UK Business News

In a new paper released today, The Case for Aviation, Kwasi Kwarteng MP calls for a new planning compensation system to tackle the problems stopping the development of our aviation industry. He argues:

• London is falling behind other European cities. Paris and Frankfurt enjoy 1,000 more annual flights to the three largest cities in China than Heathrow.

• Lack of access to emerging markets could already be costing the economy £1.2bn a year. In 1990, Heathrow’s route network reached 227 destinations. It is now down to 180, and is forecast to drop to 147.

• Demand is set to double over the coming decades, while our airports are already near capacity, with Heathrow 99% full and Gatwick 95% full. The economy cannot afford to wait the thirty years it would take to build a new airport.

• Expanding our current airports is the only viable option in the short to medium term. To deliver growth, airport operators should be enabled to build at least one more runway in South East England by 2020 – either Stansted, Gatwick or Heathrow.

• Government should expedite this by allowing compensation to be paid directly to affected residents for this critical infrastructure project. The industry needs a more flexible planning system. Decisions should be made by the price mechanism and free competition rather than special interests and political grandstanding.

• Government has a poor track record both at judging the future demands of consumers, and at estimating the costs of large infrastructure projects. This approach would leave the industry free to respond to market demand and to judge for itself the relative costs and benefits of the different options.

Commenting on the report, its author Kwasi Kwarteng MP said:

“Creating a system of compensation as part of the planning system will remove a major obstacle to growth in Britain. Governments aren’t good at working out the best options for large infrastructure projects, but the current system makes it hard for businesses to pursue these projects.

The need to expand our airports is now reaching crisis point. If consensus cannot be reached, and building does not commence in the next few years, London will inevitably fall further behind its European rivals.”

A new website is bringing the latest research from leading institutions to investors and businesses in the South East.

A new collaboration between five of the South East’s leading research institutions launched today. South East IP brings together the latest research from five research institutions across the South East, making it available to business and investors in a single, easy-to-search format. The service is designed to help businesses and investors to find the new technologies they need to grow their businesses, and for researchers to a route to market for their ideas.

With initial funding of £75,000 from the UK Intellectual Property Office the new site will accelerate the exploitation of Innovation in the South East by providing a single place for investors and companies looking for specific technologies, to look for IP from a collection of institutions in the South East; .providing a service to help participating institutions source specific expertise and equipment from other institutions in the network, and; .encouraging collaborations and joint funding applications.

The South East IP partners are The National Physical Laboratory, the Universities of Surrey, Reading, Sussex and Royal Holloway University of London.  Together, these five institutions produce a large part of the South East’s research. Now, for the first time, investors can find up to date information on research output from every institution in one place.

The launch of the new service marks the beginning of intensified collaboration between Research Establishments and universities in the region to develop more effective routes to market for their research.

David McCallum, Intellectual Property Officer at the University of Surrey, said,

“For the first time, details of new techniques and technologies developed at our five partner institutions have been brought together in one place, and in a form that investors and businesses can search to find the opportunities they are looking for. This is a big step forward for the whole region in matching technology research in the South East with investment, and we are excited to be a part of it.”

The shipping industry has been warned by a leading maritime lawyer that it may soon face its “Deepwater Horizon moment” in the event of a mega containership casualty.

Speaking at a Maritime London lunch earlier this month, Holman Fenwick Willan partner Andrew Chamberlain said that the consequences of a serious incident involving one of the larger containerships “may well result in a complete change in the accepted liability regimes and even the traditionally accepted insurance arrangements for such large vessels.”

Recent high profile container ship casualties have involved relatively small vessels capable of carrying up to 4688 containers (MSC Napoli).  The Rena, which is currently breaking up off the coast of New Zealand, has a capacity of 3352 containers. By comparison, the largest vessels sailing today are carrying over 15000 boxes.

He told the audience of salvors, insurers, shipowners and other maritime professionals that in the event of the loss of the largest class of containership, the epic scale of the incident would mean that the salvage industry would struggle to deal with the removal of the containers and wreckage. He warned that the salvage industry had limited and ageing resources, was increasingly risk averse and today consisted of only around four or five companies with a genuine global capability.

He noted that the legal environment for dealing with these types of incidents was becoming increasingly demanding with rising claims, disproportionately high clean-up costs and the near impossibility of disposing or recycling of a wreck thanks to the restrictive legal regime now imposed by the 1996 Protocol to the London Dumping Convention and the OSPAR Convention, combined with the absence of suitable recycling facilities.

