The big risks about sharing on social media

“Who’d have guessed that what goes on Facebook doesn’t stay there!” chuckled the BattleAxe as she shared the latest amusing cat video.  “Have you ever thought of how much of your personal data is on the net and what it’s being used for?” she mused as her Chief Elf nervously started changing his banking password.  

“Don’t worry too much about that Elf, if you have strong passwords, don’t share them or use them on computers that you don’t control, the risk is low.  It’s more the social media stuff we share with friends and acquaintances – where you’re going, who you’re going with, your cat’s name and pictures of last night’s dinner…..preferably without your credit card visible on the table. All this is catnip to marketeers in deciding what will press your buttons – apparently, it can even be used to help you decide how to vote!”

“Isn’t GDPR going to stop all that when it comes into force later this year?” asked the Chief Elf, wondering if all his work on reviewing the systems, writing policies and cleansing the data held at BattleAxe HQ had been a complete waste of valuable time.

“Well sort of, but GDPR itself is more about how collectors of data review what they hold and requiring systems to be in place to make sure they know where and who it came from, what they have permission do with it and how and who, if anyone, they can share it with. It applies to businesses and organisations like sports clubs who should have been used to securing and making sure they only keep data that they can justify keeping for years already.  

“The biggest changes are that you have to document your processes and tighter rules on making sure you’ve got consent to keep/use the data.  It’s about time too because I’m sick of businesses bombarding us with marketing bumpf just because you once rang up to ask about their services.  They can’t rely on pre-ticked boxes anymore.  Thankfully, GDPR means asking people to opt in to being pestered – and telling them what you’re going to pester them about in advance.

“But of course it doesn’t apply to individuals who simply found the information on social media because you forget to adjust your privacy settings so that only real friends and family can see that colourful rant about your boss after you’ve had a few.  And as for Google’s trick of watching what you browse so that local businesses can pop up their ad every time you decide you want to look on YouTube for a “how do I ...?” video……

“You mean that’s not a coincidence?” asked a perplexed looking Chief Elf. 

“Surely you knew that by using Google you’d consented to being marketed to? How else do you think that lot is free?” she sighed and stomped off to send another withering blast to a household name requiring they remove her from their emailing list before she got her rolling pin out.

This article originally appeared in Huddersfield Examiner on April 5th

Times change and brands need to adapt

Early 2018 has seen the passing of a clutch of household names some young, some old.

Billy Graham just not quite making his century, as famous for his religious catalysing at the end as in the mid-50s. Sir Roger Bannister, at 88, first an astonishing athlete before switching to become as renowned neurologist .  Then Davide Astori cut off in his majestic footballing prime at 31.

Business hasn’t faired much better – Toys R Us, after 70 years on the high street, filing for Chapter 11 in the US and administration in the UK. Maplin failing having recently celebrated 45 years trading.  Just 17 years in, Prezzo is hoping to outlive other restaurant chains by shrinking to 1/3 of its peak scale after a history of massive growth.

The causes of demise are all individual but in many ways sadly similar. 

Toys R Us was the cornerstone of many an out-of-town retail park but, ironically, that was core to its downfall.  Kids attitudes to toy buying have changed and they want instant gratification – downloading an app or ordering up that specific fidget spinner for same day collection from Argos.  Stimulated by Harry Potter they began to expect magic and the warehouse style of presentation just didn’t cut it – worse, it ended up parodied as by the Toy Story franchise. Kids know what they want and they want it to feel specifically created for them. So, a vista of aisle after aisle of identical stuff simply doesn’t work.  Tiring stores and the sheer cost of such a huge physical footprint made them uneconomic, especially alongside online rivals.

The irony for Maplin is that it started as mail order technogeek heaven (long before the internet) which was then lured onto the high street searching for mainstream consumers. But that was the trouble – it became just another gadget shop rather than THE go to place for those truly serious about tech.   Speak to British nerds of a certain age, and they’ll wax lyrical about ultra-knowledgeable sales staff guiding you to piles of obscure components. Losing focus, striving for that general audience, meant stores sported drones, tablet computers and home automation gear.  Eventually, the burden of loans used to fund expansion brought them down.  Who knows, maybe the brand can re-emerge, phoenix-like, as the mecca it originally was?

Prezzo’s is a story of ultra-fast growth driven by dramatic (or eye-watering) promos to get people through the doors. Stepping back, without those margin squeezing offers were they offering anything distinctive amongst a host of competing restaurants?  As other now-struggling casual chains like Byrons and Jamie Oliver’s Italian have found, dining habits change and continuing with “same as ever” in a crowded sector with a less frequently visiting clientele inevitably spells pain.

