Three things Brexit has softened us up for
This Friday, 31st January, the UK will leave the European Union at 11pm and enter transition. 11pm? The government can’t even negotiate the time they want to leave. So what will happen next? Many commentators are saying; ‘not much really’, ‘things will carry on as usual’, but they are wrong, very wrong. What Boris Johnson […]
Home away from home
One of the benefits of being a member of the European Union, among all the boring financial and logistical perks, is the fact that European citizens can travel, live and work freely inside its borders. Well, it seems that some took this too seriously and decided to abandon the ship and sail towards other destinations. […]
Business is changing for ever
All companies have a vested interest in being seen to do good. They also work within the framework of society and that framework is shifting. In order to find their space, they need to show a flexibility few have previously demonstrated. If we call this framework capitalism, and what supports it consumerism, then the framework’s […]
Closer to Armaggedon than ever
In their annual, grim unveiling, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists have announced that their ‘Doomsday Clock’ has moved forward to 100 seconds to midnight. This is the closest the scientists have judged the world to catastrophe since its inception, in 1947. Mary Robinson, chair of the The Elders and former president of Ireland, said: […]
Phut, phut, and it’s gone…
Making cars is becoming an embarrassment, but it is an integral part of the UK economy. In 1998, I was asked to do a presentation on the future of the automotive industry. I wish still had it, as it is always fun to look back at your predictions. But what I do remember is that […]
2020 management goals
Are you a manager? Are you a good manager, or are you just failing upwards like most people? If, for example, you are a top sales person and your company promotes you to a management role, they are, on the one hand, losing your expertise and, on the other, chucking you into untested waters as […]
Top of the class
In January, the world dumps a huge amount of plastic waste. In the UK, we get rid of an extra 30%, around three million tonnes. The majority goes to landfill. You may not know, but little Lithuania comes out as the best in class when it comes to recycling. It recycles at record levels; almost […]
When you’re in love with your tech
Marriage is a bit like technology. Oh yes it is. Some people are early adopters. They get married and have two children before you’ve passed your driving test. They’ll probably be on their fourth marriage by the time you hit 50. Other people refused to buy a mobile phone for at least a decade after […]
Employment in Europe: a snapshot
In 2010, unemployment, which was on the rise, due to the 2007/8 global financial crisis, started to soar. This was in part, because of the euro-zone sovereign debt crisis. By 2013, over 25% of the workforces of Greece and Spain were out of work, and 50% of young people. The situation improved and unemployment in […]
This can be the year when we recharge nature – and ourselves
We have just published a series of articles on green issues, looking at business, sport and the generation gap. In the final post of this series we have an article by the well-known environmental campaigner and journalist, George Monbiot. It is, obviously, not the end of the topic asf far as we are concerned, for […]
