Caledonia Consulting

Scobie attracted some controversy because he was simultaneously (from January 2007 to January 2008) secretary of the Scottish Parliament Business Exchange (SPBE), a venture set up in the Scottish Parliament with the stated purpose of educating MSPs and business about each other.

However, the Sunday Herald can reveal that the relaunched SPBE has failed to address the key problem raised by its critics, namely its closeness to Scotland's lobbying fraternity.

Scobie, the managing director of Caledonia Consulting, is in charge of the exchange on an interim basis following the departure of Ann Mearns.

Caledonia's website offers clients a fixed fee charge for its services, such as £2000 for a "political audit".

[6] while elected as an MSP, and Mike Watson (Lord Watson of Invergowrie), a former Labour Scottish Executive cabinet minister who was imprisoned for "fire raising" after he set alight the curtains at an Edinburgh hotel during a Scottish political awards event.