The art of asking the right questions August 14, 2014 Business life doesn’t always lend itself to novel ways of questioning, but doing so is vital. A young Motorola engineer called Martin Cooper was asked, back in the early 1970s, to develop the firm’s car radiotelephone. But before setting to work, he took a step back and asked this question: “Why is it that [...]
Focus On…Twickenham: Is a home here worth a try? August 14, 2014 This weekend, a dozen of the fiercest rugby teams in the world will descend on Twickenham Stadium, the largest venue dedicated to rugby union in the world. The suburban town of Twickenham in the London borough of Richmond will welcome athletes from as far apart as New Zealand and Buenos Aires to play in the [...]
Design your own holiday home in The Cotswolds August 14, 2014 It’s a stifling summer’s day in London and work is exhausting. You shut your eyes and imagine escaping to an idyllic rural retreat complete with picturesque villages, a smattering of good restaurants, pubs, and a vibrant social scene. You’ve effectively transported yourself to the Cotswolds. This fantasy of a tranquil home-away-from-home is what the owners [...]
From pigeons to Paltrow: How to transform a wreck into a gem August 14, 2014 When Anita Grossman saw her dream house for the first time, it was occupied by a family of pigeons. Her builder husband was fond of buying “fixer uppers”, but Grossman quickly realised that this house would need a total transformation before it could be a family home. “When we found it, the house hadn’t [...]
Top five tips for buying property at auction for beginners August 14, 2014 There’s more than one way to buy a property, but a significant proportion of buyers still favour making a trip to the estate agent or, increasingly, searching online to find their next home. For years, savvy property investors have found bargains in auction houses, where a vast range of buildings, from period houses in need [...]
Is management speak always a waste of time? August 13, 2014 It’s annoying, but corporate jargon can often serve a useful purpose. When thinking of management gurus, the last person to come to mind is the comic singer-songwriter Weird Al Yankovic. But his recently released album Mandatory Fun provides some cutting observations about the kind of jargon that’s taken over business. One track, Mission [...]
How to position your portfolio for the coming base rate hike – Investment Comment August 12, 2014 Hamlet wasn’t talking about the next move for interest rates when he said, “if it be not now, yet it will come – the readiness is all.” But the advice is sound. Although today’s quarterly inflation report may reveal some clues, we still don’t know when the first hike in UK base rates will [...]
How you can get the most out of a business mentor August 12, 2014 When it comes to wanting mentoring in the workplace, you’re not alone. Our recent research has found that one in five employees are not currently mentoring or being mentored, but would like to be. Mentoring provides great development opportunities for both mentor and mentee, so why did nearly 30 per cent of mentees surveyed say [...]
New Barclays chair should be female – CNBC Comment August 11, 2014 It’s time for a woman to be the chair of Barclays. And yes, simply because she is a woman, it would make things better. Rona Fairhead, the former Financial Times boss and finance director of parent company Pearson, is rumoured to be on a shortlist to take over from Sir David Walker next year. She [...]
How leaders can develop a truly powerful vision August 11, 2014 It’s vital to understand the future in rational, but also emotive terms. Too often, leaders use financial goals to motivate people. But employees say they don’t get out of bed in the morning to achieve financial objectives – they come to work wanting to be inspired by a sense of doing something important, something [...]