Jonny Harrison is sailing to Australia from the UK via the Panama Canal before he starts work in Sydney on a secondment at his firm PricewaterhouseCoopers »
Andrew Hebden is Assistant Editor (Business) of The Journal »
Matthew Rippon is an IP lawyer for BHP Law »
Formerly editor of a national business lifestyle magazine, Jez Davison is a business writer for the Evening Gazette in Teesside »
Ross Smith, Head of Policy and Research at the North-East Chamber of Commerce »
Norma Foster from the North East Regional Portal writes about e-business »
Andrea Wilkinson of Shared Interest is visiting Rwanda to deliver business training »
Jonathan Wheatley from Stokesley-based MC Ware writes about IT matters »March 2008 Archives
International Wheelchair Day
Posted by Steve Wilkinson on March 1, 2008 11:00 AM
You’re probably aware that today, 1st March, is St David’s Day. But did you know that it is also International Wheelchair Day?
Well, it isn’t officially. I’ve just decided to hold International Wheelchair Day on 1st March as there doesn’t appear to be such a thing.
I don’t suppose it will be marked much this year, but in my capacity as Managing Director of my not-for-profit business, The WheelchairSteve Organisation (www.wheelchairsteve.com), by this time next year, if I can get more people involved, then there may be a lot more to celebrate.
For this year, I would like you to consider what a wheelchair is and how it impacts on your life, particularly if you are in business.
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fi.fie.fo.fum
Posted by Ian Brown on March 1, 2008 10:53 PM
The innovators deserve the rewards. I was at the launch of the Society of Wildlife artists at the unusually named fi.fie.fo.fum in the Tyne Valley in Northumberland. These artists rarely display outside of London and the region is lucky to have this display on until 30th March. The wider point from the night is about innovation in farming....why are some farming families better at it?
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Technology priorities in construction
Posted by Judith on March 3, 2008 10:26 AM
Waterstons' Executive Consultant Alistair McLeod talks about how construction companies can use technology to drive change or gain a competitive advantage...
Traditionally the construction industry has had an indifferent approach to IT and while investment has risen in recent years, it is still low compared to the worldwide average. However, raising the budget is not the only answer and construction organisations need to place IT at the centre of the business strategy, enabling them to use technology more effectively to drive through improvements. IT Managers should have more involvement in defining and prioritising business strategy so they can bridge the gap between business requirements and technology. It is crucial that the IT investment is relevant and embodies the principles of both a strategically enabled and commodity-focused IT strategy.
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Awards season
Posted by Andrew Mernin on March 4, 2008 10:10 AM
It may not have been as incident-filled as the Brit Awards - with Sharon Osborne berating a far-from-sober Vic Reeves and Amy Winehouse making her comeback from rehab - but last week's North East business awards were certainly entertaining.
Ok, so host Wendy Gibson may not have caused as much controversy as Ozzie's missus but her slick presenting skills coupled with hilarious gags from funnyman Nick Davies made for a cracking night all round.
One observation made by the Mancunian comic was how divided the North East is geographically. "The Tyne is hardly the Orinocco" he said to express his confusion at why Newcastle and Gateshead are separate cities.
He also brought up the true story of the Geordie granny who woke up with a Jamaican accent - remember her?
But away from the stage, down among the sea of tuxedos and black dresses, one thing that struck me was the sheer diversity of businesses on show - and this was just the Tyneside and Northumberland heat of the awards.
Alongside international industrial giants like Wellstream, there were drug discovery companies, a firm which makes hi-tech sensors and various nanotechnology groups.
We've certainly come a long way since the demise of our great industries under the Iron Lady's reign.
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Talking with the tax man
Posted by Katie Pringle on March 4, 2008 9:24 PM
Well actually she was a lady tax man but that didn't make her any less scary when she rang last week to 'question' our partnership tax return.
'There's no way this one will go through as it is' she states in cool business like tones.
'Oh really' I say, feeling the prickling of sweat on my upper lip. 'Why not?' I ask, knowing I'm going to need to write down the answer and the chances of there being a pen that works within reach of the phone looking as slim as me getting through this conversation without looking like I haven't got a clue.
'Because the figures in 3.24 and 3.25 should give you the figure in 3.26'.
'...yes' I answer, not having the foggiest clue what 3.2whatsits is and feeling too much of an inept pretender to ask for clarification. (I'm stood in my pajamas at this point and even though I know she can't see me, I feel like my just having got up is becoming clearer to her with every word that comes out of my mouth - and she does not approve. 'Tut tut' I hear her thinking, 'still in bed at 9.05 on a work day, no wonder the accounts aren't in order'.)
She continues '..and they don't.'
'They don't?'
'They don't.'
