Hill+Knowlton Strategies

Following this afternoon’s Budget, H&K’s head of Financial & Professional Services, Ben Curson, provides his initial thoughts on what today’s announcements will mean for businesses, big and small.

Ben Curson - Head of Financial & Professional Services

“Making things happen…not making things up”. So said George Osborne in a business friendly budget delivered from Parliament today. Well, we’ll see about that in the fullness of time but it seemed clear to me on first listening that the Chancellor was pitching particularly to small business and entrepreneurs. He proposed a range of tax simplification measures, tax breaks and additional enterprise zones to encourage starting and growing businesses. Should this initiate a surge in enterprise and economic growth, the Chancellor will have every reason to trumpet his success as a man doing everything he can (with very little room for giveaways) to stimulate the economy.

Not everyone will be pleased of course, especially not the banks. One can’t help but feel they will be slightly irritated by the fact the bank levy will be increased despite an understanding that their tax treatment would remain stable in return for  increased lending to small business – 15% according to the Chancellor today and detailed on page 76 of the Budget docs.

George Osborne - "A Budget for making things, not making things up"

The other big business losers in tax terms are the oil companies, who will pay a lot more in tax in order to fund the cut in fuel duty – perhaps the ‘rabbit out of the hat’ moment in today’s announcement, and something that it seems the Opposition weren’t really expecting judging by Ed Milliband’s immediate response.

What else? Personally, I’m very pleased to see an open acknowledgment that Britain has been dropping down the league in terms of competitiveness (4^th to 12^th according to the Chancellor), and that the Government is doing something to address educating and upskilling the workforce. There appear to be specific steps to make Britain a more viable, cost effective place to do business in an increasingly global marketplace to attract business from overseas, which as Britain comes to terms with its place in the new world order is absolutely fundamental.

I do believe simplifying and incentivizing business rather than just cutting spending is the way that Britain will recover from the financial crisis of the last few years. I was enormously reassured therefore, as you would expect in my position, that there was a clear intent for the “City of London to stay a leader in financial services”. For their part, the markets have seemed largely unmoved by the Chancellor’s proposals, though bank shares have dropped slightly as you’d expect from the bank levy announcement

While the devil is always in the detail and many of our clients will be analyzing the budget book in-depth on behalf of their own business and their clients’, it seems the Chancellor made a very pro-business speech. Whether the consumer will feel as positive as they become increasingly squeezed by rising inflation and commodity prices will remain to be seen, especially in the forthcoming elections in May. I suspect not.

I’m not as angry as I was last week. This is all relative, of course; I am still full of (entirely justified) rage at the industry in which I work; the sort of impotent rage that will achieve nothing other than slightly raised blood pressure and the heightened probability of an aneurysm before the age of 50. This week the rage has been mostly caused by people’s seemingly unthinking insistence on using the words ‘influencer’ (NB – note to readers: If you are ever being presented to and someone uses that image in a presentation, you have EVERY RIGHT to spit in their face and call them a clueless shyster. No really, you do) and ‘engagement’ in completely arbitrary fashion. CAN YOU DEFINE THE TERMS YOU ARE USING? OH NO, THAT’S RIGHT, YOU CAN’T, BECAUSE YOU ARE JUST THROWING THEM INTO YOUR SENTENCES LIKE THE BUZZWORDS DU JOUR THAT THEY FUNDAMENTALLY ARE.

*Ahem*

Look, I know that there’s nothing wrong with the words ‘influencer’ and ‘engagement’ per se; I just get really, really upset when they are used so casually. If you can’t define what an ‘influencer’ is with any degree of credibility (and here’s the rub – in terms of the online world people really struggle, which is why Klout and Tweetlevel are ultimately pointless, masturbatory exercises (at the moment, at least)), then don’t use the term; if by ‘engagement’ you mean ‘talking to people’ then just say ‘talking to people’ and bask in the knowledge that people won’t think you’re anywhere near as much of a social media tool.

Christ alive, I was calm before I started writing this and now I am all het up and unnecessary. I am going to take a moment to attain the state of zenlike calm that I normally bask in when writing Web Curios – join me in contemplation of this beautiful image, and we’ll continue after the jump.

Fill in the blanks yourself. It doesn't get any less disturbing.

