leader - debt recovery | uk | scott and co....burnt norton, t.s eliot {{david mclaughlin walter...

Leaderthe

Classy Kids at the Traverse Theatre

Free Kicks and Changing Lives

The New 40 - Two Presidents Celebrate the SYLA’s birthday

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Cover Fiona Mcallister & eMMa BoFFey Out-going and in-coming Presidents of the Scottish Young Lawyers Association look to the future of the profession.

03 tiMe Present and tiMe Past David McLaughlin

04 traversing the Boards Classy first acts at the Traverse Theatre

08 take the ‘a’ train Training and the art of business maintenance

10 out on the streets Football and youth work with Spartans FC

14 the new 40 SYLA hits a significant birthday – and they all look so young!

18 starry night From green room to board room – Rising Star Alexander Lamley

20 toP Boss Leader meets Bill Drummond – Managing Partner of the Year

22 Paying dues Les Robertson, IRRV Scottish President explains corporate debtC{contents}

AS ThAT RARe BeAST, A POeT whO LOVeD wORkIng wITh nuMBeRS DuRIng hIS TIMe AT The BAnk, TS eLIOT IS A FAVOuRITe OF ThIS

COLuMn. AnD whO CAn ARgue wITh ThOSe SenTIMenTS. OuR FuTuRe IS FORMIng ALL AROunD uS AnD IT TAkeS A PARTICuLAR BRAnD OF nORTheRn FATALISM TO BeLIeVe ThAT we ARen’T PART OF The PROCeSS OF ShAPIng OuR PeRSOnAL DeSTInY.

In a summer full of raging debate about our national

destiny, questions about where our future lies have

never been more stark or urgent. And while there

has often been more foam than facts, the options

are being considered very seriously indeed.

So, no better time for the Leader to examine

what the future means and how best we can

prepare for its inevitable surprises.

No better place to start than with young people

and it is, after all, on the next generation that we

depend for our future prosperity. Scott + Co have

supported the Traverse Theatre’s Class Act project

for two years. In that time professionals from the

Traverse have brought out the best ideas and energy

from pupils from schools across Edinburgh. Taking

seasoned writers, actors and directors into schools,

Class Act has helped to give a voice to dozens of

teenagers. It may, or may not, have discovered

dramatists of the future, but that isn’t necessarily

the point.

What Class Act does is to give young people a

direct experience of the power of words – the thrill

of an auditorium full of people silently listening to

an actor speaking your words. Not to mention the

confidence that comes from a full-house applauding

something you made.

Developing confidence in our young people is

also at the heart of what goes on at the Spartans

Club in North Edinburgh. While Scott + Co is a

long-term supporter of the Women’s football team,

we’ve always been impressed by the youth work that

takes place around the first teams. Young people

who often face difficult circumstances are given a

trusted environment, friendship and inspiration by

a set-up that goes far beyond all-weather pitches

and passing drills.

A feature in this edition on Sarah Kemp and her

brand of training within Scott + Co reminds us too

that the future of this company, like all others, rests

on the constantly developing skills and enthusiasm

of its staff. Sarah is, of course, involved with slightly

more mature learners than the Traverse or Spartans,

but she brings the same principles of challenge and

engagement to her work.

The economic prospects of this country depend

on many factors, but without our brightest and best

young professionals we start to look more Celtic

tabby than Celtic tiger. Alex Lamley, Rising Star at

the 2014 Scott + Co Scottish Legal Awards, has

the glass-ware to prove he’s in the brightest and

best category. His story shows how imagination and

social skills are as vital as traditional professional

training in making a first class contribution.

The 40th Birthday party of the Scottish Young

Lawyers Association was an excuse for reminiscence,

among other social activities. The SYLA’s story is a

microcosm of the Scottish economy and its twisting

course through the past four decades. But also a

reminder of how vital the Law is to our economic

and civic life.

Which brings us to Les Robertson, and another

reminder from the IRRV that the feasibility of the

future comes down to very practical things – like

collecting revenues. And to Bill Drummond, who

from his unique position as Managing Partner of

one of Scotland’s most successful law firms and

Chairman of the Scottish Council for Development

and Industry, scans our immediate and longer term

prospects. In the uncertain world ahead he sees

much change – but change for the better, provided

we keep our sights firmly on the global.

I’m confident that this edition of the Leader will

leave you much more optimistic about our future -

whatever happens.

Have a fantastic summer.

David McLaughlin

MAnAgIng PARTneR

+ Time present and time past

“Time present and time past

Are both perhaps present

in time futureAnd time future

contained in time past.”BuRnT nORTOn,

T.S eLIOT {{

David McLaughlin

Walter McGill, Chairperson

and Kenny Cameron, Youth Work Manager –

keeping goal at Spartans FC

4 5

The ARTS MeAn DIFFeRenT ThIngS TO DIFFeRenT PeOPLe. YOu MIghT ThRILL TO A PeRFeCT TuRAnDOT.

OR YOu MIghT ThInk, AS gROuChO MARx MAY OR MAY nOT hAVe SAID In A nIghT AT The OPeRA, ‘I’Ve hAD A PeRFeCTLY wOnDeRFuL eVenIng. BuT ThIS wASn’T IT.’

Which is the great, lovely, flexible thing

about the huge sweep of activities that

comes under the heading of the arts.

But you would be brave to argue it has no

function in a civilised society. Indeed the

definition of an uncivilised society might

include one where there were no arts and

only propaganda and entertainment.

Scott + Co has a long track record in arts

sponsorship. Our approach has been to

reflect the environment that we often

work in – more the gritty realism than the

grand opera end of the arts rainbow. We’ve

supported writing in prisons and we’ve

worked with the Community Company at the

Citizen’s Theatre in the heart of the Gorbals.

But we’re also aware that without new artists

there are no arts. Or at least there will just

be lots of old artists hanging around. Not

a bad thing perhaps in itself, but not a

dynamic future for the arts.

For the last two years Scott + Co has been

sponsor of Class Act - the Traverse Theatre’s

well established writing programme for

secondary school students.

To mark the Traverse’s 50th Birthday Class

Acts extended its reach to 10 schools over

the two years. Each participating school is

supported by a professional playwright - but

then suddenly there it is – their work live on

stage presented by professional actors and

directors and in front of a full house.

Scary or life changing? We spoke to only a

handful of the people involved to find out.

+ Ashleigh hibberd and georgie

Strachan professional playwrights and

students at wester hailes Community

high School edinburgh.

‘We started with an idea. Our idea came

out of things we’d learned in school about

the 1970s and 1980s, the time of the

National Front and skinhead violence against

immigrants. It seemed as if some of those

tensions were still around - not in our

school but in society generally and we felt it

was important to show the human side of

immigration - the challenges of coming to

a new country and integrating – coping with

positive and negative reactions.

