It has to be sad when any organisation suffers an upheaval that results in the loss of its Chief Executive,  but recent months and years at S4C have not shown real success so change was probably inevitable.

Sure: the digital age has increased competition, but the Authority seem to be ignoring the fact there are 2 sides in the market: Supply and Demand.

Digital TV may dilute demand, but to be frank, the Supply has really failed to stimulate interest. The picture on the left is a copy of S4C’s listings for this coming Sunday, does it really get your juices flowing?

Remember this is a listing for Sunday, a Sunday during school holidays: so where are the early morning programmes for kids? My sons both have happy memories of Slot Sadwrn from years ago and I loved it, as  it kept them occupied and I had an extra hour in bed.

As a Broadcaster S4C has been the broadcaster in the language of choice for many in Wales, but in truth, its programmes are not the programmes of choice in any genre. For that reason and for poor programming, change is required, but it’s not just Iona Jones that should fall on her sword.

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I went to the Royal Welsh Agricultual Show in Llanelwedd on Monday, I’d been before many years ago, but had forgotten how good, seriously good, it all is.

I’m a city man, definitely not a country man even though like many I enjoy the so-called country sports.

But I’m not really into farming/agriculture/livestock etc. And my reason for attending the show was business related as I was attending a QUANGO meeting on a subject close to my employer’s heart.

Despite my narrow business/professional interest I did spend a lot of time walking the show ground and seeing the sites, the truly fantastic sites of animals, no, make that “Beasts”, reared to perfection and ready for display. I don’t know much about cows or pigs or sheep or goats, but I do know that I saw some great examples on Monday. And then of course there was the Welsh Food pavillion: Magic, pure foodie bliss,

But it wasn’t the quality of the produce that hit me, it was the people: people who had prepared for months or more, people who were excited at the opportunity, people that were so VERY proud of what they had made or had to show. It hit me harder than anything has for many a year. Here I was, surrounded by people who cared, REALLY CARED about what they do and were showing extreme pride in what they had produced. And that pride hit me: hugely.

How I would love to transport that pride into the world of business, the world where companies hide behind smoke-screens and Quangos claim not to have powers. If either had as much pride as the farming community who were proudly strutting their stuff, there probably would not have been a need for the meeting I was attending in the first place.

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It’s been over a month since I wrote something here and I’ve only missed the trivial events of an election, a coalition and a World Cup to comment about, oh and a defence review, a change of commander in Afghanistan and Wales in NZ. But I’ve only been idle here whilst being busy elsewhere.

However tonight I can’t pass the moment without commenting on the blatant stupidity of those involved in the planning process in Newport.

Poor Terry Mathews, who has built global businesses with names like Newbridge, and Newport in them and has of course invested around £40 million of his own money in securing the bid for the Ryder Cup in Wales at the palatial hotel and leisure complex he has built in Newport,  has been apparently defeated by planning idiots in Newport who want to protect a derelict building next to the home of the World’s greatest golf tournament later this year.

If you’ve not seen the news report on the BBC then take a look here.

Newport stupidity at its absolute finest.

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With all the main party manifestos out in print, but probably not going to add to much excitement to anyone’s life I sat back and thought about what would capture my votes in the election. So here is my manifesto, like many others it probably won’t stand up to too much scrutiny.

1. Destroy Speed Cameras. Our highways are awash with speed cameras, average speed cameras and other money making ideas. They serve no purpose but to raise money whilst disrupting the traffic flow of perfectly safe vehicles, designed and tested to drive much faster than the limit allows.

2. Remove Waste from the Public Sector. I’m not talking about billions that are bandied about by the big parties. but we need to remove small levels of waste: 5 meter cycle lanes, central heating systems left on at weekends, street lights on in daylight. there’s no doubt that if we can encourage small savings, then bigger savings will also become possible.

3. Create some sustainable development. We should stop throwing money at business development in the way we currently do and try to create a more sustainable form of wealth creation. For example: I’d love to see an amalgam of training, regeneration, business development and work creation from a series of projects that utilise public money in  a joined up fashion and cross a variety of boundaries.

4. Create a Future for Wales. The debate about more powers is boring; let’s focus on creating a vision of what will be for Wales. How will we attain self determination, how will we manage UK Instittions based in Wales, how will we pay for it all? Let’s create clarity, develop a sense of purpose and then lets us focus, argue ad fight for that vision to be delivered.

5. Take some Front Line cuts. There’s no reason for making any front line sacrosanct, no reason why some elements of the front line could not be pared back. So let’s cut out the institutionalized defence of front line cuts and accept that maybe, just maybe, some of the front line actually aren’t necessary after all.

6. Free Dental Care. I don’t know how it happened, but where did dental care go to? Surely that could be a valualbe add on to our NHS.

7. Make Education Relevant. It’s hugely frustrating as an employer to meet young people looking for work who do not have the basic IT skills needed in the work place. Our education system focuses on creating lots of A Stars and A’s, but does not deliver well trained individuals who can pick up the tools of work easily.

8. Essential Skills lessons. As part of ur national curriculum we should ensure that all school leavers have the essential skills of life: that they can swim, can drive, know how to wire a plug and of course can understand the value of compound interest. These life skills are essential and this list is not exhaustive.

