View Full Version : Secret idea wins award
secrets in symmetry
06-Oct-12, 18:01
I'm ROFL at an article in the Groat (http://www.johnogroat-journal.co.uk/News/Entrepreneurs-10k-winning-pitch-04102012.htm).
Entrepreneur's £10k-winning pitch
AN entrepreneur has been handed a five-figure sum of cash after winning a competition designed to encourage business growth in the north Highlands.
Rachel Skene picked up £10,000 as she was named winner of the Innovation Challenge at the Caithness Chamber of Commerce’s 40th anniversary dinner on Friday.
The Groat goes on to say
Ms Skene said her idea was still in the development stage and she could not reveal too many details yet, but felt it was time to make more of her design background and qualification.
I love it - Ms Skene has won an award for a project that's still a secret! :cool:
IIRC one of the other finalists was a company called Helcat - I would have been tempted to give them the award for the name alone! :cool:
Seriously though, I wish you the best of luck with your secret project Rachel - whatever it is lol!
secrets in symmetry
06-Oct-12, 18:11
Here's Helcat. (http://www.helcattraining.com/Pages/OurTeam.aspx)
I have no idea what their product is like, but they look good and their company name is awesome.:cool:
Bobinovich
06-Oct-12, 21:08
Ha ha, great minds SiS... I said exactly the same when I was approached to do some work for HelCat! Also same reaction to the secret project - I hope it comes to fruition and proves itself worthy of the award
secrets in symmetry
07-Oct-12, 17:43
Apparently, Ms Skene is a textile designer, and she's going to be mentored by the heidie at Dounreay. Perhaps they're going to cover the Dounreay golf ball with a giant designer tartan rug - and make miniature models to sell to tourists. :cool:
Bobinovich
29-Nov-12, 15:21
So it turns out that the winner of the award happens to be the head of tourism for HIE, and is only taking a sabbatical from work (http://www.johnogroat-journal.co.uk/News/Award-winner-can-return-to-post-if-new-venture-fails-28112012.htm) while pushing her new award-winning idea. If the idea fails, not only will she have wasted £10k and the other benefits of said award (which could have gone to another business looking to grow at a time when the banks are saying No), she's not even taking a risk as she can simply return to her circa £30k p.a. job. Incredible entrepreneurship :confused [disgust]
Aye, this is good eh?
You win a 10K award and a 10K grant for an idea that you can't tell anyone about.
Roy Kirk, HIE area manager for Caithness and Sutherland, said he had a rough idea of her winning business idea - “She is looking to use modern technology both in the internet, quick response codes and other ways to create a brand of some of the exciting design products that we have in the North Highlands."
So it looks like a dotcom startup with a website and some business cards with Quick Codes on them.
IMHO, the reason she can't tell anyone is that it is so easy to copy that she would have been laughed out of the 'Dragon's Den' for a start. It looks as if the website might be useful for about a year, then it will crash and burn, while our money is used up and some other soul has missed a chance.
Whatever happened to tranparency and openness in Public Companies?
Yes congratulations Mrs Skene, im sure the people of Caithness wish you well on your innovative dot com enterprise. Lets hope it brings something new to Caithness thats novel and also creates jobs for folk.
Its a pity that there were so many other good entries that never got selected or even mentioned! Reading in the papers just the other day that Scrabster Harbour Trust reported that Caithness is seriously lacking in tourism opportunities and is subsequently missing out on millions of potential revenue for the county from the numerous crusie liners that pass us by. And yet to rub salt into the wound only a few pages later you have another article describing how the millions of pounds of windfarm revenue generated for Caithness remains unspent.
Yet we have the Managing Director of Dounreay handing over a mere drop in the ocean to another local manger so she can go on a 'Sabbatical' a jolly jaunt for a year. and this is perceived to be the best we can do in innovation and entrepreneurship in the county, shame on us! I know of a few of the ideas put forward for the innovative challenge, one being a broch reconstruction. These are the kinds of things that are going to attract people to the county, not webpages, and this coming from the manager of tourism ... god help us all or should i say Caithness.
