A TORY MP has raised the possibility of a police investigation into how senior BBC staff were given hefty pay-offs that breached the corporation’s own guidelines.

Rob Wilson, MP for Reading East, wrote to the National Audit Office (NAO) after it published a report showing payments of hundreds of thousands of pounds in some cases were made although executives were not always entitled to the money.

In his letter to the NAO, Mr Wilson wrote: “In the event that you consider it is possible that criminal offences may have taken place, I would be grateful if you would inform me whether, in your opinion, the evidence is sufficient to warrant a wider investigation as to the possibility of fraud, collusion in fraud, misuse of public funds, or other wrongdoing in relation to severance payments at the BBC in recent years.”

In a three-year period up to December, the BBC spent £25 million on severance payments for 150 high-ranking staff.

In one case the NAO found an executive was paid £300,000 in lieu of notice after their redundancy was agreed – despite serving their notice in full.

The payment was agreed by then director-general Mark Thompson.

A SCOTTISH cyclist believed to be on a cross-nation charity fundraising ride was one of two men killed yesterday after a collision involving an articulated lorry in Cornwall.

The Edinburgh man in his 40s, who has not been named, is believed to have been on the first leg of a long-distance journey from Land’s End to John O’Groats when he and another cyclist were struck by the 32-tonne vehicle while travelling east on the A30.

The other victim was a man in his 30s. Police were still waiting to inform his next of kin yesterday, but it is not thought he was Scottish.

Eyewitnesses described the “shocking” scenes which followed the tragedy shortly after 8.30am yesterday morning. One cyclist was thrown into a ditch at the side of the road, while the other was dragged for about 100 yards by the vehicle.

Motorists went to the aid of the cyclists but they were both pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the lorry has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. The man, who is in his 30s and from the Devon town of Holsworthy, has been released on police bail while investigations continue.

Mechanic Mike Naylor was at work in his garage when he heard the crash at the eastbound section of the road near the village of Summercourt, close to Newquay.

Recalling how he saw people attempt to save the cyclists, he said: “A colleague said something serious had happened on the A30 so we went out and had a look and we could see somebody in a ditch.

“Just after it happened, a lot of members of the public had got out of their cars and were running backwards and forwards and somebody was giving one of them CPR which was quite shocking.”

Devon and Cornwall Police said they believed the men had only set off on the route yesterday. They were carrying backpacks with provisions for the long- distance cycle route but it is not clear if they were part of a larger organised group, or were travelling alone.

Inspector Stuart Gibbons from the force said: “They were heading back up to Scotland. It appears they were doing some sort of long-distance event heading towards Scotland.”

He added: “As a matter of procedure the lorry driver involved has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and taken to a local police station where he will be interviewed.”

The damaged remains of the bikes along with backpacks the cyclists were wearing could be seen scattered across the road and the grass verge as accident scene investigators carried out their work.

The lorry involved in the tragedy – owned by Frys Logistics, a Cornwall-based firm – was also parked on the hard shoulder.

Weather conditions at the time were thought to be overcast and damp but visibility was good.

The Cornwall air ambulance was scrambled to the scene along with fire and ambulance crews.

The eastbound carriageway remained closed off yesterday evening with detours in place as police investigators worked out what had happened.

Fears that an independent Scotland would lead to the rise of a “narrow and inward-looking” English nationalism were expressed at a high-powered conference involving eminent politicians, academics and diplomatic experts.

A note summarising discussions held by the Ditchley Foundation when it hosted an event entitled “The Future of Scotland: International Implications and Comparisons” reveals that several people raised concerns about the effect of Scottish independence on the rest of the United Kingdom.

The summary, seen by The Scotsman, gives an account of the issues explored by the foundation, set up to bring international experts together to discuss transatlantic matters.

Among the 40-or-so experts taking part were Stephen Noon, chief strategist for Yes Scotland, Professor Nicholas Burns, the former US Ambassador to Nato, the Scottish Secretary Michael Moore and Lord Robertson, the former Nato Secretary General.

According to the note: “Several speakers raised the spectre of the rise of a narrow and inward-looking nationalism encouraged by Scottish separation.”

The note said the constitutional arrangements of the rest of the UK would have to be “revisited” in order to “get to grips with the issue of potential English nationalism and regionalism, and the even more excessive population dominance of England over Wales and Northern Ireland.”

It suggested that Scottish independence could see a rise in the small Welsh independence movement, which at the moment only commands 8 per cent support.

There would also be a “significant”effect on Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. It concluded that Scottish independence was “unlikely” to increase significantly the proportion of people in Northern Ireland who wanted to break ties with the UK, although it suggested that the “Protestant majority” might “start to think more about some kind of independent status for Northern Ireland”.

