Morgan Cole Dinner
March 26, 2010
I attended an absolutely wonderful black tie dinner yesterday evening courtesy of the team at Morgan Cole Solicitors in Reading. My association with the firm has been over a number of years and includes work done with Paul Brame of their Property Team, Guy Constant of their Commercial team and most recently with Clara Snow from their Education team based in Oxford.
Held in Wantage Hall at the University of Reading the setting was akin to an Oxford University college and provided a fabulous background to the evening.
The speaker for the event was Chris Parker, Director of Legal and Corporate Affairs for Microsoft. Chris was an engaging speaker and provided some really interesting insights into subjects as diverse as ‘how are Microsoft coping with the recession’ to ‘who do Microsoft engage with in the local business community’ to ‘what’s it like to work with Bill Gates’?
In addition he spoke about Microsoft’s forthcoming concerted efforts to unseat Google as the market leading search engine with their own offering Bing.
It was great to see so many friends and business colleagues and to catch up with the Morgan Cole team.
My only complaint was the fact that Morgan Cole partner Guy Constant ate all the cheese claiming that the waiter insisted the enormous selection provided was only for him!
Banks told to boost lending
March 23, 2010
Going to get on my soap box this morning about a subject which is really irritating me at the moment.
Apparently in tomorrow’s budget Alastair Darling will be telling the two part-nationalised banks what their new lending targets will be for 2010.
It seems ludicrous to me that they should be targeted at all as I believe that this could potentially lead to a return to some irresponsible lending which is surely what got those banks into that mess in the first place.
Banks want to lend money – fact. That is one of the ways they can make a profit and in the case of Lloyds and RBS they will be more keen than their competitors to return to profitability as quickly as possible.
The latest ISC Census (2009) confirmed annecdotal evidence that the independent school sector was looking to hold back on any major cap ex projects in 2009 and I am sure the 2010 Census will confirm this to be the case. Certainly, when I was working at Barclays I did not see anywhere near the appetite for lending last year that I had seen in the preceeding few years.
This reduced appetite, economic conditions and a general air of caution by business owners generally, not just in independent schools, means lending in 2010 will continue to be a challenge.
There has been a lot of talk about businesses, particularly small and medium sized enterprises, not getting access to the funding they require and that banks just aren’t lending. Certainly when I was at Barclays that was way off the mark as there was significant funding available for lending propositions but (and it’s a big but) they needed to be creditworthy. And this, I think, is the issue. With the message out there from the Government that banks should be lending billions of pounds businesses across the country suddenly started to assume that this also meant the lending criteria was different (more relaxed) when that was obviously not the case. Economic conditions aside, and clearly they too have a bearing on credit decisions, the normal ‘good canons of lending’ still need to be applied. Businesses who had sailed through for up to 10 years and had never seen a recession suddenly found themselves in a completely different landscape and some were much more prepared than others both operationally and financially. In addition many businesses had never experienced being turned down for lending and so to face this was a shock.
The good news in the schools sector is that banks are as keen as ever to lend and there are still some good deals to be had, albeit the days of sub 1% lending margins are a dim and distant memory.
With a unique insight into the credit application process I can offer some excellent assistance in this area. Bank funding is a long-term and very important commitment to make and so a small investment of time and money upfront to ensure you have the right deal is imperative.
So I await with interest Mr Darling’s budget tomorrow – at least we might have something to actually talk about rather than discussing the fact that everything was a reannouncement of measures made in a previous budget!
Government ‘squandering’ £25 billion a year
March 19, 2010
Very topical article today on an issue which has been receiving more and more focus in the past few weeks and, in the run up to the election, will no doubt continue to do so.
http://www.supplymanagement.com/news/2010/better-buying-could-save-uk-government-25-billion-a-year/
It’s another example of the inefficiency of the public sector and its lack of commerciality. In this instance a report has concluded that more effective procurement of goods and services could save the country £25 billion a year. The figure of £25 billion just trips off the tongue but it a huge, yet perfectly managable, saving which could be made and might just avoid some of the much talked about cuts in public services.
Let us hope that the next party in power, whoever that is, starts to make some fundamental changes to the way things are done around here.
US plans to promote women-run vendors
March 17, 2010
News from across the pond that the US govenrment wants to boost contract opportunities for women-owned firms.
