By Michael MacLeod and Cara Sulieman JUST a day earlier they had been talking excitedly about their plans for Christmas, looking forward to time off for the festive season, helping customers with their own holiday plans. But today it was so very different as many of the 100 or so staff who turned up at the [...]
By Andrea McCallum STUNNED travellers turned up at Edinburgh Airport unaware about the collapse of Flyglobespan – only to learn their plans had been left in ruins. Some had travelled from as far afield as Aberdeen and Dundee to learn the news, others were en-route for family Christmas reunions abroad. Amid the tears and anger, [...]
By Shaun Milne ONE Scots business told how the collapse of Flyglobespan would have a huge knock on affect on them just months after securing what had been their biggest contract win of the year to supply the airline with uniforms. Gill Eastgate, company director of corporate couture supplier NKD Clothing said: “We will feel [...]
By Cara Sulieman SCOTS travel giants Globespan went bust despite being owed around £30 million from a credit card processing company, it was revealed last night. Administrators said they believed a firm called E-Clear owed the firm around £30 million – but about half of it would now be claimed back by stranded customers. Bruce [...]
By Andrea McCallum SCOTS travellers are being warned to beware of plunging temperatures and travel chaos as heavy snow hits this weekend – with forecasters issuing early weather warnings for much of the country. The worst of the snowfall was expected to hit south-east Britain overnight, but sleet and ice were being predicted to cause [...]
By Paul Thornton MINISTERS are being urged to investigate a top fee paying school after a THIRD sex scandal hit the academy in a year. A male teacher at Edinburgh’s St Mary’s Music School was this week struck-off following his conviction over a nine-month sexual relationship with a 15-year-old boy. The General Teaching Council Scotland [...]
By Oliver Farrimond THE number of NHS staff earning wages totalling £100,000 or more is costing the Scottish taxpayer a staggering £230 million a year. Almost 2,000 Scottish health workers collected six-figure pay packets. The vast majority work as clinicians but an investigation using FOI legislation reveals the total includes salaries paid to authority administrators. [...]
By Andrea McCallum SUSAN Boyle proved to be a class act when she returned to her old school in Blackburn – much to the delight of stunned pupils and staff. The album-chart topper appeared unannounced at the official opening of her former secondary school’s £19 million refurbishment. And the global superstar was given a grand [...]
By Oliver Farrimond BRAVE firefighters battled a blaze in snowy Fife yesterday. Five fire engines were called to a first-floor flat engulfed in flames at Calder Drive, Glenrothes, and fought the blaze for almost an hour. Fife Fire and Rescue Service confirmed that two people had been treated for injuries after being rescued from the [...]
By Oliver Farrimond Scots retailers are enjoying a boost in sales thanks to this becoming the first ever Twitter-Christmas – with brands and bargains being pushed onto shoppers via the social networking success. Scores of high-street brands familiar to Scots shoppers have embraced the social networking site, using it to do everything from promoting offers, [...]
By Michael MacLeod THOUSANDS of passengers and 600 staff were facing a nightmare last night after a Scots airline went bust. Edinburgh based operator flyglobespan – which only days earlier predicted a bright future of expansion and new investment – was in talks with administrators PriceCooperWaterhouse. Many staff had been told not to turn up [...]
By Michael MacLeod COMEDY bad-boy Hardeep Singh-Kohli is proving a box office flop after a series of sex scandals saw him axed by telly chiefs. The Glasgow-born comedian was first ditched by the BBC amid sleezy allegations he sexually harassed a female researcher – despite denying the claim. He then sparked another storm by posting [...]
By Cara Sulieman VisitScotland ignored their own internal disciplinary policy when sacking the head of PR for the Year of Homecoming, a tribunal heard today (Weds). The head of HR for the public body, Fiona Reith, said that they found themselves “stuck between a rock and a hard place” when dealing with Richard Saville-Smith. The [...]
By Michael MacLeod A HOGMANAY disco inferno was sparked when a top Scottish DJ launched two giant fireworks into a nightclub. Fire rained onto the dancefloor from the ceiling of Edinburgh’s Luna club moments after the midnight bells between 2008 and 2009. Some booze-fuelled clubbers danced around the falling flames chanting: “The roof, the roof, [...]
By Cara Sulieman A HIGH-FLYING PR guru who is suing VisitScotland for unfair dismissal has filed a complaint with police alleging that the tourism body failed to produce “key documents” under court order. Richard Saville-Smith claims management at VisitScotland – the public body in charge of the year-long Homecoming celebrations – “doctored” evidence of his [...]
By Michael MacLeod A SHERIFF has called for an investigation after man was caught trying to steal part of a railway track. Lee Reap, 20, used a sledgehammer, an axe and other specialist rail cutting gear to try to remove “lucrative” metal parts of a train line running through Midlothian. He claimed he thought the [...]
By Shaun Milne X FACTOR judge Simon Cowell’s ultra-bright smile has become one of the biggest celebrity turn-offs on TV. Dental experts insist his estimated £10,000 tooth-job is money down the drain and claim it looks unnatural. With some £27 thought to be spent on creating his Hollywood smile every day – nine out of [...]
By Shaun Milne SCOTS party-goers are the least likely to get checked out for sexually transmitted diseases they might have picked up on a one-night stand. But one in 15 admit that they will still head to a Christmas party this year with the sole intention of picking up a partner for the night. Almost [...]
By Shaun Milne THREE teenagers robbed a man at a cash-point and forced him to flee into his car seconds after he punched in his PIN number. The 44-year-old had just entered his number on the machine at Buckstone Terrace in Edinburgh when the trio pounced around 7.40pm on Saturday. Police said the youths – [...]
By Shaun Milne POLICE are hunting a bogus taxi driver who robbed a man he duped into his car. Detectives are also warning festive revellers to be on their guard and only use officially badged-up cabbies during the Christmas party season in case he strikes again. Lothian and Borders Police said they are investigating the [...]