The loss of Scotland from the United Kingdom could have an impact on the way Britain was viewed by the rest of the world, the note suggested.

“The psychological impact on the outside world of the UK ‘losing’ part of herself might be disproportionate, reinforcing a perception of decline. This perception could have a significant effect on the rUK’s [the rest of the UK] prestige, influence and soft power in the world.  The rUK could also turn inwards increasingly in the future.”

AN INDEPENDENT Scotland would have to apply to join Nato, the Scottish Government has admitted for the first time. SNP veterans minister Keith Brown conceded to a committee of MPs at Westminster yesterday that Scotland’s membership of the defence alliance would not be “automatic”.

And UK Defence Secretary Philip Hammond warned that the United Kingdom could block Scotland’s membership if Holyrood refuses to allow the Trident nuclear deterrent to be based on the Clyde.

Mr Brown and Mr Hammond were giving evidence to the House of Commons defence select committee on the implications of a vote in favour of independence in next year’s referendum.

The SNP agreed at the party’s conference last year to support Scotland’s remaining part of Nato but to oppose nuclear weapons, and ministers have argued that membership would be automatic. In April, First Minister Alex Salmond disputed that Scotland would have to apply to join.

Mr Salmond said: “You have to come to agreement with your colleagues, and in that sense there is a parallel with the European Union – you notify your intent to remain a member.

“We are a member by virtue of our membership of the United Kingdom, and we notify in that period between the referendum and a successful vote, and the adoption of Scottish independence about 18 months later.”

However, yesterday Mr Brown was pressed on whether Scotland would have to apply.

Conservative committee chairman James Arbuthnot said: “Scotland as part of the UK is a member of Nato but you accept that you would need to apply to become a member of Nato. Scotland as part of the UK is a member of the European Union but would not need to apply to become a member of the EU. Is that your position?”

Mr Brown replied: “Yes it is. I think it is very explicable in terms of treaties of the European Union and of the Nato treaties as well and the process by which other countries have joined Nato. We accept and understand that point, we would have to go through that process.”

Earlier, Mr Brown admitted the process could be difficult. Asked by Liberal Democrat MP Sir Bob Russell about Scotland applying to Nato, Mr Brown said: “There are fairly substantial processes to go through but it has been done relatively quickly in the past with some of the eastern European countries.

“I don’t want to give the impression this is an automatic assumption we will go through the processes. It has been done in the past in between 18 and 24 months.”

But Mr Hammond made it clear that the remainder of the UK and other members of Nato could block membership, which requires unanimous agreement.

He said: “The position of the government of the rest of the UK would be one of considered self-interest.

“We would want to look at the defence posture being proposed by the Scottish Government. We would want to look at how much resource they would be prepared to commit to defence of Scotland and a Scottish contribution to Nato.

“We would want to look at their attitude to sharing the burden of common defence platforms including the UK nuclear deterrent which is 100 per cent declared to Nato as a resource to protect the Nato alliance and then reach a decision as to whether having Scotland in Nato would enhance the UK’s defence or detract from it.”

He pointed out that Macedonia and Kosovo are currently both being blocked for “extraneous reasons”.

And he added: “There are countries in Nato which are, for reasons of domestic politics, extremely sensitive to the issue of secession.”

Mr Brown, a former Royal Marine who served in the Falklands conflict, also used his appearance to promise that no Scottish service personnel would face compulsory redundancies post- independence.

His pledge came on the day the government published statistics that 520 military personnel in Scotland out of a total of 11,100 in the UK have been made redundant since 2010.

Mr Brown said: “Scottish regiments have some of the highest recruitment levels in the British Army, but beyond that we believe we can make it more attractive.

“We could have an agreement whereby there were no compulsory redundancies for people serving within the armed forces during the term of their contract.”

Mr Brown also said that “one airport would be sufficient for Scotland’s needs” pushing back on their previous support for keeping Leuchars in Fife as an RAF base.

He suggested that the historic regimental names lost in previous reorganisations of the army could be brought back by dismantling current battalions and forming smaller units of company size, around 120.

The Scottish minister, who wore a veterans badge during the hearing, also insisted that Scottish military personnel could be trained at army college Sandhurst, the Royal Navy’s Dartmouth college and RAF Cranwell.

However, Mr Hammond said that he could not provide the 200 places Scotland would need and that places would only be offered “on our terms”.

Mr Brown argued that Typhoon aircraft were “beyond the requirements of an independent Scotland”, but then suggested that the UK government could give Scotland extra Typhoons in the independence negotiations.

However, Mr Hammond said that a Scottish Government “will not be able to cherry-pick which assets it wants”.

The Defence Secretary also suggested that defence could be “ringfenced” in any negotiations, preventing its assets being traded against others such as oil reserves.

