British entrepreneur Denys Shortt ....passionate about making it happen!

Corning - innovation in glass

2012-02-27T06:33:00.000-08:00

Corning have created some amazing videos showing innovation in glass - click here

10 Face Book Faux Pas!

2012-02-23T07:54:00.000-08:00

Here are 10 Facebook faux pas from Real Business Magazine.

Businesses need to evolve or die !

2012-02-22T04:18:00.002-08:00

Denys Shortt speaks to BBC's Emma Simpson on growth, LEPs and more

click here for article

How great leaders inspire

2012-02-18T11:35:00.003-08:00

It is worth listening to this TED talk - click here

The Digital Evolution - are we in Jurassic Park ?

2012-02-05T03:55:00.002-08:00

These are some interesting and useful links - click below :

Pepsico explains more

The way we sell is changing and sales teams tools are too

How do you track your Brand ?

2012-02-05T03:54:00.001-08:00

Gatorade Mission Control Video

It's common sense - It's demand that creates the jobs !

2011-12-11T01:59:00.000-08:00

We are a nation looking for the big fix for our economy.

With all the Government incentives at the moment they need to realise it is the customers who the create the jobs.

What do I mean ? - well an entrepreneur can create a business but without customers to buy his products or services his business will fail.

If the customers like the entrepreneurs products or services and they are able to afford to buy them - then hey presto! - you create demand.

If the customers go broke then the demand disappears and the companies go broke too.

So : It is demand that creates jobs.

Here are my 6 fixes :

1) we make consumers able to buy things - tax them less / charge less VAT on goods - .....easy to say but the Government needs those taxes.

2) we promote Made in Britain - that way consumers buy our products helping our jobs and not foreign imports. The Government needs to amend product labelling law to ensure "Made in" is clearly shown. Currently it is not. If British consumers want to support Made in Britain - they currently can't ! The labels are not clear enough.

3) we insist our UK big retailers declare the % of products they buy from Britain. Many of our stores still buy from abroad and this has quite simply killed off british manufacturing. If we want to support British manufacturing and British jobs then these store giants need to source their products from Britain. Simple!

4) we encourage small independent traders to thrive. Fuel costs continue to rise - so people will of course want to travel less far and shop locally. Village stores will become an essential as travel costs increase and indeed with our aging population who will want to buy things locally. We have killed off our village stores and post offices - these will be needed in future. They will come back.

5) We need to revive high streets and become a nation of shopkeepers again. Sort out parking costs in centre of towns. It is mad that councils charge to park in town but it's free to park on a huge out of town shopping parks ...that'll kill centre of town shopping ! We make sure customers are able to come to towns and park easily. We make it very easy for people to shop in towns. Currently there are too many offices in towns with employees bringing in hundreds of cars - these could be parked out of town in park & rides. It's the shops that need the parking spaces for customers.

6) we need to promote British Exports better. Currently it is not done well. How many times have I been to a tradeshow with the Germans, Americans and even Turkey with amazing displays. The UK section at tradeshows is often at best - dismal.

Denys Shortt has a website at www.mystrategyplan.com

Jaguar Land Rover new Global HQ at Coventry !

2011-11-02T13:20:00.000-07:00

Good news came today for JLR and Coventry as Jaguar Land Rover Chairman Ratan Tata opened the new Global Headquarters at Whitley.

The new offices are home to the entire executive team for both Jaguar and Land Rover.

Designer furniture and high spec fittings give the offices a luxury feel befitting the brand - a sight to be seen.

Some 80 people attended the opening with the highlight being a speech from Ratan Tata himself - the Chairman and owner of Jaguar Land Rover.

2011 November 14th CW LEP Conference

2011-10-16T03:21:00.000-07:00

A fast and furious week culminated in a fantastic Local Enterprise Partnership Conference.

Adam Dent did a sterling job to get the event publicised and the Chamber invited all their contacts. A massive 350 people turned up for what was an exciting day.

Starting at 11am - the LEP Groups met for the first time as one. It was great to see so many people there and kind of many Govt representatives to come as observers.

Will Hanrahan handled the event superbly and made it vibrant, upbeat and amusing.

The conclusions from the morning were that the LEP is a breath of fresh air. Businesses can create direction and working with the public sector we can both grow jobs and the economy.

The afternoon event highlight was the keynote speech by Mark Prisk - Minister of State for Business and Enterprise. Mark was very supportive of the LEP and said that LEPs can set the direction.

Here is the press release :

A government minister has thrown his full support behind the campaign to get 100 businesses to take on 100 apprentices in Coventry and Warwickshire.

The 100 in 100 campaign was officially launched at the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) conference at the Ricoh Arena where Mark Prisk, Minister of State for Business & Enterprise, was a keynote speaker.

The campaign is encouraging companies and organisations to take on apprentices in a bid to reduce unemployment and improve skills.

Around 350 business and civic leaders attended the conference and following the key note addresses they took part in a panel debate.

Frost, who is now chair of the national LEP Network, said planning was recognised as a key issue around the UK but that the business world had to get the message across better.

He said: "Business is being portrayed as wanting to concrete over the countryside but that is simply not the case. We need to raise our game in this debate so people understand how this is a barrier to jobs and growth."

Shortt urged more business people to get involved with the LEP to help shape the regional economy.

He said: "We have 150 businesses involved with our focus groups and we have met and spoken to more than 500 companies from around the region.

"We are identifying key barriers to growth - planning, skills and access to finance are regularly identified as issues.

"Government is hugely supportive of LEPs and ministers and MPs are listening to us but you are the LEP so we need businesses to step up to the plate and help us to grow this economy."

Prisk said: "The issue of skills is a common theme and I believe the LEP is the correct shape and form to help tackle that.

"There are 100,000 apprenticeships being put in place nationally and this partnership is leading by example by showing the value of apprenticeships, which is a very good idea."

Prisk, whose speech was preceded by addresses from LEP chair Denys Shortt and former British Chambers of Commerce Director General David Frost, said the government would help the LEP break down the barriers to growth in Coventry and Warwickshire.

He said: "You have an inspirational leader in Denys Shortt and he is always bringing ideas to government.

"The focus for the LEP has to be strengthening the local economy not worrying about what they are doing in other regions, but knowing what is needed here."
The conference also saw a business forum involving MPs and local political leaders as well as a talk from John Edwards, the Global Brand Director of Land Rover.

Billion Dollar Brains !

2011-09-27T10:56:00.001-07:00

Click here for story

2011-09-23T07:40:00.000-07:00

Another hectic week and this time to the point of complete exhaustion. The adrenaline is probably the only thing that is keeping me going.

It started with a visit to Warwick School on monday to speak to the Upper 5th - a group of 16 year old boys who wanted to learn more about entrepreneurship. It was a spooky experience as I was returning after having been to school there and was in a room that I was taught in 30 years ago. Quite surreal to think that I was returning as a successful businessman - especially when my form master told me that "I would fail". The proof of Don't listen to what your teachers say - what you believe you create.

I asked the question "Who wants to run their own business" and only about 5% of the room said yes - this was interesting because on Thursday I spoke to 50 students from Cheltenham College where over 70% said yes to this. I had not expected such wide differences.

Cheltenham was great fun as we had a entrepreneur panel who had to answer the question - entrepreneurs born or made ? The debate was good and some great questions from the students. I hope this is the first of many such events at Cheltenham with their new Business Society Group.

A visit to WMG on Monday to Richard Hutchins was as always very inspiring - WMG continues to impress me.

Tuesday saw my first meeting with Paul Galland - my new LEP CEO and someone who will be a huge help to me. Exciting times ahead and I am hugely grateful to Coventry CC and Warwickshire CC for giving me Paul's services.

Tuesday night saw a dinner at the awesome Heritage Motor Museam for Todays Group - what a venue ! I also saw the very funny Aaron James - a comedian who I will continue to recommend.

Thursday saw a visit to CPP in Coventry - who make a variety of supercars. Brendan O'Toole is so enthusiastic and I wish him well in his endeavours to build an iconic centre for supercars - the best in the World. He deserves success.

Today I was up at 5.30am getting ready to speak at a LEP Local event at Warwick, We had 120 people there which was amazing. Jeremy Wright MP and Chris White MP also attended and I think the event was enjoyed by all. We have some key things we need to do and "Jobs and Growth" are at the sharp end of all our thoughts.

Enjoy the weekend - I am off to Stratford Town Football Club to open their Childrens Academy and donate some 100 shirts to the kids. www.stfcacademy.com

Defender D100 concept

2011-09-18T10:40:00.000-07:00

Click here for video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMH-Y2Wt-nI&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jcwG23-AFM

A manic but fun week

2011-09-16T12:00:00.000-07:00

A completely manic week this week but a fun one. A Range Rover Evoque to whisk me around too !

Friday was the launch of Stratford Vision by Nadhim Zahawi MP. This is a group that I have set up to promote progress in Stratford-upon-Avon. Leading business owners have joined the group and we hope to push ahead with many ideas and improvements. Will Hanrahan is Chairman and members include Vikki Heywood, Diana Owen, and Stratford District Council. Details at http://www.stratfordvision.com/

Monday started with a top-to-top LEP meeting at Westminster with MPs - a unique quarterly meeting that has been set up by Nadhim Zahawi MP for LEP Chair to brief MPs on LEP matters. Coventry & Warwickshire continues to push ahead with many initiatives - the addition of two new key board members. We welcome George Gillespie - CEO of Mira and Les Caborn Deputy Leader of Warwick District Council.

George will soon be creating 2500 jobs within his Enterprise Zone and we look forward to WDC helping to grow up to 14,000 jobs at Coventry Gateway Business Park.

Also on Monday I got to try out a Range Rover Evoque - wow what an awesome vehicle. I have got it for 2 weeks and already in a few days covered 500 miles in it. I can highly recommend this car - it really is a winner and a gem of British manufacturing. It is surprising how large the inside is - try it - you'll see.

Tuesday a top-to-top with SC Johnson - a great meeting and lots of things to look forward to with a focus on growth.

