Recently by Alasdair Northrop

If you haven't heard BAA want to charge £1 for passengers to be dropped off by the terminal building at Edinburgh airport. They say the charge is to pay for improvements to the drop off area. But the amount raised by this charge will surely pay for much more than that. It is just another way to get extra revenue. Surely they must be getting enough from the extortionate charges they already make for parking by the terminal.
I think BAA have done a great job with Edinburgh airport which is world class. But I think to impose a charge when many people are worried about their jobs and income is extraordinarily bad timing and a PR disaster.

My wife and I recently spent a very pleasant weekend on the Isle of Mull. The scenery was stunning and the whole experience was very relaxing. We stayed at the Highland Cottage in Tobermory run by hotel industry veterans David and Jo Currie and were treated to superb food in their intimate little restaurant.
Like many people in the tourist industry in Scotland they have worked hard to create high standards and deserve to do well. Sadly the weekend we stayed the restaurant was not full though it deserved to be. It is more important than ever for us to support businesses like these and I can assure you I enjoyed the car and ferry journey to Mull much more than the many hours I have hung around airports in recent times! Don't forget what's on your doorstep.

A bit of good news today with an increase in business start-ups in Scotland in the first quarter of 2010 compared to the same time last year. According to the Committee of Scottish Clearing Bankers the number of start ups between January and March was 4352 compared to 4166 last year. Although its not a dramatic increase it does show there is an appetite to set up businesses in Scotland. The recent Global Entrepreneurship Monitor showed how Scotland was slipping badly behind the rest of the UK and other countries in start ups and made depressing reading. But at least we are seeing a pretty substantial number of start-ups and I suspect that will increase as people who have been made redundant decide to take the plunge.

I must admit I was really shocked to hear reports that Steven Purcell planned to resign as leader of Glasgow city council.
I interviewed him for a feature on the economy of Glasgow in this month's Insider magazine a few weeks ago and he appeared to be very relaxed and on top of his game.
It sounds like the SPT controversy has taken its toll on Purcell which is a huge shame for Glasgow. He has done tremendous work with Glasgow city council and hopefully after taking a bit of a rest we will see him back playing a prominent role in Scottish politics.

I am currently researching a feature on the state of the Edinburgh's economy. Despite the credit crunch the city appears to be holding up quite well. However I would be glad to hear the views of Edinburgh businesses about how the city is doing and what needs to be done to make sure it retains its strengths. Please feel free to send me your views to editor@insider.co.uk

Some encouraging news this morning from Scottish Engineering whose latest quarterly review shows the best order intake for 18 months.

It says its fourth trends survey of the year is the most encouraging of 2009 with most of the measurable areas maintaining a negative result, but fast approaching the point where they will become positive.

However SE's chief executive Peter Hughes says small machine shops are really feeling the pain as a result of larger companies keeping more work in-house rather than sub contracting.