AGM angst
ANNUAL meeting season is in full swing and shareholders at Weir Group expressed their dissatisfaction at its AGM taking place on the same day as those of several other Scottish listed companies.
Weir, Aggreko, STV and Alliance Trust all held their annual meetings last Thursday.
Investors in Weir urged directors to avoid a repeat in future. And one offered a solution, suggesting that company secretaries convene for a “nice lunch early in the year and draw lots”.
That sounds rather splendid to us.
Simon says
EARLIER that day, STV chief executive Simon Pitts addressed the broadcaster’s AGM for the first time as its boss.
Mr Pitts, who succeeded Rob Woodward in January, showed why he is in the entertainment business with a nice gag early in proceedings.
Turning to his fellow board members, including senior independent director Simon Miller, Mr Pitts quipped: “I’m very pleased to see other people called Simon here!”
Keep walking
HATS off to the chartered “akiltants” from Johnston Carmichael. A team of 22 from the accountancy firm took part in the Kiltwalk last Sunday, raising £6,500 for charity. Several of the team are now looking forward to taking part in similar challenges in Dundee, Aberdeen and Edinburgh.
Space matters
LORD Willie Haughey said this week that the time was right for the Glasgow branch of Royal Bank of Scotland’s Entrepreneurial Hub to move out of his City Facilities Management headquarters and into one of the institution’s buildings in the city centre.
The switch followed the bank’s move to take over the E-Spark business hatchery network earlier this year.
Lord Haughey noted that in some respects it was sad to see the ‘hatchery’ move out but reflected it was not such a bad thing for the rapidly-growing City. “I needed the space,” he laughed.
Room with a view
BACK at the Weir Group AGM and The Bottom Line once more enjoyed the views from the upper floors of 1 West Regent Street as the meeting convened. Especially because it was a rare sunny day in Glasgow, a fact which did not pass without comment.
“If you’d like to take pictures of the views or the weather, please do so,” said chairman Charles Berry.
Tech first
EMERGING technologies will be in focus when the University of Strathclyde hosts the IEEE (International of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) 5G Summit on May 15. It will be the first time the event, which is expected to attract delegates from around the UK and Europe, is held in the UK.
“The first IEEE summit was held at Princeton University in the USA in 2015 and since then there have been a number successful summits all over the world, but this is the first in the UK and we are excited to be hosting it,” said University of Strathclyde professor Bob Stewart.
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