Weds - our Board Day and a full 9 hours of meetings - a long day but with a great team around me an exciting one. We are ahead of last year so let's hope we can keep that going. After a long day a rush down to London again and back to Westminster for the LEP.

The first LEP Network event was held not far from Westminster and was excellently run by David Frost. Senior ministers included Greg Clark, Philip Hammond, Vince Cable and Eric Pickles. We all had the opportunity to ask plenty of questions. All were very supportive of LEPs and announced that more local decision manking will take place. Local decisions are best made by local people and businesses.

Eric Pickles was on top form and made some really good points. He said that LEPs have their chance to make a difference - its your time - just do it. The Government are keen work with Leps to make it happen.
John Mutton joined me for the day and it was a good example of public and private sectors supporting eachother and working well together. Long gone are the divisions between public and private sectors.

Then off to the Lakes for a well earned day off. Having met the leader of the Cumbria LEP - I am keen to see how the Lake District can greate jobs and growth - quite different from Coventry & Wariwckshire.

DCS investing ! .....and in tough economic times.

2011-09-03T00:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a great day at DCS. One for the history books.

To have a supporter and good friend Nadhim Zahawi MP for Stratford-on-Avon come and open our £500,000 investment in growth and jobs meant alot to me.

He was an entrepreneur himself and is now a politician and I have huge respect for that - someone who has gone from the buzz and speed of an entrepreneurial business into Government deserves a medal !

For entrepreneurs to have recognition from the Goverment is important - we are making big efforts to grow the UK economy and appreciate it when MPs come and visit our businesses.
I am on a mission in life and that is to make change quickly - I am often frustrated at how slow the Government works and how the Public sector hides behind policy documents which take years to create - eg Local Plans. Nadhim and our Government are trying to change all that and trying to break down barriers to growth but sadly with an infrastructure in the public sector that is created to manufacture red tape - it could take a while ...even possibly my lifetime !

I was also hugely encouraged that a representative from DCLG came to our opening day and on her holiday! Cathy Francis is one of the most cheerful and positive people I know and it was a pleasure to show her around DCS. She is also very good at her job which is evident but I admire the way that she connects with people - a credit to DCLG as is her colleague Nick Tennant.

Our 60 guests were split one third business people, one third public sector and one third friends. I feel these three groups have been most important to me in my role in 1) growing a business, 2) helping our LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership) and 3) my private life. The groups were deliberatlely split equally.

They are of course all friends and that is why they were invited. To those that were not ....it was not a snub just lack of space and capacity on the day. 60 was as many as we could cope with on tours and at the same time continue to run the business.

What have we done ?

They say that when the going gets tough it will be Britain's entrepreneurs that will come up with the jobs and growth.
Well instead of cutting budgets and saving money - we have invested in parts of our business that are growing.

We have a focus called "follow the money" - that means invest in areas that are growing.

The market is changing so fast that not only do you need to be alert but you need to follow the new trends...and do it quickly.

We need to be ahead of the game or at the very least up with it.

That is why we make a big effort to be on twitter, on linkedin, doing web sales, running 40 websites and indeed writing this blog. The internet is a massive communication method in this modern world - like it or not - it's there and you cannot afford to ignore it.. (Talking about the internet - I have signed up to stumbleupon.com - it's great fun and very interesting - please try it.)

Back to our opening day.

So we have invested in Manufacturing, DCS Repacking, Export, High Street Discount and Technology.

We have a customer focussed strategy - this means we do as much as we can for our customers - in this case we have spent £500,000 on really making things better for our customers - more staff, more facilities to create ...more business.

Manufacturing - because I believe we have to manufacture in Britain. My investment is now up to £4 million in manufacturing and guess what - orders are up, we are busy and we are making profits - so yes it was a great idea 3 years ago to open a brand new factory here in Stratford-upon-Avon.

DCS Repacking - this is now quite a business. Brands that have engaged into bespoke packs are winning huge sales and more importantly new sales. From a few people to now over 50 employees - this business is a winner. We have built a brand new repacking centre of around 5000 sq ft. The need for bespoke packs is growing and our customers love their own exclusive products. Argos, Debenhams, Makro, Halfords are just a few that benefit from DCS Repacking.

Export - well our exports are booming. We are seeing growth in all areas of the world and our systems are now so efficient we can process an export order as quickly as a UK order. So it does not matter if you are in London or Fiji .....we can process and ship immediately. Yes we have suffered from the changes in Egypt and Libya but these countries will come back stronger after those changes - we are already shipping orders to Libya with rockets and bullets firing off in streets!

High Street Discount - we are strong believers of reviving the high street. Ok you may not like lots of pound shops but this is where people are spending their money. We are supporting High Street Discounters with increased resource and brand new offices to accomodate 30 people.

Technology - as many people know this is my hobby. I started www.enable.com over ten years ago and we go from success to success.

We make a huge effort in DCS to be leading edge - you do have to make an effort - it does not just happen. We now have some very sophisticated software that is "game changing" in the wholesale industry. We also operate Apple Ipads to eliminate paper and have some of the latest merchandising software on iphones. So we have spent over £100,000 in technology.

On reflection from our opening day - great to do it because it made us really smarten up the site. Our teams worked tirelessly on every minute detail - we even hoovered some of the car park ! The result was a perfect day that ran like clockwork.

There was one surreal moment when during my speech - a lorry turned up, followed by a train going past and then a barge chugging by ! Perhaps an indication that DCS is a hub of varying forms of transport or were they just timed perfectly !?

The feedback was excellent. I am hugely proud of our 250 staff - it is not always easy to connect with 250 people but I have huge respect for the hard work they do.

Many people commented : the DCS "can do" attitude exudes in our staff who come accross as happy, cheerful and excited to work in such a fun and entrepreneurial environment.

For me - that is what it's all about ........

CLICK HERE - for photos

UK Riots - the speed of it was the scary part

2011-08-15T04:51:00.000-07:00

Of course news travels fast - as I arrived in the USA for my summer vacation I was greeted by "I bet you're glad to be here after all those riots in London".

Bad news always travels fast and with the internet and mobile technology - video images can be broadcast worldwide in seconds.

Certainly the UK riots have damaged our worldwide reputation.

Many Americans do not travel that much and if they do its within a few hours of their own country. They are quite nervous of foreign countries and the thoughts of violence and looting in the UK will no doubt stop people from visiting. We will lose tourist dollars to countries they now percieve as safer.

Combine that with the 2012 Olympics and really "it could not have happened at a worse time".

The reason why we won London 2012 was that we are going to hold our Olympics in a run down part of London due to be regenerated - actually not far from Tottenham where the riots started. We now have a much bigger problem to deal with. The social problems that has caused these people to run amok on our streets run deeper than we may imagine. Single parent families, lack of employment, our generous welfare system and anarchy- its a cocktail of many things that caused those thousands of people to loot shops and burn buildings.

A moment we all wish to forget but one that haunts us. If you dial 999 you expect to be safe and someone will surely come to the rescue.

It took us all by surprise including the Police who at one stage seemed completely out of control - unable to stop the thousands of people running riot. They ran down streets stealing and torching everything in their path - a human tornado. There one minute and gone the next. Only the video footage to catch the faces of the evil doers.

Would it have happened in America ? Well all I can say is that every American Police officer carries a gun and that creates both respect and fear in the population. They are armed and if you make trouble you risk getting shot. The Police here are much more forceful.

The average UK Police officer is not confronted by such violence. The worst in 30 years some said - certainly in their career. To be confronted by such extreme would take anyone by suprise.

So the UK Govt and law enforcement now look over the video footage and we al try and work out how to "fix things".

In the meantime tens of millions in damage and hundreds of millions in reputation damage and losses in tourism. Over 48,000 businesses were affected and many of those were independents - some may never recover http://www.businesszone.co.uk/topic/finances/one-10-all-retail-businesses-affected-riots-65-are-independents/36465?ref=ukbf

It just shows - we think we are all safe - we say "Oh its not near us" ..... we think we live in a civilised society. However when the riots come to your high street or even worse your home - you are filled with shock and sheer panic.

The sight of losing everything and having your home or business burned is a rude awakening to what can happen in seconds and without warning.

6th August 2011

2011-08-06T06:58:00.000-07:00

So as we all look forward to a well earned rest ...bang ..the stock markets falter and the USA loses its AAA credit rating. In the foreground to all this the bankers continue to pay massive bonuses and throw lavish parties.

China delivers a stark message and we all wonder what happens next - http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/06/crisis-idUSLDE77504C20110806

How does this affect us mere mortals you might ask ...well time will tell. Companies who's values have dropped will tighten their belts once again. For most of us the sun continues to rise and we all get up for work as usual ......

Last week was an exciting one - I have set up Hems Co with three others and we have found a way to get hospitals to build emergency helipads for helicopters at a reduced rate.

Most people don't know that emergency helicopters often have to land in a park or on a road when delivering a patient to a hodpital. This loses vital minutes and of course results in deaths. By landing right at the A&E department will save hundreds of lives.

Some hospitals such as the one on the Isle of Wight need a helipad so that when the ferry stops running at night emergency patients can be transferred by helicopter - otherwise you currently have to wait till the morning - scary!

A meeting with Birmingham LEP Chairman Andy Street was very positive and I got a chance to see Specialist Computer Centres (SCC) owned by Sir Peter Rigby - what an awesome business and well done to Peter.

A quick visit to my old friends at Mushtaqs Indian food centre brought back memories of my childhood in India - this place is a gem on the Stratford Road in Sparkhill. Always doing a roaring business. Their Chicken Pakora is the best on the planet...and their Rasmalai a dream. Once a year is a good frequency for me!

Lots happening at DCS as always - we are preparing for an opening day next month with Nadhim Zahawi MP who will open some new developments. A brochure, gifts, tour details - we have to dot the i's and cross the t's. Just realised we need 50 sets of overalls to look around the factory.