We also loved the series This is England

– the characters looked tough but were

really kind and thoughtful.

That was the start - we wanted to make

a point. But then the people took over,

the characters. It was as if they had a life

of their own. And so as the play grew it

became more of a human story than a way

of making a point. We hoped that we were

still making a point of course – but that the

audience would also care about the people.

Not that our play grew – it shrunk as we cut

more and more bits out of it. You don’t have

lots of time on stage and the last thing we

wanted to do was to bore people, so what

seemed like a very simple thing to do – tell

a story in a few minutes – became one of

the hardest things we’ve done.

We couldn’t have begun to turn a white sheet

of paper into a play that a hundred people

sat and listened to without the help of Nicola

McCartney and Roseanna Hall. Nicola is an

experienced playwright with productions for

children as well as adults and Roseanna is

a young writer who’s part of the Traverse’s

Emerging Writers Programme. They gave

us the tools to allow us to make a structure

around our ideas. They showed us that there

were different types of conflict and how we

could dramatise them and keep the play

moving forward.

But the big moment was when we heard real

live actors speaking lines that we had written

- that we’d made up out of our heads! And

that’s when we suddenly discovered the

words that just didn’t work – that didn’t fit

the characters and that were just getting in

the way. More chopping!

Nothing much could prepare us for the

feeling of sitting in the dark with the

audience waiting for our work to come

onstage. Or of seeing our names in

print in the book of the Class Act plays.

We’re not necessarily going to have

careers in the theatre – but working

on this has given us real confidence.

Nothing else could seem as scary -

but with work and help we did what

we thought was going to be just

about impossible.’

+ Words Words Words

“Our idea came Out Of things we’d learned in schOOl abOut the 1970s and

1980s the time Of the natiOnal frOnt and skinhead viOlence against immigrants”

AShLeIgh hIBBeRD

continued over}

Young Playwrights, Ashleigh Hibberd &

Georgie Strachan

6 7

TheIR TeACheR MRS MACLennAn wATCheS geORgIe AnD AShLeIgh TeLL TheIR STORY whILe

gIVIng OFF A quIeT gLOw.

‘As you see these girls aren’t too quiet and

retiring. In fact, it boosted the confidence

of all the students who took part. Another

of the great things about this project is that

it gives pupils experience of dealing with

adults they don’t know well. It’s a skill that

applies to any line of study or work that the

students might go into. And who knows, they

may well come back to their writing later.

Class Act fits the new curriculum perfectly

so it’s a great way to develop skills that will

immediately be useful in their drama and

English modules. In fact we see immediate

benefit in terms of prelim exam marks for

students who take part in Class Act.

But education shouldn’t just be about prelim

marks. The Class Act process means that

students learn about working together,

deadlines and not letting others down.

“Class Act was nothing short of a Class Act! It was so much fun to be a part of, in lots of aspects. Getting to meet so many young people who had stepped up to the challenge of writing a piece of work, which was of an excellent standard, seeing the excitement of having actors read and perform their work at the Traverse Theatre. I think this is a superb project that can ignite a younger audience into playwriting and going to the theatre.”SCOTT ReID - CLASS ACT ACTOR – CATS 2014 nOMInee FOR BeST MALe LeAD.

Left: The Traverse has been a key player in British theatre for 50 yearsFar left: Ashleigh and Georgie with proud teacher Mrs MacLennan

The ThIng ThAT DRIVeS Me AS A DIReCTOR IS TeLLIng STORIeS, TeLLIng STORIeS ThAT PeOPLe wAnT TO

heAR, AnD ThAT ChAngeS hOw TheY See The wORLD In SOMe SMALL wAY. I LOVe CLASS ACT FOR ThIS ReASOn.

Every single script, is unique, well

conceived, developed, quirky, funny,

poignant, truthful, emotive, nostalgic,

witty, observant, and fresh. It is harder

than you think to write a new script,

challenge an audience with new ideas,

characters, and create truthful tales that

haven’t been told before. The Class Act

writers, every single one, embrace that

challenge. When we workshop the scripts

with them it is great to see them thinking

on their feet, making edits, and articulately

answering questions from the actors.

The skills they take away from the project

are easy to list off, but seeing the impact

first hand is a privilege. I secretly try

and find them in the auditorium when

their scene is on stage, and watch their

reactions. It’s hard to describe but seeing

them see their work come to life in front

of them is just fantastic.

Class Act is unique as it brings young

people into the theatre who would often

normally say ‘it’s not for me’. As a writing

project it empowers not the loudest,

or most confident, individuals, but the

thinkers, and the story tellers, giving them

an amplifier, and a chance to be heard.

All the pieces I directed were of a

phenomenal standard, and would not

be out of place in one of the Traverse

productions at any other time of the year.

I don’t want to speak for them, but thank

you, your support has made a unique and

unforgettable experience possible for every

writer, and on behalf of each member of

the audience over the two nights, thank

you also. They have each taken away

something new, something just for

them, that they wouldn’t otherwise have

experienced, and I include myself in that,

and would jump at the chance to direct

for Class Act writers again.”

CARO DOnALD CLASS ACT DIReCTOR

Through the Class Act period there was

perfect attendance. Even the students who

were wary and intimidated by the idea of

writing for the public became engaged

and enthusiastic.

Making something from scratch and then

watching a theatre full of people respond

to it – it’s not something we do every week

in education – but perhaps we should!’

“ the class act prOcess means that students learn abOut wOrking tOgether, deadlines and nOt letting Others dOwn.”MRS MACLennAn

8 9

TheRe ARe MAnY jOB TITLeS ThAT ARe The SeCReT TO A quIeT eVenIng AT A PARTY.

COMPLIAnCe AnD PeRFORMAnCe MAnAgeR MIghT hAVe YOu PeeRIng OVeR ShOuLDeRS wOnDeRIng hOw YOu CAn MAke A BReAk FOR The kITChen.

If you made this snap decision after asking

Sarah Kemp what she did for a living you’d

be making a big mistake. What she does

between 9 and 5 (or usually a lot later than

that) is a very long way from the dry territory

suggested by the word compliance.

The environment that Sarah inhabits means

she has great stories to tell and fascinating

insights into nothing less than the human

condition.

Much of her focus over the last year or so

has been in establishing the state of the

art Galashiels call-centre, an operation she

says is the ‘voice of the organisation.’ But

the call-centre is one part of a complete

web of customer contact linked by real-

time technology. The two key dimensions of

Scott+Co’s work are technology and people.

Sarah is responsible for ensuring that the

debt recovery service that Scott + Co offers

its customers is accurate and compliant with

an exceptionally tight regulatory framework.

