is it all about protecting children?
the UK’s Labour government has introduced legislation that they say is designed to protect children from harm from the Internet. the Online Safety Act 2023 is part of a raft of measures […]
from flying pigs to sushi – Congleton’s Market Quarter
just after the new millenium, Cheshire East Council proposed an ambitious development for the dilapidated Princess Street area of Congleton to be undertaken by the Salford building group, Modus. but Modus would […]
when the sum of the parts…
ICL. not a familiar name, but it was a major computer manufacturer and service provider from the 1960’s until 2002. its history was not a happy one. Like many IT companies at […]
NatWest – accident prone or terminally toxic?
publicly mis-stepping is unfortunate. but a state-bailed out global bank that constantly demonstrates to the world its total inability to walk unaided is unforgivable. RBS/NatWest’s overreach, malpractice and under-achieving sets it as […]
the stigma of settled science
The politburo owns the science and all dissent is forbidden. Welcome to the new Dark Ages. Its done, dusted, discovered and documented and nothing left for discussion. Or so the government experts […]
when Jamie’s kitchen went cold
Its sad to see a project that established me in the City in the early days of my career close its doors. Working with Jamie Oliver was something I’ll never forget. I […]
stop-press: Arab-Israelis not in conflict!
With all the bad news coming out of the Middle East at the moment, its good to report about something great happening in this sector – its a pity its not being […]
end of an era
this is a sad day for me. LANZen is no more. The consultancy was set up at the request of some great, loyal clients at Barclays when I left ICL. I’d never […]
unsocial banking: what I say is what you get
How dare I question. What right do I have. If I know so much, I should start a bank! What had I done – collapsed the economy, started a bank run or […]
Wonga: how APR has ruffled some headless chicken feathers
You know, no matter how much you explain, some people never manage to get it. Take Wonga and the thorny question of APR, for example. Now I’m not going into compound interest’s […]
identikit banks: the UK’s big four – customer centric or simply self serving?
Here’s a question for you. Imagine all four banks merging. What would we lose? OK – so they wouldn’t share one trough – and no one makes one that big. If our […]
disruption: the true scale of innovation – and its less than you think!
A writer who I follow was bemoaning the lack of change in banking the other day. Now the point was perfectly valid – until he took a pop at P2P lending. As […]
PwC: they takes yer money… but was this really your choice?
Business as usual for the global auditors. Its just like there was no banking crash. Pricewaterhouse Coopers – PwC – has just published its results. Three things jump off the page to […]
Bosch: what you do isn’t what you should always do – a lesson for banks?
Ever stopped for a moment to consider exactly what is banking really all about? Could a lawn mower be the key to change?Not any old lawn mower. But Bosch lawn mowers – […]
below Standard & Poor: a rumble in US capitalism’s gangland
Once upon a time, we thought US financial policy was decided democratically. That concept was blown away like a dollar bill in Hurricane Katrina. The US government in reality is no more […]
house of cards: how banks ran out of ideas – and talent
They must have made us buy millions of wallets. I’m talking about plastic cards. They became an obsession – even something we collected. Colourful, pictorial, themed, silver, gold, platinum, even black. We […]
standing apart: what quality do we have that really makes us special?
This is one of those flights of wonder moments. An idea that came out of the blue. What I’d like you to think about is – what places us apart from other […]
CRM: all the smart money’s on SalesForce, but can the little guys cut it too?
How come most companies think having PowerPoint more important than CRM? CRM comes last, after email, office productivity and accounting. Everybody knows, we’re told often enough, that looking after customers is vital. […]
Tesco Bank: how a new bank suddenly became an old bank
Just a few months ago, I had high hopes for what Tesco bank might achieve. Even with Fred Goodwin fan-boy Benny Higgins in charge. But the recent prolonged outage for so many […]
Smartphone NFC: if one size won’t fit all, don’t wear it.
OK, regular readers will know I’m not buying the hype around SmartPhone NFC. This is for a number of reasons and none of which are about it being new. I’ve talked about […]
counter-productive: bonuses and the big lie
Paying huge bonuses to retain top people in banks has long been controversial. Distasteful certainly – but maybe even counter-productive. Let me tell you about a test Karl Duncker did just after […]
RBS: are they getting ready to turn off the patient’s life support system?
Can anyone tell me what message RBS is using for its current media campaign? Sure, NatWest’s you may know, but what about RBS? Although owned by Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest isn’t […]
NFC: fixing a problem we never really had
I love it when I come across great ideas. Like game changing, eureka moments. But it frustrates me when solutions appear for problems that don’t exist.Take NFC payment systems, for example. A […]
SharePoint and the Public Service: when common sense goes up in smoke
I’ve just read a Management Today supplement about West Yorks Fire Service. Remember how Public Service budgets are meant to be getting cut back? Well, it sure doesn’t seem like that’s the […]
high street banking innovation: here’s the real reason you’re not seeing it
The banks are making money again. They’ve all got innovation teams in place. Change is desperately needed, so why aren’t we seeing it? Its too easy to point to our banks and […]
The Cloud: don’t let a spell of bad weather get you down
Easter of 2011 will probably be remembered as the time the Cloud went down. Bad as it was for Amazon’s EC2, the sky didn’t actually fall on anybody. Maybe the great bank […]
end points: is corporate security going in the wrong direction?
Corporate security people and most security resellers wind me up. Always have. They constantly ignore the lessons life teaches us. We meet strangers every day. So how come they can’t deal with […]
Banking’s darkest hour: why the new dawn seems a long time coming
The financial media all seem to be agreed. The High Street banks are screwed. Restrictive, greedy, self-serving. Banks have been found guilty on all counts. Commercial incompetence kills companies in other markets. […]
NFC: the lessons Fukushima should teach us about mobile payments
The fall-out has still to settle from one of the greatest tragedies of recent times. While the furore and finger-pointing surrounding it will take a lot longer. I’ve no desire to trivialise […]
NFC: what the RSA security breach should teach every techy
Quite a reaction last week when the news broke about the RSA SecureID breach. Someone may now know how to compromise two-factor tokens. Whilst every villain knows how to work around two-factor […]