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Business Diary June 16
Capital's gain a loss to Yorkshire pride
POOR old Wakefield. While some of our great Yorkshire companies are proud to come from West Yorkshire, others appear to be less so.
Step forward energy services group Cape who have sniffily informed the Yorkshire Post that from now on they would prefer to be called London-based rather than Wakefield. Apparently, it sounds better when they're dealing with international customers.
Now in truth the head office has indeed transferred down to London, but Cape admitted that their UK operations are still based in Wakefield. When the Yorkshire Post pointed out that most Yorkshire readers (and indeed workers) would rather they stuck to the Wakefield base as it reflects their roots and where the workforce are based, we were told it doesn't look so good when people do a web search.
However, the Wakefield moniker doesn't seem to have hit support services group Redhall too hard. Redhall continues to win huge international contracts despite its Wakefield roots. Cape would do
well to realise that not all roads lead to London.
Script for change
Playwright John Godber has been telling Business Diary about his programme to help improve customer service in Hull.
The 53-year-old Yorkshireman, who is creative director at the new Hull Truck Theatre, is behind Yorkshire Passion, a half-day training service for business. He said: "It's very simple. It's a video. It's a performance. It tells you what there is in this region. Unless you know about it, you don't know about it. For example, film distribution started in this part of the world. Anthony Minghella was a graduate of the University of Hull. We all know about Larkin. But do we know about Andrew Motion who taught at the university? Once you start to tell people what there is, then they are able to say, 'There is more here then I ever imagined'."
His adopted city has come a long way since he first arrived, benefiting from many millions of pounds of regeneration and some hard work by devoted and loyal citizens.
"When I came to Hull about 20 years ago, it was 10 years behind time. Now it's about three," he said. Which means that some time soon, Hull will be leading the way into the future.
A tough job
Nationalised bank Bradford & Bingley is looking for a "champion" –
well, an operations and service director at least.
The vacancy, advertised in a Sunday newspaper, promises a six-figure salary in return for helping the effective run-off of its 40bn mortgage book.
The winning candidate will be working in a "unique" environment, and be a "catalyst for change and champion for value delivery".
Reporting to new managing director Richard Banks, they'll have quite a job on their hands.
With the axe hanging over staff at the former bank's Bingley headquarters, B&B says a track record of "engaging, motivating and leading a large group of people" is vital. Experience of "effectively managing arrears" is also deemed crucial, as struggling buy-to-let landlords and self-certified borrowers – the very people it once believed were a goldmine – send defaults through the roof.
Shoots and stutters
Business Diary likes to get out and about and always asks questions.
One of the most common questions of the moment is: "Are you seeing any green shoots?"
We asked this of Leeds lawyer Martin Shaw, the head of corporate, Europe at Pinsent Masons.
He said: "No, I'm not seeing any green shoots. But the chief executives I talk to are reporting stuttering consistency."
So, stuttering consistency it is then. We'll take that over the t-t-t-total armageddon we all feared last year.
Sleeping partners
It is a sign of how despondent people have become when business owners are more likely to turn to their partner for business advice than their non-executive director.
A survey of business owners carried out for Sheffield-based mgr, the accounting division of Atf business advisers and Leeds-based hlw McCombie Commercial Lawyers, found that the most popular choice for advice remained the company's accountant, with over a third (38 per cent) saying they would consult them.
But second in the rankings came their partner or spouse, with more than one in seven (15 per cent) opting for them as their top choice, while one in eight (13 per cent) said they were most likely to turn to their non-executive director.
The survey also suggested that business owners would rather get advice from Roman Abramovich, than Bob Geldof. And even Gordon Ramsay was a more popular choice than either Alistair Darling or Gordon Brown.
Revolting language
We never cease to be amazed by the unprovoked assaults on the English language.
Valuable hours are wasted wading through jargon-laden messages in our inbox. Last week we received a message from somebody who works in PR, and will remain nameless, who wished to highlight the "uprising in the oil markets".
Excuse me? We assume this refers to the fact that the price of oil has more than doubled this year. Or do they actually know of an armed rebellion that could affect the oil market? If this is the case, where is this revolt happening? We should be told.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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