I would suggest a similar competition should be run with the unspent windfarm revenues, and the public should decide one of the final winners in a public x factor meets dragons den style event. At least this way there will be a fair deal of transparency and realisim about the whole thing, instead of like in this case the public ending up feeling that there has been foul play. Besides im sure the people of caithness have a better sense of whats good for the county than the judges that precided over the innovative challenge.
Thought I'd post the link below......l must have a crystal ball......
http://forum.caithness.org/showthread.php?126957-HIE-Comment-in-response-to-Rok-Announcement&p=787161#post787161
I know what the idea is and quite frankly it doesn't strike me as all that innovative or original - perhaps to the judges it was - there's a ton of prior art and similar ideas out there. Then again Apple were able to patent a rectangle with rounded corners and a touch screen.
secrets in symmetry
08-Dec-12, 18:22
This thread has turned into a witch hunt - one which brings further shame upon our County.
Good luck with your project Rachel!
Not quite sure why I thought of this this afternoon but I remember being in total disbelief with what the Chamber of Commerce and HIE were trying to pull off as acceptable at the time.
What has become of the secret idea that won 10k, a 10k business loan and free mentoring and office accommodation?
It's been six months now so surely there should be some sign of something now of the new business that HIE were "very excited" about.
I believe that HIE said at the time that her job as Head of Tourism was going to be advertised, but if her business idea failed, she could have her job back after a year. Was it advertised?
I hope her idea is working but I fear that this is just another quango merry go round and jobs for the boys.
Link to story: http://www.johnogroat-journal.co.uk/News/Award-winner-can-return-to-post-if-new-venture-fails-28112012.htm
MerlinScot
18-Apr-13, 11:22
Its a pity that there were so many other good entries that never got selected or even mentioned! Reading in the papers just the other day that Scrabster Harbour Trust reported that Caithness is seriously lacking in tourism opportunities and is subsequently missing out on millions of potential revenue for the county from the numerous crusie liners that pass us by. And yet to rub salt into the wound only a few pages later you have another article describing how the millions of pounds of windfarm revenue generated for Caithness remains unspent.
Yet we have the Managing Director of Dounreay handing over a mere drop in the ocean to another local manger so she can go on a 'Sabbatical' a jolly jaunt for a year. and this is perceived to be the best we can do in innovation and entrepreneurship in the county, shame on us! I know of a few of the ideas put forward for the innovative challenge, one being a broch reconstruction. These are the kinds of things that are going to attract people to the county, not webpages, and this coming from the manager of tourism ... god help us all or should i say Caithness.
I stated that in so many meetings... But nobody is interested, so why should Highland Council be interested in promoting something that people themselves find unimportant?
I shot a few videos for archaeological purposes last year and only a handful of brochs have been excavated out of more than 100!! Some of them had cattle feeders on top of them and surrounded by hundreds of sheep using them as a shield... The number of archaeological sites, mostly unexcavated or forgotten is around 4000....
I keep saying that Caithness could have the means to compete against Orkney on the historical/archaeological side of things but nobody believes it.
FYI, the Highland Council keeps giving planning permissions to destroy these sites, given that many of them went unrecorded. The fact these sites are unreported/unrecorded is because necessary funding wasn't given to excavate them, not because they were considered uninteresting.
Oh well, I guess it's better to fund a secret idea than to use that money to promote tourism!! [disgust]
secrets in symmetry
20-Apr-13, 18:08
That's a lot of brochs! I had no idea we had so many....
We really should take advantage of them - not only for tourism, but also for historical and archaeological research.
Has Rachel's project been brought out into the open? It's more than six months since the announcement of the award.
MerlinScot
21-Apr-13, 10:42
We really should take advantage of them - not only for tourism, but also for historical and archaeological research.