She’s also responsible for ensuring that all

the contact Scott + Co has with customers is

effective but sensitive.

+ Are these not a collection of

contradictions? Compliant and sensitive,

efficient and caring?

Not one bit. For a start the bulk of the

regulatory framework around debt is there

to protect the person owing money, ensuring

that they are listened to and respected. It’s

vital that our staff know exactly the chapter,

verse and sub-paragraph number

of these regulations.

And we need to be efficient. Our clients

have hired Scott + Co to do a job. But

efficiency in recovery is not a matter of

relentless badgering. It’s about building

a connection and rapport with our

customers and finding a solution.

Letters from Sheriff Officers are not the

best find on a doormat. People can be

anxious, frightened, hostile or confused.

They rarely make contact with us in a

neutral frame of mind. For our call centre

staff particularly, knowledge of the human

spirit is as important as familiarity with the

Financial Conduct Authority’s regulations.

In fact, you can learn the FCA’s regulations

out of a book. Building trust, reading people

you have never met over the phone but still

getting the job done, that takes more than

a good memory. It takes an understanding

of what makes humans tick and while we

can develop it in training you have to have

fundamentally positive view of the human

race to come to work for us!

+ So traditional images of debt collectors

are out of date?

I’m not sure that aggressive styles of debt

collection were ever part of the work of

responsible and effective Sheriff Officers.

It’s a responsible and vital job. The entire

workings of society are based on credit and

so ultimately on debt. Most people will find

themselves in arrears. We don’t hang the

label of debtor on our customers. They’re

in a hole and our staff are there to help

them out of it. You don’t have to lose

your dignity too.

If you are cynical you have no place in debt

recovery. Our staff are no pushovers – they

spot duplicity and deception coming a long

way off – but they do believe that most

people do not like being in arrears and

they want a solution. They are brushing up

against the law - it’s never a fun experience,

but it doesn’t have to be traumatic.

We try to be non-judgemental, we try to treat

customers as if they were our relatives – how

would your mum or dad like to be treated if

they were in this situation?

+ what are the special challenges of dealing

with customers who may be in distress over

a non-human medium like the phone?

For a start the phone isn’t really inhuman,

but many of our customers specifically opt

for less human contact through text and

email. But telephone contact, with skilled

people can be very empathetic and when

you get the sense that someone is there to

help it can make all the difference.

Phone calls lack all the rich non-verbal

communication that makes up about 80% of

our normal interactions. So we have to make

the remaining 20% work hard.

Luckily it’s a rich 20%. Accent is important

in empathy. So is pitch, tone, speed of

delivery and silence. Silence can

be particularly effective - giving people

space, allowing them to voice their

concerns and worries.

Lots of our callers are vulnerable, often

at stages in their lives where it all seems

overpowering. Our call handlers need to be

able to recognise all the different types of

difficulty our customers face and respond

accordingly.

At heart it’s about treating every customer

as an individual. There is no value in

classifying people.

+ Feedback on your training is always

positive, so the question remains –

how on earth do you make compliance

training riveting?

Well, the first thing to say is that motivated

learners find all training interesting.

Professionals who want to work more

effectively will be keen to find out more.

Compliance and regulatory frameworks are

constantly evolving - it’s just not possible to

sit back and think that you know it all.

But the more interesting the training is, the

more engaged the learner and the more they

will learn. I use a variety of techniques – trusty

old Power-points to get the key information

across, video material to make it more human

and, most importantly, group work and

scenario training to connect with the day to

day reality of people’s jobs.

All training has to be relevant and it has

to be challenging. The best training equips

professional staff to do their own learning

every day, to analyse their practice and

build their skills. Stop learning and you go

backwards! Our people, like the Company

as a whole have to be constantly evolving

and improving.

Scott & Co’s Compliance and Performance Manager, Sarah Kemp

“ at heart it’s abOut treating every custOmer as an individual. there is nO value in classifying peOple.” SARAh keMP

+ Fully engaged How Sarah Kemp Scott + Co’s Compliance and Performance Manager keeps the lines open.}

1110

The Women’s, Men’s and Youth teams are

big players in the leagues, but the heart of

the operation is the Academy - the social

and educational activities that make an

immense contribution to improving life

in North Edinburgh.

Hence the boys, the shoes, the chat,

the banter. Something so small, but

so important.

‘Saying you’re glad to see people when

they turn up is a tiny thing but is so vital,

explains Kenny. ‘For most of the kids who

come here, it can be a very novel experience

to feel welcome anywhere. We need to create

a sense of family here – especially for our

members who aren’t lucky enough to have

a fully functioning family at home.’

North Edinburgh is a tough part of town.

The constituency profile bristles with social,

economic and health related indicators all

at the wrong end of the scale. According

to the Scottish Government’s Indicators of

Multiple Deprivation, some parts of this

area are in the 5% of poorest communities

in Scotland. That in a city which only trails

behind London in terms of economic

vibrancy and growth.

But don’t let any thoughts of Benefits Street

style stereotyping get in the way of your view

of North Edinburgh.

From the prosperous days when the docks

boomed, through a Trainspotting era when

North Edinburgh became an international

by-word for drugs and related mayhem,

apparently rivalling the Bronx as a model for

urban terror, through to its current mixed

economy of cappuccinos and tattoo shops,

this area has carved out its own image.

Kenny has no illusions of the strengths

and the struggles of this community. He’s

a Muirhouse boy and feels privileged to be

able to use his skills and experience in sport

and youth work to help put something back

into the community.

‘The people who live here don’t need to be

told how tough they have it or how much

crime there is.’ Kenny warms to his theme

easily and often, if enthusiasm could solve

social problems then Kenny would have put

an end to deprivation single handed. But

of course that’s the trick. Enthusiasm CAN

solve social problems, or at least set in

motion a train of events that can go some

way to making things better.

‘There’s a huge amount of goodwill

and generosity here. When Mikaeel Kular

went missing at the beginning of 2014

the whole community were shoulder to

shoulder. Kids that the police knew only as

someone to keep an eye on were out there

doing their bit. Our job is to harness that

goodwill, give people a way to get involved

in a positive way.’

If you were being casual and lazy you’d

see the work of the Academy as about

keeping the kids off the street, that slightly

dismissive description of youth work that

summons up images of trendy vicars and

ping pong in church halls.

To say Spartans Academy is keeping kids off

the streets is like saying Lionel Messi is good

with a football. True, but a bit inadequate as

descriptive writing.

The impact of Spartans Academy is subject

to constant evaluation and monitoring. Even

though Spartans is largely self-financing, it is

dependant on rigorous public accountability.

But two numbers jump out. There has been

a 30% fall in petty crime around the area

since Spartans opened their facility five

years ago, and in that time there has been

two acts of vandalism. Two. And one of

those was an Alex Ferguson style assault

on the managerial dugout at a moment of

high stress. The perpetrator apologised

and provided a block of voluntary hours

equivalent to the replacement value of

the glass.