The lessons here are clear: don't push expansion beyond natural limits and nourish the DNA of your success - the trick is to match Billy Graham and Roger Bannister by keeping the expression of your DNA evolving to renew the essence of that success.

This article first appeared in Huddersfield Examiner on 8th March 2018

Taxman must get his house in order; It's the same old story from HM Revenue & Customs

“Christmas Eve: 6,033.  Tick. Christmas Day: 2,590, Tick! Boxing Day: 7,655.  Tick!!” The BattleAxe looked up triumphant.  “Just as I thought, the record numbers filing their tax returns over the holidays correspond exactly with when WE were in the office!” The Chief Elf nodded wistfully recalling a Christmas dinner of cold sausage and stuffing sarnies as returns flowed down the line. “Mind you,” the BattleAxe grumbled pointedly, “it was about the only three days in the last two years when HMRC’s systems have actually worked properly!”

Those systems have been the bane of the Chief Elf’s life (not to mention other inhabitants of BattleAxe Towers) for way, way too long.

Back in January 2016, I wrote about how HMRC needed to get itself properly fit and into shape.  But like so many a New Year resolutionists, they seem to have been back-sliding and it seems that things are getting worse rather than better.

So, yet again, here I am back to chastise!   

Remember, HMRC has a monopoly. We can’t go anywhere else to do our taxes despite their dire service.  What have they done wrong now? Well, the ICAEW called them ‘Self-Assessment Glitches’such as:

·       Errors in self-assessment calculations;

·       Errors in capital gains tax figures;

·       Incorrect adjustments for marriage allowance;

·       Pre-population within third party software unavailable, or incomplete or incorrect (one poor taxpayer was shown income on his tax return but none of the tax already deducted);

·       Incorrect NI calculations – some people may miss out on their pension as a result of this;

·       Self-Assessment statements missing or delayed; and

·       Payments on account not being shown at all.

Oh yes, and in the middle of January, HMRC took down the Self-Assessment data link for accountants and we had to re-authenticate ourselves to get back in.

As I’ve said many times before, if the private sector provided such a dreadful service, customers would vote with their feet and find a better supplier and HMRC would no longer exist – pause for blissful smile on the BattleAxe’s countenance! . 

These errors aren’t just a nuisance, they are erroneously costing taxpayers real money and, when we are living in uncertain times, every penny counts.  I know I’m not alone in my views but, most worryingly, I see nothing being done to make anything better.

As businesses we set ourselves service targets. Why should HMRC be  any different? It is a service provider and should be accountable against their KPIs. But, what are those KPIs? 

Until these basic issues are sorted we will all have excessive workloads checking HMRC figures are right as they scurry to catch up. 

After all it should be easy for HMRC. Just:

·      Get your sums right

·      Pay refunds quickly and efficiently

·      Be consistent

·      Improve the telephone service – actually, why not offer a call-back option?

·      Don’t just go for easy (but meaningless) targets 

Listen up Liz Truss and don’t make me come down there……  Remember: David Gauke has had to move job twice to get a safe distance away from MY rolling pin!

It's time we all made a right royal success of trade

“There is a certain irony, that with the UK population engrossed in the full flow of certain high-profile divorce proceedings, all of a sudden the papers are full of the official announcement of an event that will see the younger generation of the Royal Family recreating our historic trans-Atlantic union.  No doubt it will be seen as yet another British snub to the House of Europe that Harry failed to find a European princess to marry ” exclaimed the BattleAxe as she swiped through the glossy acres of pictures of the Fifth in Line to the Throne plus bride to be.  

“You know, businesses could learn a lot from the Royals” she mused. “Their presence was well and truly visible across Europe well before anyone thought of the EEC let alone the EU. After all Queen Victoria managed to either populate the major royal palaces of the world single handedly (with a nod to Prince Albert of course) or govern the rest directly.  Not of course that I’m saying we should be taking back control of the New World - just think how big the civil service would be!”  The Chief Elf shuddered a major sigh of relief and nodded enthusiastically.

“I see where you’re going” he said. “You mean we should be setting our business net ‘wider still and wider’. But don’t we already do a lot of business with the Rest of the World?”