Met with the Orchestra of the Swan and David Curtis and Richard Smith - what great people. We are looking for sponsors ...who isn't. The orchestra is becoming very famous and has some amazing concerts coming up. click here

Next weeks sees a meeting with Paul Eden who runs Stratford Town juniors football. We are launching a DCS Junior football academy and need to come up with a plan.

Bank of England are visiting and some other LEP meetings - all good stuff. We still await to hear on the Enterprise Zone .....fingers crossed.

What is a LEP ?

2011-07-25T02:39:00.001-07:00

LEP video

7 personality traits of top salespeople - HBR

2011-07-24T06:20:00.000-07:00

1. Modesty. Contrary to conventional stereotypes that successful salespeople are pushy and egotistical, 91 percent of top salespeople had medium to high scores of modesty and humility. Furthermore, the results suggest that ostentatious salespeople who are full of bravado alienate far more customers than they win over.
Selling Style Impact: Team Orientation. As opposed to establishing themselves as the focal point of the purchase decision, top salespeople position the team (presales technical engineers, consulting, and management) that will help them win the account as the centerpiece.
2. Conscientiousness. Eighty-five percent of top salespeople had high levels of conscientiousness, whereby they could be described as having a strong sense of duty and being responsible and reliable. These salespeople take their jobs very seriously and feel deeply responsible for the results.
Selling Style Impact: Account Control. The worst position for salespeople to be in is to have relinquished account control and to be operating at the direction of the customer, or worse yet, a competitor. Conversely, top salespeople take command of the sales cycle process in order to control their own destiny.
3. Achievement Orientation. Eighty-four percent of the top performers tested scored very high in achievement orientation. They are fixated on achieving goals and continuously measure their performance in comparison to their goals.

Selling Style Impact: Political Orientation. During sales cycles, top sales, performers seek to understand the politics of customer decision-making. Their goal orientation instinctively drives them to meet with key decision-makers. Therefore, they strategize about the people they are selling to and how the products they're selling fit into the organization instead of focusing on the functionality of the products themselves.
4. Curiosity. Curiosity can be described as a person's hunger for knowledge and information. Eighty-two percent of top salespeople scored extremely high curiosity levels. Top salespeople are naturally more curious than their lesser performing counterparts.
Selling Style Impact: Inquisitiveness. A high level of inquisitiveness correlates to an active presence during sales calls. An active presence drives the salesperson to ask customers difficult and uncomfortable questions in order to close gaps in information. Top salespeople want to know if they can win the business, and they want to know the truth as soon as possible.
5. Lack of Gregariousness. One of the most surprising differences between top salespeople and those ranking in the bottom one-third of performance is their level of gregariousness (preference for being with people and friendliness). Overall, top performers averaged 30 percent lower gregariousness than below average performers.
Selling Style Impact: Dominance. Dominance is the ability to gain the willing obedience of customers such that the salesperson's recommendations and advice are followed. The results indicate that overly friendly salespeople are too close to their customers and have difficulty establishing dominance.
6. Lack of Discouragement. Less than 10 percent of top salespeople were classified as having high levels of discouragement and being frequently overwhelmed with sadness. Conversely, 90 percent were categorized as experiencing infrequent or only occasional sadness.
Selling Style Impact: Competitiveness. In casual surveys I have conducted throughout the years, I have found that a very high percentage of top performers played organized sports in high school. There seems to be a correlation between sports and sales success as top performers are able to handle emotional disappointments, bounce back from losses, and mentally prepare themselves for the next opportunity to compete.
7. Lack of Self-Consciousness. Self-consciousness is the measurement of how easily someone is embarrassed. The byproduct of a high level of self-consciousness is bashfulness and inhibition. Less than five percent of top performers had high levels of self-consciousness.

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/06/the_seven_personality_traits_o.html?cm_sp=most_widget-_-default-_-Seven%20Personality%20Traits%20of%20Top%20Salespeople

Cov & Warks Enterprise Zone - July 2011

2011-07-24T06:17:00.000-07:00

A NEW Enterprise Zone for Coventry and Warwickshire will be the most significant driver for economic development in the area for many years, the area's Local Enterprise Partnership has said.

The LEP is pinning its hopes on the Government approving its proposal for an EZ based on land adjacent to Coventry Airport and the Tollbar A45/A46 junction.

The proposal would take advantage of the £250m regeneration of the airport being proposed by new owner Sir Peter Rigby.

The Government's deadline for submissions for the second round of EZ bidding expired at the end of June. In total 27 bids have been submitted from LEPs around the country - six in the West Midlands.

Denys Shortt, chairman of the Coventry and Warwickshire LEP, said: "The Coventry and Warwickshire Gateway Enterprise Zone is the most important business development to in our region for many years. We believe we have an extremely strong case for an Enterprise Zone, which meets all the Government criteria and more.

"This exciting development will create up to 14,000 new jobs; 4,000 of which will be accelerated. These much needed job opportunities will match the existing as well as future skills of the local population. Also, because this zone is of such strategic importance to our entire sub-region, it will unlock the potential of several other major development and job creating schemes, which are raring to go."

He said the location was perfect for helping to stimulate the Coventry and Warwickshire economy. It would attract successful companies to expand to high-quality accommodation, benefiting from EZ incentives such as lower rates and high speed broadband.

"Not only will the plan see the creation of business parks offering great employment opportunities but the development of the gateway itself will be a key economic driver for the future of Coventry and Warwickshire," added Mr Shortt.

The bid was boosted by the 11th hour support of Warwick District Council, which voted unanimously to back the LEP proposal.

If successful, the land designated will benefit from other measures including exemption from business rates for five years and from a simplified planning system.http://www.cwlep.com/Default.aspx?id=519377

CW Enterprise Zone on BBC News

2011-07-24T06:15:00.000-07:00

Twenty Questions - Denys Shortt

2011-06-05T13:57:00.000-07:00

Denys Shortt Chairman and CEO of DCS Europe and chairman of Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership.

1) Where did you grow up?

Assam in India on tea plantations – then Uganda and Kenya

2) Which school did you attend?

Eagle House Prep School in Surrey as a boarder then Warwick School

3) Did you go to university? If so, where – and what did you study?

Did not go

4) What was your first job?

Ice cream bicycle in Stratford-upon-Avon

5) What was your first wage?

£2 an hour probably

6) What car do you drive?

Range Rover TDV8

7) Where do you live – and how far do you have to commute?

Cotswolds – near Broadway – 35 minutes each day

8) What has been the highlight of your career so far?

Hosting a conference with the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister – sat between them on stage!

9) And what has been the low point?

RBS Bank pulling funding from my business four years ago when the recession hit

10) What is the biggest challenge you have faced in life?

Growing DCS over £100 million – that was a difficult barrier

11) What are your ultimate career aspirations?

To take DCS to £200 million and to make Coventry and Warwickshire LEP a huge success

12) What are your goals for the year ahead?

£135 million sales for DCS/£2 million sales for Enable Software and success with the CW LEP

13) What is the biggest challenge facing school, college and university leavers today?

Getting a job

14) What is the biggest challenge facing Coventry & Warwickshire right now?

Our own fear – we need to focus on the positive and get out there and win

15) What is needed most to help businesses?

Money – the banks need to lend, less red tape and the removal of barriers to growth

16) What do you like doing in your time away from the workplace?

Flying a helicopter and being with my cattle!

17) What was the last book you read?

No time for books... I read Harvard Business Review

18) Where was your last holiday?

Bangaram Island off the coast of India

19) Where would your dream holiday be?

Bangaram Island

20) Finally, work to live or live to work?

Work to live. I love work – I am a workaholic, however, I also love to live life. My philosophy is ‘What you believe.... you create’

Update on juggling 99 balls!

2011-06-05T13:39:00.000-07:00

Been busy of late and working out how to find time to write on this blog.

I have uploaded Flipboard to my Ipad2 and must say that has made life easier with Twitter and catching up on reading. Really a great product.

LinkedIn continues to rock ! Have made so many contacts on there and thank you to those that bother to link and then create some contact. It's an awesome tool.

Life at DCS is very busy - lots happening and all good.

The factory is getting really busy - http://www.dcsmanufacturing.com/ and exports still flying http://www.dcsexport.com/

http://www.enliven.co.uk/ has doubled this year and we have a great new luxury range out.

Have moved http://www.petshopbowl.co.uk/ onto the DCS site ...watch this space.

http://www.cwlep.com/ continues to be busy and probably doing this at least one day per week and most nights !

Some exciting stuff elsewhere but not enough time to write. Check the news pages at http://www.dcseurope.com/

People are not Cogs ....HBR

2011-06-05T13:34:00.001-07:00

Every day I go to meetings where language suggests people are cogs.
With peers in a few CEO roundtables, I've heard things like: "I plan on hiring 3 biz dev people to get $345K per headcount in revenues." After publishing a book about closing the execution gap by focusing on the "peopley" stuff, CEOs of major companies took me aside (in a friendly way) to suggest I had made a major faux pas, and would be seen as having gone "soft." In spite of a forest's worth of academic papers and rafts of best practices published by the likes of HBR on the importance of the "soft" stuff, most companies continue to treat people as inputs in a production line. I've had leaders ask me if this "people engagement thing" is something that can be added on, after the core business stuff is done, sort of like adding frosting to a cupcake.

read the rest here

Turn failure into fodder !

2011-03-27T01:27:00.000-07:00

Contrary to myth, entrepreneurs are not reckless gamblers. True, risky business is an intrinsic aspect of pushing the innovation envelope. But it’s important to train entrepreneurs to fail small, fast, and cheaply. Inexpensive failures don’t make headlines—and don’t cause embarrassment or shame. Policy makers can support the training of entrepreneurs in risk-mitigation strategies and skills.
http://hbr.org/2011/04/column-entrepreneurs-and-the-cult-of-failure/ar/1

Nine Things Successful People Do Differently

2011-03-27T01:24:00.000-07:00

Why have you been so successful in reaching some of your goals, but not others? If you aren't sure, you are far from alone in your confusion. It turns out that even brilliant, highly accomplished people are pretty lousy when it comes to understanding why they succeed or fail. The intuitive answer — that you are born predisposed to certain talents and lacking in others — is really just one small piece of the puzzle. In fact, decades of research on achievement suggests that successful people reach their goals not simply because of who they are, but more often because of what they do.

to read more click here http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/02/nine_things_successful_people.html

UK Planning laws gone mad ?