Kenny works on the basis that one pound

spent on positive intervention gets seven

pounds’ worth of return in social benefits.

The old medical joke is that if you think

prevention is expensive then you should

see what treatment costs. The same is

true of creating circumstances which can

take people away from crime, drugs and

desperation. There will be costs, and there

will be failures, but it’s better than mopping

up, or locking up the consequences of doing

nothing at all.

‘Of course we have failures,’ says Kenny, ‘it

would be strange if we didn’t. But we never

give up and we never, ever turn anyone away.

We’re on the case of trouble makers. We

leave them in no doubt when their behaviour

is out of line. One of the reasons why kids

come here is because they feel safe. So we’re

not about to turn a blind eye to behaviour

that disrupts that sense of security.

‘But we never bar anyone. Where will they go

if we bar them? All you do is put someone

who is at risk of getting into trouble at even

more risk of getting into trouble.

What people own, they don’t vandalise.

What people are part of, they respect.

This sense of community ownership is

vital to what goes on.

‘One day when we had high winds this

winter, a huge bin blew over. Paper

streaming everywhere across the pitches,’

Kenny remembers, ‘before I’d finished

swearing, under my breath of course, a

couple of the boys had started picking up

the mess.’

Treating two boys who remember to take

their shoes off with respect is repaid in

actions like that.

+ The Club

AS we TALk TO kennY CAMeROn, COMMunITY PROgRAMMe & YOuTh wORk MAnAgeR AT SPARTAnS FC

A COuPLe OF BOYS COMe OFF The PITCh AnD PAuSe AT The DOOR OF The SLeek SOCIAL FACILITIeS.

They are eleven or twelve, with a street kid

mix of toughness and vulnerability. Without

anything being said, they very carefully take

off their wet shoes - the artificial turf here

does not generate mud – and pad across the

immaculate floor in their stocking soles.

‘Hi boys’, says Kenny, ‘good to see you.

And thanks for taking off the shoes.’

A brief exchange that sums up much of

the positive work going on in this corner

of North Edinburgh.

Spartans football club is well known to those

who follow the non-professional leagues in

Scotland. Many argue that this is where the

true spirit of Scottish football lies. In keenly

fought matches on well equipped grounds

there is skill and determination aplenty

but a conspicuous shortage of boardroom

shenanigans, financial liabilities and

violent language.

Scott + Co have been involved with the club

for over seven years as kit sponsors of the

Women’s Team. The women’s, men’s and

youth teams are forces to be reckoned with

in their respective leagues.

But while the competitive teams bring an

aspirational dynamic to the club, at the core

of the club is its social programme.

Monday to Friday the club is an after school

haven for the children and young people

of the area. They can come in, kick a ball

around or get more actively involved. 7-11

year olds can get involved in FootTea –

football and tea, a hot meal cooked by

volunteers. There’s also a homework club

in 5 of the local schools.

And you don’t really even have to be good at

or even like football much, there’s arts and

crafts for those who can’t hit a barn door

with a football. It’s much more about having

somewhere to go, where you’re welcome and

where there are good role models of both

genders. Not surprisingly in a club with such

a competitive women’s team, the users of

the Academy facilities are almost exactly

50/50 male/female in most of the youth

provisions.

“ and yOu dOn’t really even have tO be gOOd at Or even like fOOtball much, there’s arts and crafts fOr thOse whO can’t hit a barn dOOr with a fOOtball.”

kennY CAMeROn

{The Leader

talks to Community Programme

& Youth Work

Manager, Kenny

Cameron

{

12 13

kennY IS FuLL OF PRAISe FOR The LOCAL

PRIMARY SChOOLS AnD The LOCAL hIgh SChOOL, CRAIgROYSTOn. ‘The hIgh SChOOL IS nOw geTTIng ReSuLTS ThAT RIVAL MAnY eDInBuRgh SChOOLS In MuCh MORe AFFLuenT AReAS. The PRIMARIeS ARe gReAT AnD we wORk CLOSeLY wITh TheM ALL.’

But there are always some

kids for whom no school

is suitable. Who don’t fit.

Spartans is experimenting

with an alternative school

where kids can come, get

involved with the work of

the club but continue their

education. A retired head-

teacher will provide the

lessons. The rest of the club

will provide the enthusiasm.

The CLuB IS FuLL OF TALeS. OF COuRSe IT IS. CLuBS ARen’T An AMALgAM OF FACILITIeS AnD TuRF AnD

ChAngIng ROOMS. TheY ARe A COnSTRuCT OF The PeOPLe whO gO TheRe.

What Spartans are adept at is taking people

in off the streets and turning them around.

Giving them meaning in a world that might

seem a bit meaningless.

There are obvious success stories. Kids in

trouble who end up on the books as staff

and volunteers with no track record of

positive schooling end up on college courses

that will qualify them as the next generation

of youth workers.

The less obvious success stories are

more difficult to write up as neat case

studies. But good youth work like the type

that goes on at Spartans is about thousands

of tiny opportunities, things said casually

that make someone stop and think, an

option opened up and a casual remark

that suddenly opens up a door into a

different world.

What is noticeable around Spartans are

the number of people who didn’t think of

pulling up the ladder. Take Walter McGill.

In his smart suit Walter takes care of much

of the business and promotional matters at

Spartans. He secures sponsorship support,

the kind of finance that keeps the work

going both for the competitive semi

professional teams and for the youth

work of the Academy.

Walter is a Craigroyston High former pupil

too. Like Kenny he’s done well, got away.

Except he hasn’t gone anywhere.

‘It’s a great selfishness,’ he says, ‘to

escape from a community like this and

to put nothing back in. This is a place with

great reserves of strength and endurance.

There are thousands of young people where

with untapped skills and insights. We’re all

poorer if we close off that talent and lose

the contribution they could make.’

+ The Alternative School

+ The People The Values

{

THe ruLeSNo swearing

No fighting

No climbing into neighbours’

gardens

No litter

{

{ The hallowed turf of Spartans FC is a

state of the art compound. It has to be

groomed almost as often as you’d have

to cut real grass. But it is up for all

weather abuse no matter what the

infamous micro-climate of North

Edinburgh throws at it.

It has also been host to the All Blacks

Rugby Union Football Club and

Manchester United. The Red and the

Black - arguably the two biggest team-

sports clubs in the world.

Badge of honour: The kids at Spartans are proud to be part of the programme

The state of the art

all weather pitch at

Spartans FC

Walter McGill and Kenny Cameron – both covering the near post

+ The Trips

the spartan academy rules are nOt the rules made up by the yOuth wOrkers themselves. they are the rules agreed by the yOung peOple whO use the club.

