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 »
Katie Pringle has started her own business, Rock, Paper, Scissors »
Andrew Mernin is the Digital Journalist for nebusiness »
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 »
Julian Christopher from Footprint Public Relations, on media and marketing »
Norma Foster from the North East Regional Portal writes about e-business »
Ian Brown, Northumberland farmer and businessman writes about the agricultural industry »
Accessibilty Champion Steve Wilkinson on the importance of inclusion »
Jonathan Wheatley from Stokesley-based MC Ware writes about IT matters »
Mark Lisgo is a Northeasterner who works for law firm Eversheds in Abu Dhabi, UAE »
Adam Lopardo is director of the Sponsors Club for Arts & Business, bringing business and art together »
Curator Danielle Pender shares the peaks and pitfalls of working with 21 designers on a month-long exhibition »
Paul Williamson is from Deloitte »July 2008 Archives
Sharing an International Interest
Posted by Andrea Wilkinson on July 1, 2008 3:57 PM
Guten Morgen (German), Buenos días (Spanish), Muraho (Kinyarwanda), Habari za asubuhi (Swahili)
There is a real buzz in the office today ahead of tomorrow’s Queens Award Ceremony (more on that later.) This is due to our overseas regional staff having arrived - Rachel from Kenya and Hugo from Costa Rica, and a producer customer of ours from Mauritius, Gabriel (Craft Aid Mauritius) which adds even more of an international flavour to the cultural mix we already have in the Shared Interest office with staff members from Germany, Ecuador and Venezuela.
I took the opportunity to chat to Rachel about the importance of involving the people we work with in every stage of our project. It turned into quite a lively discussion about the importance of involving beneficiaries in every part of our overseas work.
We aim to work closely with those people who will directly benefit from Shared Interest Foundation and its investment arm the Shared Interest Society (usually the farmers and the handicraft makers.)
At the beginning of each Foundation project, we start with a stakeholder meeting as local communities and businesses often have a clearer idea of the solution to their problems and are aware of any obstacles that need to be overcome before getting started.
For example, through the Shared Interest Rwanda project, we plan to run training in 10 districts throughout the country. However, before we can even set foot into many of these areas we need to seek approval first from the District Officers. We may not have known this unless we had the inside knowledge achieved from working so closely with people on the ground.
Rachel and I both agree that working closely with fair trade businesses in their own communities helps us to understand these types of issues including funding needs, as well as being able to evaluate the effectiveness of projects, plan for the long term future and target the most needy.
Although we talk quite often on Skype, it is great to talk to staff from our regional offices face to face like this and draw on their everyday experiences in Costa Rica and Kenya, which in some ways are very similar but in others very different to our own here in Newcastle.
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This is not just any economic downturn...
Posted by Andrew Hebden on July 2, 2008 10:55 AM
Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse... Marks & Spencer this morning added to the woes of the Stock Market by delivering a profit warning.
The high street retailer's unexpected announcement only reaffirms that the current economic situation is dire to say the least - and things aren't going to get much better any time soon. As executive chairman Sir Stuart Rose put it: "This is more of a two-year problem than a two-month one".
Continue reading "This is not just any economic downturn..." »
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Monet and the bank manager
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Posted by Matthew Rippon on July 3, 2008 11:18 AM
What has a water lily in common with your bank manager? More than at first might appear.
Last week, Le Bassin aux Nymphéas, a canvas from Monet’s water lilies series sold in London at auction for almost £41m (including taxes and commission). This was twice the previous record at auction for Monet, itself set only in May.
While the rest of the economy struggles under the weight of the credit crunch, the fine art market is powering away.The prices reached at auction for the key names are surprising everyone in the industry. Alongside the Monet last week, a bronze by Henry Moore sold for £4.3m and an early Degas pastel made £13.5m.
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A Royal Celebration
Posted by Andrea Wilkinson on July 3, 2008 11:31 AM
Yesterday was an exciting day in the history of Shared Interest as we officially accepted our Queen’s Award for Enterprise.
The only winner for Sustainable Development in the North East, and out of 800 businesses that applied nationally, Shared Interest came out tops for its dedication to sustainability over the last five years.
In the afternoon all of our UK staff - plus Hugo and Rachel from Costa Rica and Kenya – as well as supporters and partners of the organisation, headed up to the Assembly Rooms to meet the Lord Lieutenant for the ceremony.
Following on from this, Shared Interest MD, Patricia Alexander and our longest serving member of staff Ann Colquhoun have both been invited down to Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen!
Although we all know that our work has vital impact in the developing world, it is a real honour to get the Queen’s stamp of approval.
After the official ceremony, staff celebrations continued into the evening to mark this very special event - on her Majesty's orders of course!
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ScS saved - but Journal's North 40 is shrinking!
Posted by Andrew Hebden on July 3, 2008 3:29 PM
It is great news that a deal has been thrashed out today to secure the immediate future of Sunderland sofa retailer ScS.
The deal - full details of which you can read in Friday's nebusiness section of The Journal - will see investment group Sun European Partners acquire the retail business for an undisclosed sum. It should hopefully secure the futures of most of the company's 1,300-strong workforce.
Continue reading "ScS saved - but Journal's North 40 is shrinking!" »
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