November 2011
 What would you like to see on your bonfire?
 Rosemary McLennan, Director, Aberdeen PA Ltd
Anyone who has a negative or indifferent perception of the North-east! I’m so passionate about our region, industry and people, that I am always ‘educating’ clients about our vibrant and international business community.
Whenever I speak with clients from outwith Aberdeenshire I encounter a significant lack of knowledge about our region. I have worked in many countries and if everyone knew the facts about the North-east’s economy and our position in the UK, Europe and internationally, I am certain they’d rush to invest and work here and we all need to spread the message at every opportunity.
On another note, I see many people who are not pro-active in terms of their work an, realistically, you get what you put in. Too many people expect to reap the rewards from others without putting in some serious groundwork themselves. There is no short cut to success.
Peter Smart, Chairman of Aberdeen Airport Consultative Committee
My candidate for the bonfire would be Air Passenger Duty (APD). My starting point would for it to be abolished but failing that the best we could probably hope for is for it to be devolved to the Scottish Government. Both this UK Government and the last just want to tax air travel but it has got to the point where almost everyone - apart from the Government and the Treasury - think it is too heavily taxed.
Aspects of APD are to be devolved to Northern Ireland and many of the arguments for that apply equally to more peripheral regions of the UK like ours.
The Scottish Government could set tariffs suitable to both keep the current direct flights from Scotland and extend the range of these flights for the benefit of the Scottish economy. It would also reduce the need for flights to hub airports which are already near capacity, including Heathrow.
Erin Harris, Recruitment Manager, Project Excellence LLP
My effigy on bonfire night would be unethical recruitment agencies.
As soon as they hear of a vacancy, these agencies fire out CVs to clients to try and get ownership of a potential candidate, even if they haven’t spoken to them first .
It means that when I and other recruiters send in CVs which we have already discussed and have permission to submit on behalf of our client, we are told that it’s already been received. It ends up being a frustrating battle for ownership.
They also post ‘ghost’ jobs which don’t actually exist in order to build their CV database.
I know that candidates don’t like their CVs being sent out willy nilly to companies and neither do clients like receiving multiple copies of the same CV. Many of them end up just being bombarded with hundreds of unsuitable applications.
Mark Copland, Director, Fireworx Scotland Ltd
There are quite a few different people I would have liked to see on some of the bonfires at the 48 fireworks displays we provided over the Guy Fawkes weekend. They include the companies from England who promise a service which they frequently can’t back up but are prepared to offer almost anything out of desperation. Right beside them I would have put those who have been persuaded that by employing a company from as far away as Essex they are going to get a better service for less money than one of the reputable Scottish companies can offer. They may be offering all sorts of “free” incentives which turn out to be far from free.
Also on the bonfire would be those in whom we invest a considerable amount of time guiding them about how to put on a display, fund raising and other ways to make their event a success but who repay us by going elsewhere.
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