2011-03-19T05:47:00.000-07:00

Much debate is taking place in Local Enterprise Partnerships with regard to planning.

At the Conservative spring forum in Cardiff David Cameron identified three groups as 'enemies of enterprise':

• "The bureaucrats in government departments who concoct those ridiculous rules and regulations that make life impossible, particularly for small firms."
• "The town hall officials who take for ever with those planning decisions that can be make or break for a business – and the investment and jobs that go with it."
• "The public sector procurement managers who think that the answer to everything is a big contract with a big business and who shut out millions of Britain's small- and medium-sized companies from a massive potential market."

Well I have first hand experience and not once but two times......too much of a coincidence I feel :

Tewks Bor Council - Applied to replace a conservatory which is falling down due to old age. No big extension ..just a few metres. The planner said - no problem it should sail through - no objections from anyone. 6 weeks later - I am asked to withdraw it and provide an agricultural report ..cost £600 ! The report is about my cows and how many I have ...yes ..you may well ask what has that got to do with an extension ? Well apparently if my herd increases I can have another bedroom ! Planning gone mad !
Despite the best plans - we are now 4 months on and yesterday and email ...."planning refused"

More cost....more advice which will probably be contradicted ....the joys. Oh of course I can be furious ...but what would that achieve ?

Second example ...replace a pile of rubble with a small 2 car garage in Cumbria - an oak garage which will improve a site and give valuable revenue to the local builder and economy. Delayed at 6 weeks for a bat survey ! Cost £500.

The pile of rubble has no bats ...did the planners not take a look ? ...oh ....I understand that a site visit is not done nowadays. So I pay for a bat survey for absolutely no reason !

Delay 3 months and the builders badly need the work in Cumbria ...the economy needs a boost after the floods and snow.

Do I agree with Cameron ?

- a resounding YES !

People need to get their extensions ...it will drive them to the shops to buy furniture and carpets and curtains ....they will aspire for another extension or a new house ...its the cycle .....do the planners understand ? Oh I forgot they don't run a business do they !

The planning authority and local council needs to be measured on growth and job creation.

....and not become fun sponges and stall everything with their mind games.

British Airways customer service - very scary !

2011-03-16T09:29:00.000-07:00

Bahrain clearly not the best place for a Entrepreneur of the Year Conference - so I have just had 5 days of hell trying to change my flight from Bahrain to Dubai.

Been passed from one person to another at British Airways Gold Card Customer service and no-one remembers the last call.

No help despite speaking directly to Martin Broughtons office apart from giving me a telephone number where I cannot dial an extension but am left in the BA automated queue system which gets a 10 out of 10 for frustrating !

Finally reaching a human I asked - why do you give extension numbers out when customers cannot dial them ! - oh extension numbers don't work on our automated system

Maybe someone should tell the CEO !

They continue ...by the way .....you are through to Newcastle and you need to be speaking to someone in Manchester .....arrrggghhh !

I am not sure that BA realise we pay to travel on their aircraft !

Despite spending a fortune on flights I find I may as well be a nobody. If I moved all my business to another airline they probably wouldn't notice or indeed ...even care.

Denys

5 ways to overcome the fear of chasing your dream !

2011-03-15T13:45:00.001-07:00

See article

http://blogs.forbes.com/stevenberglas/2011/03/15/five-ways-to-overcome-the-fear-of-chasing-your-dream-2/

one for the album ....

2011-03-13T14:01:00.001-07:00

9 ways to test an entrepreneurial idea ...

2011-03-13T13:59:00.001-07:00

Worth a read

http://blogs.hbr.org/anthony/2011/03/60_minutes_to_a_more_innovativ.html

Facebook is the largest news organisation ever !

2011-03-13T13:58:00.000-07:00

When Facebook emerged, many lamented, "Who would be interested in this trivia: the fact your train broke down, your coffee was extra-strong, your new job is a hassle, or that your kids had the flu?" The answer is: you. You have consumed this information for years by just talking to friends and coworkers. You are not interested in this kind of information from people you don't know, but you are interested in it from people you do know. But until Facebook came along, no one had figured how to sell ads while your friends and family were talking to you.

More here http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/03/facebook_is_the_largest_news_o.html

National Local Enterprise Summit in Coventry & Warwickshire

2011-03-07T14:13:00.000-08:00

When I suggested a month ago it would be great to hold a National Local Enterprise Summit in Coventry and Warwickshire it was a dream to think it actually might happen.

Thirty days later and here we are ......its happened !

This is perhaps an indication of how the new Government LEP system creates opportunity for us all and for those that wish to step up to the plate and propose a good idea - you can simply make it happen!

The Summit was well attended with over 120 delegates and with some very special guests. We were honoured to have the Prime Minister - David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister - Nick Clegg give up over a hour of their time to address us and answer our questions.

We were also honoured to have several senior Cabinet Members and Ministers including Dr Vince Cable, Eric Pickles, Mark Prisk and Greg Clark who attended the whole event plus several other ministers who took out time to meet private and public sector leaders.

LEPs are the new way that the Government has enabled businesses to get directly involved with our future and with an aim to create growth and jobs. Businesses of course are aiming to do that anyway - but it's great to see the Government encouraging us to have some involvement and allowing us to make some decisions that are good for growth.

We are working together with the public sector and the Universities I can see some great things coming ...watch this space.

The LEPs create an fantastic opportunity for members of the public, small business owners in fact everyone to "have their say".

Full details of what is happening in our region Coventry & Warwickshire are shown at http://www.cwlep.com/

The 2 hours whisked past - we had presentations from three LEPs followed by four break out sessions and final questions to the panel.

All in all a superb day and well organised by the CWLEP with DCLG and BIS.

The venue (The Ricoh Arena) was simply excellent and Daniel Gidney CEO pulled all the stops out to produce a memorable day.

All in all - lots of positive vibes - the proof however will be in what we have achieved in 12 months time.

Here is a photo I will treasure ......four people with a "can do" attitude !

Meeting at DCLG - Department of Communities and Local Government

2011-02-19T03:16:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was in London at DCLG (Dept for Communities and Local Govt) for a meeting of LEP Chairs from around the country. This was my first meeting there and I found it very helpful.
Held in the Press Conference Room at DCLG it was well attended with around 35 people in the room. The meeting was led superbly by Philip Cox (Director at DCLG) and helped by Cathy Francis.
Key topics were Skills, Planning and Access to Finance. Some really great new ideas from around the table. My request for planning in 7 weeks throughout our region is still on the table.

We do not want to get too hung up on planning so I mentioned some of the other important areas our CWLEP is looking at like Tourism, Automotive & High Tech Manufacturing, Innovation, Town Centre businesses, IT & Creative, Low Carbon, Farming and Rural Business and Small business.

We discussed trying to remove the burden of red tape from small business.... we know a small business owner needs to focus on growing his business not filling in forms.

A few things have struck me since the meeting :

a) confidence - we need to build confidence in businesses especially small business. We have too much doom and gloom in our newspapers and we need to focus on all the good things happening - there is plenty.

As an entrepreneur I have to focus on standing next to radiators and not the drains !

Action : - today I have created a page for Business News on the cwlep.com website. This will be populated with all the good business news in the region.

b) changing a 20 year mindset.

We are working with a public sector that has become bloated over the last 20 years and that has so many "non-jobs" as yesterdays Telegraph described it. To try and reduce cost and to try and lose weight is challenging and needs a change of mindset.

All areas of the public sector are beginning to understand that it is business that pays rates, pays taxes, creates employees who also pay taxes and all of that funds the public sector.

We have to have a vibrant business community and jobs growth to create increased public sector revenues.

We need to encourage business owners. We need to listen to them and reward them - perhaps with some reinvestment of their business rates in their immediate area ?

When a business wants planning permission on an industrial estate - if it makes good sense why not let the businesses in that town decide ?

c) I have discovered that Local authority cuts are very political. They cut things that will not lose votes and not necessarily what a businessman would look at.

An example if you were to cut grass cutting, or street lighting or recycling - any cuts to these would lose votes. However we have many recycling centres and I bet if you counted the visitors per week some only have a handful. But these are vote winners.

So where do the cuts happen ? One area that gets hit is economic investment. The creation of jobs is a slow burn and something that the public do not think about daily. The public do not write letters about economic investment. So perhaps easier target for cuts or less investement ?

Therein lies a challenge for all LEPs ! If the government want business people to help run LEPs they have to give us the right funding and people to make it happen.

I am pleased to say the public sector in the CW LEP region recognise this and Martin Reeves and Louise Wall are working well together as our LEP executive in creating and leading our "engine room".

At the end of the day - delivery and results will be the key measure.

It is for all of us!

How to design a winning business model

2011-02-19T01:54:00.000-08:00

From Harvard Business Review
Strategy has been the primary building block of competitiveness over the past three decades, but in the future, the quest for sustainable advantage may well begin with the business model. While the convergence of information and communication technologies in the 1990s resulted in a short-lived fascination with business models, forces such as deregulation, technological change, globalization, and sustainability have rekindled interest in the concept today. Since 2006, the IBM Institute for Business Value’s biannual Global CEO Study has reported that senior executives across industries regard developing innovative business models as a major priority. A 2009 follow-up study reveals that seven out of 10 companies are engaging in business-model innovation, and an incredible 98% are modifying their business models to some extent. Business model innovation is undoubtedly here to stay.
To continue reading this article - click below
http://hbr.org/2011/01/how-to-design-a-winning-business-model/ar/1

Meeting Eric Pickles

2011-02-19T01:33:00.000-08:00

The progress of the Coventry and Warwickshire
Local Enterprise Partnership has been outlined to the architect of the initiative.

Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, was the main driving force behind the establishment of LEPs which are designed to allow the public and private sector to work together to grow the local economy.

LEP board member Craig Humphrey, leader of Rugby Borough Council, arranged for chairman Denys Shortt to meet Pickles and outline how the initiative was working in Coventry and Warwickshire.

Shortt said: “It is early days in the life of all LEPs but we do feel we have made good progress on a number of fronts and we felt it was important that the minister received that feedback.

“We ran him through our board and the quality we feel we have from both private and public sectors, outlined the way we have liaised with business through the Chamber and the FSB, and the progress underway on subjects such as access for finance and tourism.

“But while we think we have moved swiftly, it is the next weeks and months which will determine how successful we will be. We have set the foundations but now we need to keep building.”

Humphrey is one of public sector representatives on the LEP board.

He said: “This is a strong Government initiative but it is always key that the decision makers are given accurate feedback, and that is what we were able to do with the minister.

“We also promised to keep him updated on any future developments and successes.”

Eric Pickles, said: “It was good to learn of the real progress that is being made in Coventry and Warwickshire.

“The LEP has identified business issues and is addressing them head on and really trying to remove the barriers to growth.

“It just the start we would have wanted, and found the update very useful.”

Why smash up a brand new plane ?

2011-01-27T02:45:00.001-08:00

This is an interesting article on BBC news and one that will provoke lots of comment !

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12281640

Where have all the small shops gone ?

2011-01-20T03:02:00.001-08:00

The Labour party have departed from control, but the pain is still felt, particularly when it comes to supermarket expansion ........or 'The Great Space Race' as the BBC called it in their Panorama programme.

None of us are probably at all surprised that 577 superstores were given planning permission in the past two years. However the BBC clearly thought it was important enough to make a whole programme on it!

In the 80s and 90s leading executives from Britain's Wholesalers and small shop federations have made their frequent visits to the government departments.

They listened but did nothing - cheap food was and still remains their focus.

Over time ministers began to appreciate the superstore's
efficiencies - they offered consumers better quality foodstuffs and more choice in brighter stores and at significantly decreasing prices in fact, figures from 2009 show that household spend on food fell from 18.1 % in 1979 to 9.7 % in 2009.
We all admire the multiples - indeed we learn from their excelleng business model and focussed strategic plans.

Consumers in their hearts want to support their village store as we all do but the reality is they also love their large supermarket chain.

Price is everything in Britain's hard economic climate.

So what is the solution ?

Well we just need to keep on fighting. Small shops need to offer better and better shopping environments, better prices and better service. Customer focus is key here. An example of someone doing this is Guy Warner at his stores which are growing and performing well http://www.warnersbudgens.co.uk/

The shops need to earn local customers' support.

Wow - what a factory !!

2011-01-11T09:14:00.000-08:00

Interesting ,,,,social buying groups .....

2011-01-02T19:36:00.000-08:00

Social buying boom attracts big-name investors

By Jorn Madslien Business reporter, BBC News

Daily discounts ensure customers keep on coming back for more

In a time when most people's inboxes are filled with spam e-mails offering supposedly "special deals", it would be natural to expect serious companies to steer clear of such annoying marketing efforts.

Yet in this murky sea of unwanted electronic communication, a fast-growing phenomenon has floated to the surface during 2010.
Social buying sites, such as Groupon, BuyWithMe and LivingSocial, offer discount deals on everything from sky-diving and fish pedicures to teeth whitening and restaurant meals.
During the last year or so, they have won over millions of sceptical customers in cities across the world and their expansion is set to continue at a rapid pace into next year.
Investor endorsement
The sites' ballooning customer bases have attracted major cash-injections from household names, with other eagle-eyed investors eager to get involved.

Vouchers are sold by social buying sites, which take a cut of the proceeds

Google recently had a $6bn (£3.9bn) offer for market leader Groupon turned down and is currently on the prowl looking for other social buying takeover targets - soon after it linked up with eBay for a cross-marketing initiative.
LivingSocial recently secured a $175m investment from Amazon, reportedly valuing the company at $1bn.
Social buying executives see investor interest as endorsement of their business model.
"It has legs and it looks sustainable," insists Eric Eichman, chief operating officer of LivingSocial.
'Media model'
Various social buying sites operate in slightly different ways, but they all deliver customers to retailers in return for a cut of the total revenue, and they build customer bases by offering good deals.

Business horizons

The year behind us, the year ahead

Read reviews and predictions

"We offer the consumer a great deal they can't get anywhere else and deliver the sales directly to the merchant," explains Rob Solomon, Groupon president and chief operating officer.

BuyWithMe says it "connects savvy shoppers with the best deals and offers from local businesses in their city", while Groupon says "collective buying" enables it to "offer deals that make it very difficult to say no".
"Think of it as a media model," says LivingSocial's Mr Eichman. "Customers will stay as long as the deals are good."
Daily discounts

“Start Quote

It's the ultimate in performance-measured advertising”

End Quote Eric Eichman LivingSocial

LivingSocial's business model is typical.

The visible side of its business is easy enough to grasp. Localised daily e-mail offers go out to subscribers in 125 cities around the world. The discounts are valid for 24 hours, until the next e-mail is sent.
Customers tempted by a deal - for instance, a 53% discount on a River Thames speedboat tour - pay Living Social the £23 discounted price in return for a voucher.
"You're buying today, but you don't have to use the service tomorrow," explains Mr Eichman, pointing out that typically the voucher will be valid for a year.
LivingSocial will then pay the merchant directly, after taking a cut.
"We share the proceeds," Mr Eichman says.
That cut is basically the price that the merchant pays to get access to LivingSocial's customer base - though they only pay if customers actually buy something.
"It's the ultimate in performance-measured advertising," Mr Eichman insists.
'Customer acquisition'

Local companies use social buying sites to attract more companies

LivingSocial's cost side is equally simple.
It pays its 550 members of staff (up from just 10 a year ago) to develop and operate the technology - basically a website with a payment facility and daily e-mails to those on its database - and to sign up retailers and service providers willing to offer attractive discounts.
"Our mix of deals needs to be diverse enough to be interesting," says Mr Eichman. "If it's not a great deal, it's not going to work. And if it doesn't work, it's bad all around - for the merchant, for our members and for us."
Good deals on their own are not enough to build a large customer base, however.
In fact, explains Mr Eichman, "customer acquisition" - through advertising, for instance - represents the company's biggest cost.
"Once you build the list, you can get the merchants," he reasons, pointing to how it slowly creates a virtuous spiral.
Simple and lucrative

Social buying sites such as TownHog are expanding fast, though the market is increasingly competitive

Companies such as Google and Amazon could bring different things to the table.
As a retailer, Amazon could bring deals to customers, or a customer base to LivingSocial's merchants.
For its part, Google could bring loyal followers to sales-hungry retailers and service providers.
"Google has a strong relationship with consumers, but they don't have a commercial relationship with consumers," observes Mr Eichman.
So interest in the social buying outfits from large online operators is expected to grow dramatically in 2011 - a year when competition will probably also heat up as operators such as Groop Swoop, TownHog and eWinWin continue to expand, along with ever more new entrants.
Mr Eichman insists barriers to entry have already come up, with newcomers finding it difficult to sign up both merchants and customers.
But given that the business model is both simple and lucrative, it seems likely that many will have a go.

R44 Helicopter - White Knuckle Ride

2011-01-02T13:11:00.000-08:00

This is one good reason to learn to fly !

I did my licence at http://www.heliair.com/

Happy New Year ...an exciting 2011 !

2011-01-01T14:09:00.000-08:00

I have been in the USA for Christmas and New Year and must say that I do find the American "can-do" attitude very refreshing.

The British media seem to focus on the negative and doom and gloom - it's only one day into 2011 and the BBC headlines are full of woe for 2011.

My comment would be "rubbish!" - life is what you make of it.

Denys Shortt named as new Chair of Coventry and Warwickshire LEP

2010-12-18T11:03:00.000-08:00

Leading Warwickshire businessman Denys Shortt is set to be the chair of the new Coventry and Warwickshire local enterprise partnership.

Shortt, founder and chief executive of DCS Europe – the Stratford-based UK market leader in sales and distribution of health, beauty and household brands – is one of five private sector representatives on the LEP and is expected to be chosen as chair next month.

The announcement comes after Bridget Blow was named chair of the Birmingham LEP board and Stewart Towe was given the role in the Black Country.

Shortt founded DCS in 1994 and has built it into a business with annual sales of £125 million. It recently passed the £1 billion sales mark.

The board of the LEP – which will help create the conditions for economic growth – will also be made up of five representatives from the public sector and one each from Coventry University and the University of Warwick

His appointment is expected to be endorsed by a nominations group in January immediately before the LEP officially starts operating.

Shortt’s nomination was discussed at a meeting of business and council leaders.

He said: “This is a very exciting development and there was a very tangible feeling at the meeting that the formation of the LEP is a real opportunity for Coventry and Warwickshire to directly shape our future.

“I am very keen to be involved for that very reason. This area has some very strong selling points but we also have challenges and the formation of the LEP gives us a real chance to determine our own destiny.

“I think it is fair to say that in the early stages of forming the LEP, the public and private sector has to come together more than ever before.

“At the meeting we identified several key objectives – including planning, skills and transportation – and these will be included in a more specific full strategy document which we will create early in the new year.

“There are still some areas which need clarification at a national level, but we believe we are in a good position.

Shortt has recently invested £2 million in a new health and beauty manufacturing plant in Stratford-upon-Avon and now employs more than 200 staff.

Shortt, who played hockey for England, was also the founder of Enable Software, which operates from the same site and employs 16 staff.

Louise Bennett, chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said the latest meeting, which had discussed the make-up of the board, had proved very useful.

She said: “There was a very good exchange of views, from which some very clear priorities emerged.

“Denys has masses of enthusiasm and experience and a proven track record in business. I am sure he will prove to be a very good chairman.”

The meeting was co-hosted by Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire Partnership and the Chamber, and attended by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), which will now invite businesses to join a leaders and stakeholders council which will support the main board.

