THERE aren’t many people who have much to thank Prince Andrew for.
But I bet Chancellor Rachel Reeves is grateful that the errant royal has pushed her off most of this morning’s newspaper front pages and the top of the TV and radio news bulletins.
Well, not quite all of them.
The Daily Mail, which broke the story about the Chancellor’s failure to obtain the correct licence to rent out her house, has pushed the story of Andrew being stripped of his prince title and kicked out of Royal Lodge by the King to the top of its front page but still has Rachel Reeves as its splash.
I bet its editor, who would have thrown plenty of resources at digging up the Reeves story, isn’t happy at the timing of the royal story, coming out just when they probably thought they had the Chancellor on the ropes.
Rarely a day goes by without the Mail putting the boot in to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his Government.
It displays an almost pathological hatred of this Government.
To be honest I don’t think the current administration has many fans at the moment.
But given its communications missteps and gaffes, the Daily Mail, rather than trying to trip them up, might be better just waiting for Sir Keir and his crew to shoot themselves in the foot.
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I WAS witness to an ominous portent of Rachel Reeves’ travails exactly a week ago.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the UK’s financial regulator, held a conference in Leeds last Friday at which the Chancellor was the guest speaker.
Welcoming Rachel Reeves to the event, the FCA chief executive, Nikhil Rathi, told the audience: “I was in Japan on Monday meeting the finance minister – who was sacked on Tuesday…”
He assured the Chancellor he was certain that wasn’t going to happen to her and all of us in the audience laughed.
They do say a week is a long time in politics.
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THE FCA conference at the Aspire event venue in the centre of Leeds brought together a capacity audience of executives and entrepreneurs from the financial and technology sectors across the North.
There was much talk of “sandboxes” and “sprints” which is above my pay grade but I’m sure made sense to some of the people I chatted to at the event like Alex Craven of The Data City and non-executive director Georgina Mitchell.
Guests were welcomed by a short address from the Mayor of West Yorkshire, former soap actress Tracy Brabin.
Introducing her, FCA chief executive Nikhil Rathi told her: “I’m starstruck every time I see you as I’m a big fan of Coronation Street!”
Bless him.
He needs to get out more.
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TRACY Brabin gave her usual, rather breathless cheerleading speech about the merits of Leeds and West Yorkshire.
The bloke sitting next to me, a corporate financier from Merseyside, whispered: “She needs to slow down a bit.”
Given she is a trained actress, you’d think delivering a speech would be one of her strengths.
The content of it? Well that’s another matter.
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I WAS at the FCA conference as Simon Wright, chief operating officer of PEXA, a business I’m currently working with, was taking part in the keynote panel discussion which followed the Chancellor’s speech.
Alongside Simon were Jayne Bennett, general counsel and head of the Leeds office of GoCardless, another international financial firm, like PEXA, which has become a significant inward investor into Leeds.
Also on the panel were Julian Wells, of Whitecap Consulting and Fintech North.
Both Julian and Simon were on a panel I chaired during the Leeds Digital Festival, so I told them they had me to thank for their polished performances.
If you don’t deserve any credit, my policy is to try to take it anyway.
The final two members of the panel were James Lewis, the leader of Leeds City Council and Felix Kumi-Ampofo, director of inclusive economy, skills & culture at the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.
I first met Felix over 20 years ago when I was business editor of the Yorkshire Post and I brokered a partnership with Leeds Business School to provide research data for our specialist business publications.
Felix was the key researcher for that work and I still remember his diligence, patience and politeness as he dealt with a business editor and journalists who were very clearly a few rungs lower than him on the intelligence ladder.
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IN last week’s blog I pointed out how Rachel Reeves’ decision to schedule the Budget for November 26 was not doing any favours to her stated ambition to encourage growth and expand the economy.
Most firms I speak to are feeling very cautious when it comes to daring to make any decisions before they know the outcome of the Chancellor’s announcement in just over a month’s time.
Put your hand up if you are expecting any positive news from the Budget?
I didn’t think so.
But the challenges facing the Chancellor were brought home by reading the headlines and news stories in the news, business and financial press on one day this week alone.
The Daily Telegraph reported that the Building Societies Association warned that the proposed reduction of the tax-free cash ISA allowance could cost the Treasury £2.5bn and could lead to 60,000 fewer mortgages, undermining the Government’s goal of delivering 1.5m new homes.
The Daily Mail said that the FCA is considering changes to reduce the timeline for firms floating on the London Stock Exchange in an attempt to revitalise the City of London, which has seen a dramatic decline in stock market listings.
City AM reported that property sales have declined for the first time in two years because of uncertainty ahead of the Budget, according to Zoopla.
