Business Diary: November 20

As Christmas creeps closer, the major retailers will be using every bit of their advertising armoury to woo cash-strapped shoppers.

But what about the companies that actually get the gifts into the shops?

Their importance was highlighted by a press release that landed in Diary’s inbox with the memorable title: “All I want for Christmas is a smooth supply chain!”

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It was sent on behalf of Crimson & Co, a supply chain consultancy which believes the planning process for each Christmas should begin up to 18 months in advance.

If the major retailers get it wrong, we could all have a drab little Christmas. There could also be a nasty shock in the New Year, when the big names reveal how they performed. So a lot is being asked of the supply chain firms, and their lorries that roll through the night.

Crispin Mair, the founding director of Crimson & Co, said: “Christmas supply chain planning is no mean feat and every year, organisations face the challenge of getting supply and demand aligned. Every year, there is much talk about when the peak-shopping day will be or when ‘Mega Monday’ will fall.

“Organisations need to make the right decisions on which day consumers will be shopping, through which retailing channel, and which products and promotions will drive maximum profit.

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“If forecasted incorrectly, these challenges can cause queues, stock-outs of critical items and potential huge losses in revenue.”

A sobering thought for the festive planners.

Oh brother!

ED Miliband showed his self-effacing side at the CBI conference yesterday.

He recalled a meeting with the Governor of the Bank of England, Sir Mervyn King.

An assistant came in to the meeting with a message for Sir Mervyn, which he duly read and put to one side. A few minutes later she came in with another note.

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Worried that a national crisis might be unveiling that required Sir Mervyn’s time, Mr Miliband said that it they needed to wind up the meeting just let him know.

A very embarrassed Sir Mervyn said that the first message said: “Do ask Ed Miliband if it is worth staying at the Four Seasons hotel in California.”

The second said: “Please apologise. It was David Miliband who stayed at the Four Seasons.”

It’s good to know Miliband Junior doesn’t take himself too seriously.

Boss’s pole position

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Some people have a funny way of celebrating important anniversaries.

To mark the 42nd anniversary of the opening of the first Iceland store, its Yorkshire-born founder Malcolm Walker left the country yesterday to embark on a gruelling unsupported trek to the South Pole to raise funds for charity.

The 140-mile hike across the Antarctic ice cap to the Geographic South Pole will raise funds for Alzheimer’s Research UK and Walking With The Wounded.

The Iceland Antarctic Expedition commemorates the centenary of Robert Falcon Scott’s British Antarctic Expedition, and particularly the noble self-sacrifice of Captain Lawrence Oates.

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Captain Oates was slowed down by a wound he had suffered in the Boer War, and famously walked out of the returning team’s tent into a blizzard in the hope of saving the lives of his companions.

Participants in the 2012 Expedition include three soldiers who were all wounded on active service in Afghanistan, but have now returned to duty with Oates’s old regiment, the Royal Dragoon Guards.

Other participants in the Expedition include the four times Olympic gold medallist Matthew Pinsent.

Led by David Hempleman-Adams and Justin Packshaw, who were both members of the summit party on the successful Iceland Everest Expedition of 2011, the team will fly to the Union Glacier Camp at 88 degrees South, and ski from there the 140 miles to the Geographic South Pole.

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Like the Scott and Oates team, they will do so completely unsupported, dragging their tents, food, clothes and other equipment on specially designed pulks.

It is expected to take 19 days to complete the journey, crossing some of the most extreme terrain on the planet in temperatures of minus 40°C.

Malcolm Walker said: “Today it is 42 years to the day since I opened the very first Iceland store and I’m delighted to be marking the anniversary by setting off on this latest challenge.

“I’ve always believed that it’s good for business people to step outside their comfort zones from time to time, though I’ll admit that this may be pushing the concept to extremes.”