The Impact of the Looting and Lawlessness on Our Economy.

I have been appalled and disgusted by the looting, destruction of other people’s property & businesses and the violence that we have witnessed across the major cities in England over the last few days.

However it is portrayed, whether as a reaction to an incident in North London last week involving the police, or as a protest against the austerity measures imposed by the coalition government, I can’t reconcile in my brain how this is anything other than opportunistic criminality and lawlessness on the part of very youthful looters.

What concerns me, in addition to the obvious security and law & order issues, is what this will mean for the UK economy and business in general. First of all there will be the cost of the smashed up shops and streets to repair, then there will be the insurance claims for all the stock that has been stolen and the fixtures that have been destroyed (which will, no doubt, be swiftly followed by increased insurance premiums). Then, one has to wonder what effect this will have on third quarter GDP growth. The looted and burnt down shops will be out of action for some time. Also, to a large degree, will be the shopping areas of most major cities in England – after all, who wants to go shopping when there is the distinct possibility that you could get mugged or worse – in some areas it would appear that Dick Turpin and co have returned!!!

Why are we in such a position of lawlessness in England right now? I must admit to being somewhat exasperated at the “do gooders” on TV and radio trying to justify this criminal behaviour by telling us that these actions are as a result of the youth of today being bored and having nothing to do. Really? I don’t remember previous generations having several hundred TV channels to watch, computer games & consoles to play, mobile phones, MP3s, 3D cinema etc, etc. But what they do lack is imagination – and discipline!

It seems to me that standards have been relaxing in this country since the 1930s – sometimes through necessity such as in World War 2, sometimes through change such as when compulsory National Service was abolished in 1960, and sometimes through half-baked ideas that never worked i.e. the end of corporal punishment in schools, new age teaching methods of non-competitive sports (well we couldn’t have anyone losing – except that replicates what happens in the real world!!!) and the abolition of Grammar Schools. How frustrating it is to dress smartly and make an effort for a Saturday night at the theatre just to find that no one else bothered and they are all wearing jeans, t-shirts and trainers. We are left with a society containing a large proportion that has no recognition of authority and no respect for politicians, the police or teachers.

It has become easy for the lazy to blame the bankers and multi-national corporations for their woes, but what they easily forget are the jobs that are created by the banks and corporates, the employment that they provide, and therefore the taxes that are directly and indirectly generated by them for the treasury to pay for the services provided across the country for the entire population, and to pay for the benefits for those less fortunate in our society.

What this country needs are more people taking control of their own lives in a positive way, pursuing qualifications, getting better trained, becoming more employable and earning their own money and contributing to society – not taking other people’s property by opportunistically breaking in to and looting shops under the cover of hoods and masks as part of a gang!!!

Where will this end? Only time will tell. On the one hand, we could easily have anarchy and lawlessness spreading across every town in the land, destroying property, businesses, lives and the economy. Or, on the other, if the government gets a firm grip and allows the police the power to do their jobs properly (including water cannons, rubber bullets and the army if necessary), law and order can be restored to the streets of our green and (sometimes) pleasant land.

Either way, the cost to business, to the economy, to our country will be high. A cost we will all have to pay for, for some time to come. A cost we could have avoided if only the standards, morals and discipline that has stood our country well for so long, had been maintained.

Conference Notes

The 2011 Intervallum conference has once again proved beneficial in charting the future direction of the business. With the emphasis being on long term growth, new product development and the identification of new revenue streams for Intervallum, the entire team has fully contributed to brainstorming the way forward with a high degree of clarity.

And in between conference sessions, a number of team building events have developed the effectiveness of team working still further. In addition, an entertaining key note speech by footballer Alan Kennedy, the only British player to score winning goals in two European Cup finals (for Liverpool), and Commander Jeff Tall OBE RN, with his lectures on the history of Britain's Royal Navy sub-mariners, have highlighted and reinforced the need for good leadership if important goals are to be achieved.

In summary then, a very productive conference and we look forward to the next 12 months with great optimism.

PHK is IoD's Chartered Director Ambassador for the West Midlands

Paul Hooper-Keeley, who is the Institute of Director's 25th Chartered Director (qualifying over a decade ago), has been made the IoD's Chartered Director Ambassador for the West Midlands.

As the C.Dir qualification, the world's only professional qualification for Directors, approaches it's 1,000th member, the IoD has started a new initiative to promote this excellent upskilling programme (linked to their Diploma in Company Direction) even further.

30 Chartered Director Ambassadors have been appointed across the UK and an inaugral, and very constructive, meeting was held at Pall Mall on 13th June.

Watch this blog for further news soon, and visit www.iod.com to get further details of how you could benefit from attaining the Chartered Director qualification.

Don't Quit (author unknown)

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don't you quit,
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out,
Don't give up though the pace seems slow,
You may succeed with another blow,
Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit,
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

Why a Positive Outlook is Important...

....The Shoes Story (AKA Positive Thinking versus Negative Thinking)

You will perhaps have heard this very old story illustrating the difference between positive thinking and negative thinking: -

Many years ago two salesmen were sent by a British shoe manufacturer to Africa to investigate and report back on market potential.

The first salesman reported back, "There is no potential here - nobody wears shoes."

The second salesman reported back, "There is massive potential here - nobody wears shoes."

This simple short story provides one of the best examples of how a single situation may be viewed in two quite different ways - negatively or positively. It could perhaps further be explained in terms of seeing a situation's problems and disadvantages, instead of its opportunities and benefits, but highlights how two quite different interpretations can be made of a single situation.

Problems may also create opportunities, so make sure your glass is always "half full"!!!

Forthcoming Networking Events I Am Attending

Following last Thursday's excellent Edge networking event at the Jam House in Birmingham, here are a few events coming up that I will be attending: -

18th May - Birmingham Business Breakfast Club at the Botanical Gardens, Birmingham. A 7am start.

18th May - Power Speaking with Mike Pagan. St. Paul's Club, Birmingham. 9.30am to 12.30pm

18th May - St. Paul's Business Lunch, St. Paul's Club, Birmingham. 12.30pm to 2.30pm

19th May - ITC Powertalk, The Bowling Green, Lichfield. 7.30pm

9th June - Beermat Entrepreneurs Marketing & Sales workshops, Birmingham. 9.30am to 5.00pm Hosted by Mike Southon & Chris West.

22nd June - "Unleash Your Potential", Roman Way Hotel, Cannock. This free to attend CIMA event starts at 6.30pm (book via julie.witts@cimaglobal.com).

There's lot's of great events out there which are worth attending to increase your network of contacts as well as improve your professional development. And if you can't make the event itself, then there is always LinkedIn and Twitter to help you keep in touch and get your message out there.

A Poem About Responsibility by Charles Osgood

There was a most important job that needed to be done,
And no reason not to do it, there was absolutely none.
But in vital matters such as this, the thing you have to ask
Is who exactly will it be who'll carry out the task?

Anybody could have told you that everybody knew
That this was something somebody would surely have to do.
Nobody was unwilling; anybody had the ability.
But nobody believed that it was their responsibility.

It seemed to be a job that anybody could have done,
If anybody thought he was supposed to be the one.
But since everybody recognised that anybody could,
Everybody took for granted that somebody would.

But nobody told anybody that we are aware of,
That he would be in charge of seeing it was taken care of.
And nobody took it on himself to follow through,
And do what everybody thought that somebody would do.

When what everybody needed so did not get done at all,
Everybody was complaining that somebody dropped the ball.
Anybody then could see it was an awful crying shame,
And everybody looked around for somebody to blame.

Somebody should have done the job
And Everybody should have,
But in the end Nobody did
What Anybody could have.