The rise and fall of HMV: Why great companies find it so hard to adapt January 15, 2013 I FIRST started work on the HMV advertising account in 1982, little knowing that I would handle the business for over 25 years, and that my path would cross HMV’s during a golden period for the record retailer. I say record retailer because that’s what it sold back then in 1982 – records made of [...]
Bad news for pension reform – we’ll live far longer than ministers expect January 15, 2013 IN A democracy, it is always a risky business for politicians to tell the electorate things they do not want to hear. So Steve Webb, the pensions minister, must be congratulated. He told the truth about the retirement age. In a speech last week, he said bluntly: “If someone tells a 30 year old what [...]
Online shopping is masking the birth of hybrid retailers January 15, 2013 THE fall of yet another iconic British retailer, HMV, does little to assuage fears that the high street in its current form is in terminal decline. The statistics are bleak. According to a survey by PwC and the Local Data Company, 32 stores closed each day in July and August 2012. Over one gloomy five [...]
Will the European ruling on wearing religious symbols at work cause trouble for employers? January 15, 2013 YES Chris Fisher In contrast with the UK courts – which didn’t see the cross as a “requirement” of the Christian faith – the European Court has said that the way a belief is manifested only needs to be “intimately linked” to the belief. Once that is established, the employer will need to justify any [...]
Letters to the Editor January 15, 2013 What killed HMV [Re: HMV’s demise shows why even giant firms have feet of clay, yesterday] The news about HMV was sad. I project-managed the development of its online presence in 2005, as part of its rebranding. The rebranding of HMV was undertaken by IBM, which managed the whole exercise, but one of the depressing points [...]
Irrational drugs policies incentivise experimenting with the unknown January 14, 2013 THE UK spends more than any other country in Europe on its drugs policy – 0.48 per cent of GDP according to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Addiction. Yet it has some of the continent’s highest rates of problem drug use. More recently, we’ve also become global leaders in so-called legal highs – [...]
Innovation isn’t dead – but we mustn’t forget why the profit motive matters January 14, 2013 ECONOMISTS have long realised that sustained improvements in GDP-per-capita and welfare are achieved through productivity growth, driven by innovation. Over the past 250 years, a raft of technologies, including electricity, sanitation, fossil fuel extraction and internal combustion have revolutionised agriculture, facilitated the industrial revolution, and slashed transportation and communication times. Following 700 hundred years of [...]
Social mobility is a problem for British business to resolve January 14, 2013 ECONOMISTS tell us that the worst may be over. After a double-dip recession, unemployment is dropping, the FTSE has made a confident start to the year, banks are showing an increased willingness to lend, there are indications of life in the housing market, and there are some signs of growth. But even the most optimistic [...]
Are the government’s plans to introduce flat rate state pensions a welcome improvement? January 14, 2013 YES Ros Altmann The proposed changes the are broadly welcome. A flat rate state pension for all will provide a foundation on which other later life income can be built. We must make it safe to save and to work for longer, but the current system of means-testing undermines this. Ultimately, anyone reaching the state [...]
Letters to the Editor January 14, 2013 Britain in Europe [Re: Why the European dream has gone sour for so many firms, yesterday] Many of the benefits of trading with the EU have been wiped away by technological and economic trends. International markets have changed beyond recognition over the last ten years, and the EU hasn’t moved accordingly. It’s becoming increasingly obvious that [...]