Mr Brown confirmed that he expects Trident to remain in Scotland after the Scottish Government takes responsibility for defence. He admitted that he has not visited Faslane on the Clyde for about five years and not since he became veterans minister last year.

He also said Scotland would have special forces.

But he was unable to say where contracts would come from to sustain shipbuilding on the Clyde and what would be needed, but said that the rest of the UK could come to an agreement over continuing to build frigates on the Clyde.

This was dismissed by Mr Hammond, who told the committee that the UK pays a premium to build in domestic shipyards and that it would look elsewhere if it goes abroad.

He said: “We can buy [ships] in Spain and Italy at a significantly lower cost than we can buy in the UK.”

He said it would be “very challenging” for Scotland to become a sixth member of the 5Is, the term given to the community of countries including the UK with enhanced intelligence sharing.

Labour shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy said: “The SNP’s defence policy unravels each time they open their mouth and it is little wonder Scotland does not trust the SNP on defence.”

Mundell highlights UK defence links

Scotland Office minister David Mundell welcomed yesterday’s publication of a paper from a London-based think tank on defence and Scottish independence.

The report by the Henry Jackson Society – In Scotland’s Defence? An Assessment of SNP Defence Strategy – said a majority of Scottish personnel were likely to remain in the UK armed forces after independence.

Mr Mundell said: “This report adds to a body of overwhelming evidence from academics that make clear the defence and security benefits for Scotland that come from being part of the UK.

“Those who want Scotland to leave the UK must spell out what benefits disintegration of our armed forces could possibly have on our levels of security.”

Vince Cable takes on the SNP in an unusual setting in today’s cartoon

Illustration: Iain Green

THE Artisan Trio’s early evening concert series has delivered a fascinating format. Each concert has featured a commission from an Edinburgh-connected composer, who in turn has “curated” the overall programme.

Artisan Trio

St Andrews and St Georges, Edinburgh

* * *

Last night’s final programme centred on Cornish-born Suzanne Parry.

Her own work – the highly atmospheric Haul Away for Heaven, based on a beautiful rediscovered Cornish shanty – was an exhilarating extension of piano trio writing, given that each of its constituents (violinist Aisling O’Dea, cellist Clea Friend and pianist Svetoslav Todorov) were required to sing as well.

What transpired was a mystical and ghostly evocation of lost souls, distant bells and haunting timelessness portrayed in a musical language that married innocent tunefulness with exquisite, unconventional imagery, right down to the wailing seagulls.

Parry chose an accompanying cocktail of Walton, Ireland and Oliver Knussen. Knussen’s gestural Secret Psalm, played meatily on solo violin by O’Dea, created an atmospheric overture, the straight quote from Bruch’s Violin Concerto at the end surprisingly potent.

The full trio captured the irresistible sweetness of Ireland’s “Piano Trio No 3”, but didn’t quite convey the full emotive power of its sweeping romanticism, preferring neatness and composure to full-blown passion. And the structural proportions of Walton’s Passacaglia for solo cello were a little obscured in Friend’s otherwise punchy solo performance

OF ALL the ways Canada Day must have been marked on Monday, there can have been few more surreal than BadBadNotGood bassist Chester Hansen’s, shall we say loose, solo interpretation of his native land’s national anthem.

Badbadnotgood

Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh

* * * * *

Flying the flag for the ever-inventive Canuck music scene, this Toronto trio are helping transcend genre boundaries.

Much as their unkemptly hipster looks deceive, BBNG are fundamentally a virtuoso jazz trio – you could tell that much out from Alexander Sowinski’s skittering off-kilter drum patterns, and especially keys player Matthew A Tavares’s intuitively fluid electric piano and synthesiser playing. But it’s jazz with punk-rock spirit and hip-hop style and it threatens to teach the opposing genres how much they can learn from each other. Jazzers: don’t be such squares. Hip-hoppers and punks: be more musical.

BBNG broke out through their association with ground-breaking, controversial LA hip-hop collective Odd Future, several members of which – Tyler, The Creator, Frank Ocean and Earl Sweatshirt – BBNG have backed live and on record, and with whom they share a similar taste in surrealist humour (they sometimes wear pig masks live).

Scots-Canadian relations were cemented with a frenzied and deliriously fun take on Bugg’n by TNGHT, half of which collaboration, producer Hudson Mohawke, hails from Glasgow. “Let’s all bug the f**k out Edinburgh,” bellowed Sowinski, as he wound its shuddering beat up one last time for the by-now intensely moshing young crowd. “Happy Canada Day!”

AS one of our thornier rock stars, Billy Corgan may be criticised on several fronts, but his ambition cannot be knocked.