Bruce Undy, of the FSB, said: “The Government has been very clear that it wants LEPs to be shaped and led by business and it is crucial that we have the input and feedback of local companies of all sizes and from all sectors.”

WARNING - your attention is under seige ! (www.hbr.org)

2010-12-18T11:00:00.001-08:00

So I'm watching "Morning Joe" while running on my treadmill this morning and Mika Brzezinski asks her co-host Joe Scarborough a question. He looks at her blankly. This is live television. Then he acknowledges that he was distracted by something that appeared on the iPad on his desk.
He's not alone.
Do you find your mind wandering at times when people address you?
Do you frequently switch from one activity to another?
Do you have difficulty sustaining attention on a task and are you easily distracted by what's going on around you?
Do you struggle to prioritize and organize activities?
Do you dislike having to do work that requires really intense concentration?
If you were honest, my guess is you answered yes to the majority of those questions — and perhaps to all of them. They also happen to be five of the key symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder.
Who doesn't suffer from them, to one degree or another? What task did you just interrupt to read this blog, for example?
Back in 1971 — the digital dark ages before cell phones, email, Google and the Internet — Nobel Prize winning economist Herbert Simon saw the tsunami coming. "What information consumes is rather obvious," he wrote, presciently. "It consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention."
We're just beginning to recognize that multitasking isn't a solution. The brain is incapable of doing two cognitive tasks at the same time. Instead, it moves back and forth between tasks, sometimes giving us the illusion that we're paying attention to both, when in fact we're missing what's going on in one so long as we're doing the other.
Text while you're driving and you're 23 times as likely to have an accident.
In short, we're absorbing less and less of more and more. When we split our attention between multiple activities — or interrupt ourselves frequently — we lose access to essential details, but also to nuance, subtlety, texture, detail, depth, and richness.
Consider the remarkably common practice of checking and sending emails during meetings, or on conference calls.
"Not everything that's being said is relevant to me," one client told me, recently. "I get the gist."
"How would you know that?" I replied.
The vast majority of clients tell me they have no choice but to interrupt themselves frequently. The expectation is that they'll reply to emails instantly.
Here's the problem: the research suggests that when you shift your attention from a primary task to take on another one, say answering an email, you make more mistakes and it takes longer — often twice as long or more — to finish the initial task.
Make no mistake: there's something seductive and even addictive about the instant gratification that all the new technologies make possible. But there is also a profound difference between pleasure and satisfaction.
Pleasure is cheap. A cheeseburger or a couple of martinis will do the trick. But pleasure doesn't last very long. Satisfaction requires a more significant investment of effort — often to the point of discomfort. The payoff, however, is deeper and more enduring.
Gaining control of our attention — the ability to put it where we want it, and keep it there for sustained periods of time — is a prerequisite to a satisfying life.
Attention is like any other muscle. It grows weaker with disuse. The more we interrupt ourselves, the more distractible we become. But it also gets stronger by training it systematically.
Here are four practices that will help you gain more control of your attention — and your life:

Do the most important thing first every morning, without interruptions, for at least 60 to 90 minutes. It's the ideal way to take charge of your agenda, and get the most challenging work done, with the highest efficiency.
Chunk your email, meaning answer it in batches, rather than continuously through the day. Set aside at least some periods where you turn it off altogether.
Take short breaks through the day — 2 to 3 minutes at first — to close your eyes and practice quieting your mind. Breathe in through your nose to a count of three and out through your mouth to a count of six. The more relaxed you become, the easier it is to focus and the stronger your attentional control will get over time.
As an antidote to surfing the web and churning out emails, texts and tweets, take at least one uninterrupted half an hour in the evening to read a challenging book, or to think reflectively and write in a journal about your day.

If you read all the way to here, that's a start!

Six ways to refuel your energy everyday (www.hbr.org)

2010-12-18T10:58:00.001-08:00

Does demand in your life just keep getting higher, so you're struggling more and more just to keep up? Are you utterly sick of hearing the phrase "do more with less?" Does the word "unsustainable" sound about right?
Human beings aren't meant to operate like computers — at high speeds, continuously, for long periods of time. We're designed to be rhythmic, and to intermittently renew. Here are the six strategies we've found work best:
1. Make sufficient sleep your highest priority.
Far too many of us buy into the myth that one hour less of sleep allows us one more of productivity. In fact, even very small amounts of sleep deprivation significantly undermine capacity for focus, analytic thinking and creativity.
The research is clear: more than 95 per cent of us
require seven to eight hours of sleep in order to be fully rested, and for our brains to optimally embed new learning. Great performers, ranging from musicians to athletes, often get even more than 8 hours.
Two simple strategies can help. The first is to set a specific bedtime and to begin winding down at least 30-45 minutes earlier — avoiding stimulating activities like answering email, and opting instead for more relaxing ones like taking a warm bath, or reading.
The second is to spend a few minutes reviewing what's on your mind before you go to sleep, and then write down anything that's worrying you. What you're doing is effectively parking these concerns so that they don't end up keeping you from falling asleep, or back asleep in the middle of the night.
2. Take a renewal break at least every ninety minutes.
It's now how long you work that determines the value you produce, but rather the energy you bring to whatever hours you work. Likewise, it's not how long you take off that matters most, it's how skillfully you renew.
The first key is to intermittently quiet your physiology. You can dramatically lower your heart rate, your blood pressure and your muscle tension in as little as 30 to 60 second seconds with regular practice.
With your eyes closed, try breathing in through your nose to a count of three, and out through your mouth slowly to a count of six. In this way, you're extending you're recovery. As your body quiets down, your thinking mind will also get quieter and you'll feel more relaxed. For further instruction, go here.
3. Keep a running list of everything — literally everything — that you want or need to do.
The more fully and frequently you download what's on your mind, the less energy you'll squander in fruitless thinking about undone tasks, and the more energy you'll have to be fully present in whatever you're doing.
4. Run up your heart rate or take a nap in the early afternoon.
If your excuse for not exercising regularly is "I don't have time," consider working out during your lunch hour (and yes, you're entitled to one).
There may be no better way to clear the mind, lower anxiety and jump start your energy than by intentionally raising your heart rate into the aerobic or anaerobic zones.
If taking a run or going to a gym is too time consuming, how about taking a brisk 15 to 30 minute walk outside? Or if you're in an office building, how about walking up and down the stairs?
Alternatively, take a 20 to 30 minute nap between 1 and 4 p.m, when most of us feel a wave of fatigue. Researcher Sara Mednick has found that a short nap is not just powerfully restorative, but also prompts significantly higher performance on cognitive tasks in the subsequent several hours, compared to non-nappers.
Few employers sanction naps, but even sitting back in your chair and closing your eyes for a few minutes can be restorative. If you're the boss, get a barcalounger — my own favorite piece of office furniture — and set an example by using it.
5. Practice appreciation — and savoring.
One of the least recognized ways we squander energy is in negative emotions. We're far quicker to notice what's wrong in our lives than what's right.
Look for opportunities to appreciate someone in your life, and share what you're feeling — directly, or in a note. You'll be giving the other person a shot of positive energy, but sharing positive energy will also make you feel better.
Look too for opportunities to appreciate yourself. Take time to savor small victories, give yourself credit where you deserve it, and forgive yourself when you fall short.
6. Develop a transition ritual between work and home.
When we leave the office, many of us carry work with us. The result is that even when we get home, we're still not truly present. Consider establishing a very specific way to disengage from work so you can leave it behind.
The most powerful ritual we've seen clients build is to stop somewhere along the route home, such as a public park, and take a few minutes to let the day go, and to focus on the evening ahead. Turn home back into a place where you're truly getting renewal.

The Top 6 Innovation Ideas for 2011 (www.hbr.org)

2010-12-18T10:56:00.001-08:00

That's right. 2011. These six ideas emerged in 2010 as powerful "innovation invitations" and seem sure to intensify in power and influence. They'll increasingly be a source of, and resource for, innovation differentiation in 2011, if not for your organization, then for the firm you most dread competing against.

1. Contestification
Whether Google Demo Slam or Sprint's App Competition, digital media has become an innovation battleground for customers, clients, prospective partners, and young talent. Frito-Lay has already made competition the cornerstone of its Super Bowl advertising, and Toyota, desperate to remind people what a wonderful corporate citizen it can be, invites aspiring innovators to suggest how the firm's technology can be used for good in unexpected ways. Crowdsourced contestification is becoming institutionalized as a way firms can grow their own innovation nations. If you're not running an innovative innovation contest to invite participation and build brand, then you're reacting to your competitor's competition. Will your contest be competitive with their contest? Who's running it? Who's judging it? Who's winning it?

2. Keep Touching Me and I'll Screen!
Anyone who has an iPhone, iPad, or Kindle knows that media are no longer created merely to be viewed — content is designed to be touched, tapped, stroked, fingered, fondled, and pinched. Interfaces have gone tactile and haptic. The keyboard isn't dead or dying, but it's lost pride of place in defining onscreen interaction. Where professionals once wrote memos to be read, 2011 begins an era in which documents are written with touch both in mind and on fingertips. Designing documents to be a sensual physical experience and not just a visually cognitive one demands different aesthetics and sensibilities. This nascent transition will be as profoundly important for future interpersonal communications — and branding — as the transition from radio to television. Having the right touch to get the right touch will become a desirable communications competence.

3. WWWabs
If you explore their websites, you'll find American Express, Google, Intuit and scores of others have "labs" — not-quite-ready-for-prime-time alpha and beta versions of apps to explore and test. These innovation playgrounds vary wildy in quality, creativity and breadth. A few of these test-tube innovation babies are quirkily weird; others have the glimmer of interactive genius. These WWWabs will undoubtedly be reshaped by the seemingly irresistible rise of Facebook as an advertising and promotional vehicle. Indeed, Facebook's role as a third-party innovation platform is still a work in process. However, the economics of experimentation for both customer-facing and internal WWWabs is undeniably favorable. It's easy to marry a WWWabsite with a contest, for example. More important, WWWabs symbolize the substantial shift in one of the dying innovation anachronisms of the post-industrial era. That is, the importance of "research & development" to business innovation. WWWaboratories are about the real future of virtual value creation. Instead of R&D, what matters is E&S — Experiment & Scale. WWWabs go mainstream worldwide next year.