Exactly. Asserting that Caithness has no resources and no interesting places for tourists is treated as a matter of fact in local councils meetings. I have no idea where this comes from. I stopped fighting it after a while.
Has Rachel's project been brought out into the open? It's more than six months since the announcement of the award.
Mmm... I tried to find anything about it last week and nothing came up. If it was an internet idea, that should be online, shouldn't it? :confused
Bobinovich
21-Apr-13, 10:49
Mmm... I tried to find anything about it last week and nothing came up. If it was an internet idea, that should be online, shouldn't it? :confused
Same here - her LinkedIn profile still shows her as Head of Tourism for HIE C&S...
MerlinScot
21-Apr-13, 10:54
Same here - her LinkedIn profile still shows her as Head of Tourism for HIE C&S...
Well that will never change, given that the article made the point clear... she got the funds for a project without losing her job... so technicaly she's still Head of Tourism for HIE C&S...
I had a couple of friends running for that competition, it seemed a very 'driven' outcome... A waste of tax payers money.
Well that will never change, given that the article made the point clear... she got the funds for a project without losing her job... so technicaly she's still Head of Tourism for HIE C&S...I had a couple of friends running for that competition, it seemed a very 'driven' outcome... A waste of tax payers money.I once had a very successful man summarise HIE.
He said "HIE compares to a harbour in Halkirk, possibly a good facility, but totally pointless, no common sense whatsoever, a complete waste of money and it smells a bit fishy..!!
MerlinScot
21-Apr-13, 21:01
He said "HIE compares to a harbour in Halkirk, possibly a good facility, but totally pointless, no common sense whatsoever, a complete waste of money and it smells a bit fishy..!!Totally spot on!!
secrets in symmetry
27-Apr-13, 23:31
Mmm... I tried to find anything about it last week and nothing came up. If it was an internet idea, that should be online, shouldn't it? :confusedI couldn't find anything either, but there's still a number of months to go until the year is over.
Well that will never change, given that the article made the point clear... she got the funds for a project without losing her job... so technicaly she's still Head of Tourism for HIE C&S...
I had a couple of friends running for that competition, it seemed a very 'driven' outcome... A waste of tax payers money.Since I don't know what the project is, I am in no position to give a considered opinion on it being a great success or a waste of taxpayers' money.
I am still uneasy about this issue turning into a witch hunt.
...He said "HIE compares to a harbour in Halkirk, possibly a good facility, but totally pointless, no common sense whatsoever, a complete waste of money and it smells a bit fishy..!!"
That is spot on. Yet for some reason HIE still gets to manage money allocated to the area.
I know what the winning idea was BTW though I'm reluctant to say. I can say that I thought it was nothing spectacular, there's a ton of prior of art, it uses a technology that's more annoying than useful, it's in no way innovative to me.
All of the ideas seemed a bit weak actually but there were better ones than the winner. I'm also surprised some sort of conflict of interest wasn't declared and the now winner removed from the running.
MerlinScot
29-Apr-13, 16:29
I'm also surprised some sort of conflict of interest wasn't declared and the now winner removed from the running.
I was wondering that too.... :roll:
secrets in symmetry
29-Apr-13, 23:25
I know what the winning idea was BTW though I'm reluctant to say. I can say that I thought it was nothing spectacular, there's a ton of prior of art, it uses a technology that's more annoying than useful, it's in no way innovative to me.What does "there's a ton of prior of art" mean?
What does "there's a ton of prior of art" mean?
It means I've seen or read about the exact idea or a slight variation of it elsewhere, in other countries and even in some other parts of the UK. And because of that there's not way this idea could be patented or otherwise protected.
Interesting article on page 2 of the Courier today, however it raises more questions than answers.
For instance...
1. If her workload has been spread around, and supported by a number of work colleagues, why is our tax payers money going to be spent on her getting her job back or someone else replacing her if her duties have been covered for six months successfully.
2. If she wants her job back, why would anyone want to, or be expected to take advice from someone who apparently can't run a business with a 10k gift, a 10k interest free loan plus free mentoring and office accommodation?
