Shunting civil servants around the UK will never deliver what enterprise can Michael Hayman You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose. Advice from the past that seems pertinent to a government committing levelling up into law. What was a slogan is now “12 national missions” published in a white paper last week, to provide a central mission for government to deliver economic parity to all regions of the [...]
COP26: Good fortune and lofty statements won’t tackle climate change, but business can It is the lines of the hapless but heroic Ted Hastings, in Line of Duty, which so often steal the show. Hastings’ common refrain “now we’re sucking diesel” should set the scene for COP 26, the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow this year. Taken literally, it is an outcome we badly need [...]
B Corps: Can business really be kind? “Business as a force for good” is the commercial equivalent of “speaking your truth”. A lightning rod phrase that divides and says much about the relationship between business and society. This month is B Corps month, which has seen a host of companies seek to spotlight a different way for business. Less the binary profit and loss, [...]
Health and wellbeing could be the business opportunity of our age February 18, 2021 Generations become defined by their obsessions, but it is often only after the event that the nature of those obsessions become clear and their consequences easier to understand. The historical bread crumb trail revealing what should have seemed obvious at the time and with them opportunities lost. But sometimes we live through periods of such [...]
Tomorrow will be a better day is a mantra for business, too February 5, 2021 “Tomorrow will be a better day.” Words of comfort from the late Captain Sir Tom Moore that will inspire a nation in the days to come. The news of his passing hit me harder than I had any reason to expect. I admired him greatly for the life he led and the dignified positivity and [...]
For the next six months, should you spend the time on survival, or plan how to thrive? September 28, 2020 “Cap’n, she can’nae take much more of this.” Who would have thought that the much loved Scotty would capture the scene not of star trekking but the more earthly matter of the mood of business here on terra firma. Make no mistake, the UK economic dashboard is blinking red, and the worry has to be [...]
Entrepreneurs are an asset to grow. The government must give them time to thrive September 14, 2020 “Energy is eternal delight.” Heed the words of William Blake, because entrepreneurial energy is the dynamo that has powered the UK economy and transformed the business scene in recent times. The worry has to be that this is not a year that suggests this energy is eternal, and the mistake is to assume the resilience [...]
The world may seem bleak right now, but Team Human can still have the last laugh August 10, 2020 “A day without laughter is a day wasted.” Words of wisdom from the twentieth century comic genius that was Charlie Chaplin. But whatever 2020 is ultimately remembered for, it seems set to be a year where very few of its days will have been characterised by cheerfulness. The epic challenge presented by the Covid-19 pandemic, [...]
Heed Churchill’s words to the nation: Stand firm and carry on March 23, 2020 “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” These words, often attributed to Britain’s then wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill, are emblematic of his call to never, never, never give up. Today, the world is living through a new hell, fighting a silent invader which moves remorselessly on, ripping through societies, undoing markets, and overturning seemingly [...]
Human ingenuity and working together will pull us through the coronavirus crisis March 9, 2020 Last week, Bank of England governor Mark Carney gave his economic view of the possible consequences of coronavirus: he expects it to cause “disruption” and not “destruction”. In saying this, he follows the measured words of the health secretary, Matt Hancock, who made the point that preparing for the worst is the job at hand. [...]