Smashing Pumpkins

Academy, Glasgow

* * *

It is not enough for him simply to reactivate Smashing Pumpkins, one of the biggest global rock bands of the 90s, with an entirely new line-up, he has to announce a spanking brand-new concept opus to go with it.

The typically cumbersomely titled Teargarden By Kaleidyscope has been a work-in-progress for the past few years and has already been through a couple of rewrites but fortunately Corgan and Co keep coming back to their strong suits – bursts of thundering metal-influenced riffola interspersed with wistful, even romantic, melodic numbers.

New drummer Mike Byrne looked like a harmless college kid but drummed like a demon, giving new songs such as Panopticon that crucial rocket propulsion over which guitarist Jeff Schroeder could liberally spread his wah-wah guitar. However, Smashing Pumpkins Mk Whatever were a pretty uncharismatic bunch.

In contrast, Corgan remained an imposing, largely cheerless focal point as he took a sledgehammer to David Bowie’s Space Oddity and unleashed his most indulgent prophet of doom delivery on a mighty X.Y.U.

Corgan reaffirmed his band’s intentions to keep doing whatever they want to do, but this encompassed accessible favourite Tonight, Tonight which soared in a manner Mumford and Sons can only aspire to as much as the 
(self-)flagellating Bullet With Butterfly Wings, laboured Ava Adore or the unexpected synthesizer phasing which featured on a couple of the new songs.

There were longueurs throughout the two-hour show, but the successive pile-driving waves of set-closer United States really demonstrated this band’s mettle an unbelievable 25 years to the month since their first-ever gig in that Polish bar in Chicago, rendering their encore cover of Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song somewhat superfluous.

Tens of thousands of local government workers are being balloted for a strike.

The Unison trade union is asking members if they will strike in an attempt to increase the 1% pay rise they have been offered.

A total of 75,000 workers across 32 councils are being balloted.

Unison has also contacted all of Scotland’s local authority councillors, asking them if they think the offered pay rise is fair.

Mike Kirby, the union’s Scottish secretary, said: “We have asked every councillor in Scotland whether they think it is fair that their employees have been offered a miserly 1% when the value of staff pay has fallen by more than 10% in the last three years.”

Over the last three years “housing costs, domestic fuel and travel to work costs have risen considerably”, he pointed out.

Inaccurate

“Our members work hard delivering quality public services day in and day out. We believe they deserve fair pay and a commitment to annual rises in the Living Wage.

“That is why we are balloting on strike action to win a better pay offer than the miserly 1% which was offered and rejected.

“We believe a better pay offer is affordable and it would, in fact, benefit local economies in a big way as council workers spend more than half their wages locally.”

But Local government body Cosla said it is inaccurate to say that the pay deal on the table is not fair.

Bill Hendry, Cosla’s strategic HR spokesman, said it has “put the best deal possible to the trade unions, with a 1% increase for every local government worker in Scotland”.

It has “introduced the Scottish Local Government Living Wage at £7.50 per hour minimum - higher than the recommendation of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation”.

Mr Hendry said: “Nowhere else in the UK outside London has a better offer been made to local government employees.

“It is deeply disturbing that Unison should seek to so blatantly mislead their members and give false hope that strike action will lead to an increased offer.”

Unison’s ballot runs until August 13.

THE right to buy council homes will be abolished in a move to protect access to rented properties, Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced.

The decision, which affects about 15,000 houses, completes the previous reforms and suspensions to right-to-buy legislation across Scotland.

Ms Sturgeon, visiting Queens Cross Housing Association in Glasgow, said: “It is absolutely vital that people can access social housing when they need it most. Social housing is under significant pressure and so too are the budgets that support it.

“The Scottish Government is doing everything possible to maximise our investment in housing and deliver on our target of 30,000 new, affordable homes over the lifetime of this parliament. But, given the pressure on both the housing stock and budgets - and with 400,000 people on waiting lists for social housing - we can no longer afford to see badly needed homes lost to the social sector.

“That is why I am today announcing the final stage of the abolition of the right to buy, a decision that will safeguard Scotland’s social housing stock for the benefit of citizens today and for our future generations.”

Affected tenants will have three years from the date of royal assent of the Housing Bill, expected in autumn next year, to exercise their right to buy before it is abolished.

Since it was introduced by Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government in 1980, around 455,000 properties have been bought in Scotland using the scheme.

The policy has led to a shift in home ownership, with 65% of homes now owner-occupied, according to the Scottish Government.

It has also been blamed for the reduction in the number of affordable rented houses, leading to longer waiting lists.

The Scottish Government says it will continue to help people buy their own homes through schemes such as shared equity.

Graeme Brown, director of housing charity Shelter Scotland, said: “We welcome the news that this outdated policy, which for a long time has had no place in Scotland’s housing landscape, is to be scrapped.