“Of course we do, but there is much more that we can do – even as relatively small businesses.” The BattleAxe waxed Churchillian, “We Brits have always led the way in so many spheres.  Who was it that invented steam locomotives, light bulbs, computers? More recently we pioneered text messages – starting as BT’s way of testing ISDN lines – and the World Wide Web.  And it’s because of these that the world has become such a small place and the opportunities for UK businesses have become so much broader than in the days when we were masters of shipping bits of heavy engineering around Europe.

“So many SMEs think it’s too much hassle to expand beyond these shores but it doesn’t have to be.  Never let it be said that the BattleAxe doesn’t give credit where it’s due: there are even parts of HM Government that do really good work running programmes helping businesses of all sizes develop their exports. The Department of Trade and Industry has people located in most embassies around the world actively opening doors for British companies.  They do everything from complying with local product safety requirements, to minimising the credit risk of doing business with customers not covered by the UK courts. They can even intervene if they find countries putting up trade barriers such as imposing higher quality standards on foreign goods than locally made.”

“The world is our oyster as they say......... ooh, now there’s an idea for an export business. I wonder if one of our clients has a way of keeping them cold enough to get to Australia!”

This article was originally published December 14th 2017 in Huddersfield Examiner

Should we be a bit more like Isle of Man? Not everything is as black and white as it seems

“Who is scapegoat of the month then?” asked the BattleAxe as the summary of news headlines appeared on the Chief Elf’s screen. 

“Not that old chestnut again surely – those who chose to preserve their wealth by investing it in low tax regimes?”   Knowing the signs, the Chief Elf settled in for the denouement.

“Anyone would think doing that was illegal!” The BattleAxe warmed to her theme, “OK, so some people do cross the line from avoidance, and evasion really does need to be cracked down on.  But most is as legal as putting cash in ISAs or making pension contributions, both of which reduce your tax bill of course.

“Surely Apple or Google should be able to invest spare cash wherever it will grow fastest so they can research new gizmos, or return it to shareholders in the form of dividends or share buy-backs, or even donate it to charity?

“Talking of pensions, everyone’s pension schemes invest in those nasty big companies that are avoiding tax: because they generate good returns.  So, maybe the trustees will have to tell their members that their retirement income is dropping markedly because those immoral companies have had to pay more tax and so paid lower dividends – and their share prices have dropped too!

“When HMRC had a spat with the then Duke of Westminster a judge stated that: 

‘Every man is entitled if he can to order his affairs so that the tax attaching under the appropriate Acts is less than it otherwise would be. If he succeeds in ordering them so as to secure this result, then, however unappreciative the commissioners of Inland Revenue or his fellow tax-payers may be of his ingenuity, he cannot be compelled to pay an increased tax. This so-called doctrine of "the substance" seems to me to be nothing more than an attempt to make a man pay notwithstanding that he has so ordered his affairs that the amount of tax sought from him is not legally claimable.’

“So, maybe it’s the tax havens that are at fault and should be made to charge more tax. But what about the folks who live there and are reliant on those financial services salaries?  I mean, what has that paradise in the Irish sea, otherwise known as the Isle of Man got other than investments, a smallish airport, the TT and copious amounts of rain? 

“There is also a lot of evidence that lower tax rates increase collections because then, trying to avoid tax using fancy schemes costs more than you save. 

“A radical thought, with the UK escaping the EU’s rules, why don’t we urge the Government, under regional devolution, to let Yorkshire become even more of a tax haven than we already are?  You heard me right – we’re already seen by some overseas regimes as a tax haven because of our rules on R&D, low corporation tax and social security rates.  

“Now then, just check that we haven’t got any potentially illegal inward investment from Lancashire….”

This article originally appeared in Huddersfield Examiner on 16th November 2017

Not only Santa is busy in the run-up to festive season; Kirklees Business News You can't start planning too early for Christmas

“I see that the supermarkets are already advertising Christmas hampers,” said the client casually. That statement, echoing from Reception, put the Elves at BattleAxe Towers onto high alert.

It happens every year at this time. The first mention of Christmas kicks off a series of choreographed events that culminate a little before midnight on 31 January the following year when the last of the tax returns has been submitted (for those who send their information in last minute!).

“Right, lets take a look at who hasn’t provided information yet; which accounts are outstanding and who the tardy ones were last year;…..oh, and include you-know-who on the first chase up list as he’s always late!” the BattleAxe announced as she flew down the stairs to meet the unsuspecting client.

“And bring me the latest holiday calendar and requests,” she added as the Chief Elf scurried off “we’re not running a low-cost airline and we can’t just cancel tax returns on a whim!”