The SPARTAnS ACADeMY DOeSn’T COnFIne ITSeLF TO nORTh eDInBuRgh. ‘whAT wOuLD ThAT SAY,’ kennY SuggeSTS, ‘ThAT TheRe’S nOwheRe eLSe?’

Each year a group from the FootTEA club of 7-11 year

olds goes to HopScotch near Fort William. The exploits,

particularly the big game sea fishing, are legendary.

But in 2013 a group of older club members got as

far as Tanzania. That’s Tanzania in Africa not a club

in South Edinburgh.

‘What is a clearer way of saying you can make things

happen, that you can be in control of your destiny? ‘Kenny

describes the moment of sitting down with a group and

suggesting you can get to another hemisphere provided

you all work together. ‘The trip certainly put their views

of what poverty was into context. But it was also a strong

political lesson. You can make things happen.’

The Pitch

+ ReCenTLY, In The weT wInTeR OF 2013-14, The OuTReACh TeAM hAD TO DeCIDe wheTheR TO VenTuRe OuT One eVenIng wITh TheIR PORTABLe FOOTBALL PITCh. The MOBILe PITCh MeAnS ThAT A CAR PARk OR wASTe gROunD CAn Be TuRneD InTO A TeMPORARY STADIuM.

They looked out at the flooded streets of North

Edinburgh. It would be too dangerous to play on the

concrete. But they set off anyway. A few boys emerged

out of the downpour. The workers explained about the

weather, the risk. There was chat, some laughs, and

then the boys wandered back into the liquid evening.

No football, but no one had been let down either.

No trust broken. A small inconvenience for the youth

workers, well, quite a wet inconvenience actually,

but a big statement of values of the club. As Kenny

explains, ‘we’re reliable. Never underestimate that,

especially for kids that have been let down by

everyone. Same time, same place, same face,

same values. We call that the S-Factor.’

15

+ When I grow older...

emma Boffey SYLA’s new president and speaker Collette Paterson get

convivial early in the evening

But age and the passing of time build into a heritage and there’s no denying that the Scottish legal

profession has more heritage than most. By that of course I mean a long and distinguished history full of characters and held together by a narrative that collectively makes the profession distinctive. Boswell, Lord Cockburn, RLS, there is no shortage of distinguished contributors to the profession in Scotland.

But it was a unique opportunity to support

history being constructed before our very

eyes that led Scott + Co to sponsor the

Scottish Young Lawyers 40th birthday party

in May 2014.

Leaving aside the clear oxymoron of having

Young Lawyers celebrating a fortieth birthday,

the occasion was a vivid encapsulation of

the last four decades as seen through the

possibly narrow but certainly colourful

perspective of one profession.

It was also a lot of fun. Drinks flowed,

cakes were cut and the full sweep of those

decades were represented across the guest

list. There was dancing too, I’m told, but the

representatives of the first two decades had

had to go home long before then.

The genuinely youthful current Presidents,

outgoing and incoming respectively in Fiona

McAllister and Emma Boffey, brought just the

right tone to the proceedings: A celebration

but also an acknowledgement of the

underlying seriousness of the SYLA’s

mission over the decades.

We bring you some of the flavour of the

evening courtesy of the four distinguished

speakers who took the gruelling task of

summing up a decade in 5 minutes with

sparkle and insight. What follows is a flat

black and white print of their full colour,

high definition accounts.

14

Yes, well, we all know where the rest of that lyric goes to.

continued over}

40 { }syla turns

1716

‘This was, of course, boom time for

the profession as it was for everyone

else. Men and women in suits were

the heroes of the age with their

aluminium briefcases and those neat

little mobile phones.

‘There was a distinct power shift to

the West in the mid-1980’s. Not due

to the waning strength of the Soviet

economy, but because the SYLA

Committee had many more trainees

from Glasgow! This brought more of

a party culture to the Association.

‘It was also a period of growing

internationalism. It was claimed,

but never verified, that a Committee

member had reached Honolulu on

a legitimate fact-finding trip to the

American Bar Association.

‘Better documented was the

legendary tour of the European

Union, or at least of the key

institutions in The Hague, Brussels

and Strasbourg. As the 50-seater

school bus made its way around

Europe, the existential torture

of Billy Joel’s Greatest Hits on a

continuous loop only softened by

liberal application of carry out

alcohol significantly more exotic

than sherry, friendships were made

and stories were forged that live on

in the annals of the profession.’

‘The SYLA had a radical, upstart

culture in the early days. Something

that helped propel one of the first

Presidents, Gerry Malone, into Mrs

Thatcher’s cabinet. Our energy was

focussed on the ridiculously low

salaries paid to apprentices in the

1970’s. There had been a three

day week and the economy was

fragile to say the least, but it didn’t

justify a starting salary of £600

rising to the fat-cat heights of £700

by year two. The consequence of

those Dickensian pay-scales was a

profession effectively cut off to large

sections of the population.

‘By the end of the decade we had

wrestled a substantial pay rise out

of the profession and apprentices in

1979 were on a salary nudging into

the £2000 bracket.

‘Early invoices show a modest

expenditure by the association on

sherry, but by 1979 there was more

egalitarian entertainment to be had

at the Beer and Skittles evening in

the Sheep’s Heid Inn.

‘ The importance of education, a

continuing priority for the SYLA,

was established early with training

at Stirling University, weekends that

would quickly pass into legend.

‘The Association was also a key

partner in establishing the first

Diploma in Professional Practice

in 1980.’

‘Is it relevant to mention that this

was the decade when Viagra was

invented? Or that almost the entire

decade went by without the internet?

‘Accelerating change is a factor

of modern life and the last decade

of the last century was full of

turbulence.

The continuing focus for the SYLA on

education was increasingly vital as

landmark pieces of legislation - the

Employment Rights Act, the Children

(Scotland) Act, not to mention the

Bingo Act, came on the statute book.

Scotland’s whole legal position took

a major shift in a decade bookended

by the 1990 Referendum Act and the

1999 Scottish Parliament.

‘Grunge, hip-hop, the cultural waves

all swept through the SYLA and its

training weekends and parties. But

perhaps the last word is best left to

paraphrasing the famous Edinburgh

philosopher, Irvine Welsh - ‘Choose

Life. Not Law.’

‘By a new century the relationship between

the Law Society and SYLA had evolved into

a full and close partnership.

‘Progress had been made on so many

different levels – the typical Scots Lawyer (if

such a thing was possible) was female, 30

and had been educated at a state school.

‘And then suddenly it was 2008 and there

were people queuing outside Northern Rock.