'Oh.' Balls.
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One lump or two?
Posted by Andrew Mernin on March 6, 2008 1:06 PM
According to a radio phone-in I heard this morning, detectives make the best cup of tea. Apparently finding the perfect blend between tea, milk and sugar is a vital tool in coaxing a suspect into a confession and tea-making goes alongside clue-spotting as one of the key skills of the real life Dalziels (and Pascoes). But in other professions perhaps the importance of a hot milky brew is often overlooked. Take the example from Teesside we reported on this morning.
Up to 300 construction workers walked off site at Sabic after an alleged row over tea-making.
Staff downed tools after freezing conditions meant there was no water to boil a kettle. Perhaps this a lesson to bosses everywhere - never underestimate what a cuppa, or the lack of one, can do for staff morale.
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MPC hamstrung by inflation fears
Posted by Paul Williamson on March 6, 2008 2:21 PM
Roger Bootle’s response to March’s MPC meeting
Today’s decision by the Monetary Policy Committee to leave interest rates on hold at 5.25% shows how the Committee’s inflation fears are limiting its ability to respond to the economic slowdown. While interest rates will be cut further, the slow pace at which they are falling will make the economic downturn that much sharper and that much longer. The result will eventually be even lower rates than otherwise. 4% is not a silly figure.
It has become clearer that the economy needs a further dose of policy medicine. With the Nationwide recording the fourth fall in house prices in as many months in February, the news on the housing market has worsened. And with many lenders now refusing to provide mortgages to borrowers without a deposit of 10%, further falls in house prices are on the cards.
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No rhyme, no reason?
Posted by Ian Brown on March 6, 2008 8:27 PM
Dear Defra
I've had to write you a letter because like 15% of farmers in the region you have not sent the payment that is due to us! Now before you hide behind the "we don't have to pay you before the 30th June" may I remind you it was the 8th of August last year....no interest yet!
You know the crazy thing about grant funding on farms - or indeed anything else - it is the risk of distortion of the market and the forces of capitalism taking advantage and not paying a fair price at the farmgate!
So what is the answer.....my wife has written Defra a poem, the friendly man at RPA asked if it was a nice poem....I looked at my metaphoric wellies and said I thought not!
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ASDA to impose fines for Blue Badge parking abuse
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Posted by Steve Wilkinson on March 10, 2008 6:00 AM
I’m cautiously optimistic that Monday March 10th will be a very significant day for disabled motorists. After a successful trial at their supermarkets in Liverpool, ASDA are starting to roll out a programme nationally where they will fine drivers £60 for parking in disabled bays without a blue badge and also if they misuse parent and child bays.
This is great news for campaigners, primarily from the Mobilise organisation, who have been supported by the British Polio Fellowship and Disability Now magazine in their Baywatch campaign, which has monitored parking bay abuse in supermarkets. Sadly for many years, they have identified that as many as 1 in 5 bays are regularly occupied by non-badge holders.
I’ve heard the excuses myself; “I’ll only be two minutes”, they say, while others don’t care less and are likely to give you verbal abuse.
I really hope this initiative works and that ASDA both keep the pressure on and also benefit commercially from their efforts, as this will then encourage the likes of Tesco, Sainsburys and Morrisons to follow suit.
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This is jam hot
Posted by Katie Pringle on March 10, 2008 7:33 PM
If there was a job interview for starting your own business, effective self promotion would be high on the list of 'essential' criteria.
You are a one man band and as such you have to get out there and bang your own drum.
Your best intrument is yourself (stick with me here), you know the most about your products, you believe in your business the most (well you should do or you're off to a bit of a non starter) and you've got to get out there and get other people, your potential customers, to believe in your products aswell.
There is no budget for marketing or PR. Let's face it guys, there isn't even a budget. What you can do you have to do for free, and sometimes the success of your business will live and die on how good you are at self-promotion. You can have the best idea, the best products, the best of everything but if you can't get out there and tell people about it then you haven't got the best business. In fact I'd be suprised if you've got a business at all.
Now I don't tell you this as someone who excels at self-promotion. Far from it, in fact when this lecture is being delivered I'm probably somewhere at the back of the class, middling through and finding every opportunity to self-promote a tortuous task to be endured rather than embraced. I'm way too British about it. The mistake I make is feeling like I am trying to sell myself instead of the product. And we all know British people are the very model of modesty. C minus - must try harder.
BUT, I do know how very very important it is. And I also recognise it in other people with envious eyes. They make it look so easy.
Tips for self-promotion?
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Well-baked success
Posted by Andrew Mernin on March 12, 2008 9:21 AM
Last year, as one Geordie institution spiralled into crisis, another rose from the ashes to report record-breaking profits.
