Localism versus Parochialism - round II

Posted by Ian Brown on February 3, 2008 9:17 PM

I'm lucky that Alnwick Gardens is literally 5 minutes away. This week the CRC Commission for Rural Communities) had an event to look at how we improve democracy!!

In rural areas it is very difficult to reach a polling station and yet turnout tends to be high, so having been an elected councillor at County Council level I know how the farming and landowning community lack the 'hand on the tiller' they once had. Lets work out how honest rural people can penetrate the unfathomable world of democratic structures...especially as we enter new unitary structures in 2009.

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Could your business leak sensitive or valuable data?

Posted by Judith on February 5, 2008 3:11 PM

Waterstons' executive consultant, John Prescott talks about the recent information security blunders...

It has been widely reported that it has cost the taxpayer £2.25 million just to send a letter of apology to everyone who’s affected by the loss of two HMRC CDs containing 25 million child benefit records. The potential long term cost is yet to be confirmed especially if the data gets into the hands of organised criminals and we may not see the impact of this for years. It isn’t just limited to government agencies as we hear about banks that have lost laptops containing customer details on the hard disks, yet we still see a large percentage of businesses not setting measures to protect sensitive data from leaving an organisation into an unsecured environment. This can include: clients personal information, intellectual property documents and precious client relationship information that forms the lifeblood of any business.

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The fear factor

Posted by Andrew Mernin on February 6, 2008 9:21 AM

New England football boss Fabio Capello took charge of his first game this week and apparently he has already laid down the law to his players.

The Italian, who has a won a treasure trove of trophies on the continent, reportedly leads with an iron fist and has made it clear that he doesn't want to be best friends with any of the players.

He looks set to instill a climate of fear among his squad and has already issued players with a list of rules as long as Peter Crouch's lanky frame.

But I wonder whether the idea of motivating people through fear works in the daily grind of the business world.

Many moons ago I had a job in the hospitality sector (Ok..I was a waiter), with a head chef so fearsome he could make Fabio Capello look like Mary Poppins.

A dropped plate or mistaken order would be met with a thunderous tirade of abuse not disimilar to a certain foul-mouthed Scottish culinary celebratory.

And his unorthodox management style did seem to work among most of the kitchen staff. His regime of terror served as a major motivating factor which meant most members of staff raised their game to prove him wrong.

However, at the same time, certain people became alienated and apathy ensued as an attitude of' 'don't talk to me like that' set in.

So what do you think is the best motivator in the work place - the Capello 'fear factor' or the Kevin Keegan 'arm round the shoulder' style of management?

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Sharia compliance

Posted by Andrew Mernin on February 8, 2008 9:34 AM

It may be some time before Islamic laws become widely accepted by British society as requested by the Archbishop of Canterbury. However, Sharia law is already alive and kicking on these shores in the finance sector.

As the Muslim population of Britain grows, so too does the demand for Sharia-compliant finance packages. The basic characteristics of Islamic insurance and banking services are that you can't earn or pay interest on loans. Also, money can only be invested in worthy causes - this is similar to the western concept of socially responsible investing.

But these finance packages are not purely reserved for specialist Islamic banks. They are fast becoming a lucrative business for global banking giants.

I spent some time working in the Middle East where the major trend was that more and more Western institutions such as Axa Insurance and Barclays were turning their attention towards the rewards of Islamic finance.

There's no doubt this trend has already reached Britain and it may only be a matter of time before every bank on the high street has realised the benefit of catering for Muslim customers.

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Chicken..it's a basket case!

Posted by Ian Brown on February 8, 2008 9:45 AM

Well after all the television we have the announcement today of the Tesco £1.99 roast whole chicken minus its soul and giblets no doubt!

I have a family of six and understand the dynamics of household budget but we in the UK are putting a huge chunk of the market into an industrialised, low prices category - despite the consequences which will involve more than damaging our collective health and well being.

I am writing this blog on the first train out of London following an all day meeting yesterday with the national leads on rural for the regional development agencies and Defra.....frankly I'm concerned!

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They have Taste in the north east

Posted by Ian Brown on February 9, 2008 5:50 PM

Taste is very important to our quality of life and is tied into smell as two of the most crucial of our human senses. You may rememeber how lacking your food seemed during your last dose of flu. With valentines day and indeed 'Love Week' coming up during the next seven days then try the concept of Continue reading "They have Taste in the north east" »

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Mind The Gap

Posted by Julian christopher on February 10, 2008 11:58 PM

"The entire media sector is becoming increasingly dependent on the internet. We seem woefully ignorant of the implications of this. We need a next generation network - what I would call true broadband of 100Mb - into every home if we are to deliver on these promises. The ISPs are holding back. My radical proposal, which I accept will probably never happen, is that we need a public sector internet. Just as we build roads to carry traffic, but don't regulate what travels on them."

Thus spake veteran internet commentator Bill Thompson (www.thebillblog.com), proposing, as he says, a radical solution to the need to get people online at at least the same speed as everything on which they depend is migrating there.

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Haven't we grown?

Posted by Ross Smith on February 14, 2008 9:09 AM

I was at an event yesterday to discuss future research work by the Northern Way into policies which will help close the £30bn North-South output gap.

One of the interesting questions lingering in the background, however, is how the North East is actually managing to do this already.

Recent trends show a steady clawing back of the gap between the region and the rest of the country on a series of important indicators.