‘The relationship between the Law

Society and SYLA suddenly took on much

deeper significance – it became all about

supporting young lawyers in a completely

uncertain world - a world where trainees

were being made redundant before they had

fully joined the profession.

‘In this environment training as well as

support was vital and the SYLA played an

important role in establishing CPD as a core

strand through every trainees’ life

‘It’s a sign of how established SYLA is

as a trainer that at the 2012 Scott + Co

Scottish Legal Awards they took on their

old mentors at the Law Society and won

the ‘Legal Trainer of the Year Award.

‘The recession has given the SYLA a new

seriousness of purpose but there is still

room for the odd night with no end.

‘And it’s nice to complete the circle of

European ventures by hosting the European

Bar Association Annual Conference in 2014

- certainly classier than the bus and just as

much fun.

‘It’s important not to forget that all the

conferences, lectures, seminars and

symposiums are all organised in its

members’ free time. And for junior lawyers,

as you know, that isn’t extensive.’

So, a night to remember; or not, as the case might be. what was left apart from lots of dirty glasses and many hangovers

was the sense of an organisation that has come through much with its vision and focus still clearly fixed on the needs of its members And with a remarkable ability to organise a good night out.

+ Sheriff ray Small

1984

1974 1994

2004

The year of the Brighton bombing, Band Aid and Apple’s first personal computer - so ‘1984 won’t be 1984’ – as the snappy advertising had it.

Inflation was at 17.2%, watergate rocked the world, there was a recession (watch out for a theme here) and the word processor had just gone on the market to a few crazy early-adopters.

The Channel Tunnel opened, facilitating more european coach travel by the SYLA executive, the national Lottery pulled its first ball, and began a process that would ultimately fund the quest for Scottish Independence and genetically modified food was first approved for human consumption, the outcome of which it is still far too early for judgement. And there was a recession.

{{

{

{{

{

2014

(FOR The ReCORD)

house

£172,069

Pint oF Milk

0.49p

gallon oF 4 star

£5.95

house

£37,182

Pint oF Milk

0.21p

gallon oF 4 star

£1.83

house

£52,114

Pint oF Milk

0.36p

gallon oF 4 star

£2.22

house

£152,464

Pint oF Milk

0.26p

gallon oF 4 star

£3.54

+ martin Dawbney + David Hoey

+ Collette Paterson

Ten new members joined the european union creating a challenge that even a 50-seater school bus and Billy joel couldn’t tackle, hunting with dogs was outlawed in the uk and Facebook started a process that would put the careers of countless young lawyers in jeopardy around the world.

house

£10,990**

Pint oF Milk

0.5p

gallon oF 4 star

£0.42*

* Did they have stars then – was it not just petrol?

** Average for UK – multiply by 2 for Merchiston, 4 for London.

Thanks to de-regulation

That’s more like it!

A short line goes here...+ 40 Years of SYLA

18 19

rising Star – Alexander

LamleyYOu knOw YOu’Re DeSTIneD FOR A CAReeR In The LAw when YOuR FIRST PuBLIC APPeARAnCe IS AS Duke ORSInO In TweLFTh nIghT. nOT DReSSeD In

DOuBLeT AnD hOSe. nO. DReSSeD, RATheR, In The MAnneR OF OzzY OSBORne OF The nOn-ShAkeSPeARIAn POPuLAR MuSICAL gROuP BLACk SABBATh AnD CRAShIng OuT The OPenIng RIFF OF PARAnOID.

Quite an entrance - they speak of it still in Aberdeenshire.

Not that his skills were only exposed to the notoriously

discerning audiences of the North East. Alexander’s

dramatic career took him to the National Theatre in

London and nation-wide touring.

Even by the standards of the law, where lively back-stories

and non-traditional career debuts are more common than

popular culture would have you believe, it’s a big leap to

corporate law.

But for Alexander Lamley of McClure Naismith and recently

crowned Rising Star at the 2014 Scott + Co Legal Awards,

a first love of the theatre is a natural route into the

profession. Not in the obvious sense either, he only briefly

considered a part in the melodramatic spotlight of criminal

law, before developing a specialisation in the corporate

and capital markets team at McClure Naismith helping to

get start ups going and support the ambitions of the more

mature company.

What the theatre taught him was not just confidence and

the ability to perform in a boardroom. Let there be no doubt

that the corporate stage is as demanding an arena as any,

where being able to hold an audience is as important as it

is on the South Bank. What Alexander learned from the

theatre is more profound. Alexander has a passionate belief

in the importance of creative skills in law and especially

business law.

Alexander’ s specialisation is entrepreneurship, both in

nurturing and developing individuals and teams who want

to make something unique happen, but also within the

profession itself.

‘There are many parallels between putting on a play and

driving forward a business’ says Alexander. ‘You harness

creative energy and let ideas bounce around between you,

working hard with teams to build and deliver something

together to an audience. Knowing your role and playing

your part in the production is key in both situations.

Partnership working is something we take very seriously

at McClure Naismith. For instance, our recoveries team

recently won an industry award with an entry written in

collaboration with a client.’

His work with McClure Naismith has taken him deep into

some of Scotland’s key growth areas. The biosciences sector

where the economic drivers of the future will be crafted at

the molecular level is one key area of work for Alexander and

the rest of the team among other sectors such as technology

and food and drink.

Whatever happens in September, Alexander believes that

the country will have to become more entrepreneurial and

dynamic. ‘The expectations are raised whether it’s a yes

or a no vote in the referendum. Whoever wins will have to

deliver a more dynamic economy and that expansion has to

come from growth areas where science and creativity and

technology come together.’

He is a great admirer of Skyscanner and the way that

a company which breaks the rules a bit can galvanise a

whole generation and create a hub for other similar start

up ventures. ‘It’s the Californian model where one powerful

player can seed skilled people out into the economy to

start up their own operations. It just needs nurturing and a

collection of skilled but sympathetic professional services

that can become part of the creativity and not stifle it.’

He doesn’t dismiss the core lawyerly values of experience

and expertise, ‘we still have to be the experts, we still have

to know the case-law and be able to quote page numbers

from the regulations, but lawyers work more effectively with

entrepreneurs when they understand how entrepreneurs

think. A business isn’t just one brilliant, big idea. It would

be easy if that was the case. It’s about bringing together a

whole range of skills and insights. The professional – whether

lawyer, accountant or marketing consultant have their own

box of tools to bring along – but if they understand where

the entrepreneurs and their ideas are coming from then the

sum can be much bigger than the individual parts.’

His belief that professionals can learn from entrepreneurs

and vice versa has led to the formation of Connections. One

of the reasons that the judges of the Scott + Co Scottish

Legal Awards felt that he had Rising Star status was not just

because of his day job. He has a parallel but sadly unpaid,

second career as the founder of Connections, a Scottish

networking venture that brings professionals together

with new and more established movers and shakers of the

economic tree.

