Entries by Matt Wright

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BLT Discussion: From BREXIT to NEXIT

My gut feeling is that people will say, ‘If this is what happens after BREXIT, we should definitely think twice

-Hans Steketee, editor of NRC Handelsblad

Truth be told, BREXIT wasn’t supposed to be this week’s BLT (*) topic for discussion….but in light of recent events, it seemed that this was the elephant rampaging around the room which couldn’t be ignored?

What next?

This seemed to be the question on everybody’s minds, especially since most politicians who ‘promised’ the answers have since jumped ship. Perhaps the words of certain French statesman should have been heeded…… read more read more

July 7, 2016 /3 Comments/by

The Grammarian: Punctuation – It’s all Greek to me

“Proper punctuation is both the sign and the cause of clear thinking. If it goes, the degree of intellectual impoverishment we face is unimaginable” – Lynne Truss

Punctuation through the Ages

Punctuation is a relatively modern affair.

In the olden days, there was no punctuation whatsoever – texts were painstakingly copied out as one long sequence of words.

The Egyptians were the first to introduce accents and marks to indicate where pauses should be taken, but it wasn’t until the introduction of printing in Europe in C15 that punctuation began to catch on in Europe. read more read more

July 7, 2016 by
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The Moon Under Water – the synopsis of the Ideal Pub

My favourite public-house, the Moon Under Water, is only two minutes from a bus stop, but it is on a side-street, and drunks and rowdies never seem to find their way there, even on Saturday nights. 

George OMoon under Waterrwell (or Eric Arthur Blair if you prefer) loved a good pint, and his eulogy to an ideal pub still lives on in the High Street around us today.

In homage to Orwell, J D Wetherspoon’s has used the name Moon Under Water for 15 of its outlets (at the last count):

He once remarked that he models his pubs on a description in a 1946 essay by George Orwell of the imaginary Moon Under Water, which offered cheap beer, good conversation, motherly barmaids and solid architecture. read more

July 5, 2016 /0 Comments/by
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BLT Discussion – Most useful Business/Personal Development Books

Discussion: What is your favourite Business/Personal Development Book and why?

This was the discussion topic for our fortnightly BLT networking group.

Participants were asked to produce a summary of their favourite Business/Personal Development Book; i.e. how its message helped their thinking, their business, or their effectiveness.

Brain Loosener – Describe your business to a 6-year old

To kick off, as we always do, we briefly introduced ourselves around the table with reference to this week’s ‘Brain Loosener’, describing our businesses as if talking to a 6-year old. read more

June 9, 2016 /0 Comments/by

The Vocabularist – I’ll name that place in…..

Name that Place

We’ve seen in recent ‘Grammarian’ blogs how fluent the English language can be, borrowing words from all & sundry. However, the names of towns, villages, and cities have remained incredibly constant over time.

Place names persist in their original form in areas where Viking settlements were densest; for example, words such as lathe (barn) and kirk (church) are still frequently used in the North of England and in Scotland. read more

June 6, 2016 /0 Comments/by

Economia – Accountants can be interesting….sometimes.

Economia is the industry magazine for Chartered Accountants. Yes, that is generally a ‘yawn’ statement in its own right, but bear with, bear with….

This is a professionally-produced magazine with some very well designed articles. However, when accountancy firms submit their own articles (such as in ‘Sponsored Features’), the difference in quality can be very stark indeed….let’s have a look at the most recent issue. read more

June 4, 2016 /0 Comments/by

BLT Discussion: Strategies for approaching New Markets

Discussion: New Markets – Are you ahead of the wave or behind the curve

This was the discussion topic for our fortnightly BLT networking group.

To help frame the debate, participants were given a Questionnaire and asked to rank the importance of various strategies to find/create new markets from 1 to 6 (1 = least important, 6 = most important).

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Questionnaire conclusions

The scores divided into

two broad groups  read more

May 31, 2016 /0 Comments/by
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You are what you eat

Preserving Human Capital (Helen Money Nutrition)

This presentation got me thinking about all the money invested in what company’s always claim to be their ‘most valuable asset‘ – their staff.

To think – it could be so easily enhanced by better nutrition.

I mention Nutrition here, as recently, whilst helping to write a book on Semiotics, I was introduced to an ex-teacher and now motivational speaker, who was enthusing about the benefits of proper breathing and exercise in helping children to concentrate. read more

May 16, 2016 /0 Comments/by

Whisper it softly….Brexit….there, I think I got away with it….

Let’s ‘av a heated debaaaate!

-Mrs Merton

Brexit – are you in or out? A question with the potential to divide any social gathering.

However, we tackled this issue head on in our fortnightly BLT networking group; the findings were rather interesting….

The questions

  • 6 key Brexit issues, ranked from 6 (most important) to 1 (least important), the issues being Economy, Influence, Immigration, Money paid to EU, Sovereignty &  Security
  • Effectiveness of campaigning to date by both the ‘Leave’ and ‘Remain’ campaigns (again, out of 6)
  • Your current position: ‘Remain’, ‘Leave’, ‘Don’t Know’ (and whether your position might change between now & polling date)

The results

From a straw poll of 10 people:

  • The Economy was the only issue we all agreed upon, scoring an average of 5.5; i.e. everybody thought it either the ‘Most Important’, or ‘Very Important’
  • All the other issues scored 3.1-3.5, so there was no real consensus either way
  • Both ‘Leave’ and ‘Remain’ campaigns scored an average of ‘2’; i.e. neither have been very effective to date
  • Current positions: around 50% ‘Remain’, 25% ‘Leave’, 25% ‘Don’t Know’

Brexit - in or out?

Brexit – in or out?

Our thoughts

  • Even though Immigration was not a key concern for our group, we recognised that it is THE major concern for a lot of people, particularly (on an anecdotal basis) for the elder generation
  • People are likely to vote for the ‘Least Worst’ option
  • The ‘Leave’ campaign would probably have more chance of winning on a lower turnout; i.e. apathy/complacency by the ‘Remain’ voters?
  • The issue is more than likely to be decided in the last couple of weeks, hence this is where ‘new’ information is most likely to come to light

Going forwards

So, on Thursday June 23rd, we go to the polls to answer the following question:

Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union? read more

May 13, 2016 /0 Comments/by
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LinkedIn – 5 quick tips to improve your Profile page

In order to stand out on LinkedIn, the first thing to put right is your ‘Profile’ page.

This is the 2nd in a series of blogs about LinkedIn, taken from Steve Mills’ half-day course, ‘Using LinkedIn to Grow your business’.

I’m going to skip over the obvious stuff such as ‘Have a professional picture’ (or even ‘Have a picture at all’!), but all the details ‘Above the fold’ (as it’s called by web designers; i.e. what you see when anybody first opens your LinkedIn page, before they have to scroll down) are the obvious place to begin. read more read more

May 7, 2016 /0 Comments/by