Reading between the lines it looks very likely that she will be back with HIE after her years sabattical, and the line at the end of the article sums it up beautifully, " the agency supports employee sabbaticals to help staff achieve their potential"
There is definitely a murkiness about this whole scenario.
I believe the technical term for this whole procedure is - cronyism.
secrets in symmetry
28-Sep-13, 11:14
Is this project out in the open yet, or is it still a secret?
I'd heard it was something to do with a tourism app and that there were other partners involved from elsewhere in Highlands, also that there had been some sort of launch a few months ago, other than that nothing so I guess only select people know about it.
It's probably top secret but employing loads of people throughout Caithness and completely justified of it's rather nice win!!
Strange it's still under wraps though, isn't it?
secrets in symmetry
29-Sep-13, 21:38
A top secret tourism app that employs loads of people in the County... The mystery deepens lol!
Can't the Groat or Courier look in to this whole fiasco?
It's a farce from start to finish, civil servants, cronyism, public money (the chamber wouldn't survive without HIE handouts) and abuse of power.
I spoke to a friend who was at the Chamber dinner last week and it was typical fluff and bluster. The winner of last years young entreprenuer (different prize) was wheeled out and gave a talk on what the award had done for her in the last year. Basically nothing apart from encouraging her to nominate herself for more time wasting form filling pointless awards.
Then the Chamber actually awarded themselves an award when no less than the 7 chamber staff (practically all funded by public money) were paraded up on the stage for the paying diners to ask themselves what on earth is that award for. Everyone was told it was the first chamber in the UK to be awarded it.......that's worrying in itself, why arnt others doing it?
But not a single mention of last years 20k prize winner that "excited" the chamber and HIE this time last year, presumably she's either doing really well or is preparing to go back to her circa £30,000 cushy job with HIE that was held open for her. What true entrepreneurial spirit! What a farce!
So there we have it, never one to shy away from publicity, yet there's no mention of the prize winner that was selected by the two bodies within Caithness that are supposedly going to save us all post Dounreay. Never mind though, by the time Dounreay shuts they will be retired on big pensions and unaccountable.
Farce Farce Farce.
RagnarRocks
30-Sep-13, 08:54
Dounreay is a joke from what I've see just a nest of petty pilfering no different from the council. The other part is just the council con artists justifying what they do by any means,usually more and more farcical.
Dounreay is a joke from what I've see just a nest of petty pilfering no different from the council, just the council just con artist justifying what they do by any means usually more and more farcical.
Eh?
Not quite comprehensible...
RagnarRocks
30-Sep-13, 18:01
Eh?Not quite comprehensible...Hmm not sure what happened there distraction probably but my apologies non the less
secrets in symmetry
30-Sep-13, 23:13
Does anyone know for sure?
Does anyone know for sure?
Knowing something for sure has never been a prerequisite for extended comment on this noble forum.
Speculation and damnation are much more fun.
secrets in symmetry
06-Oct-13, 14:23
It's a year to the day since I started this thread. Are we still officially in the dark regarding the project?
It's a year to the day since I started this thread. Are we still officially in the dark regarding the project?
Read all about it on the front page of the Groat today.
Like I was told by probably thee most successful man in Caithness.
"HIE are as much use as a harbour in Halkirk, totally pointless, a complete waste of money and it all smells a bit fishy"
He couldn't have been more accurate. When will this farce along with the Chamber be exposed. How can Caithness put any trust in two organisations run by two cronies who've never successfully ran a business in their lives. However we can't say we wernt warned:
http://www.lochaber-news.co.uk/News/shock-at-new-post-for-ex-fort-print-MD-3373.htm
I'm also concerned that there's rumours the top man at HIE was a failed publisher........Is there a protective cult or something going on between these two cronie cultures?
http://www.heraldscotland.com/fears-over-72-jobs-at-printing-firm-1.875451
The above is what she received from HIE before going bust.