“Around half a million public sector homes have been sold off in Scotland since the policy was implemented. Meanwhile 157,000 families and individuals are today stuck on council waiting lists for a home to call their own.

“Shelter Scotland has long campaigned for the abolition of right-to-buy and praises the Scottish Government on their decision to protect existing and future council house stock in a bid to address Scotland’s chronic housing shortage.”

Andy Young, of the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, welcomed the decision to end the policy and said: “It has been beneficial to a relatively small number of individuals but clearly a loss to the greater public good.”

Convention of Scottish Local Authorities housing spokesman Harry McGuigan said: “This allows local authorities much better control of their housing stock, which is important, especially in the current economic circumstances.

“This benefits not only those needing a home but essentially everyone who is paying council tax. Elected members decided unanimously last September that the right to buy should be ended in the shortest practical time-frame and we fully support today’s announcement.”

Former Scottish Conservative leader Annabel Goldie said she is ‘’deeply disappointed’’ with the decision. The SNP has some ‘’very hard questions’’ to answer about what it will do for the next generation of property owners, she said.

“This was a policy which arguably was one of the most socially liberating policies we have ever seen in Scotland and across the United Kingdom,” Miss Goldie told BBC Radio Scotland.

‘’I could still remember the days when people lived in monolithic council house schemes, that’s what they were called, and they were afflicted by a postcode prejudice.

‘’They were apprehensive about disclosing their address because they felt it would negate their chance of getting a job or even being accepted for an interview, and by offering a tenant the right to buy you did two things: you first of all introduced a freedom to the individual to make a choice about how they wanted to live and secondly you stopped them being trapped in that environment because that’s exactly what they were.”

Edinburgh’s trams could be running by Christmas, business leaders have been told.

The Scotsman has learned that several major retailers briefed on the project have been assured that the route may be ready by mid-December, once test runs are completed and mandatory safety certificates issued.

Senior transport officials held a series of private meetings with traders last week to provide them with an update on the project’s progress. The director of one major store said he had even been privately told of a date –
15 December – but council leaders last night denied this.

A Christmas launch would provide a huge confidence boost to retailers as they prepare for what is expected to be an uncertain trading season.

However, critics said launching in December could pose its own problems if faults arose.

Tram chiefs have said they would set aside six months for mandatory safety testing, but have admitted that the dummy runs could be completed sooner.

Lesley Hinds, city transport leader, has refused to commit to an earlier start date – the official completion remains summer 2014 – but admitted work was progressing better than planned.

The Labour councillor said construction was about three months ahead of schedule and said the six-month test period was only an estimate.

Vic Emery, a former consultant on the project and now chairman of the Scottish Police Authority, said in May that he believed that passengers would be riding on the £776 million line by the end of this year.

Traders have hoped that being given a launch date would allow them to mount a major publicity drive.

“We have been told by the council that by September we should see empty trams test running on the whole route, or certainly October at the latest,” one business leader briefed on the project told The Scotsman.

“This means that the final quarter of the year will be devoted to testing. What is impossible to know is how long testing will take – it’s carried out independently – but the often-quoted six-month figure is just an estimate.

“We have been told is that all of the infrastructure would be in a position to go pre-Christmas if this safety certificate is given.”

A Christmas launch date would bring thousands of extra shoppers into the city centre – each service carries 250 passengers – but also carries risks, he said. “The advantage to the first is that it would deliver a huge boost to traders but the risk is that if something goes wrong it would be right in the middle of the festive season,” he said.

“The second option is to launch in mid-January, and although you would miss the Christmas boost, it would be quiet and any problems could be ironed out. Clearly traders would be delighted at the first option.”

Andy Neal, chief executive of Essential Edinburgh, which represents 600 traders said that he too had been assured of better than expected progress.

He said: “At the event I attended I asked the officials that, if construction work is completed on time and the safety certificate is granted, would the infrastructure be ready to go for Christmas, and I was told ‘yes’. It now looks as if going pre-Christmas might be an option, and if there is political will to do so and the safety certificate is signed off, then we may well see.”

He added: “If you think that shoppers from further afield would have the option, for example, to park at Ingliston Park and Ride, jump on a tram and avoid all the Christmas traffic, that’s a real incentive to come and shop here.”

Council leaders are believed to be nervous about setting a date in case of any delays. Shandwick Place is currently being relaid with fresh concrete after a fault was detected last month.

Gordon Henderson, for the Federation of Small Businesses, said that the impact of greater transport connections to the city centre could be a major boost to long-suffering traders. “It’s not just Christmas which would benefit. If you think of the impact it would have on Hogmanay, whether it was late services taking people home for example, that would be a great asset when it comes to marketing the city to visitors,” he said.