4. That's Quite A Coup, Onward Group!
Google's failed effort to acquire Groupon for a reported $6 billion (!) obscures the tectonic economic shift in global retail. Devices of all kinds have gone from advertising, branding, and marketing media to promotional platforms. The coup is in a new genre and generation of trackable couponing. Coupons have been redeemed as a "class" not just "mass" vehicle for luxury and high-status items as well as for everyday brands and staples. Digital coupons aren't just "smart," they can be "brilliant" — linked to recommendation engines, GPS, supply chains, etc. Once significant distinctions between coupons, coops, discounts, and promotional currencies are blurring into nothingness. Indeed, we'll see "pick your preferred promotion options" in Android and Apple apps next year. Facebook, Foursquare, and Twitter will dramatically expand both the reach and ingenuity of their promotional partnerships. Advertising will take a backseat to promotional offers as retailers and brand managers alike collectively decide that branding a promotion matters just as much as promoting a brand. Next year will be the first year that almost half of all American and European shoppers have a digital coupon in their device almost half the times they shop.

5. From Farmville to Pharmville: We Got Game in Business
I don't like Farmville or Call of Duty but tens of millions of loyal players do. The Kinect interface has made Microsoft as culturally cool with gamers as Halo once did. The Kinect's hackability has made that system even more appealing. Which means that, finally, social media-oriented games will finally cross the great divide from the living room and teenager's bedroom into the workplace. There will be a Farmville counterpart or equivalent that becomes a welcome teaching and/or business simulation and learning tool in the enterprise. Unlike the Sims or SimHealth (which I once thought would be the gateway to enterprise gaming), the pervasiveness and growing acceptance of social media as an adult activity makes an adult business simulation game a probability instead of a possibility. The emergence of haptic, tactile, and gestural interfaces similarly boosts the opportunities for adult-oriented games design. Will this new game go viral first in China, Japan, Korea, or Europe before America? I haven't a clue. Remember, it took over five years for texting to catch on in America. But the companies that succeed in gameifying their products, services, and brands will enjoy a certain Zynga in their step.

6. A Beautifully Designed Lobby
America remains the world's largest economy by far. But this is a country confronting fundamental changes in the largest sector of its economy (healthcare), the most troubled sectors of its economy (housing and finance), as well as big-ticket sectors such as energy, education and telecommunications. No matter which way a CEO turns, she faces the spectre and shadow of increased government regulation and/or oversight. Europe faces comparable challenges as the EU as a monetary union confronts the limitations of the EU as a political project. China isn't about to deregulate; India's bureaucratic raj may be loosening its grip on the subcontinent's marketplace but its influence is unavoidable. In other words, a charismatically innovative lobbyist may have a bigger impact on marketplace success in 2011 than the country's most savvy technologist or marketer. Even as the global financial crisis — and America's housing crisis — ever so slowly dissipate, state intervention and involvement in the marketplace is arguably the single biggest gating factor in innovation. From EPA cleantech regulations to net neutrality to marginal tax rates to quantitative easing to currency wars, innovative executives have to pay attention to government behaviors as closely as they do customer behaviors. In 2011, a marginal dollar invested in a lobbying campaign may yield far greater returns than a dollar invested in a brave new technology innovation. Then again, it's important for businesspeople to have the finest legislators that money can buy. Think of them as part of the global supply chain.
This is my call for the top six ideas to watch next year. Which two of these six themes will matter most next year? What would make it on to your list of top ideas in 2011?

A speaker worth seeing !

2010-12-02T08:48:00.001-08:00

Good speaker and very funny

http://www.londonbusinessforum.com/events/brainpower

Linked In creates an extra £1m of sales !

2010-12-02T01:07:00.000-08:00

LinkedIn helped us to £1bn in sales says DCS

Distribution service DCS Europe, which recently announced it had broken the £1bn sales barrier, has revealed to Insider that £1m of its business was made through social networking site LinkedIn. Denys Shortt, chief executive of the Stratford-upon-Avon-based company, said many Midlands firms “have no idea” how profitable social networking can be for business.
DCS, which is the UK’s largest distributor of health and household products, was founded 16 years ago and recently announced that sales had passed the £1bn mark.
Shortt told Insider that the company now plans to double that turnover in the next eight years.
“We’re on target to hit £2bn of sales in eight years’ time,” said Shortt. “We had our best ever month in October, and look like we might beat that with our November figures.”
He said that social networking site LinkedIn had aided the company in reaching its high sales figures.
“I would say we had made around £1m from customers we have looked for on LinkedIn.
“Many businesses have no idea how profitable it can be. We had a list of 300 or so potential customers which we wanted to target, and searching for them on LinkedIn proved to be hugely successful.”

via insidermedia.com

We love social media here at WeCanDo.BIZ, because we can see how it has a great application in business, especially with regard to winning new customers. And there are not enough business folk crowing about the success they are seeing using the Social Web to locate new customers, which is why this article (linked in full above) caught my eye.
Kudos to DCS for their results and the press they've got on the back of it. As so-called "social media experts" debate how you define success, DCS hasn't once mentioned friends, followers, fans, likes, tweets, re-tweets, Klout, influence, size of network or any of the other wishy washy metrics but for the one that makes the biggest difference to companies -- sales.
As someone who gets asked a lot of questions about the potential of LinkedIn for new business development and lead generation, I wanted to know more. So I contacted Denys Shortt -- via LinkedIn of course -- and he's been kind enough to furnish us with some more information.
Let's look at the stats first. DCS currently turns over around £120 million in sales annually. Forget that LinkedIn has contributed only 0.1% of sales towards that £1 billion in 16 years, because the networking site wasn't around for half that time and Denys says they have only used it for the past two years anyway. The main thing to know is that at this point in time, he can attribute LinkedIn to over half a million pounds in new sales annually from connections made on LinkedIn -- and it's growing.
It's still a small percentage of the whole, granted, but the cost of that £1 million in incremental sales has been just 30 minutes on the site a day and a paid for membership (from around £18 to £65 a month). Not a bad return. Would you make that sacrifice for an additional £1 million in sales in your company? Can you think of something you do for 30 minutes a day at a similar cost that produces nowhere near that kind of ROI?
So what has Denys and his team been doing to indentify new business via LinkedIn?
Well, some of the new customers they were already aware of. They were target accounts and all they needed was an executive level contact to kick off the discussions. LinkedIn's search facility was key here.
To Denys: "We use the search facility hugely. It is brilliant. We look for people we should be selling to and then approach them using InMails [LinkedIn's own message system]."
And people don't mind speculative approaches via LinkedIn? On the contrary, as "people almost prefer this to conventional email!" says Denys (not the first time I've heard this said actually and I'll be writing up on this in the coming weeks).
"Many directors have their PA deal with their email. But often a director will do his her own LinkedIn mail. It's more of a personal thing," he added. Certainly LinkedIn messages have been hand crafted and are therefore more likely to be personal, compared to the automated messages and poorly targeted spam that blights most peoples' In Boxes.

Denys said he hasn't found a better source of executive level intelligence elsewhere, especially one that has delivered such a successful rate of contact once reaching out through it.

"Trying to reach export customers is always a hassle. Standing at a tradeshow that has cost you £20,000 to attend is a bit hit and miss. LinkeIn allows you to search for senior executives and make the contact from your desktop -- no need to travel! The ROI is amazing!"

Denys is clearly an enthusiast. But isn't all this information available on Google for free, even if the results include links to public LinkedIn profiles, which you can see without the need to sign up? And you can, of course, find many of the same people on Twitter, for example, where you can contact them for free. Why even join, let alone pay for, LinkedIn?

"I tried Twitter. It was a waste of time. We have Facebook [Pages] but B2B (business to business companies) don't use this. We have a blog but it's time consuming. We're focused on sales -- and LinkedIn does the job." says Denys.
DCS and its subsidiaries also use LinkedIn to get found by potential customers. He has optimised his profile for the search facility on the site (and this also works with Google, which references LinkedIn extensively). Included are the names of his customers, full details of where he has done business, the products he carries, services he provides and anything else that will put him in the right place when people from other companies in his market are looking for suppliers or searching to see what their competitors are up to. Out of this, they receive approaches in a similar way to how they make them.
The company also makes use of the 'suggested people' tool to identify who else people viewed when looking at an individual. He says it is a "useful tool" for identify new contacts; in his case, potential new customers. One useful contact can often lead them to another.

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So it's all about using search and identifying who works at the companies you want to sell to, then making an approach, yes?
For the main part. Denys revealed to me that they use other facilities on LinkedIn such as Groups and the like, which has helped him to identify some new prospects amongst the member lists, but it still leads to a direct approach via an InMail. And this is now an important part of their sales strategy, as is staying focused on their job rather than getting distracted by all that social media sites offer.
I often knock LinkedIn -- in spite of Denys's glowing endorsement of how to use it as part of a strategic selling programme, I still believe the site doesn't provide enough tools to identify prospective new customers unknown to you, something equivalent to our own Biz Need sales leads facility -- but it's great to see people using tools to identify and reach out to customers in a way made more easy by the social, personal nature of the new web.
Relationships of the value that Denys is talking about will only be developed by real, face to face contact ultimately, but that a site like LinkedIn can act as such a useful prospecting tool will provide welcome news to those of us who hate either the research around new business development or picking up the phone to a cold contact!

December - a time for targets and reflection !

2010-12-02T00:38:00.000-08:00

So we have reached December.

A time when we are reviewing our targets for next year and yes, there is no surprise that our targets are high ones. We set a target and a stretch each year and amazingly we have hit stretch in many areas this year !

For DCS that means recession is all in the mind. If you set yourself a high goal and work out how to score that goal - then there's a chance you probably will !