Scandal. Scandal. Scandal.
I just read the article on the Groat and the comment on the bottom quoting a tagline for her website. "Caithness, the land of opportunity but only if your face fits" says it all about this whole fiasco
Who's next for a sucker punch?
Churchill once thanked the people for giving him their support because it enabled him to be bold and take risks. He didn't always get it right and lives were at stake when he made decisions.
Similarly in business.
In fact it's the same wherever you go in the human story.
Sour grapes are hanging from every fertile vine.
Bobinovich
03-Jan-14, 14:01
No sour grapes Gleeber as I don't think anyone replying here is actually involved with any of the other shortlisted ideas! I believe that the outpouring of scorn is simply that no real risk was taken by the winner whatsoever - even with a sizeable financial award and business mentoring, etc. it appears that the idea has led to precisely nothing, and she has returned to her previous position...life goes on.
Many small businesses have been started with far less financial backing, far less business knowledge, and negligible mentoring, but have been a success simply through the hard work of those running it. For most the first few months or even years can be fraught with worry - relationships & families can suffer, banks can be unforgiving, debt can pile up, etc. Days off are rare, holidays almost unheard of, and cash flow has to be monitored tightly - even to the point of visiting customers asking for payment to ensure food on the table or a bill can be paid. Most business start-ups know that there's no cushy job at the end of the tunnel should it fail, so will put in the hours, take on contracts no matter how small, and generally put 150% into it to try & ensure its success.
Churchill ran a nation successfully (as far as I'm aware) for a number of years, with the support of the people who put him in power. Tell us what risks the winner took in this case :roll:? I for one would have had far more respect if she'd quit her job (thereby giving someone else a chance) knowing she had nothing to fall back on thus HAD to make the best of the opportunity that presented itself to her.
m.i.sinclair
03-Jan-14, 15:39
HIE didn't need to employ someone in her absence...they just spread her 'work' around some other people. So if that has worked successfully for the past 12 months then she should clearly be made redundant. Although unlikely as her face does indeed fit amongst the Waste of Space Clan at Cowan House.
Mrs Bradey
03-Jan-14, 15:41
No sour grapes Gleeber as I don't think anyone replying here is actually involved with any of the other shortlisted ideas! I believe that the outpouring of scorn is simply that no real risk was taken by the winner whatsoever - even with a sizeable financial award and business mentoring, etc. it appears that the idea has led to precisely nothing, and she has returned to her previous position...life goes on.Many small businesses have been started with far less financial backing, far less business knowledge, and negligible mentoring, but have been a success simply through the hard work of those running it. For most the first few months or even years can be fraught with worry - relationships & families can suffer, banks can be unforgiving, debt can pile up, etc. Days off are rare, holidays almost unheard of, and cash flow has to be monitored tightly - even to the point of visiting customers asking for payment to ensure food on the table or a bill can be paid. Most business start-ups know that there's no cushy job at the end of the tunnel should it fail, so will put in the hours, take on contracts no matter how small, and generally put 150% into it to try & ensure its success.Churchill ran a nation successfully (as far as I'm aware) for a number of years, with the support of the people who put him in power. Tell us what risks the winner took in this case :roll:? I for one would have had far more respect if she'd quit her job (thereby giving someone else a chance) knowing she had nothing to fall back on thus HAD to make the best of the opportunity that presented itself to her. here! here! bob, what a surprise more corruption and personal back scratching by those who are commissioned to oversee and promote business and tourism in caithness ! the rest of us will just continue knocking our pans in, for our small reward!
m.i.sinclair
03-Jan-14, 15:48
I love Trudy Morris' quote in the Groat article trying to provide some defence...
“Rachel has launched a website and has run a survey so her idea is in the public domain.”
I think even Tina Irving has created more value than that...and that's saying something.
Mind you Trudy Morris is no stranger to dodgy dealings - her past with NevisPrint leaves a lot of ethical and financial questions unanswered. And a lot of people out of pocket in Inverness and Fort William.