Full speed tests between completed sections of the route between Edinburgh Airport and the tram depot at Gogar have been running since late last year. However, some politicians highlighted the possibility of problems when testing the full route.

Joanna Mowat, a city centre councillor, cautioned against setting too early a start date.

“We can see the physical progress made in a way that we haven’t been able to before and that might lead to certain assumptions, but we really won’t know until September, when the launch date will be announced,” she said.

“There are a lot of imponderables. Testing may be completed quicker than expected, because mechanically a lot of the trams been tested on the ‘off-street’ airport stretch.

“However, we have never tested what we call the ‘on-street’ section and we need to be mindful of possible issues, such as what we found at Shandwick Place.”

Ms Hinds said: “In all our discussions with local businesses the council has never set a fixed date for the initiation of passenger services. We have always said that, come September, we will be able to update on the current progress of the tram project, including the timetable for ­beginning passenger services.”

Goals Soccer Centres, the East Kilbride-based five-a-side football pitch operator, this morning reported a “marginal” increase in like-for-like sales for the first half of the year but warned interim profits would fail to match last year’s level due to spending on “operational and organisational reviews”.

In January, Goals – which last year saw a £73.1 million takeover bid from the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan collapse despite the backing of management – had announced that it was slowing down its expansion plans in order to pay down its debt.

In today’s short trading update ahead of its interim results being released in September, Goals said it had reduced its debt by more than 10 per cent over the past 12 months to £48.5 million.

Despite bad weather in January and March and the challenging “consumer environment”, management still expects to hit the City’s profit forecasts for the full year.

Jim French, the Scots-born chief executive and chairman at regional airline Flybe, is to hand over the cockpit to former Easyjet chief commercial officer Saad Hammad.

French, who will stay with the carrier as non-executive chairman, will vacate the pilot’s seat on 1 August.

Hammad, who worked at rival Easyjet between 2005 and 2009, is currently managing director at private equity firm Gores Group.

He has also served as a non-executive director at Air Berlin, the second-largest airline in Germany.

French said: “We are delighted to welcome Saad to Flybe. He brings with him a wealth of industry experience as well as a track record of leadership and board positions across a range of public and private businesses and we are very much looking forward to working with him.

“Flybe has recently updated the City on the significant progress made in its major turnaround plan, which is on track to deliver over £50 million in long-term cost savings and has generated over £40m in cash to fund the transition.

“The next key elements of the plan are to capitalise on its revised competitive low cost-base and Flybe’s strong brand profile.”

Wood Group, the Aberdeen-based energy services giant, has taken over one of the companies that worked on the Forth Bridge refurbishment.

Gateshead-based Pyeroy Group – which provides specialist coatings, access and fabric maintenance services to the oil and gas, marine and rail industries – turned a £4.6 million profit last year on revenues of £88.9m.

The company, which was founded in 1973 and employs about 1,800 staff at eight sites in the UK and Ireland, will continue to be led by managing director Hugh Pelham.

Robin Watson, chief executive at Wood Group’s Production Services Network division, said: “The acquisition of Pyeroy marks a strategic move into specialist coatings, access services and fabric maintenance which broadens our service offering to oil and gas customers.

“These services are particularly relevant for extending the life of existing infrastructure, and for decommissioning projects.

“As an example Pyeroy’s expertise on the Forth Rail Bridge refurbishment can be transferred into the oil and gas sector.”

C&C Group, the Dublin-based owner of Tennent’s, has hailed the performance of its Scottish lager brand as its cider business continues to come under pressure from competitors.

The Irish company – which makes ciders including Blackthorn, Gaymers and Magners – said that it had increased the volume of lager sold through pubs in the Scottish free trade by 7 per cent during the first three months of its financial year, despite a “weak” beer market.

Tennent’s UK revenues fell by 6.1 per cent during the three months from 1 March on the back of a 12.4 per cent drop in volumes.

Yet the performance was better than that at C&C Group’s UK cider business, which posted a 22.2 per cent decrease in volumes and a 24 per cent plunge in revenues.

Chief executive Stephen Glancey said: “Our Tennent’s business has again performed well and provides a degree of balance to a competitive UK cider market.”

C&C Group bought Tennent’s from Anheuser-Busch InBev in 2009 for £180 million.

Sales growth at Domino’s Pizza has accelerated over the past three months as more customers order their takeaways online.

The pizza delivery firm said that UK like-for-like sales rose by 6.4 per cent in the first half of the year, up from 6.1 per cent in the opening quarter.

Domino’s also hailed the performance of its Irish and Swiss businesses.

In Germany, the group said that it would put some of its company-owned stores into the hands of its franchisees to improve their performance.

Germany is a relatively-new market for the company, which has been using its corporate branches to test menus.

But full-year losses at the corporate stores are expected to be up to £3 million above previous predictions.

