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 »
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 »
I got the call I’d been half expecting, for a number of months. “I am disappointed,” I said, “but not surprised.” Its the end of an era. “It is being made official in the morning and there is an embargo on the story until 10am tomorrow. Charlie Hodgson is resigning in the morning.” I was leaving for Verbier in the morning, for a few days skiing and boarding with the family and friends from work. Charlie is someone who I’d consider one of the most underrated fly-halves in todays game. Underrated or not, you have to treat people nicely who work for you, and if you want incredible results my advice is you need to go overboard on the “lavishing praise” aspect of management. The lavishing… Read the Rest »
“It hurts doesn’t it.” “What’s that?” I replied. “That feeling inside of you now…. it hurts doesn’t it.” It certainly did and although I smiled, I thought, I am not giving him the pleasure of saying that again. I realised why he is such a great motivator. That’s all he had to say, a simple observation, making me focus on the pain I was feeling and boy it hurt all the more. I had been warned that this is Richard Branson’s game. We were the last to leave the beach, all the others had gone back up the hill to the Great House. It was after midnight and Richard said, “Right, who’s for a game of Perudo?” If you were like me and had no… Read the Rest »
I was at a crossroads. There are a number of different routes I could take at this point and driving on ahead seems like a potentially futile journey. It was earlier this year when I could have gone one of 2 directions. Do I carry on the potentially expensive quest of developing our business in a carbon neutral fashion? Is there a guarantee at the end of it, I will find a viable alternative? I was ready to throw in the towel, when I was challenged by one of the worlds greatest entrepreneurs. He didn’t directly challenge me, yet his words spoke volumes. I cannot give up. Here is a man who is pioneering space travel, undoubtedly one of the hardest of any of man’s… Read the Rest »
I closed the big black wrought iron gates. Stared hard back at the home I’d helped build, I painted that house. It was a beautiful home, but one that housed so many sad memories. It reminded me why I was going. I didn’t want to leave, I simply had no other options. I had already said goodbye to my friends at school. It had all happened so quickly. One minute I didn’t have a care in the world, my focus was on next seasons rugby and the place I’d earned on the 1st XV. Then suddenly I was told I couldn’t remain at the school. My parents could no longer afford the school fees. I never really believed this and as I stared through the… Read the Rest »
The ultimate open ended question. Why does one of the shortest words start the longest conversations? On Friday one of the girls from our recruitment division MySort.co.uk came to me and asked “do you have 5 minutes to see a prospective new recruit for the sales department?” I am always keen to get feedback and develop the business and where better than from an fresh pair of eyes. I followed Abbey into my wife’s office where Tom sat, looking relaxed, sitting back and at home. After talking with him for a few minutes, I asked him “do you have any questions for me?” “You clearly put a huge amount of effort into making this a great place to work, from your website you look like… Read the Rest »
The Lodge If you go to the Virgin Limited Edition website we will see a whole host of amazing properties. They all have a similar style of layout with long sociable dining tables, comfy spacious chill-out lounges and bars where you can help yourself to just about any drink or cocktail you can dream up. One of my favourites is The Lodge. It is particularly special to me as my early memories of the Alps always involve bus trips and cheap hotels. As I grew a little older I progressed to chalets, but invariably you get what you pay for. I am in a fortunate position to be able to experience The Lodge, at £80,000 to £90,000 per week, it is a place for the… Read the Rest »
With the world grounded with the ASH AIR crisis , I considered the options. We were due to spend a week in the mountains redesigning our products and services with colleagues from UKFast. The word grounded didn’t figure high on my priorities as a kid. With scaffolding outside my bedroom window for a good few years, this was my usual exit when I wanted my own space. It was at these times, I used to head for the hills. 1. Cancel the Hosting Summit in Verbier 2. Wait for the news that we could take the private jet 3. Consider other options? I am confident at this point as the pilot had been on to the powers that run the airspace and in-spite of the… Read the Rest »