Mrs Bradey
03-Jan-14, 16:43
I love Trudy Morris' quote in the Groat article trying to provide some defence...“Rachel has launched a website and has run a survey so her idea is in the public domain.”I think even Tina Irving has created more value than that...and that's saying something.Mind you Trudy Morris is no stranger to dodgy dealings - her past with NevisPrint leaves a lot of ethical and financial questions unanswered. And a lot of people out of pocket in Inverness and Fort William.well not bad value then. £5,000 for a website! & £5,000 for a survey! sounds about right.
Mrs Bradey
03-Jan-14, 16:47
And I still haven't the faintest idea what her wonderful prize winning idea was!??! but surely with 10large to spend on it, it should be a little bit more than an idea by now!!!
m.i.sinclair
03-Jan-14, 16:48
well not bad value then. £5,000 for a website!
not for a webSITE but for a single webPAGE. www.youlovelocal.com
Mrs Bradey
03-Jan-14, 17:14
not for a webSITE but for a single webPAGE. www.youlovelocal.comWT that webPAGE looks well worth it! YOULOVEYOURSELF more like! who are these people? she's as mad as the one in Dunnet!! "jings crivvens help ma boab"!
I suppose I was responding more to the 2 links droopy had in his post. I'm well aware of the feast or famine culture involved in Small business. On the surface the secret award seems wrong but like all things there are wheels within wheels. My comment was not meant to detract from the struggle small businesses face every day but more a comment on human behaviour. I presumed the resume of the people in charge of these dealings was suitably scrutinied. There's plenty questions being asked here and now claims of corruption. I know this is the org but surely it could be better than this?
RagnarRocks
03-Jan-14, 18:18
Well I've taken a look at the web page provided and can honestly say my daughter made a better effort for her mums business when she was 15 and that didn't cost 5k maybe £5 and some considerable time and effort. If this is considered a good use of money then someone needs to a long hard look at their motivation and capabilities. I could knock that website on a wet boring afternoon and I'm not even remotely skilled to do the job.
Mrs Bradey
03-Jan-14, 18:34
Well I've taken a look at the web page provided and can honestly say my daughter made a better effort for her mums business when she was 15 and that didn't cost 5k maybe £5 and some considerable time and effort. If this is considered a good use of money then someone needs to a long hard look at their motivation and capabilities. I could knock that website on a wet boring afternoon and I'm not even remotely skilled to do the job. I agree not a very sophisticated site. I think she should change her name to "Rachel Scheme" even after looking at the site I still do not know what her wonderful idea was! and I should!
RagnarRocks
03-Jan-14, 19:31
I agree not a very sophisticated site. I think she should change her name to "Rachel Scheme" even after looking at the site I still do not know what her wonderful idea was! and I should!You're quite correct do you love local , could be anything from anywhere its not Caithness specific and has no more to float it than the header , then it goes on further down to mention global network! So much for the local, contradictory if nothing else. I see nothing more than a few simplistic questions put on about as basic a web page as you can get. I paid less than the money offered for my old company website and that had 17 pages of Information all of it financial services related admittedly but it still had more graphics and interesting stuff on it than that. I think whoever paid monies over for that especially if it was 10k has been royally ripped off.
m.i.sinclair
03-Jan-14, 20:26
And I still haven't the faintest idea what her wonderful prize winning idea was!??
It was to have a year off work at the taxpayer's expense.
Well to be fair she dd manage a link to a twitter account . Albeit free to join andt probably took a few minutes to set up.......the facebook link desnt seem to open? Maybe signing it up on facebook is proving complicated.;-)
Maybe I'm naïve but I want to think there's more to it than this. :confused
m.i.sinclair
03-Jan-14, 22:43
It's also telling that here she is in her 'job' advising tourism businesses, when she herself failed in her own previous tourism business in Helmsdale.
I suppose there could be various reasons for a business folding. It's not always just incompetence.