Chief executive Lance Batchelor said: “I am very pleased with the overall results for the first half – particularly with regards to the UK and Ireland like-for-like sales.

“With the majority of our business coming via web and mobile platforms, we are now truly an online retailer.”

Batchelor added: “In Germany, as in the UK, our franchisees run great stores.

“Corporate stores have allowed us to test menus, develop marketing plans and understand the German consumer – but now that the ground work is done, it is time to drive our German expansion using our tried and tested franchise model.”

Cineworld captured a 25 per cent share of the UK cinema market during the opening half of the year, with higher admissions and ticket prices helping the group to grow its revenues.

The company – owner of the Picturehouse chain, which has a further 2 per cent market share – grew group revenues by 21.9 per cent in the six months to 30 June.

Cineworld said it is “on track” to take over the running of the giant Imax cinema screen at the Glasgow science centre during the second half of the year.

The company expects year-on-year growth to continue into the third quarter thanks to “weaker comparatives due to the impact of the London Olympics on scheduling last year”.

But the firm warned of a tougher end to the year due to comparisons with the “phenomenal success” of last year’s James Bond outing, Skyfall.

Cineworld hopes that titles such as The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and Hunger Games: Catching Fire will lure film-goers to the flicks in the run-up to Christmas.

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BANKING

RBS’ small business support to be reviewed

A SEARCHING probe of Royal Bank of Scotland’s lending to small and medium sized businesses will be kick-started today in an apparent attempt to defuse political controversy over the issue. The aim of the independent review, to be conducted by City grandee Sir Andrew Large and management consultancy Oliver Wyman, will be to have a “thorough and independent” look at the bank’s lending standards and practices towards SMEs ({http://www.scotsman.com/business/banking/rbs-small-business-support-to-be-reviewed-1-2986261|Scotsman|scotsman}).

{http://www.scotsman.com/business/banking|Read all today’s banking news from scotsman.com|Read all today’s banking news from scotsman.com}

ENERGY & UTILITIES

Deal action for Plexus and Xodus

TWO Aberdeen-based oil and gas service firms notched up deals yesterday, with engineering outfit Plexus winning a contract to supply well-heads to Italian energy giant Eni, while consultancy group Xodus took over Dubai-based Prime Energy ({http://www.scotsman.com/business/industry/deal-action-for-plexus-and-xodus-1-2985598|Scotsman|scotsman}).

{http://www.scotsman.com/business/energy-and-utilities|Read all today’s energy and utilities news from scotsman.com|Read all today’s energy and utilities news from scotsman.com}

FOOD, DRINK & AGRICULTURE

Shetland Catch achieves £7.5m turnaround

Shetland Catch achieved a £7.5 million turnaround last year as it moved on from a trouble-hit 2011 and returned to profit. Accounts just lodged at Companies House show pre-tax profits of £1.4m in the year to 31 March 2013 ,following a £6m loss the previous year, when Shetland Catch’s markets were flooded with cheap Faroese mackerel and it took a £1.65m exceptional hit following the “black fish” saga ({http://www.heraldscotland.com/business/company-news/shetland-catch-achieves-75m-turnaround.21440678|Herald|Herald}).

{http://www.scotsman.com/business/food-drink-and-agriculture|Read all today’s food, drink and agriculture news from scotsman.com|Read all today’s food, drink and agriculture news from scotsman.com}

SCOTSMAN CONFERENCE

The Future of the UK Aerospace Industry – 5 September 2013, Prestwick

20% Early bird discount until 12 July

The UK Government signed up to a £2 billion partnership to keep the UK aerospace industry at the forefront of world aerospace manufacturing. Join us and hear the government explain its strategy to secure large numbers of high value jobs. Book your place today.

({http://scotsmanconferences.com|The Scotsman Conferences|TSC})

MANAGEMENT

Entrepreneurs signing up more support for the E-spark ‘chiclets’

START-UP companies incubated by Sir Tom Hunter’s Entrepreneurial Spark programme are in line to receive further business support when they leave his “hatcheries”. E-spark has signed a deal with the Federation of Small Businesses in Scotland, under which the organisation will offer its services to the 300 firms that pass through the incubator scheme each year ({http://www.scotsman.com/business/management/more-support-for-sir-tom-hunter-start-ups-1-2986253|Scotsman|scotsman}).

{http://www.scotsman.com/business/management|Read all today’s management news from scotsman.com|Read all today’s management news from scotsman.com}

MEDIA & LEISURE

Scots ski resorts see near record-breaking season

SCOTLAND’S ski resort are celebrating a near record-breaking season with almost 300,000 ‘skier days’ on the slopes – boosting the economy by around £30million. Heather Negus, chair of Ski Scotland, which incorporates the country’s five centres, said: “We are absolutely delighted to know that, now the final figures have been calculated, we have beaten almost every season in the recent past ({http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/outdoors/features/scots-ski-resorts-see-near-record-breaking-season-1-2985890|Scotsman|scotsman}).

