Three weeks to go for "Lions' Den" contenders

Five firms on final leg of fundraising efforts for Prince's Trust

News, 9 November 2007

The five legal firms competing in the "Lions' Den Challenge" to raise money for The Prince’s Trust Scotland are in the last few weeks of their fundraising efforts.

The Dragon’s Den style challenge involves Tods Murray, DLA Piper, McGrigors, Biggart Baillie and HBJ Gateley Wareing, each mentored by one of the country’s leading entrepreneurs (or Lions), including Gio Benedetti (Wallace Cameron), Ken Ross (The Elphinstone Group), Jim McColl (Clyde Blowers), Gerard Eadie (CR Smith) and David Gordon (Windsave).

Five programmes

Tods Murray have run a celebrity golf competition at Gleneagles, a children’s art competition launched by Harry Potter star Katie Leung, a luxury shopping event at Jaeger, dining with Martin Wishart, an art exhibition and auction, and are concluding with a Christmas fayre on the top floor of their Edinburgh Quay office.

Biggart Baillie has just held its National Green Day in Glasgow, teaming up with Glasgow City Council and wind turbine manufacturer Windsave to put on a major exhibition to provide the public with information about reducing carbon emissions and tackling climate change, plus an open day for schools and a gala dinner at Glasgow’s City Chambers.

The centrepiece of DLA Piper’s entry also focuses on the environment: it launched a Tree for Two Cities, a scheme to help individuals reduce their carbon emissions. The project’s website – www.atreefortwocities.com – offers advice to commuters on how to travel in a more environmentally friendly manner, and tips on how to use new communications technology to cut down on business travel. For unavoidable journeys, individuals can offset their carbon emissions by paying for trees to be planted: DLA Piper hopes to plant more than 10,000 trees on behalf of commuters and has teamed up with Central Scotland Forest Trust (CSFT) to offer the service.

HBJ Gateley Wareing is organising a scheme to sell carbon credits to businesses throughout Scotland, powered by Carbon Accountable. The team is looking beyond the end of the competition and aims to transfer its carbon credits scheme to The Prince’s Trust Scotland once the challenge is over. A celebratory black-tie ball is also planned for 24 November at Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.

The focus of McGrigors' effort is on an “add a pound campaign”. The firm has recruited retailers whose customers are being asked to donate a pound to the cause during October and November. The campaign will be supported by staff in store and also POS material.

Benefits in return

"Lions' Den" aims to provide benefit to the firms taking part through their employees learning new skills, building business networks and developing their career prospects, becoming in the process a motivated, more entrepreneurial workforce and engaging in a highly significant and visible community project that benefits young people in the area.

The Prince’s Trust Scotland helps change 4,000 young lives a year through practical and financial support for socially excluded young people. Last year it celebrated its 30th birthday.

Whichever firm raises the most money for Prince’s Trust programmes will be crowned "King of the Jungle" at a gala dinner at Ibrox Stadium on 3 December.