We are fortunate to have some quite outstanding individuals and organisations as members of The-Grapevine, many of whom directly contribute to its continued success. We are fortunate in that many of our members are keen to help 'spread the word' with regard to their various spheres of expertise.

As you would imagine, membership of The-Grapevine is very diverse in that members range from small start-ups, entrepreneurs and consultants through to well established legal, accountancy, banking and financial professionals i.e. Macroberts, KPMG, Standard Life, Clydesdale Bank etc through to blue-chip plc's i.e. Glenmorangie, RBS, Menzies, Cairn Energy, Morrisons etc.

There are also members from Scottish Enterprise, Institute of Directors, Scottish Parliament, Further Education establishments, hotels, recruitment agencies, IT specialists, training providers, interior designers, photographers, stationers, charities and the odd hairdressing salon or two, and the list does not end here!

The-Grapevine regularly features columnists who share with us their knowledge, tips and advice. Topics recently covered are Financial Stress, PR, Recruitment, Emotive Networking, Time Management, Business Growth and Development, Website Marketing and on the lighter side, urban fitness and fashion tips for business.

Piercarla Garusi is a Life Coach, NLP Master Practitioner and Hypnotic Practitioner, currently studying more advanced metaphysical and spiritual techniques and principles. She is committed to help people re-connect with who they truly are - that will enable them to heal and live lives of wellbeing, peace, meaning, joy, abundance -, and to help bring about healing in the human family. She is currently preparing several workshops to help deal with the recession. She is also a painter and has co-authored two books published in the US. For more information on her work, please visit: www.pgcoaching.co.uk.

Piercarla’s first  article ‘Your Mighty Mind: Can It Help with Recession?’ can be read here.

Sylvia Tillmann is the founder of the virtual happiness marketplace www.wanttobehappy.co.uk Sylvia, originally from Germany, worked in IT for 14 years before turning her long-standing dream into reality by moving to the UK. She enjoyed a great sabbatical exploring Scotland and then managed a translation agency. Join the new happiness community for inspiration, holistic treats that can make you happy and much more. Sign up to the weekly Happiletter to focus on what's really important in life and to brighten up your day.

Sylvia's first article can be read here.

Bruce Tait is Managing Director of specialist voluntary sector recruitment firm - Bruce Tait Associates. www.brucetaitassociates.com  Bruce has worked as a Fundraiser for 18 years, prior to which he was a Public Relations Consultant working for a range of voluntary, commercial and public sector organisations. His Fundraising career began at Scottish Opera followed by Director of Fundraising posts at Aberlour Child Care Trust, Bighearted Scotland and the Scottish Society for Autism. Bruce is a former Chair of the Institute of Fundraising (Scotland) and has spoken on Fundraising at conferences around the world. He has also served as a Trustee with the Thistle Foundation and the Hope Bakery Trust.

Bruce’s first article for The-Grapevine ‘Increased staff retention and outsourcing likely outcomes of credit crunch’ can be found here.
His second article 'Is the credit crunch the reason you have been waiting for to join the third sector'? can be found here.

Personal Trainer Tracy Griffen (www.tracygriffen.com). Tracy launched her business, Fitness with Tracy Griffen in 2005 after noticing a gap in the market for fitness programmes designed to fit in with people's lives, without the use of a gym. Tracy visits clients' homes or offices and devises a programme to suit their lifestyles and time constraints. In 2006 Tracy launched Workplace Workouts, a group fitness programme for offices and workplaces. She was named as one of the top 6 Body Trainers in the UK by Harper's Bazaar magazine in March 2008.  Tracy is also a freelance journalist and regularly conducts talks and workshops. Her latest venture is WeightShed boot camp - Edinburgh's first boot camp.

Tracy's first article 'Urban Fitness... It's a (concrete) jungle out there' can be read here.
Tracy's second article 'How to burn calories the easy way' can be read here.
Tracy's third article ‘Set up your own home exercise space’ can be read here.

