Champion of better capitalism
I never expected to hear Conservative Ministers like Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt telling us in the UK to ignore concerns of major manufacturing and engineering businesses who are the cornerstone of our economy. Johnson and Hunt haven’t actually said ‘we don’t need hi-tech … Continue readingLeading Conservatives dismiss the importance of modern manufacturing
What are we to make of Labour’s new report entitled Financing Investment? As it happens, the report came out on the same day as I joined Professor John Kay, Sir Anthony Seldon and others at a PARC Trinity House event to discuss ‘Productivity – what … Continue readingProductivity: what is the problem and how to fix it?
Since the Lord Mayor’s Mansion House debate I have been reading and thinking about trust and the City of London. This has strengthened my feeling that the real issues extend beyond retail mis-selling, or getting boards to focus on culture. The elephant in the room … Continue readingThe part of the financial services industry we could usefully do without
I’m in Singapore, working with Stewardship Asia, that impressive organisation with which Tomorrow’s Company has been proud to be a Research Partner for nearly five years. Gathered in the same hotel that will, I understand, next week be hosting the Korean summit were 200 … Continue readingStewardship in disruptive times
We need to change the rules as well as promoting individual codes of behavior ‘It’s about character as well as competence’. These words of Caroline Silver, chair of PZ Cussons, and an experienced investment banker, summed up for me the debate we had this … Continue readingReflections on the Mansion House Trust debate
I’ve been honoured by an invitation from the Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) Research Foundation and the Chairman’s Forum to chair a discussion which is to be held on Wednesday in the Mansion House on ‘The Business of Trust’. This has been the mayoral theme … Continue readingThe Business of Trust
Today’s papers are full of Oxford university and issues of student access. It matters that Oxford adapts and connects. In other parts of the UK that process of connection is centuries old. In my 20s I spent a memorable year working as acting … Continue readingWhat is a university for?
The stewardship role of professional advisors. There are so many vital questions prompted by the joint parliamentary select committee report on Carillion. The role of professional advisors is an important issue. I have had experience of being part of the leadership of an … Continue readingCarillion – the Stewardship Role
A costed proposal to fit Grenfell Tower with fire resistant cladding was dropped after a cost cutting programme labelled ‘value engineering’ according to an article in yesterdays’ Guardian. Yet the non-combustible cladding would not only have saved 72 lives. The ‘cheaper’ proposal using plastic-filled … Continue readingWhat value for money really means and how to achieve it
I’ve been on holiday with my wife and our friends and took two books. One was Tess of the Durbervilles by Thomas Hardy – a gloomy story if superbly written. The other, which I am halfway through is Tragedy & Challenge by another Thomas, Tom … Continue readingTwo books – two authors called Thomas