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Well, I have survived my first week back at work after two weeks lovely holiday in Sitges and back in the groove.  It’s not often I get the chance to compare Valencia with London with regard to new initiatives that have been introduced by the cities.  But on my return to Valencia I was pleased to see the new cycle hire scheme up and running in the city.  Valenbisi it’s called here and after filling in my online application for a annual card and paying my €18 fee, my card duly arrived three days later!  (I was suitably impressed with the admin of the scheme!)

After the recent launch of Barclays Cycle Hire in London, I was really excited about seeing if Valencia could pull off a good launch also.  Because the two cities are so different in size (7,556,900 in London vs. 814,208 in Valencia) I think it would be a bit unfair to directly compare the two prices directly.  The overheads for installing and maintaining 400+ cycle stations around the city of London compared to Valencia’s 275 planned stations clearly would make the London scheme more expensive to start. But I was surprised but the difference in initial outlay to join and the difference in say three hours use.  €6 in Valencia compared to £15 in London!

Me on my Valenbisi bike

Valenbisi bikes

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HASTY EDIT – I published this and then realised that this was the 18th Web Curios. Web Curios is now of legal drinking age; should any of you fancy buying Web Curios a bottle of whisky (or meths of suitable vintage), please feel free. Thanks.

Another week down, another 7 days spent at work feeling like Sisyphus (if you’d prefer a visual representation of this, you can’t go wrong by clicking here). Yet again, it might be argued that I shouldn’t be writing this and should instead be knuckling down to some HARD GRAFT (for which phrase Google Images suggests this – proof positive that people who spend time on the internet have NO CONCEPT of what work actually means); those who hold that opinion, though, are ignoring the JOY that Web Curios brings to literally tens of webmongs across Soho. I am performing a public service, big bossman Richard Miller. Frankly I should be subsidised by the state – after all, there’s some extra cash knocking about these days.

Having said that, this is going to be the last Web Curios for a while as next Thursday I am going on HOLIDAY. Yes, I know that I have tried that before this year and failed spectacularly, but this time nothing can go wrong. I’m only going to Italy, for God’s sake *prays, fervently*. Before I embark upon my Roman holiday, though, have some things – oh, and for those of a sensitive disposition, please be assured that nothing in this week’s selection comes anywhere near to the creepiness of last week’s stuff. Which is a shame, frankly (there was a video of a Satanic mass, but I’m not quite sure how far I can test my employers’ patience at the moment). Enjoy, or don’t, but whatever you do DON’T HAVE NIGHTMARES.

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Pioneer, trailblazer…and some less favourable comments have been made since I started working remotely from Valencia over a year ago. It works for me and H&K but I knew when I requested to work remotely to my boss and the CEO that it wasn’t all going to be a walk in the park or in my case, on the beach! It is sometimes tough and you come against some serious issues. For example, once my laptop decided to just die on me and where once before I could get an onsite IT engineer to my desk. Suddenly being 800 miles away in Valencia presented its own problem. Thankfully that is the most serious incident in a year and with the support of a great company, and of course the marvels of modern technology, it can be accomplished to the benefit of all parties concerned. 

Here are my personal tips on remote working:

1.    Technology – Ensure you have a good ISP and connection. Wifi is great but I am sure most remote workers are cable connected to ensure a faster more reliable connection.  When I first got to Spain I had to upgrade the speed of our connection at home to cope with the stress of the work I needed to do.

2.    Routine – Be strict about doing the normal daily routine.  That includes getting up, showered, dressed and to you your work area fresh and ready for the day head.  It puts you in the right frame of mind and ensures you are awake, alert and ready to work. I know I couldn’t have a serious conference call with my boss sat in pyjamas… or worse!

3.    Environment – Ensure the area where you work at home is fit for purpose. Don’t sit on the sofa or in front of the TV. It just doesn’t work and your productivity will suffer!  I tend to listen to music during the day which I find works for me.

4.    Working hours – Just because you are working from home doesn’t mean your BlackBerry and/or phone has to be permanently attached to your hand.  That said, you do need to be contactable by the office during working hours, it’s just a balance.  Also, don’t be afraid to stop working when the office has finished for the evening too! 

5.    Don’t be a stranger – Return to the office as often as you can with agreement of your company. Working remotely can be great but you need to ensure that you are still a familiar face in the office. Nothing beats a face-to-face meeting and it is also good to connect to your colleagues this. You have to remember being out of sight should not mean out of mind…and as H&K in London has a fabulous bar, it’s always a great place to catch up with everyone.

Right, I am off to get a shower and dressed… it’s been a long day here chatting on twitter and Facebook! (Ha-ha – only joking!)