‘We’re well established in Edinburgh and Glasgow and we’re

keen to develop across the rest of the country,’ explains

Alexander. ‘We deliberately didn’t set out to be for young

professionals. What could be more important than bringing

together the energy and fearlessness of youth with the

wisdom and insight of established professionals? All our

members have the same status and the inter-generational,

inter-sectoral and inter-professional debates are what it is

all about.’

The benefit to Alexander and to his employer too is of course

that he is at the centre of one of the most powerful networks

in the country, and having a mobile phone full of contacts

is vital in any professional services company. It’s a pay-off

for the energy and commitment Alexander has shown to

establish Connections.

Learning from others, and indeed the whole process of

learning itself, is a bit of mantra for Alex. He believes firmly

that everyone needs mentors through their careers. ‘We learn

by doing and we learn by listening. I’ve always had mentors

- some have been older than me and much more senior and

others have been younger. But I’ve never stopped learning

from them. I’m lucky to work in a culture where learning is

encouraged and people don’t judge you on what you know,

but on what you’re prepared to learn.‘

Take one of Alexander’s few spare time

activities as an example - he’s learning to

speak Dutch. What might be considered to

be one of the world’s minority languages

and also one of the most difficult to master.

But as Alexander points out, you can’t

imagine how pleased someone from the

Netherlands is when they discover an English

speaker has taken the trouble to learn their

language rather than relying on the inverse.

So if working in a particularly fast moving

part of corporate law while running

Connections wasn’t enough, Alexander is

also on the Banking Law Sub-committee of

the Law Society’s Law Reform Committee.

And if the Banking Law Sub-Committee was

ever once considered sleepy and of no great

interest to anyone you can be pretty sure

those days are long in the past.

Did we mention the Royal Overseas League,

where Alexander is the head of young

members in Scotland? The word count

might run out here before we got to the

end of Alexander’s commitments. The

Rising Star accolade is recognition of his

professionalism and his energy. But there’s

no sense of Alexander being merely a young

professional in a hurry. He may be a stranger

to his television set but there is a genuine

sense that he is out and about so much

because he is a real social animal,

and that he does it because he likes people.

It’s a long way from Ozzy Orsino to the

boardroom, but Alexander has taken his

energy, creativity and focus from one role

to the other without losing any star quality. {“What could be more important than bringing together the energy and fearlessness

of youth with the wisdom and insight

of established professionals?”

{+ rising star Alexander Lamley

But we wanted to look beyond small matters

like the constitutional destiny of a nation

and examine the global challenges and

opportunities facing the legal business.

Speaking in a sun-filled boardroom in

the West End of Edinburgh, the smell of

polished wood all around and portraits of

distinguished partners from the expansive

nineteenth century looking on, the setting

underlined Bill’s first hurdle for the industry.

‘The key challenge is how we can stay a

profession and at the same time compete

in the global economy – how can we

maintain our core professional values but

still maintain a competitive advantage as

businesses?

‘Look at commercial bankers, once a by-

word for professional integrity. Successive

de-regulation and the sort of competition

that this engenders, have led to a profession

fighting to re-claim its values.

‘It isn’t inevitable that de-regulation of a

professional sector will erode values built up

over centuries, but it is necessary to guard

those values in the face of a different sort of

competitive environment.

‘Our first responsibility as lawyers is to

represent the interests of our clients. We

have to do so with integrity and precision.

If we don’t have those core professional

values, then we abandon the thing that

makes us unique.’

Not that Bill takes a negative view of the

de-regulation of the ownership of legal

services per se –

‘Lawyers’ training gives them a particular

view of the world and that enables them

to add value to clients’ business,’ he says.

‘But the entry of retailers and others with

their brand-led understanding of consumers

isn’t necessarily a bad thing. There is a

huge under-developed market out there for

personal legal services. It can’t be a good

thing that two-thirds of the population

doesn’t have a will, for example. But while

an expanding market is to be welcomed,

lawyers will have to find a business model

that balances commercial skills with more

traditional lawyerly values and strengths.’

Bill is very proud of the fact that the

Scottish legal business generates £1bn-plus

for the Scottish economy – and of Brodies’

record through the recession of retention

and creation of jobs at all levels in the firm;

lawyers and non-lawyers alike.

‘The Law is a huge business on its own,

and worth even more in terms of the

contribution it makes to starting,

consolidating and supporting the growth of

other companies in the economy. It provides

the opportunities and the protection that

economies require to function.’

But he is equally aware of how small the

Scottish profession is in a globalised market.

‘The other big challenge facing the Scottish

legal sector is the internationalisation of

business. We have clients who operate in

thirty countries world-wide. To provide

advice across such a range of jurisdictions

requires a huge body of expertise. Around

the world there are probably only forty law

firms that have significant international

operational capability.

‘To compete with huge global multi-

nationals, to provide cross-border

solutions for our clients, we have had to be

imaginative and nimble. Our approach is to

establish networks of expertise, developing

partnerships with other lawyers around

the globe. It makes sense to have flexible,

reliable partners rather than face the

expense of opening our own network

of offices. We benefit too from the trust

these firms have already developed with

their clients.

‘It’s about clients, not geography. We have

considerable expertise at Brodies in the

energy sector built up since the early

1970s. Understanding the sector, and

having a depth of experience and knowledge,

is more significant than the borders we

operate across.’

Bill is clear that meeting challenges like

this is not a matter of good luck. Brodies

has continued to grow through the recession,

a fact related to good functions not good

fortunes. ‘We’ve kept our eye firmly on what

adds value to the clients - how to provide

the right mix of services to solve their

problems.’

His own leadership style is a balance of

rigour and collective responsibility. The

emphasis is on team work – the sum being

bigger than the undoubted skills and

experience of the individual parts. It’s a

no blame culture, fostering openness and

an effective early warning system. But that

is matched by rigour and discipline, not

to mention the vital professional values of

being a lawyer. ‘We’ve lots of very clever

people here,’ he says, ‘but it’s my job to

try and get them all to work together in the

most effective way.’

But, for all of the challenges that lie

ahead, Bill is very optimistic about the

future. Whether it is close to home in post-

referendum Scotland or out in the vast

turbulence of the global economy, Bill sees

huge opportunities for the legal profession,

based on expertise and imagination.

‘Lawyers have always been good at finding

new answers to old problems within the

confines of tight legislative frameworks.

At the SCDI table I can see how vital the

legal profession is to the entire economy

of Scotland. We can help to find solutions

that allow companies to thrive and to take

on the world. Whether it is energy or food

and drink, Scotland has amazing business

sectors. They can compete anywhere.’

It’s a huge but appropriate vision to bring

to a West End board room. The nineteenth

century partners would have approved.

