By JANE HAMILTONLENNY LOVE, the popular
Humanist Celebrant, has died in
Edinburgh aged 74.
Born in Edinburgh in 1949,
Lenny had a long career in and
around the music industry.
He started DJing parties in
the 1960s before joining Island
Records initially as a
merchandiser, and then as an
A&R man.
Inspired by punk, he started
indie label Sensible Records in
1977 to give art school rockers,
The Rezillos, their first shot at
stardom, before going on to
work for Bruce Findlay as Tour
Manager for Simple Minds.
Lenny spent ten years
working in radio stations in
Melbourne Australia, before
returning to Edinburgh, where
as Dino Martini, he became part
of the team at the VegasNightclub. He also worked as a
presenter and producer at Radio
Forth, where he won a
prestigious Sony Radio Award.
It was only eight years ago,
after a conversation with an old
friend, Tim Maguire of Celebrate
People, that Lenny trained as a
celebrant and discovered his
vocation.
Tim said: “With that voice and
that name, I knew Lenny would
be popular, and he was. But far
more importantly, it gave him a
whole sense of new purpose. He
told me – and everyone else he
knew - that becoming a
Humanist Celebrant was the
best and most rewarding thing
he’d ever done in his life.”
Lenny died (almost) with his
boots on. Last August after
conducting a wedding at the
Balmoral, he had a blackout and
collapsed. He was taken to the
Royal infirmary of Edinburghwhere he spent three months
and was later transferred to the
Royal Victoria Ward of the
Western General Hospital,
eventually choosing to die in
the care of the nurses of St
Columba’s Hospice at his home
in Stockbridge.
Bruce Findlay said: “Lenny has
been a good friend of mine for
over 50 years. Our record shop
days when he brought people
like Tom Petty and Ian Dury into
my shop in Rose Street or his
involvement with me when I
managed Simple Minds and
Lenny worked as a quite
amazing tour manager for the
band for several tours. Lenny
was an amazing character -
eccentric and funny, but most
of all a lovely human being.”
Alan Forbes said:
“Lenny brought his
positivity and
buoyancy to the mixas our first manager in the early
days of the Rezillos as a young
new band. His profile in the
music circles helped in
spreading the word, and
ultimately connecting us with
Sire Records which propelled
the band to further successes.”Obituary - Lenny Love 1949-
8
Bross won’t skedaddle!
Porty parking
ban benefits
By KIRSTY LEWIN OF SPOKES PORTYAT THE END OF JANUARY, Edinburgh
became the first local authority to
enforce the pavement parking ban in
Scotland. The results in Portobello seem
like a miracle. I have never seen clear
pavements in Regent Street and
Marlborough Street in all the years that
I’ve lived here. These pretty streets now
feel calm, spacious, and welcoming. But
more importantly, they are accessible for
the many disabled people who couldn’t
previously use them, and for people
pushing children in buggies.
Immediately after the enforcement
began, most people did move their
vehicles off the pavements on these
streets onto the road. However, some
people did so in way that obstructed the
streets. At the local community council
meeting shortly after enforcement
started there were mixed views on what
the solution should be. Some people
wanted double yellow lines, some
wanted exemptions from enforcement,
and some called for the Council to
provide convenient alternative parking
elsewhere. Within a week or so, the
Council acted by using temporary traffic
regulations to put double yellow lines in
the two streets and compliance with the
pavement parking ban now appears
high.
Many of us had been campaigning for
this ban for over a decade. After I was run
over by a lorry driver on my way to work,
I used a wheelchair for a while, and then
crutches. I was frustrated and
disappointed not to be able to use the
most direct route to the doctor’s surgery
for regular appointments because the
pavements were completely blocked by
cars. Drivers also left their cars across
dropped kerbs, also now banned, which
meant I had to be bumped up and down
the kerbs by friends pushing my
wheelchair.
Loss of accessibility is not the only
issue caused by pavement parking.
Vehicles on pavements damage the
surface paving. This causes trip hazards,
and, in the worse cases, results in people
being hospitalised with broken bones.Hundreds of failed companies leave debts behind says business adviser
NEWS
By STEPHEN RAFFERTYFORMER BROSS BAGELS owners Larah
Bross will “learn by failure” according to a
business advisor who is helping her to pivot her
new business to a bakery aimed at the wholesale
and catering sectors.
Belinda Matthews claimed Ms Bross, who put
the beleaguered sandwich chain into liquidation
last August with debts of close to £1 million,
“got over her skis” and took too much on with
the opening of several stores including a prime
unit in the St James Quarter.
Ms Matthews, who claims to be a shareholder
in new business Hot Mama Bagels Ltd, said:
“She (Larah) has so much entrepreneurial spirit
and mindset that I don’t think the liquidation is
going to make her crash and burn forever.”
The business advisor played down Ms Bross’s
track record in running the previous firm,
which folded leaving HM Revenue & Customs
out of pocket by more than £630,000, and an
estimated £265,000 due to unsecured creditors,
mainly suppliers.
She told The Edinburgh Reporter: “Doesn’t
every place that goes under leave debts like that?
There are hundreds of companies in Edinburgh
just like that, there are so many in the
hospitality and restaurant areas going under.
“She got over her skis with five stores and St
James and all of that, there is no question about
it, but entrepreneurs learn by failure sometimes
and they come back hopefully better. I’m not
going to promise that she’s going to be amazing
but we need to give people the opportunity to
succeed.”An interim liquidators’ report last September
found that around £150,000 was due to
“Shareholers” - individuals who had donated up
to £1,000 each in two rounds of crowdfunding
which was supposed to help grow the business.
The investment, termed an “unsecured
obligation of the Company”, was due to be
repaid in full after four years.
The report revealed that Ms Bross’s Hot Mama
Bagels Ltd had acquired the assets and intellectual
property of Bross Bagels for just £18,000.
Ms Matthews claimed that Larah Bross was
committed to repaying “Shareholers”, adding:
“She did bring over 40 grand of debt for the
shareholders to the new business, it’s not like
she just dumped and run. She’s taken on thedebt to potentially repay, instead of just walking
around and giving the finger.”
However, one crowdfunder was unimpressed,
telling The Edinburgh Reporter: “I don’t expect
to see the return of my investment. I certainly
learned through failing - not to give her £1000.”
The former Bross Bagels unit in Portobello
High Street has now been rebranded “Hot
Bagels”, reflecting a change in the business
model to a “bakery that also sells bagel
sandwiches” but the one remaining shop in
Bruntsfield continues to trade under the
original brand.
Belinda said: “She is managing costs to
grow back a business, but not the same business
as before.”Hot Bagels rebrand in
PortobelloAfter the ban