Better be careful Droopy. Sounds like fiery stuff.
m.i.sinclair
04-Jan-14, 00:34
Scandal. Scandal. Scandal.
The £10k that Rachel Skene squandered is but a fart in the wind for the actual amount of public money spent on this charade.
As well as the 'prize money' there is the:
- cost of developing the actual competition
- cost of advertising and promoting the competition
- cost of meetings (venues, travel, time, expenses) associated with running the competition
- cost of managing the competition
- cost of judges' expenses
Total cost, approx £250,000. Yes a quarter of a million pounds of taxpayer's money p@@@ed against the wall.
A complete farce from the beginning! Never was a business and after a year, funding and montoring there still isn't.
Ms Skene should have to detail how the money was spent and where the project is heading. A single page website taking an hour to put together doesn't cut it.
Another waste of money.
RagnarRocks
04-Jan-14, 11:24
I think the term in law would be obtaining money by deception, that's if she hasn't actually provided the service/ business she said was to be established
Mrs Bradey
04-Jan-14, 12:01
I think the term in law would be obtaining money by deception, that's if she hasn't actually provided the service/ business she said was to be established technically, she didn't obtain the money, it was gifted to her by way of a competition prize. you would have to prove that the competition organisers conspired prior to judging, that she would win. that would be conspiracy to commit fraud. then you would need to prove that the eventual winner was also part of the conspiracy, then, and only then would there be a case to answer. it would be unlikely as one of the conspirators would need to make a statement and give evidence to that effect. the charge would then probably be obtaining money by deception. as there would be many conspirators it would be a long and expensive case, the procurator fiscal would probably not proceed with because of cost to the public purse, and the case would probably collapse due to all the dubious witnesses.
RagnarRocks
04-Jan-14, 12:05
technically, she didn't obtain the money, it was gifted to her by way of a competition prize. you would have to prove that the competition organisers conspired prior to judging, that she would win. that would be conspiracy to commit fraud. then you would need to prove that the eventual winner was also part of the conspiracy, then, and only then would there be a case to answer. it would be unlikely as one of the conspirators would need to make a statement and give evidence to that effect. the charge would then probably be obtaining money by deception. as there would be many conspirators it would be a long and expensive case, the procurator fiscal would probably not proceed with because of cost to the public purse, and the case would probably collapse due to all the dubious witnesses.Oh well all seems a bit of a farce at the end of the day lot of money for not much in return
Mrs Bradey
04-Jan-14, 13:05
Oh well all seems a bit of a farce at the end of the day lot of money for not much in returnits the modern way
Well well £20K for a £20 web site. when I saw what it was I had to laugh. Four years ago I had an idea to set up a Caithness shop on the internet, it was a site where local businesses could be shown on a site aimed at both locals and the tourist trade . I carried out market research at £0 cost to the public purse. I was advised to approach Chamber of commerce and H.I.E for assistance so submitted my business plan. Neither party thought it a good idea and my market research showed it was not a popular idea with local businesses- they saw no benefit. I walked away from the idea. What I presented in my business plan was more than the 2 years effort show in the current site. If looking at this idea again I would take it into the 21st century. Link it to phone apps allowing the user to download for free and for a small yearly contract allow the business to message users with specific relevant info. Now there some free advice for the site. If you want more it will cost!!!!
£10k for THAT!!! Bobinovich could have knocked that up in 30 seconds. Cronyism at work :-/
£10k for THAT!!! Bobinovich could have knocked that up in 30 seconds. Cronyism at work :-/
I also have a fantastic business plan! It's a secret but will take all of 30 seconds to succeed! Thats a whole 5 seconds to think of a crummy idea and 25 seconds to nip round the bank to cash the big fat cheque! :eek:
Such a shame with so many struggling to get funding to put their plans into action and make a living for themselves. The money should have been given to someone with the drive to at least give it a good shot, not someone who a year later goes back into their old public service job.
