Todays High Street

It was a long and painfully drawn-out process but the dawn of 2009 finally saw the demise of that stalwart of the British high street, Woolworths.

There are few who expressed surprise at this development, the warning signs had been there for a good number years, and without the cushion of readily available cheap credit the business was horribly exposed.

Given the strong presence of its brand both on the high street and in the minds of shoppers, it should have been possible to reposition and revitalise the business. But despite the undoubted efforts of its management, Woolies failed to keep pace with change and did not cash in on the recent boom in the discount retail sector.

It will be interesting to see how the Barclay brothers fare in the coming year following their purchase of the name for their online retail venture; I certainly feel that the brand still has tremendous potential and look forward to seeing what they can do with it.

So while we may mourn the passing of a former high street favourite, we should learn from their experience, put in place our own survival strategies, and assess what opportunities the downturn presents to us.

For every measure we take to reduce costs we should make an equal effort in promoting our business, seeking new markets and most importantly forging stronger bonds with existing customers

President Obama’s Chief of Staff, Rahm Emmanuel, said recently; “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before."

It is tempting in business when times are hard to become introspective and risk-averse, focussing only on cutting back, shutting down and keeping quiet. I have spoken to business people recently who seem to have accepted that their certain demise is just around the corner.

But this is completely the wrong strategy in a downturn; if ever there was a time to be positive and take action, it is now. Yes we should all be making our business more efficient and streamlined, as I have described recently in “Turn Your Business into a Lean Mean Recession Beating Machine ”, but our attitude when doing so should be that this is a good thing, it is making for a better business rather than preparing for the end.

For every measure we take to reduce costs we should make an equal effort in promoting our business, seeking new markets and most importantly forging stronger bonds with existing customers.

If a business becomes too negative this rubs off on clients and they feel that the relationship is not beneficial to them. A company which is positive towards its customers is attractive, if it appears to be innovative and presents fresh ideas, its customers will see the relationship as beneficial to them.

I strongly believe that companies which take the fight to the recession in 2009 will emerge as the winners; companies which cower and fail to innovate will at best stagnate and at worst go the way of the Woolies Mammoth.

IOD Annual Convention 2008

Through a kind invitation, I was recently present at the IoD Annual Convention at The Royal Albert Hall, London.

It proved to be a very worthwhile occasion, with an excellent array of speakers and also my fellow attendees were delightful.

On arrival I was shown to our private box, and my host, Robert, was there to greet me. Robert and I have worked together on several occasions and in many diverse industries. He had also invited two others to join us and once duly introduced the convention commenced.

It opened robustly with the Global Chief Executive of Saatchi & Saatchi, who charismatically showed the changing way that people buy products and services offered by the business community.

It was then to an embattled Willie Walsh, British Airways Chief Executive, and yes, there was a lot of talk of T5. He came across as uncomfortable, as I am sure he was. A particular moment came in the Q & A with him at the end, when he retold the story of saying that they need to leave the baggage of T5 behind them and look forward, to which he received the reply you've already lost the baggage!

The CEO of T-Mobile followed, discussing the advancement in technology and the future of mobile devices and then to round off the morning, the Director General of The National Trust.

We were then whisked to the top tier of the Hall for a truly sumptuous lunch.

Last mouthful complete and back in our box, if you'll pardon the expression, we were all ready for the afternoon line up.

In the itinerary it said we were to have a senior cabinet minister start the proceedings, so it was a surprise to see just how senior they meant as The Rt Hon Gordon Brown, The Prime Minister, took to the stage.

I would like to retell the contents of the speech, alas, after about the 2nd minute it all becomes a monotonous blur. It was during this time I had to give a fellow delegate a nudge as he had inadvertently dropped off. Can't say I blame him, and in retrospect, it was probably a better use of the time!

It was then back to the interesting bits as a panel including the founder of Gu Chocolate Puds, and co-founder of Lastminute.com, amongst others, took to the stage to answer entrepreneurs questions.

My highlight of the day followed, as Kevin Spacey came on to the stage prior to the next speaker David Cameron, singing "Brown to the left of me, Cameron to the right, here I am, stuck in the middle with you!" Very enjoyable. He then discussed how the arts interact and enrich our lives. A very well prepared and delivered speech.

Next David Cameron. Most people were hoping we wouldn't get a speech as we had earlier from a politician, and I must say he did not disappoint. His speech was rousing and of interest to the business community, and he got warm applause for it.

Finally, as we began to fidget in our seats, the last speaker of the day appeared. Sir Bob Geldof KBE. 

As someone who well remembers the 80's I found it fascinating as he retold his life, his involvement with Africa, and his many business interests. It felt strange hearing him talk of himself as an entrepreneur as this is something I had not linked him with previously.

An excellent day was had by all.

I am now thoroughly looking forward to next years event and Robert, our next get togethers on me!

WELCOME

Firstly may I welcome you to my online communication.

The main principal for this site is to convey my experiences and thoughts on the business community at large and in particular it's relationship with Interim Management and Consultancy.

Since the Middle 90's I have been involved in assisting business through the power of experienced human capital, allowing companies the flexibility of utilising specific experts to fulfill their business objectives.  This has allowed me unique insight to the changes and aspirations with many organisations.

Additionally, I have been privileged to know many captains of industry. The research undertaken by me over the years has allowed me to gather an array of professionals with whom I may call upon for their specialist knowledge and experience.

I do hope you will enjoy the contents of my observations and experience.