The expansion in output was slightly down on March’s eleven month high but April was nonetheless the sixteenth straight month in which Scotland’s total private output had increased.

Donald MacRae, Chief Economist at Bank of Scotland, said: ‘April saw the PMI reach its second highest level in nine months with the sixteenth consecutive month of expansion. Growth was concentrated in the services sector with manufacturing output declining in April after two monthly periods of growth. New export orders grew for the second month in a row while employment grew in the month with the rate of job creation maintained. This result indicates the Scottish economy has negotiated the downturn at the end of last year with a minimum fall in output and encourages hopes for a return to growth in 2012.’

The Herald looks at the figures and what they might mean here.

After several years working at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Becky left the accountancy firm and started her own business. The first PURE Spa opened in Edinburgh in 2002. There are now 4 outlets in Glasgow, Aberdeen and the capital employing nearly 70 staff.

In this Vistage Scotland blog, Becky discusses her move from accountancy to running her own business; expanding during recession and her membership of Vistage.

 Q: Tell us about PURE?

BW: In a nutshell, PURE is about providing personalised, individually tailored beauty and spa treatments which are accessible to all. We aim to enhance our clients’ lives through helping them to relax and feel good about themselves. In today’s modern hectic lifestyles, it is so essential to be able to take some time for yourself and the benefits that a treatment at PURE brings to our clients is the ability to switch off and truly relax, which is essential for general health and well-being. I always say that the PURE spa experience always lasts much longer than the treatment itself. The benefit and rewards are about how good you feel afterwards.

 Q: Could you define your role as MD and co-founder with the company?

BW: As co-founder and MD, I am responsible for the vision, future growth strategy and direction of the company. We have grown rapidly over the past 10 years, from starting out with just 6 staff and a single location to now employing nearly 70 staff in 4 locations throughout Scotland.

 Q: Congratulations on winning the Day Spa of the Year Award. Why do you think you won over places like The Sanctuary or The Dorchester who, I’m guessing, have deeper resources?

BW: Our company vision is to make spa and beauty services accessible to all, because we see them as an essential part of general health and well-being. We very much focus on our clients and their individual needs, and our therapists are trained to ensure that they personalise treatments to their clients needs. We very much see ourselves as inclusive, not exclusive, and that really sets us apart from other spas. We believe that we provide the same 5 star spa service but one that is accessible to all, not just a lucky few, and that is I think why we won the award.

 Q: What made you make the jump from accountancy to co-founding your business?

BW: I have always wanted to have my own business for as long as I can remember, and having a chartered accounting background has helped enormously in being able to realise this dream. After I qualified, I knew that if I didn’t make the leap then, it was only going to become harder as I was effectively giving up a promising career with a secure job in one of the Big 4 accounting firms.  But I just had to follow my dream, and here I am!

 Q: Why choose the health and beauty sector?

BW: I saw a gap in the market for convenient and accessible beauty treatments that clients could fit into their hectic lifestyle, and this belief that beauty and spa treatments should be as accessible as possible has underpinned everything that we have done in the business.

We are the only health and beauty company to successfully combine beauty and spa services in the same location, and in a way that allows clients to completely tailor their treatments according to their needs. The health and beauty sector remains one of the fastest growing, yet still relatively under-developed, leisure industry sectors in the UK so it’s an exciting industry to work in, with lots of opportunity for further growth.

 Q: In 2010, just as the recession was really beginning to bite, you expanded into Aberdeen. Is health and beauty austerity proof or is it just Aberdeen?

BW: Deciding to open our Aberdeen spa in the height of the recession was a major decision for us, but we could see the potential of the location within Union Square shopping centre and the potential for the shopping centre itself to change and regenerate the very heart of Aberdeen. However there were many people we spoke to who were very divided as to whether it would be a complete failure or enormously successful. Luckily for us it was the latter! Aberdeen has a very different type of economy because of the reliance on the oil industry so the local economy tends to be more reliant on the price of oil than the state of the rest of the UK economy. Happily, oil prices have been rising so all is good in Aberdeen right now!

