A timely gift for a shoe tycoon goes to auction

A gold watch may be the ‘go to’ retirement gift for long serving employees, but when staff at Victorian shoemaker, Clarks of Kilmarnock, decided to honour their founder in 1880, they decided to take things a step further. As a mark of their respect for George Clark, the employees presented him with an impressive ‘skeleton’…

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The Bad Fire takes Bob Skinner into retirement

It takes some skill to write 31 novels in a crime series and ensure that the narrative, plot and characters don’t go stale. But The Bad Fire, Quintin Jardine’s latest offering to the Bob Skinner series, takes the veteran Chief Constable in a new direction – retirement. Despite a greater focus on his daughter Alex,…

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School of Furniture appoints a new principal

One of the UK’s leading furniture design schools, The Chippendale International School of Furniture, has announced the appointment of Tom Fraser as its new principal. Former deputy principal at the Chippendale School, based in Gifford, East Lothian, Tom takes over from his father, Anselm Fraser, who founded the school in 1985. The school has established…

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Lack of homes is biggest barrier to Scots’ retirements

Those planning for retirement in Scotland have revealed the biggest barriers to achieving their retirement property plans. In a survey from Market Harborough Building Society, the poll of 500 UK adults aged over 54 has discovered that the majority of home owners in the region 59% view a lack of suitable homes as the main…

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Will millenials ever be able to retire?

If the dream of home ownership seems beyond most young people these days, then retirement must appear an impossibility. Not only does the official state pension age keep rising, but research from the Resolution Foundation earlier this year suggested that around one-third of the internet generation will still be renting into retirement. Is there any…

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Family business is on the side of the angels

Angels’ Share Glass was founded in 2013 by a father-and-daughter team in Bridge of Allan, Stirlingshire who are known for producing unique, handblown glass angels filled with whisky. Tom Young is a world-renowned glass blower and in 2005 sold his business Village Glass in anticipation of his retirement. However, his daughter Karen Somerville had a…

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Scotland’s retirees face significant property shortfall

People approaching retirement in Scotland are facing a significant financial property shortfall, according to new research. UK planning and design consultancy Barton Willmore has published a report, entitled Later Living – Are We Planning for our Future?, which reveals that specialist UK retirement properties built so far have mostly been aimed at the better-off, while…

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Canny Scots feel in control of their money

More than half of people in Scotland are extremely or very confident when it comes to money matters, compared to an average of less than one in four across the rest of the UK. The latest Disposable Income Index from Scottish Friendly and the Social Market Foundation reveals a stark contrast between the savings and…

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Lizzie’s retiral is marked with a special dram

Scotland’s first female operator in malt distilling celebrated her retirement last week and Diageo marked the occasion in a rather ‘neat’ way. After 31 years’ service at Dalwhinnie Distillery, working in the warehouse, mash house and the still house Liz Stewart – or ‘Lizzie’ as she’s known – is hanging up her distillery operator’s overalls…

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Age is no barrier as Scots OAP writes his first book – in his 90s

They say that everyone has a book in them – and for one Scot, it’s just taken that little bit longer to put pen to paper. A 96-year-old Glaswegian has just published his first novel – which centres on a fight between South American drug barons. William Glen, a tenant at Bield’s Carntyne Gardens retirement…

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