As a tax payer, we should be questioning whether or not this woman's role is contributing much! To be able to spread the work around a little and then pick it up again a year later sounds as though we're not getting value for OUR money.
RagnarRocks
05-Jan-14, 14:37
I can't say that in the private sector many companies would allow you a year off to follow a private venture then give you your job back when it didn't work out, unless you are an incredibly gifted person. Its about time the public sector had some accountability to the people who ultimately pay their wages.
wickblast
05-Jan-14, 16:20
hell-cat training should have won the award if you ask me she provides a service to the local contractors that saves us all having to travel out off caithness to get our training done so she would get my vote best idea up here for ages
Have you got actually got any evidence of either of those claims, or are you simply fuelling the rumour mill with pure hearsay?
Wise owl,
Please click on the link below, my mistake about the feasibility study, it was actually 23k. See if you can find out anywhere what the taxpayer got for our 23k. Also try and find what "symposium" means, be nice if we could all get 5k for one. Typical quango talk.
http://www.hie.co.uk/common/handlers/download-document.ashx?id=a5890399-3acd-477f-87a3-068011121140
Look in to the 100k for the Renewable Directory, a basic google director search shows 2 directors, one in England whos been dissolved a number of times and the other whos other directorships include kitchen sales.
Also, I wonder who was on "the expert panel" who chose the winner? Ms Schemes fellow director of youlovelocal works at the same place as a Caithness Chamber Executive Director........
And why wouldn't the mentor whoever they are, not advise the Head of Tourism for Caithness and Sutherland that a marketing company for premoting local goods needs a logo.......schoolboy stuff.
It's actually worrying that the 2 organisations thought there wouldn't be an outcry over this farce, are they that almighty?
Did the winner win the prize.....or was the prize invented for the winner?......
All public information readily available on the Internet.
Tip of the iceberg stuff here......
£10k for THAT!!! Bobinovich could have knocked that up in 30 seconds. Cronyism at work :-/Heres a link to the "survey"......first published in October 2013, 1 year after 'winning' the prize and I'd have thought precisely when she'd to let HIE know she wanted her job back.....
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YouLoveLocal_Consumers
RagnarRocks
06-Jan-14, 09:49
That's a joke right ? The survey is huge for such a simplistic website obviously someone hasn't a clue what they are up to unless its how to waste money
With regard to the HIE funded Renewables Directory how is our £100k being spent there? Has it been money well spent? Which directory is it as there are several Renewables Directories!!! A guess would be the small Glasgow based one which shows HIE assistance. Can anyone confirm?
Bobinovich
06-Jan-14, 23:45
Yes that would appear to be the one - Renewables Directory Ltd. (http://www.linkedin.com/company/renewables-directory-ltd) with web address renewablesdirectory.eu (http://www.renewablesdirectory.eu) which doesn't actually have anything up, but which is registered to a former Teenabowlie, although his LinkedIn profile (http://www.linkedin.com/pub/michael-sinclair/1a/324/227) says he was MD of RD only up to Sep. 2013...
webmannie
10-Jan-14, 14:18
I believe the employment funding (£100k) required somebody to be employed in Caithness. I believe nobody was employed so therefore the £100k wouldn't have been released. I would hope!
Would anyone here from HIE or CoC like to clear up something I've been PM'd?
Did the Chamber of Commerce need a £200,000 handout from HIE this month in order to keep their 7 members of staff (Trudy's Troops) in wages? If this is true it's unbelievable and a proper kick in the face to every proper business in Caithness. What sort of example does that set on the back of the Rachel Skene scandal/fiasco/embarrassment.
Also, why is the last set of annual accounts for the chamber on their website only up to March 2011?
http://caithnesschamber.com/about/annual-accounts/
Surely one of the seven members of staff would have time to put the latest set on the website?
It's high time the Groat or P&J used the freedom of information act to blow open why Trudy has received hundreds and hundreds of thousands over the years from HIE to only go bust in the real world of business, but yet receives more year on year in quango land?
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