Sunday Times and Croissants - CEO's update 18th September

There is something special about Sunday morning, the Sunday Times, hot croissants with honey and butter, excellent. Headlines today, Cable clamps down on top pay. Don’t get this. All the fuss about the 50p tax rate and the Secretary of State for BIS wants top executives to pay less tax.

If this were my business, bearing in mind the Treasury take on top pay including NI is over 70% I would not push this agenda item, just at this time. David Smith writes on the scramble for recovery and suggests we are firmly in the something must be done territory. Leaving top pay alone should be added to the list.

Ed Milliband had a rough ride at the TUC conference this week. Milliband said he believed it is a mistake for strikes to happen. Shouts of shame and rubbish the acclaim, only one woman stood up, then to go to the toilet, charisma delusion manifest throughout. Only sixty per cent of labour voters think their leader can be Prime Minister according to a Times poll. Who would have thought there were so many optimists in the Labour party?

Economics news this week, UK inflation, retail sales, trade and unemployment all heading in the wrong direction. Christine Lagarde offers a veiled warning to the Chancellor about overdoing austerity, David Smith hints at the need for a Plan B, the Treasury is getting jumpy and Danny Alexander warns of a long slow road to recovery.

Meanwhile, the Chancellor in Manchester on Friday, oblivious to the problem, continued his assault on rhetoric, speaking of a budget on our terms, not on the market terms, weathering the storm, ahead of the curve with a plan designed for good times and tough times, helping business to survive and thrive. Excellent.

Merkel and Sarkosy give the Greek Prime Minister Papandreou a telephonic hug on Wednesday, then told him he couldn’t have any money until October. It is a sort of high finance, love you, love you not, game, in the form of Das Hahnchen, Poulet or kotOpouloo. All this despite the warnings from Tim Geithner of catastrophic risk in delaying a decision to bail out the Greeks. The Sunday Times outlines the option of Acropolis now or kick the can down the road yet again.

Arrests this week at UBS as trader Kweku Adoboli manages to lose two billion dollars in subtle trades going back to 2008. How do you do that? Easy, work in a team called Delta one, trade ETFs and bet ten billion. Simps.

Three economists at UBS who suggested the collapse of the Euro would lead to war, death, pestilence and famine should have been arrested. Collapse would lead to debts equivalent to 25% of GDP in the main Euro economies, they say, not a 25% collapse in GDP as was suggested by Portillo at the BVCA Dinner on Thursday night.

The main message of the UBS paper, the Euro is too big to fail. Never forget the German economy is the biggest beneficiary of the fixed currency system, with an enormous trade surplus bigger than that of China.

Back to the day job, on Monday, Alex Connock called in to discuss his new venture and possible options for finance. Tuesday, Gateway breakfast and the formal launch of SME club with Sir Richard Leese pressing the big red button to launch the site. Thanks to everyone who attended and helped the launch. SME club is an important development for our city, it is going to be huge.

The launch was a symbolic moment, no time for cliches, the hand of history was on our shoulder. But punching a button achieves nothing, unless we act  like a team of synchronized swimmers, in the same pool, on the same wavelength, moving with precision timing, to the same music, splashing in the right direction, ahead of the waves, with a plan designed for low tides and high tides, helping businesses to survive and thrive. Yeah, I can do this.

Thursday a briefing meeting with Paul Lupton, chairman of pro.manchester, prior to the board meeting next week. Later a meeting with Aegis, BPO, (Business Process Outsourcing) specialists, the latest coup for Midas bringing a potential 600 jobs into the city centre in 2012.

Thursday evening the BVCA dinner in Manchester, five hundred at the Hilton hotel. I am a guest of Mark Florman Chief Executive and the BVCA  chairman. A great evening with Mark Advani from ISIS and the guys from Baird Capital Partners on the table. Michael Portillo was the guest speaker sharing his Portillo moments, fifteen minutes stand up, then fifteen minutes comedy as he talked on economics, needlessly spooking the audience with misquotes from the UBS paper.

Friday and 600 words for a Times article on regeneration. I point out, the trouble with the French, as George Bush might have said, is they do not have a word for renaissance.

On a geek note, I am migrating to Google Chrome. With Safari, I am seeing more spinning wheels than a Las Vegas casino, it is worse, since the Lion  OS update. Is anyone else having a problem?

Hope all is well with all, more news next week,
John
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