9. Legalise Drugs. We’ve legalised tobacco and alcohol, and as a result anyone wishing to poison themselves with these drugs can get quality controlled products, at a price which delivers revenue to the Government. Crime associated with tobacco is minimal. Illegal drugs remain available, are generally of uncontrolled quality and come at a price that drives more crime. We need proper drug outlets to as a way to address the crime fuelled by drugs.

10. Ban Immigration. Well not exactly ban immigration, just control the number of foreign players playing in Welsh Rugby. It is unacceptable, for example, that the Ospreys can have a back-row line up of overseas players,  that stops our national captain from getting into the team. This is not conducive to building a successful national team and should be better by controlled by the WRU.

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Easter comes - next year

If you’re missing the fun of Christmas already then don’t worry as another “holiday” is on its way as can be seen on this new style KitKat.

It’s always nice to have another holiday booked before you finish the current one I find

Enjoy!

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Earlier this year I passed comment on how good a service I’d had from Linksys (see here) but maybe I spoke too soon. The gist of it was that they gave me great service for a router that was about 5 years old.

Today I had the same problem once again and rang the same number once again. Today it was different, no longer were they able to support me unless I paid a small charge: All they wanted was £25.

Since when did £25 make a small charge?

I declined, reckoning that a replacement for the failing equipment wouldn’t cost too much more than the £25 “small charge”.  So off to PC World and 30 minutes later I was now the owner of a new router.

There was a choice in the shop: Belkin or Linksys. Similar in price, similar in capability. Guess which I bought.

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Shell, international oil giant and owner of a chain of petrol stations in Britain, have banned the on-site collection of money in support of the Royal British Legion annual Poppy Appeal. This is particuarly insensitive when one recalls that their oil platforms were protected in the North Sea by Royal Marines.

It also appears to be an act of crass stupidity at a time when there is clear public support for the military and a groundswell of feeling around Remembrance.

To express my own “thanks” to Shell for this wholly unnecesary and objectionable act I shall refuse to buy anything from their service stations from now on.

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I was dragged into the middle of Cardiff’s shopping centre last night for the first time in many months. Like many men of my age, I hate shopping, especially the way that some people do it. For me it’s all about knowing what you want and going out to buy it at around 9.30 on a Tuesday morning when there are no crowds.

And that’s how it was last night – NO CROWDS. In fact it was almost no shoppers. As we wandered around the new developments in The Hayes and the Cafe Quarter the thing that was obviously missing was Shoppers. I spoke to one tailor who has sold me clothes in the past. He reported that this is the worst year he has ever had and that on some days he does not get 4 customers into his shop.

But 50 yards away, millions of pounds have been spent on building more shops, and the fit-outs continue on many “labels”  that already exist in department stores in Cardiff. How will these new shops survive?

The other thing that worried me was the number of new Jewellers in town, including probably the most expensive high street label: Cartier. Why are there at least 5 new jewellers shops opening in Cardiff now?

To have so many new shops, so few shoppers and a glut of new jewellers selling frippery make me worry about the security of business in Cardiff. Additionally, as the centre shifts towards the Hayes and the shopping magnet that is John Lewis, what will happen to the other end of Queen Street and the Capitol Centre in particular. Surely that too is facing even more challenging times.

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My brother-in-law owns a chippy, a really good one that produces “probably the best chips you’ll ever eat”, but yesterday he received a notice about his business rates for next year. His business rates will increase next year by 60%.

Did you get that - 60%!

And for what? There’s no explanation and no commitment. Surely you could expect some extra information for what equates to a £125 per week off his profit line.

His restaurant is open for 363 days per year and employs over 20 staff. He has regular customers that turn up day after day and week after week. The council services do not extend to providing working CCTV nor to collecting rubbish which he pays for privately.

But he recognises that the nation is in a real mess, financially and that tough choices are needed. And he’s prepared to play his part. But he’d like to know if there is a plan to fix the problem.

He really does not welcome a new rate that will penalise him. He is fed up with a bloated, arrogant public sector that believes it can bill him to help them get out of this hole, without providing some information to support the decision.

As a business man he needs to make his books balance and he will now need to find the £125 a week.  His options are to lose it from the bottom line or cut costs. The result is that he’ll probably not open for some of those quiet hours that he used to open for and will therefore have less staff hours to pay. As a result some of his staff will be worse off every week.

But let’s remember that in this particular business there are options: for some smaller businesses this tax will be crippling. In fact they will be so crippling that many will close, which has to be the worst possible result for the country.

By imposing this tax on a business our irresponsible Government are definitely going to make some staff poorer. They are also threatening some businesses and will force some to close as they cannot meet the new costs for no benefit.

That is why some businesses are doomed with this new Rate.

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I must admit: I’ve been a slave to email. It’s been a friend, a distraction from real work, it’s given me a sense of being connected when all this exciting must read stuff lands in my inbox. And it’s helped me waste days if not years of my life.

But as of today all that is changed. I’ve decided to declutter my inbox, clear my desktop and instead of being busy, being busy I’m going to focus on the important things in my communication strategy.

No longer will I sit there waiting for someone’s broadcast; from now on it’s Proactive Communications for me!

So if you want to de-clutter your day, tidy up your thinking and focus on what’s important then I suggest that you too think about who you receive mail from and why. You could save yourself many hours a day with an auto delete filter on incoming mail.

The “unsubscribe” button is now a great friend. Have an uncluttered day.!

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