“I’d never thought about holiday scheduling around Christmas before,” the client ruminated. “Well this is your first year with fulltime employees, so it’s no surprise” the BattleAxe said. “But Christmas is the busiest time for you and you’ve always ended up taking on casuals before.”  “That’s true”, the client responded proudly, “but with the new team on-board I won’t need to do that again this year!”

“Are you sure about that? Have you thought about your growth and particularly the export work you’ve been doing?  You’re up over 200% year to date and if that continues won’t it mean that you need to start earlier to deliver overseas on time but still have the same push to meet the later UK orders? Especially with Christmas falling on a Monday this year.”

“It's a MONDAY?” the client looked suddenly concerned, “but then we won’t be able to do our normal Christmas Eve deliveries as that would be Sunday…..how will we get everything out? And I’ll need to get in the raw materials a good three weeks earlier with all the deliveries we’re expecting to go out to Brussels…..   Err, I had better get back and start working out how it’s all going to fit together!” he started to leave, looking shaken.

“Hold on a moment,” said the BattleAxe, firmly, “rather than running off in a panic, let’s take 5 minutes to get your priorities in order. Otherwise you will overlook things like vacations or ignore new regulations or forget that those special orders will be going to Strasbourg not Brussels!” 

“But where do I start?......”

“You need to capture all the possible variables so that you can get a clear picture.  Talking it through always helps.  Once we’re there, we can look at how you physically make the deliveries. So, come on!”  the client looked reassured as they headed towards the well-used whiteboard.

“By the way, there’s a long established outfit that only do Christmas Eve deliveries – run by some white-bearded chap…but I hear you have to book him early!”

Originally appeared in Huddersfield Examiner on 12th October 2017

When the greatest ideas come from making mistakes; HOW DO YOU SPOT AN OPPORTUNITY WHERE OTHERS ONLY SEE DISASTER?

“If it’s not on Strava – it didn’t happen!” It’s a daily mantra amongst the swimming, running and riding (particularly those who do all three in one event) fraternity that the BattleAxe “relaxes” with.  

Few of them realise that Strava came about following an accident.  Mark Gainey, the founder, suffered serious injuries when his bike hit a pothole, shattering his left arm.  Like lots of good products Strava went from the germ of an idea, one Gainey’d had at college, to launch in 2009 and now has £54m of investment - even if it still hasn’t made a profit.  

If he hadn’t had time recovering from 11 operations, would we ever know the heights the BattleAxe has cycled to this week?

Prompted by the thought, the BattleAxe trawls the archives, looking for household names that only became so as a result of something going Pete Tong. 

Probably the best known is something that the BattleAxe avoids because of a serious allergy – Penicillin.  A discarded, contaminated Petri dish grew mould that, Fleming noticed, was killing the bacteria around it.

More promisingly, Percy Spencer ended up with a pocket of sticky “candy” when working on radar research.  Putting kernels near the machine and getting popcorn, he discovered the microwave. He didn’t do quite so well with his second attempt – an egg that exploded!

Scotchgard was developed to stop engines from deteriorating.  A spillage on a shoe which, unexpectedly, stayed clean whilst the rest of the footwear succumbed to the grime of day to day life saw the development of this indispensable protector.

A haphazard Canon engineer resting his soldering iron on his pen saw ink shoot out – and the inkjet printer was born!

Looking up from Wikipedia the Chief Elf added to the list, “X-rays, Post-It Notes, Silly Putty, the contraceptive pill, Viagra, potato chips, the slinky,….” 

“STOP!” exclaimed the BattleAxe, “we could be here all day!” 

“Is there anything that didn’t happen by accident?” mused the Chief Elf.  

“Of course there has been!” The BattleAxe mused: “Makes you wonder though, how many amazing ideas or products get missed because a business owner writes something off as a bad job?  Some people succeed by coming up with an idea and sticking with it, but the real commercial brains are the ones that can spot opportunity where others only see disaster.  

That ability to take a step back, brush yourself down, look past the debris on your work bench and see the next product to take the world by storm is a mark of product genius.   Even when a product doesn’t take off, it’s original concept is a disaster, it’s no longer useful or people start to use it differently - who’d have thought we’d use a mobile phone to take photographs!, take a moment to think, can it be adapted, re-purposed or even taken apart and used for a new invention?”

“You still need the spark of an idea of course, and you could do worse than listen to that often heard customer feedback:  “If only you’d got something that would ……..””.

This article originally appeared in Huddersfield Examiner on 14th September 2017