December is also a time for reflection. On the year past and on the many years gone by.

DCS has hit £1 billion since we started in 1994 !

That is £1 billion of customer loyalty and satisfaction. We have a "customer delight" index that we are always trying to improve. Also a "happiness" index for both our customers, our staff and our suppliers.

Also this year Enable Software has hit £10 million since we started. Again - that means lots of happy customers. These are shown on http://www.enable.com/

Both are amazing milestones.

The billion because I did not know until recently that a Billion has nine zeros - it is such a big number you rarely write it! Significant in so many ways. Proof that it can be done. Proof that if you set your mind to something you can reach it.

Enable's £10 million is even more significant. That is because this is £10 million of brain power - created from nothing ! We have asked companies where their pains are and then we have solved the problems by building brilliant software.

So there you have it ! 2010 for DCS has been one to remember !

The new targets ?

Well it took 16 years to get to a billion - we aim for the next billion in 8 years. And we are on track.

£10 million in 10 years for Enable - perhaps we do the next £10 million in 5 years !

Denys

Branding in the Digital Age: You’re Spending Your Money in All the Wrong Places

2010-11-21T09:51:00.001-08:00

The internet has changed the way we shop

Here is an article to help you understand what is happening :

http://hbr.org/2010/12/branding-in-the-digital-age/ar/1

WIll focus make you happier ?

2010-11-21T09:49:00.000-08:00

Here is a recent article from HBR on this

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/11/where_do_you_do_your_best_thin.html

Does an entrepreneur need an MBA ?

2010-11-21T09:48:00.000-08:00

Well - I have grown DCS Europe to be a £120m company and accumulated sales of £1 billion without an MBA.

Like all entrepreneurs I have been to the school of "making mistakes" -

"Tuition" as my father-in-law would call it.

I believe in what I call "professional entrepreneurship" .....understanding finance, strategy and marketing are hugely important in running a business.

I was lucky to have had a strategic advisor called Christine Cross for seven years.

So get yourself some outside help with business advice or an MBA will help you gain these skills.

I have not written a book (I just do not have the time) but I have created a website called http://www.mystrategyplan.com/

So the answer :

....not really ...but it helps.

The best performing CEO's in the world

2010-11-21T09:35:00.001-08:00

http://hbr.org/2010/01/the-best-performing-ceos-in-the-world/ar/1

A lot of people have blamed short-term thinking for causing our current economic troubles, which has set off a debate about what time window we should use to assess a CEO’s performance. Today boards of directors, senior managers, and investors intensely want to know how CEOs handle the ups and downs of running businesses over an extended period

Tip of the week - I can relax .....'cos I've got my systems in place!

2010-11-09T12:39:00.000-08:00

I took this photo in Galapagos recently.

Whilst I was there I was happy in the thought that I too could relax because I have some superb software systems running at DCS whilst away from the business - ones created by Enable Software.

These systems make sure all the KPIs are running smoothly - a dashboard of key measures.

It has taken me ten years to get my software systems to a high standard and there is still work to do.

My advice is write an IT Strategy. If you don't have one - don't be surprised if your IT is not progressing!

I am working with some major UK companies and even they do not have a written IT Strategy! A document showing what they have and where they are headed in the next 5 years.

Then for new projects - a plan detailing the benefits, costs and return on investment.

Sounds simple .....off you go then and create it ........and then relax !

Take a look at this video - click here

World War I ...from the air

2010-11-08T08:03:00.001-08:00

A very interesting programme if you can catch it on Iplayer

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tv/2010/11/the-first-world-war-from-above.shtml

Yeo Valley ...big up your chest !

2010-11-07T12:59:00.000-08:00

Check this out - what a great video !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOHAUvbuV4o

Linked In rocks !

2010-11-07T12:14:00.000-08:00

I have been using linked in for 12 months now with a strategy to make connections and win business.

All I can say is : "IT WORKS !"

I have added at least a million pounds of sales from using this networking website.

ISO9001 and BRC - passed in the same week !

2010-11-07T11:44:00.000-08:00

Ok so we went for it......two major audits in the same week and we passed both !

All credit to the brilliant team we have at DCS !
If anyone wants any tips on how to do this - contact me.

UK Government needs more leadership at local level

2010-11-07T11:14:00.000-08:00

"I am an entrepreneur and for good reason not a lover of politics. I like to make decisions quickly and to produce results fast. My experience is when it comes to making stuff happen with anything "government" it feels like wading through treacle!" - these were my words to my local MP when I responded to his request to become more involved locally.

I think there is a huge chasm between their words in Westminster and what happens in our local towns and villages.

Locally I do not feel confident we have strong enough leadership and a strategy.

As far as I see my local district council does not have a plan to stimulate local business ...there is no roadmap. (Or at least if they do - they keep it a secret!)

The new formation of LEPs will be interesting - You see the Government has never communicated with businessmen well and there is very little communication now.
......let's see what happens.

2010 British Grand Prix

2010-11-07T08:10:00.000-08:00

This summer saw 3 days of long hours and hard work at what was the best event to help arrange on the planet !

Heli Air organised over 1000 helicopter landings at Silverstone at the British Grand Prix and transporting passengers and pilots to and from their machines.

In addition Heli Air took 1600 members of the public for a helicopter flight - costing just £40 per person.

Everyone got a goodie bag too - kindly donated by DCS and Enliven

The 3 days went like clockwork with Heli Air operating a safe and professional event.

Thanks to Land Rover for the loan of six Range Rovers for the pilot and VIP transfers.

Heli Air visited by Frank Robinson

2010-11-07T08:01:00.000-08:00

It was great to meet Frank Robinson recently at Heli Air in High Wycombe.

Frank was over to open their new Rolls-Royce engineering centre for the RR300 engine. (click here for details) The RR300 jet turbine engine is amazingly small and cost effective will transform the world of aviation.

Heli Air arranged for over 30 Robinson helicopters to greet Frank.

Done it £1 billion sales since DCS started !

2010-11-07T07:56:00.000-08:00

If you add our sales at DCS Europe plc since 1994 you reach over £1 billion (gbp)

Having cracked that target I suppose it is time to set a new one. Ok so it took 16 years to reach the first billion sales ...our second will come in half that time !

Here we go.....

Enable Video launched

2010-11-07T07:42:00.000-08:00

We just launched a video at Enable Software - check it out !

click here

I am convinced that video will be the future of the Internet. Hearing from people in a video means "what you see is what you get".

Stratford Town Football Club

2010-11-07T05:06:00.000-08:00

Stratford Town Football Club goes from strength to strength with numbers attending matches increasing.

After recieving a £2m grant from the football foundation - the new stadium has become a centre of excellence in Stratford-upon-Avon for community football. The facilities include an excellent 3g astro-turf pitch, a 150 seater stadium and grass pitch, a sports bar and excellent facilities for functions and business meetings.

DCS Europe has sponsored the team for five years and the ground is known as the DCS Stadium.

The club is used by families of over 2000 people and for DCS this is a great way to give some help back to the local community!

Range Rover - one million in 40 years !

2010-11-07T03:30:00.000-08:00

I was very lucky last week to be invited to see the One Millionth Range Rover roll off the track at Land Rover Solihull. Thanks Alan.

The "One millionth Range Rover" was an autobiography and in black with a light interior. It was donated to Help for Heroes and will be auctioned to the highest bidder.

I am a serious Land Rover and Range Rover fan. Their vehicles are simply superb and indeed addictive.

It was great to see this "one million" landmark and really shows what a lasting brand and product the Range Rover is. It has been 40 years and they have built one million - not many car brands last that long or produce that many. I hope my company DCS Europe can celebrate such a milestone in its 40th year !

Land Rover, to their credit, allowed 500 of their workforce to see the event - they altered production schedules to allow this to happen. Well done!

...this is an iconic brand and an important part of the story are the people who make the vehicles - all those very dedicated workers - many of whom who spend 25 or 35 years working for Land Rover.

The new owners of Land Rover are Tata from India and they have done such a good job since they took over. The amount of investment Tata has made in the UK is impressive and the innovation being undertaken by Tata is quite amazing. There are so many exciting new Land Rover models - the Evoque being the most recent to be announced. The Evoque will be real hit with this eco-credentials and stunning looks. Tata will, no doubt, be launching some great new vehicles with the new Defender and the Range Rover relaunch.

Land Rover do not sit on their laurels - they are still improving their current flagship model - the Range Rover Vogue. The new 4.4lt diesel engine (November 2010) which is in my new Range Rover achieves over 30mpg which for this size of vehicle is quite amazing. The engine has superb improved acceleration - now no different to a petrol vehicle. They have also improved the emissions which is a great positive step in the right direction. I am sure there is more to come....

I drive the Range Rover because it will be safe in a crash and it has loads of space in it for all my luggage and passengers. I live in the countryside and when it snows I have no way out other than in my 4x4 Range Rover. I have owned one for the past 25 years - in my book - it is the best vehicle in the world and for its price represents good value for money.

My final comment in this blog must be to mention the amazing help I have had from Paul Brittan at Land Rover Corporate based at Gaydon. Paul is so proactive and bends over backwards to make a sale or help the customer. People like this are rare nowadays - a true salesman who can sell using all the principles of excellent customer service. His details are at http://www.greatminds.tv/ under the automotive section.

My first blog - November 2010

2010-11-07T02:58:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I launched my advice website for entrepreneurs http://www.mystrategyplan.com/ but it remains today as important to businesses as the day I started it.

There are so many organisations without a strategic plan, so many that have one and don't follow it and so many that perhaps have one and do not measure any results.

Very scary .......

I have countless examples of people that say to me that "we have got that covered" and they don't !

I have countless examples of where people pretend they have read the advice and simply have not. They then call me when their company is in dire straits and ask for help. All of this could have been avoided with a proper plan.

Information and advice is FREE ...it amazes me why people do not read more and follow advice - I suppose that is human nature perhaps ?

Anyhow - I hope these pages may change something out there.