Julie Diver – Managing Director of 39steps. Julie founded 39Steps in October 2003 with help from PSYBT, and is originally a graphic designer and illustrator. 5 years on, Julie now heads up a talented team of designers with diverse experience in creating branding and marketing materials for large corporates, publishers, start-up businesses, SMEs and charities. 39steps is proud to be a patron of JCI Edinburgh (JCIE), part of the Junior Chamber International organisation. JCI is a voluntary organisation providing personal and professional development opportunities for people in their 20s and 30s across the world. Julie is National President of JCI Scotland in 2009.

Julie’s first article ‘First Impressions: Who needs a logo anyway?’ can be read here.

Steven Burns is the lead NLP Trainer at Glasgow based NLP Training company Solutions in Mind. He is a trained hypnotherapist, New Code NLP Practitioner, NLP Trainer and has delivered presentations for the Yes group Scotland, the CIPD Fife branch, Falkirk Enterprise Action trust marketing meeting, The institute of Fundraisers and many more. Steven is available to speak about topics related to NLP, Hypnosis, personal development, sports coaching and weight loss.

Steven’s first article ‘The top 3 communication and influence tips for the 21st Century' can be read here.
Steven’s second article ‘Become a Powerful Persuader with Meta Programs' can be read here.
Steven’s third article 'Boost your Business with the law of scarcity' can be read here.
Steven’s fourth article ‘The Secrets of Easy Weight Loss’ can be read here 

Duncan Glassey. Duncan is the author of Financial Freedom: Using The WealthFlow System (published January 2005). Duncan specialises in wealth management, integrating independent investment consultancy with advanced financial planning. Prior to establishing Wealthflow LLP in 2007, Duncan held senior positions with leading Actuarial, Accountancy and Legal firms. It is this cross-discipline experience that led Duncan to launch ‘my Private Wealth Manager™’ as an independent service. He is an Associate of the Institute of Financial Planning, a Member of the Securities & Investment Institute, an accredited mediator, and one of the few Scots to hold the internationally recognised Certified Financial Planner (CFP) Licence. www.wealthflow.com

Duncan’s first article ‘Divorce and the financial stress factor’ can be read here.
Duncan’s second article ‘What's the best way to end your money worries for good?’ can be read here.
Duncan’s third article ‘The Hidden Secret of Wealth Management’ can be read here.
Duncan’s fourth article ‘Everything you know about money may be wrong'’ can be read here.
Duncan's fifth article "The Credit Crunch Explained" can be read here.

Rod Grant, Headmaster, Clifton Hall School, Newbridge, Edinburgh. Rod is a keen proponent of enterprise education. Indeed, he comes from a business background, having successfully run his own company for four years in the late 80s, before selling up and moving into education. After 17 years spent in teaching, he has recently been appointed to his first Headship. Clifton Hall School is a fully independent Primary and Nursery school of less than 150 boys and girls between the ages of three and eleven years old. Rod took up the mantle in 2005 and, under his supervision; Clifton Hall School continues to grow, with improvements and refurbishments being constantly made to accommodate the steadily increasing pupil roll.

You can read what he has to say in his insightful article, 'For a 21st Century Education' here.
Rod's second article, 'Learning versus Education' can be read here.

John Cavanagh, Com.Motion Consulting (www.com-motionuk.com). John advises SMEs on how to market and promote their websites through Internet Marketing and Search Engine Optimisation. He set up Com.Motion Consulting in February 2006 and has built a reputation in the industry for delivering dramatic business results for his clients. He has over 5 years experience as an E-business Adviser – much of this time was spent training and advising companies at West Lothian’s Business Gateway. John is an SEO specialist and will provide regular articles on Internet marketing with hints and tips on how to maximise online business and increase sales. The articles on SEO will lead on from one another in order to cover all the really important issues and to build up a useful reference library for you all.

