news opinion
Has our love affair with the car ended? Do young people want to live their lives without ever needing to sit behind a steering wheel?
There is growing evidence that younger generations like living and working in urban communities – and therefore have no reason to spend their hard-earned cash on the automobile.
In my time, owning your first car was a life-changing experience. The freedom of the open road, the accessibility to a social life, the sheer adrenalin rush as we powered our little Minis and A40s down country roads at breakneck speeds.
Why would any young person today want any of that? They have been saddled with enough debt through university, so the last thing they would want to contemplate is a car loan. And the cost of a course of driving lessons is an additional disincentive.
Far better to use public transport, cycle, walk, they would argue.
The news that Jaguar Land Rover is to close its largest plant in Solihull, following a series of other cutbacks, is the latest negative story to hit the auto industry, with other car makers issuing profit warnings and the antipathy towards diesel models adding to the sense of gloom.
Our car industry is facing some big challenges – chief of all Brexit. But the problems go beyond tariffs and borders – the world’s biggest consumer market is undergoing major disruption.
Ride-sharing, shared car ownership, on-demand mobility services – these are some of the ways the motor industry will reinvent itself in the next five to 10 years. Imagine a future where you will not own a car, but can hail one on your iPhone app, and it will arrive at your feet and take you where you want to go. By 2025 we will almost certainly be there.
David Murray Publisher
4
businessmag.co.uk
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ACHIEVE UK THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018 column
News from the list Welcome to a regular Solent 250
• Solent 250 companies will be meeting this month (November) to debate Beyond the Balance Sheet.
Businesses inevitably focus on their P&L and balance sheet, along with their employee relations, and partnerships with suppliers and customers.
However, there are many aspects of running an organisation that go beyond the balance sheet.
Our Roundtable discussion will debate some of these issues and formulate ideas and best practice for delegates to take away from the event.
The Roundtable is taking place at Hilton at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton.
• Judges are visiting Solent 250 companies in the weeks ahead as part of the judging process for the awards which celebrate success among the 250 grouping.
From these meetings, the judging panel will reduce a ‘long-list’ list of 10 companies per category to a list of five, and these companies will be invited to our prestigious Solent 250 annual dinner next spring.
• Solent 250 companies are invited to join the LinkedIn Group – an online community for the members of the Solent 250, including relevant updates, technical
column, bringing together news about our annual campaign and the companies in our 250 listing
information and opportunities, and for you in turn to share relevant updates with your fellow members. The link is:
linkedin.com/groups/8622693
• As a company on our annual Solent 250 listing, we would encourage you to complete a short survey to assess the sentiment of businesses in the region. With so much uncertainty (Brexit, trade wars, etc) in the business environment today, your views on future prospects and challenges would be greatly appreciated by ourselves and our sponsors.
Go here:
surveymonkey.co.uk/r/385BSMJ
• As initially reported in our previous edition, number 11 in our 250, FatFace, the lifestyle clothing brand, has announced results for the year to June 2, 2018. The company reports a strong year as it grew both sales and EBITDA, with the positive momentum created in the prior year continuing. Five new stores were opened in the US where the business continues to trade strongly.
Full year highlights include: Total sales increased by 7.4% to £238.4m and retail like-for-like sales increase by 4.9% led by a strong womenswear performance
E-commerce sales were up 11.8%, and now represent more than 18% of the business.
Business THE TM MAGAZINE
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