 Q: What’s the biggest challenge for you or the company?

BW: The biggest challenge is managing our growth effectively. Having grown from a single location to multi-location sites and a huge growth in staff numbers has been extremely challenging. Our biggest challenge is in making sure that our systems and processes and staffing structures can cope with this and that we ensure that we have a stable business model and platform in place for future expansion.

 Q: Why did you join Vistage?

BW: As the business has grown, my role within the business has changed continually, and is still evolving. I was getting to the point where I needed to grow and develop myself to ensure that I can be an effective leader, and the support that Vistage provides is invaluable in helping me achieve that.

Q: Is it what you thought it would be?

BW: Yes, I have found that my membership of Vistage has allowed me to take a step back and really think about our future growth and strategy, which in fact has given me new perspectives on the future growth strategy of the company, and the speaker sessions have been enormously helpful to myself and my management team to allow us to continue to grow and look forward to the future.

 Q: What has been most useful for you in terms of being a Vistage member?

BW: Having a support network of a like-minded group of people and my Vistage chair, Paul Pinson, has made me feel more confident within my ever changing role.

 Q: Is there anything you would change?

BW: No, my membership since joining in Nov 2011 has exceeded my expectations and I am still learning where it can take me!

 Q: It doesn’t have to be Vistage related but what’s the best piece of business advice you have ever received?

BW: I have recently gone through Roger Martin-Fagg’s strategy workbook, which is available on the Vistage Village and it has opened my eyes to the potential my business has and allowed me to formulate my thoughts and visions into a cohesive strategy, so I would highly recommend it.

According to a new report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), there can be a large gap between managers’ perception of their own skills and how their employees view them. Think along the lines of the woefully misguided David Brent in The Office.

The survey has thrown up some interesting findings:

Eight out of ten managers say they think their staff are satisfied or very satisfied with them as a manager whereas just 58% of employees report this is the case. This ‘reality gap’ matters as the survey finds a very clear link between employees who say they are satisfied or very satisfied with their manager and those that are engaged – i.e. willing to go the extra mile for their employer.

Six in ten (61%) of managers claim they meet each person they manage at least twice a month to talk about their workload, meeting objectives and other work-related issues. However, just 24% of employees say they meet their managers with such frequency.

More than 90% of managers say they sometimes or always coach the people they manage when they meet, while only 40% of employees agree.

Three quarters (75%) of managers say they always/sometimes discuss employees’ development and career progression during one to ones, but just 38% of employees say this happens.

Ben Willmott, Head of Public Policy at the CIPD, comments: ‘Leadership and management capability continues to be an Achilles heel for UK plc, despite mounting evidence that these are “skills for growth” essentials. Our research shows almost three in ten people (28%) – equating to about eight million people across the UK workforce – have direct management responsibility for one or more people in the workplace, and yet only just over half of employees are satisfied with their manager.

‘A small increase in capability across this huge population of people managers would have a significant impact on people’s engagement, wellbeing and productivity. However, too many employees are promoted into people management roles because they have good technical skills, then receive inadequate training and have little idea of how their behaviour impacts on others.’

The full report can be accessed from here.

One imagines the actual amount in their bank account has ceased to be of any real consequence for many people included in the list – when you measure your value in billions then the odd million here or there really doesn’t matter. It seems more likely that for the people in the top half of the list, the number of zeroes attached to their overall wealth is simply a way of keeping score and perhaps measuring yourself against your peers.

The Rich List and its various breakdowns are behind The Times firewall but you can click here to see a list of Scotland’s top 100 wealthiest people according to the newspaper’s researchers.

Perhaps of most interest to Vistage Scotland members is the entry of Peter Cashmore, aged 26, to the list. Cashmore set up his Mashable technology news website in his Aberdeenshire bedroom when he was 19. He is reported to have sold it to CNN earlier this year for around £130 million. He is now at number 84 on the Scottish Rich List with an estimated wealth of £60 million.