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Trade online from home with the YouTrade competition

Posted by Norma Foster on February 14, 2008 4:21 PM

The internet can provide a means for virtually anyone to start a business, and work at home with limited investment. This is exactly the idea behind ‘YouTrade. Online. At Home’.

The competition is aimed at helping people in the region make changes to their lives. Entries are encouraged from anyone over the age of 18 who are employed, and wanting to test out the potential of self-employment, and those who are not currently in employment.

It will reward 25 winners with a cash prize of up to £2,000 to set up a business from home and trade online, initially through eBay.

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Backbone At Breaking Point?

Posted by Julian christopher on February 15, 2008 5:26 PM

As a follow-on from my previous two pieces, this article from Guardian Media commentator Steve Hewlett on the impact of the BBC iPlayer's success on Britain's broadband infrastructure makes for interesting, if worrying, reading - hope, for the sake of all of us that are ever-more reliant on the Internet, that this is high up the 'to do' list of new Culture secretary Andy Burnham and the UK's internet service providers.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/feb/11/bbc.bbc

I'd e-mail them to flag it up, but I don't want to contribute to making things any shakier...

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Less red tape please

Posted by Andrew Mernin on February 18, 2008 11:11 AM

There was outcry yesterday after the Chamber of Commerce revealed the cost of new regulations to British business since Labour came to power a decade ago has risen to almost £66bn.

To me this seems a phenomenal amount of money and would suggest that the Government has failed in its drive for better regulation.

Surely, 'better regulation' should mean less burden and time-consuming red tape for businesses to deal with, not over-regulation and the introduction of more and more hoops to jump through when setting up a company.

Clearly we don't want to do business in a country where corruption reigns supreme and transparency is non-existent, but by the same token we don't want a situation where, in tough international conditions, we are held back because of rules for rules sake.

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Ideas to fruition

Posted by Ian Brown on February 18, 2008 8:47 PM

BBC countryfile celebrated the 100 years of the NFU - National Farmers Union by pointing out they had helped secure £100billion of taxpayers money without throwing the defence argument effectively. What I want to mention in this blog is that this is the moment to draw a line under the previous century of subsidies as we look forward to a more transparent, managed UK countryside where the people doing the work and those helping to pay for it understand the relationship they are in. Now what is the land for and what could we do with it?

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A port in a storm

Posted by Ross Smith on February 22, 2008 10:12 AM

It's hardly surprising that there's a lot of focus on what the future holds for Northern Rock and what the impact will be on the North East economy. It's an incredibly important business that we believe will continue to have a strong future here. But there's a danger that we start to convince ourselves and people in other regions that it is the only business in the North East and the key to our entire future.

But stand in most parts of the North East these days and throw a handful of gravel in the air and you'll probably hit half a dozen successful, growing companies. One of those is PD Teesport, which yesterday received the welcome news that its expansion has been given planning permission, paving the way for 5,500 new jobs.

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Sick or Well... but nothing in between.

Posted by Steve Wilkinson on February 25, 2008 9:00 AM

At a time when the Government are progressing their move towards GPs providing a "well note" to indicate to employers how fit their workers are to perform work, I've just visited my GP and received a "sick note" for another two weeks.

He only had two options on the current form:

1. You need not refrain from work

2. You should refrain from work

As someone who is self-employed and whose livelihood depends on work, I'm itching to get back. But my post-op recovery is not quite complete, so my activity is on hold for another fortnight.

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Power to the people

Posted by Andrew Mernin on February 25, 2008 11:31 AM

Good news for anyone thinking of taking on the might of the high street banks. Apparently the winds of change are in our favour.

Over the last couple of years websites like moneysavingexpert.com have helped thousands of out-of-pocket customers win back bank charges on the grounds that they were disproportionately high. In fact the customer revolution even spurned a pop song with the catchy lyric "I fought the Lloyds and the Lloyds lost".

However the brakes were soon put on the money-back bandwagon once the Government froze all claims until a test case was examined.

The case is still pending but my sources (the bloke who tried to sell me an 'upgraded' but strangely more expensive account at my local branch last week) can reveal that the mood among the bankers is that they are almost certain the test case will decree that the punters deserve their charges back. Roll on the revolution.

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A Mars a day...

Posted by Andrew Mernin on February 28, 2008 11:13 AM

After 13 years, the slogan 'A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play' is making a comeback. But surely under the Trade Descriptions Act, a product which contains caffeine and is loaded with sugar, helps you do anything but rest.

Anyway, this got me thinking of other advertising slogans which don't match the products they are trying to sell.

In my personal experience, HSBC's "It doesn't matter where you are but who you are" takes the biscuit. Try accessing your HSBC account at your 'local' HSBC branch in Dubai and you'll see what I mean.

I prefer more honest slogans, like a poster I once saw at an airport: "Visit New Zealand - it's better than Australia."

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The nutty professor

Posted by Andrew Mernin on February 28, 2008 1:31 PM

Are you a budding Edison or Einstein with an idea that will change the world? Good news. One of Britain's most brilliant inventors is coming your way.

Yesterday I met Trevor Baylis, inventor of the clockwork radio, over a plate of mince and dumplings at a science and technology conference.

And the man who told me "inventors are not anoraks or lunatics" wants to bring his empire to the North East.

He runs a company dedicated to helping inventors bring their brainchilds to market and is hoping to unearth the next big thing on our patch.

A video of Trevor at yesterday's event is available by clicking on the link below:

http://www.nebusiness.co.uk/interactive-business/videos-and-pictures/

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