20 21

+ Bill’s excellent Adventure

BILL DRuMMOnD ISn’T exACTLY ShORT OF ACCOLADeS. TheRe hAVe Been MAnY weLL DeSeRVeD

PRIzeS In A STeLLAR CAReeR. BuT ThAT DOeSn’T MeAn TO SAY ThAT BeIng nAMeD MAnAgIng PARTneR OF The YeAR In The 2014 SCOTT + CO LegAL AwARDS wAS juST AnOTheR BIT OF gLASS FOR The BRODIeS TROPhY CABIneT.

The recognition of your peers will always

carry extra weight in such a connected and

transparent professional grouping as the

Scottish legal community. Bill is pleased

to have won, he’s warm and thoughtful and

there’s no hint of swagger. It’s not his style.

And besides, he doesn’t have to.

As Managing Partner of Scotland’s biggest

law firm and Chair of the Scottish Council

for Development and Industry (SCDI),

Bill is in a unique position to identify

the issues looming over the horizon.

And by future we don’t just mean the bit

of local business in September. Brodies

has run a series of seminars on the likely

impact of either outcome following the

independence referendum. These briefings

have been widely praised for their objectivity

and depth. Bill recently hosted Mark Carney

on a fairly significant visit to Scotland and

SCDI provided the Governor of the Bank of

England with a briefing on what either vote

might mean for the economy.

For the record, Bill believes that whatever

the will of the Scottish people, settled

or otherwise, there will be an upsurge of

economic activity after Referendum Day

as the winning side feels the weight of

expectation fall upon them.

Scotland’s Managing Partner of the Year Bill Drummond charts the way ahead.

“it’s abOut the clients, nOt geOgraphy.”

22 23

Collecting income on behalf of Fife Council is one of the two main roles of the revenues Service - the other is to ensure we assist as many Housing Benefit and Council Tax reduction customers to receive their benefit as quickly and accurately as possible.

when I TOOk uP MY POST In june 2013 The TeAM hAD ReSPOnSIBILITY FOR COLLeCTIOn OF COunCIL TAx, nOn DOMeSTIC

RATeS, SunDRY InCOMe AnD hOuSIng BeneFIT OVeRPAYMenTS. BeIng The ThIRD LARgeST LOCAL AuThORITY In SCOTLAnD (AnD eLeVenTh OVeRALL In The uk) The AMOunTS COLLeCTeD eVeRY YeAR ARe SIzABLe.

Like all Councils, Fife has to deliver services in the most

efficient manner possible and this includes the collection of

income. One of the first challenges I was set was to look at

the collection function and consider if it could be done via a

more corporate approach. So as well as my role as Service

Manager, I have taken on the additional role of Project

Sponsor for the “Integrated Income Collection and Debt

Recovery Project”.

The aims of the project are to ensure that all monies due

to Fife Council are collected in the most efficient manner

possible whilst at the same time ensuring our customers

receive the best service. To that end the project has been

created using formal, structured project management and is

thus being led by a project manager. It is also overseen by a

project board and - as part of a wider program of function

consolidation - all project sponsors must report to the

program board. It is envisaged that it may take around

2 years to have the fully developed new service in place.

The main change in moving forward for the organisation

is that the Finance and Resources Directorate will assume

responsibility for rent collection (including all associated

incomes) from the Housing and Neighbourhood Service.

+ So why take this approach to income collection?

We did not jump straight into this project and do not know

quite yet what the final structure will look like - but we have

the vision. This can be exemplified by looking at a mythical

Council Tenant who has fallen behind with his rent and also

has Council Tax arrears. His children receive music tuition

at school but he has failed to pay his sundry debt invoice for

this. Two years ago he also had an overpayment of Housing

Benefit and his partner runs a sole trader business from

adjacent premises and hasn’t paid the rates. At present this

household will be pursued for payment from five different

teams within the current structure - as well as from external

debt collectors like Scott & Co. This seems an inefficient

process and begs the question - would it not be better for

the customer if they could deal with one person from the

Council regarding all the income/debt payments?

I have looked at the areas where there is the most potential

for synergies between the different income streams. An early

study of tenants with rent arrears has indicated that 99%

have also fallen behind with their Council Tax payments.

Clearly there seems to be a significant case for taking

a more joined up approach to income collection -

but what do we need to do to make this a reality?

a) Agree the transfer of resources to Revenues;

b) Agree the project budget;

c) Redefine the collection and recovery

process for multiple debts

d) Obtain an IT system that will be used to

manage income on a corporate basis;

e) Agree a corporate debt policy;

f) Seek staff “buy-in” and undertake a

major training exercise;

g) Deploy new technology across all

income streams;

h) Manage the risks and be aware of the

future proofing needed for such issues

as Universal Credit being introduced.

This is a major project and we are just embarking on

the journey – and will see where it takes us. The Revenues

Service has already assumed responsibility for the collection

of Rents from April 2014. It is envisaged that there will be

some thorny issues to deal with along the way as well as

risks to be mitigated - however we aim to provide a better

income collection service for Fife Council and for

the customers we serve.

Success will mean a streamlined income collection

process that will deliver improved performance with

less resource deployed and - to give that context - an

improvement in the collection rate of just 0.5% over all

income streams will generate a further £2.2 million per

annum in increased revenue.

+ The Introduction of a Corporate Debt Approach within Fife Council

Les robertson, IrrV Scottish Association President and Service Manager – revenues at Fife Council

+ heAD OFFICe

12 Drumsheugh Gardens Edinburgh EH3 7QG

Telephone: 0845 345 8980 Fax: 0845 129 5160 email: [email protected]

+ ABeRDeen

16 Queen’s Road Aberdeen AB15 4ZT


+ AYR

Suite 3 Beresford Court 6-8 Beresford Lane Ayr KA7 2DW


+ DuMFRIeS

15 Bank Street Dumfries DG1 2NX


+ DunDee

Unit 1B 63 Brown Street Dundee DD1 5AQ


+ DunFeRMLIne

22a East Port Dunfermline KY12 7JB


+ eDInBuRgh

9 Melville Crescent Edinburgh EH3 7LZ


+ gALAShIeLS

50/52 High Street Galashiels TD1 1SE


+ gLASgOw

276 St Vincent Street Glasgow G2 5RL


+ InVeRneSS

29 Innes Street Inverness IV1 1NP


+ PeRTh

1 Charlotte Street Perth PH1 5LW


+ ORkneY

3 Anchor House 10 Bridge Street Kirkwall Orkney KW15 1HR


+ STIRLIng

Viewfield Chambers Viewfield Place Stirling FK8 1NQ


Locations

leader - debt recovery | uk | scott and co....burnt norton, t.s eliot {{david mclaughlin walter...

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