John’s first article ‘Put your business on the map’ can be read here.
John’s second article ‘Search Engine Optimisation – Part 1’ can be read here.
John’s third article ‘Search Engine Optimisation – Part 2 - Why Linking does Matter!' can be read here

Jackie Walker. Jackie set up Walker Practitioners in June 2005 to address the emotional and practical side of divorce and separation. As an NLP Master Practitioner, Jackie’s core strength has been the ability to give hope and find new perspectives. She can now help you change your past and get rid of unwanted feelings, behaviours or limiting beliefs with the most profound results. She can help anyone with emotional, mental or physical symptoms of stress, sadness, fear, guilt, overwhelm, frustration or depression – many of which are of course associated with divorce and separate.

Jackie’s article ‘Going separate ways?’ can be read here.

Michael is the Managing Director and Founder of Enhance, founded in 2001 following his successful career in business development, sales and marketing. Michael is a registered and licensed Business Master Practitioner and Trainer of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) having studied with many of the leading lights in this field including Richard Bandler, John La Valle, Owen Fitzpatrick, Michael Breen and Eric Robbie. Renowned for his unique insight, Michael creates intuitive and incredibly rewarding training programmes guaranteed to produce business and personal success. Michael works internationally and his blend of enthusiasm and training expertise has been called upon as far a field as China and the United States.

Michael’s first article ‘The twin sisters of doom – ‘Try’ and ‘Hope’ can be read here.
Michael’s second article ‘A festive thought for better business’ can be read here.

Deborah Forrest, Managing Director, myOrganiser Ltd, Edinburgh. myOrganiser is aimed at stressed out clients with no time on their hands to organise their own busy lives. It is a unique concept to save time and money for cash rich - time poor professionals in need of a helping hand and was originally launched by Deborah in 2000. The business has grown enormously since its incorporation in 2001 with staff and clients all over the world. Deborah has now launched the IACLM (the International Association of Concierge and Lifestyle Managers) which sets the industry standards for Europe and offers a network for other Organisers - as well as producing the trade manuals, classes and training sessions.

Deborah’s first article addresses ‘Time Management’ and can be read here.
Deborah’s second article addresses ‘Time Management at Christmas’ and can be read here

Colin McKeand is Senior Partner at Nutri-Tox, Corporate and Personal Nutrition Specialists. www.diet-nutrition.co.uk. After a management career with RBS Colin opted to leave the finance world and retrain in the health field. For the past 4 years he has been helping individuals of all ages, from all walks of life, overcome their health challenges and achieve their healthy living and healthy eating goals. He separates the facts from the myths when it comes to nutrition. Colin is also passionate about his work with companies and organisations whatever their size, sector, location or type of business. Nutri-Tox works with large companies such as Sky and NFU Mutual together with smaller businesses employing just a few staff. Colin helps them achieve a better and safer state of health in the workplace with a healthier, happier and better performing workforce, which will eventually lead to healthier profits. He is also a popular and sought after speaker.

Colin’s first article ‘Start Working on a Healthy Lifestyle’ can be read here.

Maryanne Johnston, M J Consulting. Maryanne has specialised in advising clients on their critical communication requirements for the last 5 years. Previously she worked for The Kingstree Group based in London, working throughout Europe. Clients included GlaxoSmithKline, PPP Healthcare, Mattel, Trinity Mirror, Irish Life Investment Management, Pinsents and Blue Arrow. However, in March 2003 she moved back to Scotland to set up MJ Consulting, based in Edinburgh but working throughout the UK. Her work is often 1-1 programmes with senior executives working on live events such as new business pitches, investor presentations, presenting results or speaking at conferences. One of the many benefits of Maryanne’s work is that she quickly grasps the key points of her clients’ proposition and can help translate those points into an effective pitch. Investors and clients get used to hearing pitches both good and bad and will quickly assess the credibility of a company and their presentation by the quality of their pitch. MJ Consulting also runs courses for small groups, and last year ran seminars on Public Speaking and Presenting for JCI in Edinburgh, Dundee, Moray and Inverness. Clients include Smiths Gore, Aberdeen Asset Management, Lab 901, RBS, Pentland Brands plc, Graham Tiso Ltd, DNS and InterGen (UK).

Maryanne’s first Grapevine article ‘Preparation is key before taking the floor’ can be read here.

