At this time of year there is nothing better for me to begin the festive spirit than a trip down to Winchester Christmas Market. (Ed: Picture of my mum at German Christmas market) A walk around the grounds of this historic grade … Continue reading Getting into the Christmas spirit, visit a Christmas Market
It’s that time of year to gather the holiday brochures and dream of exotic destinations or you may want to book that all important business trip. As you do, just consider epidemics, extreme weather, seismic disasters, political unrest, dodgy hotels … Continue reading Are you sitting comfortably?
It was five years ago, this week when I was made redundant and instead of working for others, chose to run my own micro-business against all odds. The business name needed to be relative to what I delivered and be alphabetically … Continue reading Five years on and growing strong
When questioned at G20 about the future of international trade, part of David Cameron’s response was: “Britain is a trading nation, it’s how we made our way in the past and it’s how we’ll make our way in the future”. … Continue reading How do you fit into our “trading nation”?
For most Entrepreneurs, taking risks is a part of our business development. Sometimes those risks are unimaginable and can affect our business plans in different ways. Customer demand for my profession’s business services has historically increased during terrorist activity. Notable … Continue reading Why should it take a terrorist threat to make us consider operational risks?
Over the last few weeks I have had little time to blog. My business has been under threat of disruption due to personal circumstances. My wife and I have chosen to move our home and one should not underestimate the … Continue reading Resilience during change affects small businesses too
Don’t wait for disaster strike before you find out for certain. Many companies are built on what appears to be strong foundations, although are actually at risk of collapse should anything untoward occur. We propose a short workshop where you … Continue reading How well do you know and grow your business?
Come and join us for a short workshop to focus upon operational risks and business continuity in a growth environment. With it being Business Continuity Awareness week 2014 we thought we’d best host an event… Date: Friday 21st March 10am … Continue reading With Business Growth Comes Risk
I was speaking to a group of Thames Valley business people just a month ago at Jon Davey’s “1000 ways”. A question from the floor asked “How resilient are you?” I was confident that the business was safe from serious … Continue reading Supply chain – Finding the weakest link
With waters gradually receding the true extent of the damage becomes apparent. Our thoughts are with those so badly affected. A friend of mine is head of a national disaster cleaning and restoration business. Some of the tragic accounts I … Continue reading And so to the clean-up
Choosing the right domain to best suit your business name is always a challenge. The best approach is to choose a single word, followed by .CO.UK or .COM for an international business. This year there brings a selection of new … Continue reading Does your internet domain fit your business?
A Few years back I was asked to assist a company with identification of its risks. The company employed nearly 400 loyal workers. The Managing Director was respected by all. His Grandfather founded the company over a hundred years ago. … Continue reading Faulty equipment can really take the biscuit
Two poignant images from the last week’s storms particularly stick in my mind. That of a man on the sheer faced rocks, holding and his son and cowering against the mighty storms off of Portland Bill. A moment of bad … Continue reading Folly or force majeure, you cannot ignore it
This last week brings bizarre news from a dairy farm at Rasdorf in Germany. A cow shed housed 90 cows for milking operations when, according to Reuters, a static charge caused methane discharged from the cows to “explode with flashes … Continue reading Be prepared for the unexpected
We have recently seen several businesses seriously affected by flooding or blocked access. St Mark’s Square in Venice floods regularly. I have had the pleasure of walking across chairs to reach St Mark’s. Planks and chairs are one solution but … Continue reading When the chips are down, what will security cost you?
A design engineering student who I know well, recently posted his dilemma on Facebook. He was challenged to analyse several design schematics and report upon how best to improve documentation and reconstruct an original from the drawings. The problem was … Continue reading Sometimes one size doesn’t fit all
Just before Christmas I had the pleasure to meet a woman who makes fused glass ornaments and jewelry. She was running a stall at a craft market in Winchester. The displayed works of art were all her own and it … Continue reading Risk consideration is not just for mega-corporations
In medieval times our ancestors really knew about business. They were well aware of the loss from a failed harvest, due to extreme weather, the risks of theft or change of the King’s governance… The business involved their unique skills and … Continue reading Have we lost the plot?
In this, my first blog of 2014 I would initially like to extend sympathy to all those unfortunate enough to have suffered from flooding at home or at work. The effects of water ingress can be devastating in both environments. … Continue reading Time to push the boat out?
At this time of year we cannot help thinking about children, their innocence and great expectations. Children have a truly astounding ability to absorb and question. How many times do we hear “Why?” whenever we try to explain something? The … Continue reading Isn’t it amazing!
The long-awaited extreme weather conditions are about to hit UK with quite some gusto. We have so far been lucky in the Thames Valley and surrounding area. Weather experts say all that it is about to change. Extremely low temperatures, … Continue reading If the weather outside is frightful…
This comes from one of my all-time favourite radio and cult 1981 TV Sci-Fi programmes, “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”. Any fans will instantly recognise this reference to Marvin the Paranoid Android, who claims to be roughly thirty billion … Continue reading Have you got a brain the size of a planet?
This week’s sad business news has to be cessation of shipbuilding at Pompey, for centuries, the proud home of our Royal Navy. You can argue that BAE has favoured Govan for political reasons but this only detracts from the main … Continue reading Where’s your supply chain?
Business in Berkshire 