Meanwhile, again in the Daily Mail, it was reported that Rightmove data shows rents in Britain have reached “unprecedented levels” while landlords are facing uncertainty due to potential tax changes.
In The Times it was reported that retail sales in the UK are expected to decline significantly ahead of the Budget according to a CBI survey.
And the Daily Telegraph had a story saying that a proposed £1.7bn tax increase on large businesses could jeopardise 120,000 jobs according to the British Retail Consortium and UK Hospitality.
City AM reported that a survey from investment group Hargreaves Lansdown has found that potential income tax rises are the biggest concern ahead of the upcoming Budget, with high-rate taxpayers particularly anxious.
So, the mood music, as they say, is not positive ahead of the Chancellor’s statement next month.
For a bit of positivity we’ll probably have to turn to Rachel Reeves herself to ease our concerns.
Speaking at a gathering of business leaders in Saudi Arabia this week, the BBC reported that the Chancellor suggested that the Budget could see tax hikes and spending cuts as she looks to build “fiscal headroom” beyond £10bn to safeguard the UK economy.
I don’t know about fiscal headroom. Faced with all this uncertainty and negativity, I’ve got a fiscal headache.
RIGHT, after serving you up all that bad news, it is time to be positive.
Well done and good luck to Tom Riordan, the former chief executive of Leeds City Council who has been appointed as the government’s first envoy dedicated to northern growth by the chancellor Rachel Reeves.
Tom will work closely with senior government departments, mayors, ministers and other external partners to co-develop a plan to support growth and investments in the North of England.
Prior to his 14 years at Leeds City Council, Tom was CEO of regional development agency Yorkshire Forward and took up a role as the number two civil servant in the Department of Health and Social Care in September last year.
Fairplay to the Chancellor, a bit like a savvy football manager, she has spotted a member of the team playing out of position and moved them to where they will be most effective.
Hopefully Tom proves to be a prolific striker given his new role at centre forward in the northern team.
Although given he is a Middlesbrough fan, I rather hope he’ll be more a Bernie Slaven than a Rudy Gestede.
When I saw Tom at an event a few weeks ago he hinted at a new regionally-focused role and said he’d like to have a chat with me about it.
Given the clamour the announcement of his new appointment has received on LinkedIn, I better get in the queue.
His role will be three days a week for an initial 15-month term and he will report jointly to the Treasury, the Department for Transport, and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
Based at the Treasury’s Darlington campus, Tom Riordan will hold the first civil service post of its kind and his initial brief will centre on shaping a northern transport strategy.
I’m genuinely delighted for him.
As well as sorting out the North’s broken transport system, he’ll also now have a better chance of making the weekly dominoes match at his local pub in North Yorkshire.
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WATCH any TV news bulletin or listen to any radio news and you get a stark illustration into the value of communication in business.
Even those at the very top of companies can prove poor communicators.
They might earn a king’s ransom in salary and share options but some completely fail to engage with the audience and get their message across.
When I do media and presentation training I always point out it is a skill that a modern business person should have in their portfolio in the same way as they have the financial wherewithal to navigate a balance sheet.
I love helping people to improve their effectiveness as communicators.
But one person I won’t be pitching my services to is Jo Whitfield, the new chair of the British Retail Consortium.
She was interviewed by Sean Farrington for the BBC’s latest Big Boss Interview this week and she was superb.
Why?
She came across well, she knew her subject, she was passionate, she explained things in layman’s terms but made her points powerfully and effectively.
Jo Whitfield is steeped in retail and the BRC are lucky to have her.
I sat next to her at a lunch that Asda boss Allan Leighton hosted for the Martin House charity last month at Headingley Stadium.
She was engaging company and showed an interest in the people she spoke to – unlike some business people I meet.
Jo worked at Asda for several years from 2008 and earlier this year Leighton brought her back in as a non-executive director at the supermarket chain.
She’s been CEO at Matalan and worked at Co-op Food where she was the first female CEO of a British food retailer – so she knows her onions.
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REGULAR readers will know I’m no fan of Halloween.
It is a cringeworthy North American import that now overshadows the Guy Fawkes bonfire night tradition in the same way that grey squirrels have decimated our native red squirrel population.
Although it could be argued that burning an effigy of a man who was part of the Gunpowder Plot and who was eventually hung, drawn and quartered, is more gruesome than dressing up as a skeleton, hollowing out pumpkins and draping cobwebs in your windows.
However I thought you would welcome this little piece of news.
In the US, which celebrates Halloween in a way no other nation does, apparently the number of “self-identifying witches” has now overtaken Presbyterians according to The Spectator magazine.
If you wanted something scary to contemplate on Halloween, there you have it.
Have a great weekend.