Fiona Duff: Young get ahead while I faff about

It is said that you know when you are getting old when the policemen appear so young. And don't they just, but I suppose it's good to have them of an age when they are able to sprint after some criminal who has just stolen an old lady's handbag.

Patrick Fletcher and Ian Stirling are opening a distillery in Leith. Picture: Paul Brock

Anyway, to the list of ‘things that make you realise that you are a bit of a codger’, I have to add people who you knew years ago who are doing amazing business deals now.

A few months ago a chap called Ian Stirling called me. When he was a student he did some work for me during the Edinburgh Fringe and I hadn’t seen him since.

We met for coffee and he informed me that he and an old school chum were going to build a brand spanking new distillery in Leith.

“But you’ve only just left university,” was my response.

Well, it seems that I have mislaid a few years. He’s now married, got children and, until recently, had a rather fine job with some wine importers.

He and his chum Patrick Fletcher, pictured left, persuaded Ocean Terminal to lease them some land, then proceeded to persuade some other people who have got a few bob in the bank to invest in their scheme.

The building will be state-of-the-art and will no doubt have tourists and the good folk of Edinburgh queueing round the block to tour the distillery and learn how the amber nectar is actually created.

After he told me his plan, he enquired as to what I had been up to since we last met.

Well, the main answer to that was pretty much hee haw. I’ve faffed about, met friends for coffee and occasionally done a bit of light dusting.

The only significant change in my life is acquiring a dog, so I am probably a bit fitter than a decade ago.

However, there is always a bright side to every story. What with him being a thrusting young entrepreneur he paid for the coffee.