Glasgow Business . 13 www.glasgowchamberofcommerce.com


Discover the outstanding success across the three Glasgow Colleges p15


Gigabit transformation in the city


From L to R: Kenny Tunn, HighNet; Scott MacRae, HighNet; Kevin Rush, Head of Economic Development, Glasgow City Council and James McClafferty, CityFibre


Quitely does it!


The dream of comic artist Frank Quitely to complete his first animated short, Nothing to Declare, has come true after recruitment consultancy Primestaff came to the rescue and saved the day. In a prime example of


Glasgow helping its own, the comic book artist, who still lives in the city despite collaborating with creators around the world on projects such as All-star Superman, new X-Men and Batman and Robin, started a crowdfunding campaign to help fund his independently produced film.


With more than £6k left


to reach the £10k target set on Indiegogo to complete the project, Scotland’s fastest growing recruitment consultancy Primestaff, which has its head office in Blythswood Square in Glasgow, stepped in and helped the production come to life. The film will be directed by


BAFTA nominated Will Adams and crafted by Oscar winning CG artist Tom Bryant, leading the team at Interference Pattern. John Cummings, formerly a member of the band Mogwai, will contribute all music to the project.


Pictured: Oscar winning CG artist Tom Bryant; Scottish comic book artist Frank Quitely; Carol Conlin, Director, Primestaff; and BAFTA nominated Will Adams


Ryden and Mason Philips merger


Edwin Braim and Alasdair Munn from Mason Philips with Bill Duguid and Matthew Edwards from Ryden


Commercial property consultant Ryden has agreed a merger with Mason Philips, the London investment agents. The merged firms will operate under the Ryden name with the London office of Mason Philips in Regent Street becoming Ryden’s base in the capital. The deal significantly increases


the size of Ryden’s property management business in England, where the firm already has a Leeds office, to a portfolio with a rent roll of approximately £40 million covering about 2100 tenants. Almost half of Ryden’s management income will come from English property and around 20 per cent of the firm’s total turnover


will be generated outside Scotland. Clients of Mason Philips will


benefit from access to Ryden’s full-service advice and regional expertise, while Ryden clients will have access to Mason Philips’ specialism in asset management and investment, predominantly in London and the South East. The deal is expected to increase Ryden’s investment activity in England three-fold within the next two years. The merger forms part of Ryden’s


strategy for growth in England and follows a merger with Leeds- based asset management firm Hill Woolhouse just over 18 months ago.


Glasgow city centre is now being transformed as part of a radical upgrade of the city’s digital infrastructure. Pure fibre infrastructure provider, CityFibre, has now begun a new phase of construction as part of the Glasgow Gigabit City project. This will see the city centre connected to CityFibre’s existing 31km pure fibre network in Glasgow. Work has started on Ingram


Street, Renfrew Street and Douglas Street, and will be expanding to bring next-generation, ultra-fast internet connectivity within reach of more than 7000 businesses. Some of the first businesses to benefit from this


state-of-the-art connectivity will include design studio Graven Images, Michael Laird Architects, The Beacon and Laings Jewellers. The network also connects seven hospitals, including the new Queen Elizabeth University Hospital. CityFibre’s launch partner for the Gigabit Glasgow project is HighNet, which opened new offices in the city’s St Vincent Street in August. HighNet is one of the internet service providers connecting businesses to the new pure fibre network. CityFibre is currently completing Gigabit City projects in 19 UK cities including Aberdeen and Edinburgh.


New look and name for SECC


The Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC) has been renamed and rebranded the ‘Scottish Event Campus’. The new name acknowledges


that the venue has developed over a period of more than 30 years – with the Armadillo and The SSE Hydro added to the site. In addition, live entertainment has grown to become a significant part of the venue’s business which is not represented in the name SECC. Peter Duthie, Chief Executive,


explained the rationale behind the rebrand and new logo: “The decision and announcement comes at a time when the company has seen changes in the nature of the business it now operates. The name Scottish Event Campus (SEC) better describes the site, is more representative of what we do and reflects a vision for the future. For clarity, our three buildings will be known as The SSE Hydro, SEC Armadillo and the original building, SEC Centre.


“We believe that this is the


perfect time for a revamp of our brand, building on the success of the business to date. Historically, we have found that many people don’t necessarily realise that all of our buildings are part of the SECC. “We also want to showcase


that the SEC is able to stage large scale events – capitalising on the huge success of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and more recently Ignition Festival of Motoring, both great examples of utilisation of all areas of our campus, internally and externally.” The SEC worked with local


Glasgow design agency Freytag Anderson on the rebrand. The agency was appointed following a competitive pitch and delivered a contemporary logo and identity system. The concept draws on the campus’ iconic architecture to communicate a sense of unity and containment.


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