I was asked recently to be on a panel for a great event organised by the 6th formers at William Hulme School, in Manchester. I had not been there since the old days when I used to kick goals through the posts on their front field for Ruthin School. As someone who failed dismally as an academic it was nice to be asked to contribute so I jumped at the chance. The line up consisted of 3 politicians, myself and another business person. One of the big topics concentrated around university fees and whether or not the £9,000 is fair. There seems to have been a massive cultural change over the last 10 or 15 years. Blair popularised the idea that everyone should go to… Read the Rest »
By the time I got the call, she was already in the Sea King helicopter. Some girls will do anything to meet Prince William. According to the eye witness reports, it was an impressive full-summersault, with a “Ben the Chef” style face plant, which are painful enough off a diving board into the sea, but on Snowdon, this is one place I like to keep my feet firmly on the mountain side. “The good news is she’s smiling, she’s a real tough character.” Jonathan reassured me. I clearly don’t have exclusivity on being accident prone. Our trips to Snowdon down at the Lake House (Castell Cidwm) are special. It is tough, and in windy conditions you have to keep your wits about you. And that’s… Read the Rest »
It seems like a lifetime ago when I arrived in Manchester. What a city, what an era. Bloxham was selling posters in Afflecks Palace, Ferguson had just arrived at United, Tony Wilson was giving the Factory a whole new meaning. Tim Bacon was a barman in JWJohnsons, Oglesby was at Cheadle Hulme where only weeks earlier I’d been playing against him on the great British rugby fields. Bruno was holding centre stage at the French Restaurant, at the then Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza, Midland Hotel. I was the cheeky piano player busking my way through life. I had never been so poor, but I had certainty that something good was just over the horizon. I learnt pretty early on that it was never going to… Read the Rest »
When we set up UKFast I could have only dreamed of a day like today. I am a big dreamer, but this was not something I’d have ever been able to visualise. Sat here on the Necker Belle with my daughters Tegan and Poppy, my wife and business partner Gail, the girl who has stood by my side throughout all the tough times, waiting for my team to arrive. You might at first think that it is easy to get carried away and think we’ve made it, but to the contrary, this trip is intended to help design the vision for the future. There is also a little holidaying thrown in for good measure, but ultimately we have a job to do. The owners of… Read the Rest »
Typing away on my iMac, plugged into iTunes on my iPhone, its difficult to comprehend how he did it. Every now and then, along comes someone special. They are special because they see the challenge and not the uphill struggle. There is no doubt, Jobs was aiming high. He enticed John Sculley away from Pepsi-Cola to serve as Apple’s CEO, asking, “Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to come with me and change the world?” To change the world, you have to set out with this objective and it’s clear that early on Jobs understood the balance that style plays in the role of marketing and brand development. He understood the creation of the… Read the Rest »
There is a famous cliche, “What goes around comes around.” We’ve all heard it and no doubt said it. Even to a man considered by Forbes as 13th most powerful man in the world as recently as 2010. It looks as though Murdoch’s luck is running out. And the “unlucky for some” placing will be difficult to hold on to, with people queuing up to enact revenge. One of the problems Murdoch faces, is his empire in the UK holds people accountable irrespective of whether you are rich, powerful or popular. He was one of the untouchables. With his TV channels and Newspaper coverage he is a powerhouse, a man who set standards and invariably changed the world. But then along came the Internet. I… Read the Rest »
When I saw the line up of an upcoming event that showed Tony Robbins and Sir Richard Branson as the headline speakers, I was immediately taken aback to see Alan Sugar’s name appear a few weeks later. What is it about this man? He keeps on popping up on British TV, yet he lacks the finesse of Branson and the passion of Robbins. He most certainly lacks the humility that you’ll find in abundance in the other two great men. He comes across as a self opinionated man who likes putting people down to make himself feel better. And by surrounding himself with sycophantic people who do not openly challenge him, it is no surprise that he slipped up this week, after telling engineer Glenn… Read the Rest »
This week saw the fashion retailer Henley’s file for administration. It only seems like yesterday when Simon and Ben the 2 owners sat with me at a Sale Sharks match discussing online retail. One of the boys confidently said, “our customers need to touch and try on our garments, we will never do more much than the £10,000 per month we are doing now. The online shop can’t compete with our high street stores” This sounded very much like a challenge. And as someone who hosts hundreds of online retailers, some huge ones too, I knew I couldn’t lose. I bet them £1 I could prove them wrong. Sitting with my web designers and marketing team, we immediately found ways of improving their system. Their… Read the Rest »
Driving into work at 5.30am dressed in gym gear I pulled over to get petrol. A chap dressed in shorts too got out to fill up his car, he acknowledged me with a small but firm nod and as I left, I thought to myself, he looks like a good bloke. I always wonder who are these early morning “driven” people? Where are they going? I have a theory, have you ever noticed how people seem to get more irate the nearer it gets to 9.00am when driving into work? Obviously it’s not everyone, there just seem to be more people stressed as 9 o’clock approaches. What I need are these other people, the dynamic ones who want to squeeze every last drop out of… Read the Rest »
As someone who is fixated on growing and motivating my team to be the best at what we do, I am always trying to understand what are the key driving points that make some people incredibly successful. I was about to start blogging about the fact that when you have a wife and children, suddenly you seem to become more successful. I first came accross this theory when Vernon Lord a then finance director at Granada jokingly commented that he disliked me, there is always a little truth in the jest. He said, “you have no wife, kids, loan repayments, school fees, ex-wives. You have nothing that ensures you have to perform.” I reminded him that I’d never missed my target and that I was… Read the Rest »
