The new T-Pylons
With the loss of one of the world’s greatest inventors (Apple’s Founder, Steve Jobs) innovation has been a topic of much debate recently. Lots of people have been pontificating about the increased pace of change and need for continual development so that things work better, faster, harder.
Sometimes, though, innovation takes time. (more…)
Blackberry is under pressure from all angles
BlackBerry users now find themselves facing a 3rd consecutive day of service disruption.
As a result, RIM, BlackBerry’s maker, whose recent financial results have disappointed investors (we blogged about it here ) is now under further pressure as it faces the prospect of losing subscribers who are disgruntled due to service quality. (more…)
Wales take on Bulgaria in their final Euro 2012 qualifier tonight, but it seems that they’ll be playing in front of rows of empty seats.
According to BBC Radio Five Live this morning, a grand total of 11 tickets have been sold for tonight’s match. Yes, 11 tickets… This is astonishingly bad, even for a match where both teams have nothing to play for.
Despite the fact that neither team can qualify for the main tournament, that doesn’t mean the game has no appeal at all and the organisers should still have been able to sell the match to spectators. (more…)
As a business owner, I bet you get several calls a week from companies promising to upgrade your office technology with revolutionary new systems that will transform the way you work.
But when you take the plunge and install this technology, you find that these claims were overhyped, or certainly premature, as the technology fails to work as well as you were expecting, or deliver the benefits that justified the investment.
Phone systems are a classic example of this. With the advent of the Internet and mobile communications, many people have forecast the demise of the office phone as it becomes superseded by newer, more advanced technology. (more…)
In his Party Conference speech yesterday The Prime Minister said that you can’t get out of debt by spending more money.
Of course, I’m paraphrasing, because a) party conference speeches are long and boring and b) in business, you are already well aware of this and that’s why in times of recession businesses seek to reduce costs wherever possible.
In many cases, the marketing budget is often the first casualty, but this has a negative influence on sales and profitability. So although there is some sense in what David Cameron said, we believe you have to cut the right costs and spend your remaining money in the most effective ways. (more…)
Steve Jobs
It was with great sadness that I heard the news this morning reporting Steve Jobs’ passing.
Regardless of whether you are an Apple devotee or not, it is undeniable that Steve Jobs’ vision, creativity and innovation has had a dramatic impact on our personal and business lives. His inventions were always way ahead of the world’s technology companies and each one has spawned countless imitations .
There will be a lot written about Steve Jobs in the wake of his death but the definitive tribute and therefore the last word in this blog should come from Apple.
So, there’s a new iPhone, but it’s not the one the world was expecting. In fact the iPhone 4S is really just a slightly enhanced version of the existing model. It has the same look and feel as the existing iPhone 4, which was launched 15 months ago, but boasts an improved camera, longer battery life and some new voice recognition capabilities.
There has been widespread disappointment following the launch with avid Apple fans feeling underwhelmed. Shares in Apple fell by almost 5% within minutes of the eagerly anticipated launch, with analysts saying that investors and Apple fans had expected the latest version to be a more radical. (more…)
I have to confess that I didn’t really want to write this blog, because I fear that I am now contributing to the self-fulfilling prophecy that says we are talking ourselves back into recession again… (more…)
With the party conference season in full swing, the news has been full of conflicting views about how to get the UK’s faltering economy back on track.
As a business owner you know the pain of the times we are living in, so you may be pleased to hear that one organisation has decided to tell the Government exactly what it should do to boost the UK’s business prospects.
The Institute of Directors’ Route Back to Growth report outlines 15 proposals which it says “could make the UK one of the most competitive advanced economies in the world by 2020-25″.
The proposals include a second round of quantitative easing (whereby the Bank of England injects new money into the financial system to try to boost banks’ lending, and in turn the wider economy) and also cutting the top rate of income tax from 50% to 40%.
“I think there is a despair around Britain as a whole, and around British business, about the way the economy is trending,” new IoD director general, Simon Walker told the BBC.
Driving growth was urgent, he said, and although the government was on the right track, it ought to be going “faster and further”.
The IoD’s other proposals are:
The IoD wants the Bank of England to spend an initial extra £50bn on quantitative easing (QE).
Minutes of the Bank’s last Monetary Policy Committee meeting indicated that the Bank is looking at the possibility of more QE.
The full version of the IoD’s Route Back to Growth Plan can be read here
What do you think of the IoD’s plans? Would they make make a difference to your business?
Not quite equal, but agency workers will have similar rights to permanent staff from 1st October
A couple of days ago we blogged about how red tape for businesses can sometimes be a good thing. But today’s post highlights new rules which are unlikely to be received warmly by UK SMEs.
From tomorrow, agency workers will have additional rights in pay and benefits which are similar to full-time staff once they have completed 12 weeks of service doing comparable work. This means you’ll have to pay agency staff overtime, shift allowances, holiday pay and bonuses not attributable to individual performance, as well as maternity rights after 12 weeks’ service.
Business groups have suggested the changes could cost firms up to £2bn a year. (more…)