Writing in the Sunday Times, Gillian Bowditch has taken a look at Scotland’s culture of entrepreneurship in light of the Scottish Rich List. It can be accessed here.

Fiona Dewar (pictured) is one of the Directors of Vets Now, the out of hours emergency service for pets which has won the Scottish regional prize at HSBC’s prestigious Business Thinking awards. Founded in 2001, the company now treats around 100,000 animals every year in two referral hospitals, 52 clinics and 600 vet practices which are spread throughout the UK.

Fellow V66 member, Becky Woodhouse has been celebrating after her PURE Spa in Aberdeen won the Day Spa of the Year category at the 2012 Professional Beauty Awards.

PURE Spa saw off stiff competition from other spas such as The Sanctuary and The Dorchester in London. Becky opened the first PURE Spa in Edinburgh in 2002. There are now four outlets in Glasgow, Aberdeen and the capital employing over 65 staff.

In an interview with STV, Beck said: ‘It is a privilege to represent Scotland at the awards. Pure Spa are challenging the traditional views of spa because we believe that it is possible to create a five star spa service which is also convenient and accessible to all, not just a lucky few.’

Paul Pinson, Chair of V66, commented, ‘I’m thrilled with the well deserved successes we’ve celebrated in the V66 group recently. These prestigious awards pay testament to the vision and talent of Becky at PURE Spa and Fiona at Vets Now. The group continues to thrive and seeing the achievements of our fellow members further confirms what a great team it is to be part of.’

With the exception of retail, all sectors all signs are more positive than they were at this time last year. Garry Clark, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said:

 ‘Our survey suggests that Scottish businesses have had a better start to 2012 than to last year, led by more positive indicators in manufacturing and tourism.  Across all sectors, except retail, the trends in orders and sales are stronger than at the same time last year and outturns are generally ahead of expectations at the end of 2011.  Businesses are now more confident as to the year ahead, but confidence varies between sectors and Scottish regions.

 ‘Scotland’s manufacturing sector now appears to have returned to modest growth after a difficult latter half of last year, with a stronger trend in new orders and high expectations returning in terms of exporting.  Importantly, our manufacturers are anticipating more positive trends in terms of both turnover and profitability.  There are fewer signs of recovery in construction and clearly here more Government support is essential to stimulate demand.

Both The Scotsman and The Herald have given the report some warm coverage here and here respectively.

First up, a new survey by the office space provider Regus seems to show that business confidence and company performance in Scotland have improved and are above those in the UK as a whole.

The Scotsman reported Steve Purdy, UK managing director at Regus, as saying: ‘After a significant setback between April and October last year, business confidence in Scotland is beginning to grow again and that is a highly positive sign. In addition to this, the proportion of companies reporting revenue and profit growth has started to increase.’

The Regus survey comes hot on the heels of yesterday’s Bank of Scotland Purchase Managers’ Index which shows that output growth has accelerated to the fastest for a year; there has been a robust increase in service activity; employment is rising at the fastest rate since 2007 and that cost inflation is stabilising.

Donald MacRae, Chief Economist at Bank of Scotland, said: ‘March’s PMI rose at the fastest rate for a year suggesting the private sector of the Scottish economy is beginning to reverse the slowdown experienced at the end of last year. The rise in new business orders and employment in both manufacturing and services is particularly welcome. Although growth in manufacturing output was modest, new export orders rose during the month perhaps reflecting reducing concerns over the sovereign debt crisis in the Eurozone. Prospects for avoiding a “double dip” and a return to moderate growth in 2012 have improved.’

Put together, the two reports are rather encouraging on this dreich morning. Should you require any further motivation, click here to read a Scotsman piece in which Lena Wilson (pictured), head of Scottish Enterprise, and Professor Jim McDonald of Strathclyde University set out their blue print for a prosperous and entrepreneurial Scotland.

Using an engaging blend of demonstrations, stories, research, case study presentations and practical hands-on application for the groups, Robb aims to show how service can drive your business.