He added:

“The industry is facing the perfect storm. We have a global recession, high cargo values (relative to ship values), ever larger and untested ships, environmental concerns and increasing public and government awareness of the impact of shipping incidents. Since the Napoli in 2007 any marine casualty is much more likely to be on the front page of every newspaper.”

New research suggests the government’s strategy of measuring and explicitly promoting happiness over other objectives is counter-productive and a waste of money.

The report, “…and the Pursuit of Happiness: Wellbeing and the Role of Government”, examines the flaws in attempts to measure happiness. It suggests that:

• The government should not be trying to measure or maximise happiness as an explicit policy goal.

• There is no evidence that more equal societies lead to increases in happiness.

• Contrary to widespread belief, the evidence suggests that happiness is in fact related to income and economic growth. The so-called Easterlin paradox (the idea that wellbeing does not increase with income) is shown to be fake.

• Attempts to promote “wellbeing at work” through regulation are likely to be counter-productive in so far as increases in employment regulation increase unemployment. There is a strong link between unemployment and loss of wellbeing. In general, more intrusive and bigger government leads to a loss in wellbeing. One study finds that increasing government spending by one third would cause a reduction in happiness of 5%-6%.

• Smaller government tends to make people happier. Public spending cuts could actually be the key to making Britain a happier place.

Commenting on the report, Mark Littlewood, Director General at the Institute of Economic Affairs, said:

“Governments have shown how hopeless and inefficient they are at attempting to run the basics of our economy. They seem to find it nearly impossible, for example, to resist racking up colossal debts.  To trust them with something far more intimate, complicated and confusing as happiness would be inviting disaster. We need our government to do less, not more – and to stick to the very simple and straightforward tasks which they are just about capable of. All of us are better advised to pursue our own dreams, hopes and goals than to entrust such personal and intimate things to David Cameron.”

Commenting on the report, its editor, Prof Philip Booth, Editorial Director of the Institute of Economic Affairs, said:

“The government is spending money on collecting happiness statistics in order to promote government policies to try to increase aggregate national happiness. This is a flawed policy and based on a complete misconception that governments hitherto have focused only on increasing national income. The nation’s wellbeing will be improved if the government cuts back its activity and allows the economy, employment and families to flourish. The government should not be trying to increase aggregate happiness as a specific policy goal, nor should it be wasting money collecting data on the subject.”

When looking for a new job you may be one of hundreds or even thousands applying for  every vacancy.  If you are one of those people that perform well in interviews then you need to do all you can to be sure you are given the opportunity to shine.

Following a recent television debate about youth unemployment a business owner / friend received contact via his blog, Twitter and email accounts within two hours of the show being broadcast.  A young teenager, still at school but desperate to join a media company instead of going off to university, showed his initiative and was asked to give a presentation the following week.  He now goes to the office twice a week on afternoons off from sixth form and is well on his way to being offered a full-time position simply because he went the extra mile.  I doubt a second glance would have been given if he were simply to have emailed a copy of his CV to the human resources department.

With so many people looking for work right now, being shortlisted and asked to attend an interview is, in many cases, a big achievement.  But it is only one stepping stone towards being offered a job.  It is therefore crucial that, if offered an interview that you do everything in your power to perform to the best of your ability.

The interview
Telling someone to dress smart and never be late for an interview is sheer common sense, but what of turning up too early?  This could show a lack of planning or desperation.  I suggest walking into reception 15-20 minutes early is perfect.  If you are going to be too early, simply find a nearby coffee shop.

The psychology of body language
When attending an interview you may not be given a choice of where to sit.  But if you are, sit where you can see all the interviewees without twisting round.  Like giving a presentation, you want to make eye-contact with everyone and never turn away.

Be sure to keep an upright posture, don’t slouch.  Sitting upright gives the impression you are attentive and interested. It can also give the appearance of self-confidence.

Behavioural psychologists suggest there are ways to acknowledge if someone is nervous. Talking too quickly or overusing your hands for emphasis is common.  Try not to speed up when answering questions and if you feel under pressure, keep calm.  One popular interviewing technique is to have two or more interviewees ask quick-fire questions to see how you cope in a stressful or pressured environment. Keep calm and attempt to control the pace of the interview at all times.

Finally, keep smiling and relax! You want to show you are a happy person, someone who will fit into an existing team.  I will always choose someone with less experience and a great personality over someone with buckets of expertise and a bad attitude!

At the end of any interview, whether it is for a plumber or solicitor, shop work or office jobs, the one thing you should always be able to say as you shake hands and walk out of the building is that you gave a good account of yourself.  By preparing your interview techniques and staying in control you will at least give yourself a good chance to impress a potential new employer.  Good luck!