Archive
End of the ‘pre-pack’?
Reported right across the media is the possible death of the pre pack administration which has of course, proved to be very controversial
There is little doubt in my mind that the process has been abused and to the extent that it could be viewed as an exercise in moral hazard, whereby directors trade in full knowledge that they will not be punished for failure
Many businesses will collapse for entirely unforeseeable reasons and I believe that much licence should be given in respect of such circumstances. However others will recklessly gamble knowing that the outcome will be met with a shrug of the shoulders. The problem is that there are many grey areas in between. It can be hard to pin this down
A solution? I am not sure but watch this space. Something to ponder on
Cant manage ? Wont manage..
One in eight employees find “absolutely nothing” to admire in their boss (see here)
This does not surprise me. After a number of years working for some generally decent people I was happily driven to self employment by a couple of “bosses” who were genuinely unpleasant and somewhat psychotic personalities. I’ve had the last laugh…
But more seriously, why is so little attention given to man management skills and training? I was fortunate to be managing a team at a particularly young age (22) and did so pretty continuously for next 20 years. Starting early helps but superb courses run by the old Industrial Society set me on the way. To this day, certain completely logical but vital guidelines stay with me.
Bad man management is a disgrace. There is no excuse. Many will never be adept at handling people regardless of the training and that being the case, they should never draw the salary. Others have the ability but misuse through simple ignorance. No one should be appointed unless it is clear they have the ability but at the same time, it is remarkable that the least obvious candidates can often thrive and blossom in the role.
You need to know what to look for. Heres a brief list of my own
– Intelligence. You don’t get many fine managers who are frankly a bit thick
– Self assured. Confidence is important.
– An out going loner. Make sense? Think it through
The biggest issue of all is that poor man management absolutely drains the life out of the people he or she is responsible for.
Formula 1? Not in my backyard
I am not going to even post the smallest picture illustrating a “sport” which I (and many many others) find to be tacky, charmless and completing alienating but unfortunately it has reared its ugly noisy head in the great city of London
As we would say in this great city. No way
London does not by any stretch of the imagination need the disruption or the publicity. F1 isnt the olympics. It is a sport reviled by a huge proportion of the population and most pertinently, London is anything but a petrolhead city
Boris Johnson seems to have more of an eye for “me” projects than any plans which are of any genuine use
If there is a campaign against this disgusting proposal, show me where it is and I will join it immediately
Philip King on Wonga
As ever some excellent commentary by Philip King, chairman of the institute of credit management. Reasoned and good sense
http://www.icm.org.uk/ceoblog/wongas-whoppas-stories-blog-philip-king/
World Corruption Index
A couple of years ago I linked the World Corruption Index to this blog. It was the most read post during that time, which gives a reasonable indication of the perhaps ghoulish interest of my audience
Here it is again http://cpi.transparency.org/cpi2013/results/
In truth the results are not dissimilar to before, but if this is new to you it is well worth a look. A few surprises too
Shame in Spain.
The other side of the export coin are stories such as this
To quote
As recently as last week, just before controversial investment research firGotham City Research alleged 90pc of Gowex’s revenues were falsified, and its shares worthless, García Martín was the guest of honour on state radio.
You have to question how a business can successfully overstate its revenue by a multiple of 10 for four accounting years? Where on earth was the scrutiny? To my mind this is even worse than the Parmalat scandal
Export or die
Credit remains elusive for many SME’s intending or wishing to export. So say the BCC in this article here
Too true. Much lending to SMEs is through invoice financing and the rather slow thinking herd like underwriters in this sector, frequently treat overseas debt as if its a cast iron certainty to be written off
Many restrict exports to less than 20% of the ledger and will not touch certain territories, regardless of the strength of the debtor. Yes I have mentioned this before but it is extraordinary that invoicing to BP in Africa will not be funded by nearly all lenders
Fortunately there are exceptions and I have recently managed a significantly arrangement for a agency sending engineers to many blue chip oil companies in a wide range of arenas. In the commercial world any credit manager would not hesitate offering credit to Total Oil and peers. The lenders think differently
They need to wake up or fire the underwriters. Its a short sighted and brainless “tick box” approach
Amazon “bullies”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-27994314
Many of us who welcomed the choice, value and scope of Amazon as it started its march across the retail market are beginning to feel a little uneasy at the companies behaviour
We are all well aware of its tax “arrangements” which do leave a bitter taste, but its increasingly bullying attitudes towards suppliers seem to be unnecessary and charmless. It does beg the question, is it really necessary for dominant retailers to act in such a manner?
The web giant wants the right to print books itself if publishers fail to provide adequate stock, and wants publishers to match any pricing deals it offers to other distributers.
Another clause, known in the industry as a “most favoured nation” (MFN) proposal, asks publishers not to offer promotions to distributors without also offering them to Amazon.
More in the linked article, but perhaps most pertinently…
They also warned that Amazon was reaching a “Ryanair moment”, when customers and suppliers would become uncomfortable with the way that the company operates.
My own feeling on this is that we operate in a free market and transactions between businesses should be a private matter. Having said that, the anti trust laws in the USA have been a major success over the past decades and it is proof that even within the most business driven markets, some legislation is required to keep competition fair and balanced. Businesses should be aware of this
Too many clauses and contracts are simply nothing more than exploitation. The disgraceful “retrospective discount” being perhaps the most prominent example (and used by John Lewis of all people, see my earlier post)
Amazon and others invite intervention and legislation
Interview. Many thanks to Iain of Red Power station
It is quite amusing to be referred to as a “business hero” but very nice at the same time.
Iain runs a fine outfit putting together videos for businesses. I cannot thank him enough for putting me at ease in front of the camera and conducting the interview in a relaxed and professional manner
Apologies for repeating a certain phrase throughout the interview. This is all a little bit new to me. But hope you find it interesting
This is his website
Cpcmcredit Blog 