HEARTS and Rangers are likely to be celebrating this morning after lifting silverware of a different kind.
The two clubs are among the first five Scottish businesses to receive the CommunityMark, an award recognising the contribution firms make to
their areas.
Vladimir Romanov, Hearts' owner, was last night due to collect the club's award at a gala dinner in London, organised by Business in the Community.
Hearts won their award for their community programme, which includes "Glory and Dismay", an education project to help adults to improve their reading and writing using football for helpful examples.
Participants on the courses said they had learned how to speak clearly in groups, how to get their point across and how to better control their anger.
The other Scottish winners were: Rangers Football Club; Contract Scotland, a recruitment consultancy in Stirling; Design Links, a Leith-based communications agency; and Town House Company, the Edinburgh boutique hotel group.
Between them, the 21 UK winners are believed to have invested £600 million in their communities in the past year.
FACT OF THE DAY
146,138BMW Group sold 146,138 cars in June, down 2.8 per cent on May's sales.
The car maker's sales figures were weighed down by a 4.8 per cent decline in sales of BMWs, while Rolls-Royce sales grew by 56 per cent and Mini sales by 8.8 per cent.
In the first six months of the year, the group sold 764,874 vehicles, a rise of 4.7 per cent when compared to the same period last year.
The luxury brands are selling well in China.
KILLER QUOTE"WE ARE now facing serious risks of recession. The outlook is grim, and we believe that the correction period is likely to be longer and nastier than anticipated."
David Kern, economic adviser to the British Chambers of Commerce, on the pressures facing UK business.
GOOD DAY
CanonDEMAND for digital cameras is so high that Canon yesterday announced plans to build a new plant in western Japan. The ¥17.4 billion (£83m) plant, which is due to open in December 2009, will be able to make four million digital cameras each year. By the end of 2008, Canon aims to sell 29.4 million cameras per year.
BAD DAY
Coca-Cola THE world's largest soft drinks maker yesterday agreed to pay $137.5 million (£69.9m) to settle a shareholder lawsuit, which claimed Coke artificially inflated sales to boost its stock price. The lawsuit claimed Coke had forced bottlers to buy millions of dollars of unnecessary drinks concentrate in an effort to make its sales seem higher.
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