By the end of the session, delegates will:

Understand how service is connected and driven within and through the whole organisation.
Be clear on why customers leave and how to keep them.
Understand how to identify the ‘insignificant significants’ that keep your customers loyal.
Learn definitive approaches for getting the teams you lead to think and act ’service’.

Mark works across the UK and Europe delivering interventions for some of the world’s largest companies. His no-nonsense practical and commercially focused approach challenges and equips people to harness the huge but often dormant power that lies within them.

Vistage Member Guest Days are free to Vistage members and Vistage guests. Members’ colleagues are charged at £75+VAT. Payments can be made by credit/debit card on the Vistage event registration website which can be found here.

The last Vistage Scotland Member Guest Day was oversubscribed so, if you want to benefit from Mark’s service expertise, we advise you to register quickly. The registration form can be found here.

The BCC’s Quarterly Economic Survey for the first three months of 2012 show that almost all the key national balances have strengthened in Q1 and are now much stronger than during the worst phase of the recent recession. However, the indices for both manufacturing and services remain below their pre-recession levels of 2007. The service balances have improved by less than those of manufacturing in Q1, and most service sector balances are still relatively weak by historical standards.

The Scottish Chamber of Commerce (SCC) Quarterly Economic survey is not published until 12^th April but the Scottish figures are expected to be slightly better than those of the wider economy. According to The Scotsman, a breakdown of the BCC survey shows that domestic and export manufacturing sales are up with both measures higher than the UK average. The service sector north of the border is not so happy with domestic sales falling and optimism down. In their report of the survey, the Herald takes a gloomier view of the situation in a piece entitled ‘Figures raise new fears over state of economy’.

The Scotsman reports Liz Cameron, chief exec of the SCC, as saying, ‘What is clear is that our economy is not yet out of the woods. Governments at a UK and Scottish level have responded positively to business demands for a greater focus on capital spending over the past year, but it is clear that additional shorter-term solutions may be required in the light of this year’s expected shallow levels of growth.’

A summary of the BCC report makes more specific recommendations calling for ‘much more must be done to empower businesses to drive a sustainable recovery. While the government perseveres with efforts to cut the deficit, it must go well beyond the recent Budget in reallocating resources within the spending envelope towards growth enhancing policies. Red tape must be cut more aggressively, the credit easing programme must be made more effective, and the MPC must play its part in ensuring that the huge QE programme encourages increased lending to viable SMEs.’

Their figures revealed that residents of Edinburgh are the biggest per capita contributors to the UK economy, generating £34,950 per head in the year to 1st January 2010, down 0.52% on the previous year. Londoners came second, with an average contribution of £34,779 per head, down 0.53% year on year.

Scottish cities as whole performed well, with three places in the top five towns and cities going to Scotland– Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow. The analysis also shows that Aberdeen became the fastest growing UK city in the year to January 1 2010. Aberdeen is the only Top Ten UK city where GVA per resident grew, rising 1.1% from £28,442 to £28,731 in the year to January 1 2010.

Marc Waterman (pictured), partner at UHY Hacker Young’s London office, says: ‘The situation in Aberdeen is unique within the UK. It’s the only major city in the UK that has an economy based almost entirely around the oil and gas industry. Not only is it benefiting from a revival in North Sea exploration but Aberdeen is now a global leader in oil services companies…

 ‘While the economies of all other major UK cities suffered as a result of the financial crisis, Aberdeen was able to remain largely unaffected.’

This is the first time that London has lost its economic edge both in terms of productivity per person and economic growth.

Waterman comments: ‘For years London easily outpaced other UK towns and cities in its economic contribution, driven by its huge wholesale financial services industry. But the credit crunch hit this sector hard and has damaged London’s ability to generate wealth for the economy.

‘Although Edinburgh also boasts a large financial services sector, it was never as dominant as London’s and so the downturn did not have the same devastating result.

‘Thousands of high paying banking jobs, along with advisers, such as lawyers, have been shed in London. The capital also has significant areas of poverty and high unemployment.’

Further info from the survey can be found here.