{http://www.scotsman.com/business/media-and-leisure|Read all today’s media and leisure news from scotsman.com|Read all today’s media and leisure news from scotsman.com}

RETAIL

Shop margins slashed as retailers chase sales

RETAILERS’ margins are poised to be squeezed even more tightly in the coming months after shop prices fell at their fastest rate since 2007. The drop in the cost of products accelerated last month, according to data released today by the British Retail Consortium (BRC). Experts warned that retailers will have to focus on price cuts and multi-buy offers in order to attract customers (http://www.scotsman.com/business/management/shop-margins-slashed-as-retailers-chase-sales-1-2986249|Scotsman|Scotsman}).

{http://www.scotsman.com/business/retail|Read all today’s retail news from scotsman.com|Read all today’s retail news from scotsman.com}

A RESPECTED Edinburgh triathlon coach has died in a horror crash – just hours into a charity bike ride.

Senior investment manager Andrew McMenigall was one of two cyclists killed when they were hit and killed by a lorry in Cornwall at the start of a Land’s End to John O’Groats bike ride

They were hit by an articulated lorry yesterday morning on the A30 eastbound at Summercourt, near Newquay.

The Edinburgh Triathletes vice-president was at the start a 960-mile cycling fundraiser when the tragedy occurred.

Aberdeen Asset Management colleague and cycling partner Toby Wallace – a former graduate from Cambridge’s Jesus College – is believed to be the other person killed in the collision.

Both men were pronounced dead at the scene.

Forty-seven-year-old Mr McMenigall, who lived on Queensferry Road, leaves behind two children.

Both riders had been at the start of a seven-day journey when the tragedy happened.

They had planned to raise almost £6000, with the money due to be donated to the Kirsten Scott Memorial Trust named in honour of a work colleague who died in October 2011 after a short battle with cancer.

The trust was set up to provide grants to young people under the age of 26, allowing them to fulfil ambitions and enhance their personal development.

Shocked Edinburgh Triathletes president Gavin Calder said: “The reason Andrew was also doing this is that his own daughter had been diagnosed and recovered from a brain tumour three or four years ago.”

A British Army officer graduate, Mr McMenigall had completed an MBA from the University of Edinburgh and been an associate of the UK Society of Investment Professionals.

He had been involved with Edinburgh Triathletes for the past seven years, coaching three-time Olympian David Carry and European Standard Distance Triathlon champion Keira Murray.

Mr Calder had loaned his own bike to his friend for the charity ride. He described Mr McMenigall as the “heart and soul of the triathlon community in Edinburgh”, adding: “He was one of the main club coaches for Edinburgh triathletes. He gave a huge amount of his time to the club and never asked for anything in return. He was just a super, super guy.

“He was never a championship winning competitor, but he encouraged lots of people to be. His real skill was in coaching. Almost every session that we did, Andrew was there coaching and encouraging people. He’ll be missed hugely.

“Andrew was honest as the day was long. He said what he meant – he was a really straightforward character. It’s just tragic circumstances.”

Mr McMenigall had spoken of the “journey from hell” in reference to the train ride to reach Land’s End in his final blog entitled The Calm Before the Storm and posted on Monday.

He said of the journey ahead: “The wind looks good and favourable, although it looks like no sunscreen needed tomorrow. Maybe the odd shower or two. I will take that, however, over cycling into the wind, especially on day one.”

Mr McMenigall said: “If anything the train journey has taught us, it is how undulating the terrain is in Devon and Cornwall.

“Here’s to tomorrow and let the fun begin!”

The investment manager was a keen cyclist, covering more than 100 miles most weekends.

Police said the lorry driver – a man in his 30s from Holsworthy, Devon – had been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. He was later released on bail.

Weak economic data from China and rising tensions in Egypt forced the FTSE 100 index into a hundred-point plunge in early trading.

Construction figures from China dented confidence, while oil prices rose over fears that the political situation in Egypt could effect the Suez canal, a key shipping route to the Gulf.

Traders are also concerned about political upheavals in Portugal, with the spectre of the eurozone debt crisis once again rearing its head.

Ishaq Siddiqi, a market strategist at ETX Capital, said: “Political turmoil in Portugal pushes the country’s ten-year bond yields to climb to 8 per cent for the first time since 27 November 27, sparking fears the country will have to request help from the European Central Bank.

“Two high-profile ministers resigned from Portugal’s government over the past two days, triggering worries of instability within the government, and today there are reports that more ministers are expected to step-down as the country struggles to stay on top of its austerity plan.”