city chatter CITYCHATTER Off with their heads!
Compared with the riots in Cairo, London seemed relatively quiet last month. Most of the press attention was on the UK economy, and whether we are going back into the so called double dip recession. Of course, the politicians continue to misbehave, and with a number of ex-MPs being successfully prosecuted for fiddling, it’s no wonder that the man in the street has such a low opinion of our political leaders. Regular readers will know of my frequent references to
history. I am currently reading Cicero, who was a celebrated lawyer in Rome during the time of Pompey the Great. Any followers of Roman history will know how civilised their society was 2000 years ago but also driven by bribery, corruption and cruelty.
As my wife often reminds me, “Britain probably has the least corrupt politicians in the world.” Regrettably, our own industry is not free of such actions and the recently reported fraud by one of the well known lease brokers does so much damage to our reputation, and professional standing.
I am particularly concerned at the number of mortgage brokers who are being encouraged to invade our asset finance sector. Every day there are reports of mortgage brokers being fined and imprisoned for fraudulent dealings, and to my mind we do not need these newcomers. People and Recruitment is this month’s headline subject.
Your City Chatter reporter started his career with Bowmaker where all new recruits were sent to a 4-star hotel in Bournemouth for “induction” training. The intention was to introduce the Bowmaker doctrine, and ex-Bowmaker people still meet up every year to remember those enjoyable days of old.
I then spent seven years with North West Securities, who had their own training school at Pendrell Hall, near Wolverhampton. Senior managers attended one week seminars which were designed as a Harvard-style curriculum covering a wide spectrum of business subjects including marketing, sales, legal, motivating personnel, and leadership. It was run by Dr George Miller of London University, and it gave me an excellent grounding for my ongoing business career. In my view it was one of the reasons that NWS was so successful in the nineties. I particularly remember the emphasis on building up the right team, that would stay the course and fit within the company philosophy. We used psychometric testing 30 years ago and, even though I was sceptical at first, I am aware of how on a number of occasions pending offers of employment were withdrawn based upon the results of the tests.
18 Old Moore
Moore had been conspicuous by his absence since Christmas so I was pleased to see him, clearly in great form, at his favourite watering hole, Bow Wine Vaults.
“Hello dear boy!” he bellowed when he saw me. “Have I introduced you to my great friend, Richard Radcliffe?” Moore explained that Richard had over 25 years experience in the voluntary sector, including being executive chairman of Smee & Ford, the only company to specialise purely in legacy research. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Fundraising. S&F views all charitable wills that are made, and we had a hilarious time discussing some of the notable legacy stories. For example, the largest legacy left in recent times was from Anita Roddick, who bequeathed £51 million to her family foundation. When her daughter was asked if she was upset to receive so little, she remarked that Daddy had also made millions, so she was certain to be looked after.
But the stories I liked best were the ones like the man who left his testicles to his NatWest bank manager in Tonbridge, “because he did not have any balls of his own,” or the man who left a lemon to Telford Social Services on the basis that they had already squeezed everything else out of him.
Once Richard had left, I quizzed Moore as to whether he was planning to leave a large gift to charity, as he’d been talking to Richard.
“Oh no,” he retorted. “Richard is an old friend from the past, and it is always great to talk about the good old days. Besides, with the cost of living going up, and the way the pension industry depletes all our savings, I am not sure there will be anything left.” There probably won’t be, I thought later, as I hurried back past the Bank of England, and saw the Evening Standard headlines, “Inflation races away.” With inflation a hundred percent over the governor of the bank’s targeted level, and a base rate held down to slightly above zero by the MPC, I wouldn’t be surprised if Old Moore is stacking shelves at Sainsburys soon.
www.leasingworld.co.uk ■ March 2011
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