Dead End For Fred the Shred

The End, screamed the headline on today's Scotsman splash by Lindsay McIntosh. It was the story of Fred "The Shred" Goodwin, the RBS boss who managed to ruin a Scottish financial heavyweight and bring about the slow death of a 280 year old institution.
The Scotsman has played a blinder in its coverage of the financial meltdown. Led by Bill Jamieson, (who also outshines his rivals on Newsnight)the paper has been a must-read for me as it picked up the gauntlet in challenging not just Goodwin and his disastrous management but the disgraceful and dishonest HBOS sell out by Westminster to Lloyds TSB.
For the last month or two The Scotsman has seemed like a real newspaper again, breaking exclusives on HBOS and giving clear insight in to the sometime impenetrable financial sector. It's been a welcome relief from the god awful diet of so-called endangered species scare stories dressed up as news.
But turning to the two page (4 and 5) spread on Goodwin's demise you have to wonder if the bottom-of-the-page banner advert is the result of good old fashioned coincidence or a cruel sense of humour on the part of The Scotsman page planners.
The advert is for another venerable Edinburgh institution. Established in 1888, William Purves, funeral directors, have been serving local communities for 120 years.
The blurb says: "We provide calmness, order and a sense of dignity - so that life, as it must, can go on with hope for the future as well as respect for the past."
If only Fred the Shred had adopted the same mantra, RBS might not be £20 billion in hock to the Government.
One final irony? William Purves, funeral directors, are located in Whitehouse Loan - a very short hearse ride from Goodwin's mansion in The Grange. Now he's on the rock 'n' roll he can pop in for some advice on how to successfully run a business when he's out for the papers.