Alan K Fowler: Managing Director, Isochron Ltd. Alan is the Director of Edinburgh-based Isochron Ltd (www.isochron.co.uk), a UK-wide network of experienced project and programme management consultants. Isochron have perfected and proven modelling techniques that allow them to work backwards from predicted consequences. This allows Isochron to deliver a range of innovative techniques to accelerate projects and complex programmes and calculate ROI (Return on Investment). Alan has worked in the several departments of the Civil Service and in the private sector, notably 11 years in Ernst & Young. He has consulted in more than 50 organisations in both private and public sector. He has published research papers on change management at the International Working Conferences on Dynamic Information Systems based at Delft Technical University and lectured on his research and business project experiences at many conferencesHis book, co-authored with well-known project expert Dennis Lock on ‘Accelerating Business and IT Change: Transforming Project Delivery’ will be published this summer by Gower.

Alan’s article ‘Small Business Planning for Bird Flu’ can be read here

Kate Harper. Kate Harper is the face behind Harper Coaching. Kate was born and brought up in Chililabombwe, Zambia, and educated in the UK, where she has lived since 1973. She has been an Information Specialist / Business Analyst for IBM UK Ltd, as well as wife, mother of three and now a Life Coach. She trained as a Life Coach with Curly Martin of Achievement Specialists LLP, a course accredited by both the European Coaching Institute (ECI) and the Open College Network (OCN). Kate's base is now the beautiful Highlands of Scotland, where she feels every day brings inspiration and joy. It is that love of life that has drawn Kate to this rewarding profession where her success is measured purely by the success of her clients. Kate's vision for Harper Coaching is to have touched, in a positive way, the lives of as many people as possible across the globe, either directly or indirectly.

Kate's first Grapevine article 'Building Relationships' can be read here.
Kate’s second article, ‘Are you listening actively?’ Can be read here.

Dr Richard Norris MBA, is a Master Business Coach with Action International, the World's No1 Business Coaching team. Richard’s will be providing a series of business growth and development articles that will help you on the road to your business success.

Richard's second article, ‘You need to know the numbers’ can be read here.
Richard's first article, ‘Coaching In Business Gives YOU The Edge’ can be read here.

James Leckie is the founder of www.bytestart.co.uk the small business portal and editor of Business121 a free weekly email newsletter for small business owners.

His article ‘Top 10 Website Marketing Mistakes To Avoid’ can be read here.

Nik Plevan, Managing Director, People Success Ltd. Nik has over twenty years experience in General Management, New Business Development, Mergers & Acquisitions and Strategic Planning. He has worked in a wide variety of businesses, industries and cultures, and has extensive experience of many different types of company from major multinationals, through medium sized manufacturing businesses right down to small start-up operations. A certified Behaviour and Values Analyst, Nik is highly skilled in work which involves behaviour, values and soft skills, and especially how these affect personal, team and corporate performance. Nik’s particular strengths lie in understanding the impact that personal values and beliefs have on behaviour and motivation, as well as the effect that a particular work environment can have on personal stress and job effectiveness. Nik is trained in using a wide range of psychometric instruments and surveys, and he understands the psychology of individuals, teams, and individuals within teams.

Nik's article can be read here.

Penny Haywood, Managing Director, PHPR Ltd. Penny founded Penny Haywood PR (PHPR Ltd) in 1986 after 13 years handling PR and publications at Bank of Scotland where she handled press relations on the Sir Thomas Risk/Guinness/Distillers debacle and launched the world's first online bank - in 1985 - long before most people had heard of the internet. Penny's background is in journalism and for 10 years Penny wrote a personal finance column for the UK's largest circulation women's weekly magazine. She has contributed to a variety of newspapers including The Sunday Times and various magazines. Penny is the author of a best-selling business book: DIY PR and Financial PR Opportunities in the National Press, published by Michael Bland Communications.

Penny's article can be read here.

If you have the time or inclination to write a one-off or a regular column about a topic you believe would hold wide appeal for The-Grapevine, then do let me know. Drop me a line at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .