March Audio Newsletter

In this month's newsletter we hear from Fraser Gillies and Andrew McFarlane about the Scottish Government’s new energy strategy;  Steven Docherty on how CCJs can affect an individual’s credit rating;  Mark Bradford on how to introduce Generation Next to a family business; and mindfulness practitioner Martin Stepek on how a little bit of calm comes to our Glasgow boardroom every Friday. 

The Scottish Government has unveiled its draft energy strategy, which has a target to produce 50% of Scotland’s energy from renewables by 2030. Holyrood is seeking views on the strategy until the end of May 2017. In this feature we hear from WJM’s Fraser Gillies and Andrew McFarlane on what the strategy sets out and how it might impact on Scotland’s renewables sector. 

Family businesses are an important part of Scotland’s economy.  Working with family can be hugely rewarding, but also brings its own set of challenges. Here at WJM we offer support to families through our consulting arm, Family Business Solutions Ltd. Mark Bradford has recently joined the team, coming from a food background where he ran the family bakery business. In this feature, Mark talks about the many different considerations when offering Generation Next a route into the family business.

It’s been revealed thousands of people are being refused mortgages because of legal rulings made when they were not present in court.  The number of county court judgements, or CCJs, has risen by more than a third in three years. Almost 900,000 were issued last year, and 85 per cent were uncontested. In this feature we find out more from WJM’s Steven Docherty.

Once a week in our Glasgow office and once a month in our Edinburgh office, WJM offers a free thirty minute mindfulness class for our staff and any professionals and business leaders who would like to drop by and take part. Mindfulness is a practice that helps to reduce stress and anxiety, while bringing increased focus and greater flexibility of mind.  The classes are delivered by Martin Stepek, one of Scotland’s leading authorities on mindfulness. In this feature we drop in on one of his sessions to find out more.