Lunch and dinner in Edinburgh

Today in Edinburgh, the last of our current series of team training days on low-cost recession marketing.

Last night, with Rachel and Beth, we walked from Haymarket to Holyrood and back (a total of 8km) to take in the Christmas lights and markets and called at the city's oldest pub (1516) in Old Town - The White Hart.

That pub visit started as a cheeky Guinness and ended as haggis pie with neeps and tatties.

A lovely relaxed evening after a much more sophisticated lunch with Paul Graham, Head of Dental UK for Christies, at The Spence (owned by Gleneagles) on St. Andrew Square.

The Scottish capital at it's very best.

My conversation with Paul was enlightening and persuasive insofar as the acquisitions opportunities that exist during the current economic cycle for smaller independents who want to create micro-corporates.

By smaller I mean certainly less that 50, probably less than 25 locations.

Even those who may aspire to 3-5 locations could find themselves at a competitive advantage in the coming months.

I'll be discussing that conversation, and how it is affecting my thinking, with my Owners in Scotland and Ireland tomorrow and with my full client base next Tuesday, when we meet for our weekly Zoom call.

Paul persuaded me over lunch that the M&A market for small, independently-owned dental practices could be a place of great interest over the next year.

I fully intend to keep me clients at the front of that curve.

I love Edinburgh - it is a city that always finds a way to lift my spirits, both personally and professionally.