This is due to the fact that the Small Business Administration has identified 83 industies where firms owned or run by women are “substantially under-represented”.
Whilst I am all for promoting women owned businesses I am totally against this being on the basis of positive discrimination. Many women run their business equally as efficiently and effectively (if not better) as a man. I want us to win business through our own tenacity, hard work and competitiveness not just because we are ‘under-represented’.
Pupils are given sleep lessons!
March 16, 2010
It clearly must be a sign of my age but I did find this article in the Scotsman today rather amusing.
Apparently, there is a project running in Scotland to help school pupils learn how to sleep better thus, in theory, enabling them to maximise their learning potential!
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Pupils-are-given-sleep-lessons.6153897.jp
Personally, I believe that it is the parents who should be receiving the education not the pupils. I am quite sure that as a teenager I would have loved to have stayed up until gone 11pm every night watching my favourite TV programmes but, having spent all day having fresh air and alot of exercise coupled with a clear set of parameters from my parents, I was literally falling into my bed at 9pm.
As I say, perhaps it’s my age but I do feel the ‘education’ is being aimed in the wrong direction! In any event I am pretty sure one of Mr Woodhall’s biology classes was more than enough to send me to sleep without the aid of any additional training!
Price versus Total Cost
March 15, 2010
Had a great meeting this morning with Stuart Sheppard from Kinnarps, the Swedish workplace furniture firm. Kinnarps is an excellent example of why we at Minerva don’t just look for the cheapest option for our school clients.
Their product may initially appear to be more expensive if you are comparing on the price of one chair versus another similar one. However, if you factor in the product quality, durability, 5 year guarantee and 48 hour replacement parts service you are then starting to compare on total cost which is over the lifetime of the product.
This is the reason why at Minerva we cap our consultancy fee thus meaning we can focus on providing the best quality product/service not just the cheapest which may, in the long term, be more expensive.
Kinnarps are currently running a prize draw – order their new Education catalogue and be in with a chance of winning £2010 of education furniture for your school. Good luck!
Demographics may be to blame for shortage of school places
March 11, 2010
Good to see some sensible commentary in The Times yesterday regarding the possible reason behind so many children not getting their first choice school.
It seems that a change in demosgraphics may be to blame as opposed to a mass exodus from the private sector.
I’ve noticed over the last few years that the press generally take every opportunity to forecast the demise of the independent school sector. You would have thought that by now they might have noticed the statistical evidence to the contrary! But, as one of my favourite phrase goes, “never let the truth get in the way of a good story”!
HMRC policy ruling is bad news for schools and FE colleges
March 8, 2010
Thanks to the Baker Tilly Tax team for information on this latest ruling from HMRC on VAT.
http://www.bakertilly.co.uk/publications/Major-blow-for-charities-and-FE-colleges.aspx
It really is potentially bad news for any school considering embarking on a cap ex project especially if it is of a significant size.
From my corporate banking experience I am well aware of the difficulties of cashflow management on such projects and clearly this new policy will add further complications.
On a lighter note may I wish my fellow females a happy International Women’s Day!
Breakfast news.
March 5, 2010
Had a great breakfast meeting this morning organised by the HW team. I love these opportunities to get together with like-minded business people and the discussions are always diverse. Today the topics ranged from the weather (obviously!) to the outcome of the next election (will there be a hung parliament) to the size of food portions in the US!
Thought I would also share with you an interesting article on how NOT to make plans to cut costs. Whilst the idea was clearly right the execution left something to be desired!
I know it would be tempting to hold such an away day yourselves but it’s probably best to call me in as a cheaper and less newsworthy alternative!
Have a great weekend!
- School Procurement News Weekly is out! http://t.co/YmsYN2aC
- "@Official_NFFC: It is with enormous sadness that Nottingham Forest announce the death of the club's owner Nigel Doughty. <Absolutely tragic
- Just placed my first order on www.fiverr.com - loads of great stuff for just $5 - I'm having a postcard designed for my business! @FiverrHQ
- If you're interested in the outlook for oil prices this article is an interesting read http://t.co/valC9U1U
- RT @WilI_Smith: If you're absent during my struggle, don't expect to be present during my success.
- Latest blog on a fabulous event held by #Wilsons Solicitors last week http://t.co/6xyOCIxf Some really useful and topical legal advice.
