Which sectors grew during Covid?
The Covid pandemic affected everyone, but in different ways, with much depending on how exposed an individual business was to lockdown disruption and how able it was to pivot to the new digital reality. Some sectors were nonetheless clearly hit harder than others. Travel and Leisure & Hospitality were both decimated by lockdowns and struggled […]
When will we see levelling up?
Growth Index 2022, revealed just how stark these regional differences are. Of the UK’s 100 most dynamic, rapidly expanding firms, 47 are based in London, with a further 22 in the South East and East of England, between them representing 81% of total sales*. This is despite these areas containing just 35% of the UK […]
Taking advantage of inflation
For companies that are used to calm waters, it can take some getting used to the turbulence, and the constant need to reassess both supplier costs and pricing. Like river rapids, an inflationary economy doesn’t present a steady current. There are eddies and flows – prices for some things rise faster than for others, often […]
The curse of bright ideas
“We tried it before and it didn’t work.” “We just don’t have the capacity for this.” “I know it worked for [insert department/brand/business] but we’re different.” It’s one thing to hear this from front line workers, but it’s doubly bad when it comes from middle managers, those trusty lieutenants who are supposed to buy into […]
How to get other people to make better decisions
Motivation, inspiration, culture-building and alignment behind a common vision are all hugely important, but they don’t tell the whole story. A fundamental part of a leader’s job, on the most practical level, is to make decisions. These can be strategic, operational and sometimes tactical, but taken together it’s hard to overstate their importance. I challenge […]
Is analysing success more important than analysing failure?
Rather than keeping their failures quiet and focusing on their successes, entrepreneurs began parading their botched ventures and strategic missteps proudly. It was a mark of credibility, showing not only resilience (by definition; you tried again) but also that you had something to learn from. There’s a lot of wisdom behind the TED Talk glamour. […]
What CEOs can learn from military leadership
Military observers have been surprised by the brutality, but many have been equally taken aback at how poorly the supposedly mighty Russian army has performed against the Ukrainian forces, which were far weaker on paper. It reveals some general truths about leadership and strategy. Success in war is not about which side has the greater […]
Is going public something to celebrate?
So in early 2021 he did what so many founders in his position have done, and listed it. The IPO, set at £5.4bn, was one of the biggest in London in recent years. The shares held their value at first but, beleaguered by short-sellers and press stories suggesting it had been overvalued, they began to […]
Is this now the era of the shared office?
One of the great questions of hybrid working is what happens to all the spare office space if employees work at home half the week. Do businesses just accept their expensive buildings sitting empty several days a week, or sparsely occupied every day? Do they downsize to lower overheads? Or do they take a leaf […]
The problem with cash(less)
Contactless and digital finance are so much quicker and more convenient that old money just isn’t a relevant concept for them. Businesses are starting to respond. It’s not uncommon, particularly since the pandemic, to see shops or restaurants with ‘card only’ signs. There are certain advantages to taking this approach that go beyond the lockdown-era […]