As vultures from the nation's press descended on the North East to pick over the bones of the Northern Rock crisis, snack giant Greggs was continuing its rapid recovery from a poor 2006, and yesterday the baker delivered a 27.1% increase in profits for 2007.
Last year I was lucky enough to go on a guided tour of the Greggs factory in Gosforth, which for a steak bake-addict like me was exciting to say the least.
Ok, so it wasn't exactly a savoury snack version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory inhabited by little orange men and sausage roll trees, but it certainly was an eye-opener.
One thing that quickly became apparent from our guide was that the factory had changed very little over the years and the baking process remained similar to how it has always been. Stotties are still made the same way they have been for generations and cakes are still iced by hand.
But one thing that worries a pasty lover like me is for how long Greggs' well-baked success story can continue.
As the Government strives to nanny us into a healthy state by tackling obesity, alcohol problems and smoking-related diseases, how long before cakes and pasties are on the hit list?
Prices are already set to rise because of the growing cost of ingredients but within a few years, we could see pasties and cakes follow fuel and alcohol as goods that are taxed because they are bad for us or our environment.
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The Emotions of Being Disabled in South Shields
Posted by Steve Wilkinson on March 12, 2008 11:10 AM
I like South Shields! It has a beautiful beach and long level promenade and pier, which for a wheelchair user like me is ideal. Much of the town is fairly flat too, as you move from the seafront towards the town centre. For other less mobile visitors, there is an excellent ShopMobility service, where you can hire scooters and much more besides.
Yesterday, I went for a “saunter” to South Shields and I was emotionally disturbed by my visit!
I travelled by Metro and set off along Ocean Road, which earns its fame from its numerous restaurants.
One of the things that emotionally affects disabled people, and not necessarily just wheelchair users, is “can you access a building”?
If it’s a restaurant and you may be staying there for couple of hours, “does it have suitably accessible toilet facilities?”
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Views to and from Lindisfarne
Posted by Ian Brown on March 12, 2008 10:40 PM
The Barn at Beal is open for business and I am impressed.....it has a view of Lindisfarne or if you prefer Holy Island that takes your breath away.
The second event I went to was last Sunday at St Mary's Church in Morpeth where the New Archdeacon of Lindisfarne was 'collated', licensed or if you prefer inaugurated.
The common theme is that the special landscape and visionary leaders can create one of the most special environments anywhere in the UK....and it is on our doorstep!!!!
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Communications in a global village
Posted by Judith on March 14, 2008 12:22 PM
Waterstons' managing director, Mike Waterston comments on the changing world of communications:
My varied experience in business over the past 30 years has seen a major transformation in people’s ability to communicate, share ideas and learn from each other.
In the early eighties I was the technical manager of a large chemical enterprise with manufacturing sites in eight countries. We ran a very successful coordinated manufacturing development programme which in those days, before the cheap PC and email, required many telephone calls and a lot of travel to meetings where participants could compare and share ideas. Work duplication was rife and the process of shared learning was difficult and inefficient. The result was slow if steady progress and the overall exercise was relatively costly to run. I often reflect on how different things would have been if the same exercise had been carried out today with the current green agenda and with access to modern communications tools.
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Sporting Victories instead of Sporting Venues
Posted by Steve Wilkinson on March 17, 2008 5:34 PM
Charitable fund raising activity has been high on the public agenda this weekend, as thousands of people have been raising money for Sports Relief. Having seen some of the videos, it is clearly a deserving cause.
However, events like this draw attention to the plight of many UK charities that are closing due to lack of grant funding. A lot of this is blamed on funds being directed towards the Olympic Games in 2012. If this is so, then things are surely going to get worse in the years ahead.
I was delighted to hear Sir Michael Parkinson suggest that the £12 billion pounds that the Government is spending on the Games would be better spent providing sporting facilities and coaching for the youth of today instead. He was being interviewed by Jonathon Ross in the Sports Relief show last Friday.
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Between Ourselves
Posted by Julian christopher on March 18, 2008 10:42 PM
The truly global nature of the modern media has been on clear display this month, with comments made to a Scottish journalist leading to the resignation of a high-profile figure in the race to be the Democratic candidate in this year’s US Presidential elections.
In an interview with The Scotsman newspaper http://www.scotsman.com/latestnews/Obama-aide-quits-after-making.3857275.jp, Samantha Power, a senior aide to Barak Obama, called Hilary Clinton “a monster” – and then swiftly attempted to pull back by saying “that was off the record”
The journalist, Gerri Peev, quite understandably didn’t agree that it was, having not previously agreed that anything in the interview was off limits, and published the comment as part of his article – and within a few political heartbeats, Ms Power was on her way, resigning with an apology to both her boss and his opponent.
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