Author's posts
Dec 23
Making a list
He’s making a list He’s checking it twice He’s gonna find out who’s naughty or nice Santa Claus is in contravention of article 6 of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679
May 08
Communicating in a roundabout way
The difference between British and our US colleagues is neatly summed up by roundabouts (or traffic circles, if you’re American) and traffic lights. A former British Ambassador to Washington hit the nail on the head when he identified this (although I can’t find him credited with this major cultural discovery on the internet). Americans are direct: if …
May 30
Lego banking
Metro Bank, one of the UK challenger banks, has just announced a deal to lend customer deposits through Zopa, one of the UK’s biggest peer-to-peer platforms. This is a significant in a number of reasonss. It is both the first British bank to lend through a peer-to-peer platform, and a major collaboration of challenger bank with …
May 12
The effect of earthquakes on unreinforced masonry and adobe low cost housing
My third year university thesis was entitled “the effect of earthquakes on unreinforced masonry and adobe low cost housing”. After computer simulations and a modelling an earthquake on a one tenth size building frame, basically the conclusion was: – they fall down. It doesn’t take an engineering degree to see that the effect of two …
Feb 14
How can HMRC have missed this?
After all the revelations about alleged tax evasion at HSBC’s Swiss Private Bank came a further shocking disclosure. The whistle-blower at the centre of the scandal, Herve Falciani, offered information on bank account holders in Switzerland to HM Revenue and Customs and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in 2008. How can they have missed it? …
Jan 12
The Story of Johnny Head-in-Phone
A modern cautionary tale As he walked his dogs each day It was always Johnny’s way To be looking at his phone And the current playing tune; But what just before him lay, In his way, Johnny never thought about; So that every one cried out “Look at Johnny, all alone, Little Johnny Head-In-Phone!” This …
Nov 23
Leasing’s part in FIFA corruption
Both Russia and Qatar were cleared by a Fifa judge on Thursday before the process descended into chaos when Fifa’s own investigator Michael Garcia complained that a summary of his report misrepresented his conclusions. Among the report’s findings was an observation that the Russia bid had destroyed documents and emails were now unavailable – hampering …
Mar 14
Would you buy a used car off this industry?
2014 started with some good news for the British Car Industry and for Vehicle Finance. The latest figures announced by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders show that car production rose 3.1% in 2013, surpassing 1.5 million units. This is the highest volume since 2007, and is a positive sign that the UK economy …
Jun 01
Painting yellow lines under the car..
The Back Office can party as well as any Sales Team. But at a gathering at the end of last year of Leasing Operations and Accounting folk, the festive spirit concealed dark problems and challenges to be faced in 2013. I carried out a straw poll and somewhere between a third and a half of …