Luss in Argyll on Sunday 8th February. An Audi A4 driven by Alexander Henderson from Milngavie collided with a Scania lorry half
a mile south of the Southern Luss access road at around 10.00pm that night.

Mr Henderson was pronounced dead at the scene. The 40-year old driver of the lorry was uninjured.

The A82 was closed in both directions while police examined the scene of the accident. 
A full report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal and officers from Dumbarton Road Policing have appealed for any witnesses to the crash to contact them. Their phone number is: 0141 532 3500.

0141-532 3500

Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels launches – work to start in April

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Red SquirrelOne of Argyll’s great resources is its wildlife and biodiversity.  A crucial – and photogenic – part of that is its red squirrel population, found across much of its mainland territory but not, understandably, out on the islands.

This is a population in decline, under threat from the North American Grey Squirrel which arrived in the 19th century, competes for food, is larger and  more aggressive and, critically, carries the Squirrel Pox which is lethal for the reds within 14 days. While research is hard at work to develop a vaccine for Squirrel Pox this is not on the immediate horizon so alternative approaches have to be taken in the meantime to protect the red squirrel population.

Today (10th February) the Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT), Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS), and the Scottish Rural Property and Business Association (SRPBA) have joined forces in a £1.3 milion project – Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels.

Starting work in April, this is dedicated, over the next three years, to developing habitats where the red squirrel can flourish and will also work to control the greys which threaten their survival, including judicious culling.

The project to save one of Caledonia’s rare and most attractive species is being launched, appropriately, at Dunkeld in Perthshire where Dougie MacLean, singer songwriter who composed Caledonia has a folk music pub.

Ron McDonald, from SNH, says that grey squirrel control will be focussed on the key routes used by grey squirrels to spread

north. ‘Greys have already displaced red squirrels from most of England, Wales and Scotland’s central belt, but much of the north still remains grey-free.

‘With sightings of greys becoming more frequent in northern Perthshire and Angus, and a population of grey squirrels already

established in Aberdeen, it is imperative that we act quickly to protect red squirrels north of the central belt and prevent the grey’s further migration’.

Environment Minister, Michael Russell, says: ‘The red squirrel is one of our most beautiful and valuable native species. Its loss would therefore be absolutely unforgiveable’.

Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Stuart Brooks says that he well understands why people do not like the prospect of killing the greys but is clear that: ‘… it is disingenuous to say that there are viable alternative solutions to saving the red squirrel in Scotland’.

Current Scottish squirrel population statistics see about 121,000 red squirrels – 75% of the UK’s population of reds – and somewhere between 200,000 and 300,000 greys.

The BBC has published a very useful map generated by the Scottish Widlife Trust, showing the distribution of the red squirrel in Scotland and the decline in its population here in the last ten years.

This map shows that in Argyll, the red have lost ground in the soutern part of the Kintyre peninsula but have strengthened their position to a degree in Cowal.

The photograph of a red squirrel above is by Toivo Toivanen & Tiina Toppila and is reproduced here under the Creative Commons licence.

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Review Group to be set up to examine future of crofters’ bull hire scheme

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The Scottish Government this afternoon announced the setting up of a Review Group to examine the specific future of the Bull Hire scheme. In the meantime the current scheme is to be extended for a year, giving the Review Group time to come to conclusions without prejudice to the health and development of crofters’ livestock.

Thanking Environment Minister, Michael Russell, for listening to the views of a wide range of MSPs on the matter, Highlands and Islands MSP, Jamie McGrigor, who led a Member’s Debate in the Parliament last month on the subject and last week held cross-party talks with Minister, said: ‘I am grateful to the Minister for listening to myself and other MSPs at our meeting last Thursday. While I am appreciative that he understands the importance of a bull hire scheme in terms of cattle health and quality, I am personally yet to be convinced that any of the successor options that have been suggested will be as good as the very valuable scheme we currently have.

‘Sadly, we lost the ram hire scheme a few years back and my concern is to prevent the loss of any scheme that maintains the quality of stock in my region of the Highlands & Islands.

‘While the option of purchase of a bull might seem attractive to some crofters on face value it provides no long term solution in terms of how good quality bulls will be provided to future generations in the crofting sector.

‘I wish the review group every success in its deliberations and look forward to seeing the details of those who will be appointed to it. I hope they will be able to come up with some practical solutions and will be able to look into some of the genuine concerns that exist about the loss of the bull hire scheme. Many crofters remain unconvinced by claims about the level of investment that might be needed at the stud farms in Inverness if the current scheme was to continue and I hope this matter can be investigated by the review group’.

Also commenting on the development, Highlands and Islands MSP, Rhoda Grant, Labour’s Rural Affairs Spokesperson, urged Argyll and Bute crofters to use the scheme. She said: ‘The Scottish Government was able to use the declining use of the scheme over recent years as a reason for proposing its demise. It was mistaken to do that. Iit needs to market the scheme more vigorously and effectively and crofters need to use it if it is to remain into the long term.

‘The health benefits of the scheme cannot be overstated. Crofters can obtain better markets and prices for their cattle if they use the health guaranteed scheme. I hope crofters in Argyll and the islands will look to do so’.

Having urged crofters to stand shoulder to shoulder on the issue, she concluded by thanking them for backing the campaign to keep the scheme going. She said: ‘The strong demonstration of concern from the crofting community allowed us to mount the arguments with confidence and it allowed the government to see just what opposition they have managed to create. Crofters standing together are powerful and the other battles we need to have about the future of crofting will benefit from that continuing solidarity on the key issues’.

Johnston Press, owners of The Buteman, may sell some titles to address £465million debt

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Johnston Press, the regional newspaper publisher which owns The Buteman among a portfolio which includes The Scotman and the Yorkshire Post, has appointed accountants KPMG to lead negotiation over refinancing with its banks.

The group cut its workforce by around 12% in 2008, largely through natural wastage. Its new CEO, John Fry, is known to be looking at selling some titles as part of the approach to dealing with its debt burden, said by the group at the end of November 2008 to be around £465million. Dublin’s Raglan Capital has already been employed to handle potential sales of some of the group’s Irish titles.

Tim Bowdler, Fry’s predecessor as CEO, oversaw the stream of acquisitions which took Johnston Press to a position as second largest UK newspaper group.

However, with falling advertising revenues (down by 15.5% in the 44 weeks to 1st November 2008) and more difficult trading conditions, the group’s share price has dropped drastically – from 490.5p in 2007 to 7.125p at close of play on Friday 6th February. Newspaper sales revenue was down a little on the previous year with falling circulation and a parallel loss of interest in property sales.

The Buteman is important not only to Bute but to Argyll at large. It is a lively paper with a good website and good journalism. Obviously there are concerns about the security of its position in its owner’s current situation.

Craig Borland, its editor, says that the paper has had no communication on its future from Johnston Press – a fact which at least offers reassurance for the time being. He notes that there have been no reports of sales of any Scottish titles and that the group’s focus in this area seems to be on some of its Irish titles at the moment. Pragmatically, he says that The Butemen ‘will cross this bridge if and when we get to it’.