Geopolitics at the Leadership Academy
I was very pleased to welcome Juan Carluccio to the Surrey Business School, University of Surrey Leadership Academy yesterday.
Juan presented “A Stormy Global Economy: Challenges and Opportunities for Businesses”, so pertinent to the issues many business leaders are facing as we speak.
Many topics were raised during the lively session including the impacts of AI and being more resilient to headwinds. Surprisingly one which resonated for many was that in these ‘stormy’ times, procrastination and delays to decision making were causing problems for many businesses.
Many thanks to Betty Jensen for organising everything in her usual brilliant fashion, Iis Tussyadiah for her continuing support, the staff at the University of Surrey Lakeside Restaurant and our excellent facilitators on the tables including Pam Jestico, David Gosen, Claire Hobson and the volunteers including Charles Whelan
My work with Start and Grow UK
I’ve been a member of the Board of Start and Grow UK since 2016. The organisation at the time was called the Cavendish Consortium and was a ‘not for profit’ organisation founded by some of the leading Enterprise Agencies around the country. The primary objective of the organisation was to deliver programmes across mostly England but to deliver those programmes with a regional and local perspective. The first programmes delivered were ‘Ready for business’, helping businesses obtain start-up finance along with the Growth Vouchers programme.
Cavendish were in the process of delivering the Start and Grow programme and the funder the Department of Business and Trade (then BEIS) wanted some external perspectives on the Board to help with programme management and delivery. They appointed two Non Executive Directors to join the Board and I was selected to be one of them. Start and Grow focussed on helping people plan, start and sustainably grow businesses in some of the most economically challenged parts of the country.
It set out to work with individuals who sought to employ people to grow their businesses. Businesses were provided with start-up and growth support over a three year period. The project started in 2015 with the final participants joining it in 2018. The delivery parts of the project ended in 2020. The evaluation attempted to track the progress of these firms for 5 years.
Overall, the project showed very strong evidence of success.
– The two main performance targets were exceeded
– 4,821 jobs were created over three years of the programme by the 1,619 participating firms (against a target of 3,900 (FTEs)
– over £49m of private sector investment was secured by the new and small firm participants (against a target of £48m)
– The great majority of the businesses participating felt that the programme contributed to their success
– Most compellingly, the businesses on the project significantly outperformed the standard business population in terms of business survival, especially those businesses continuing to trade beyond 3 years, despite operating in some of the most disadvantaged parts of England.
After a lot of hard work from the Board and delivery teams within the founder organisations we succeeded in delivering the programme with some impressive results. In fact it was heralded as one of the most successful business support programmes of the era, particularly when considering the challenges that we faced.
Following the delivery of Start And Grow, the government awarded Cavendish two pilot programmes as part of the ‘Business Basics‘ programme after a series of open competitions.
Administered by Innovate UK on behalf of BEIS. The fund aimed to build evidence on how to encourage SMEs to adopt productivity boosting technology and/or management practices.
The first of these programmes was entitled Business Boost. The trial considered how management training can improve productivity in micro and small firms.
The second was created in collaboration with the team of Lancaster University School of Management and was entitled Evolve Digital this was praised by the Enterprise Research Council who independently evaluated the programme and also by the University of Cambridge who thought the programme was an impressive way to increase digital adoption in small businesses.
After the delivery of these programmes we rebranded the organisation as Start and Grow UK and I succeeded our Chair Doug Scott in 2023.
In 2025 we signed a strategic delivery agreement with the National Enterprise Network one of the original founder members of our organisation. This is to further enhance our delivery capability offering a nationwide coverage of quality delivery and regional and local level.
With Alex Till Chair of the NEN following the signing of our agreement in The Shard London
So I guess I’m even more committed to skiing!
About a year ago I blogged about how skiing holidays helped me with my fitness and how the activity was a great break from the work routine. Because of the full on nature of surviving the slopes it was great distraction activity
That blog and post on LinkedIn ended up having nearly 15000 views and attracted a considerable amount of comment and discussion. I was amazed about how many friends and colleagues agreed with my view.
Moving fast forward to this winter we were in two minds about whether to go this year. It’s been a tough year for a whole variety of reasons and the thought of organising a trip was a bit ‘all too much’.
On a call with my accountant, who’s a keen skier, I said that we were thinking of not going this year. What she said to me hit quite hard, basically saying that if I stopped going then it would then be highly unlikely that I would ever go again.
This sort of made sense as it does become more difficult as one gets older and also I have numerous friends who no longer ski.
That sort of made our minds up that we should go!
We did tune the holiday a bit reducing it down to five days of skiing as that sixth day is now always the most difficult one to get motivated for. We chose Courmayeur on the Italian side of Mont Blanc as it’s somewhere we had always wanted to go to and It was a fairly straightforward drive from England.
As you can see in the photos, the weather wasn’t so great for the last two days of skiing as opposed to last year’s glorious sunshine in the Arlberg. The snow was falling heavily and on the final day the wind was blowing it horizontally!
On reflection it was a nice break and a chance to get a refresh from work. Also as has been said before the daily fitness work during the dull months of winter ( all logged on Strava) has so many benefits for mental and physical health. This should never be underestimated as at that time of year it’s so easy to laze about.
The concentration required both to get down the slopes and to remember how to do it and do it neatly with passable technique, means there’s no mental space for any other rubbish,
My wife, who’s an excellent skier, even said to me that after one run, “you looked good’. All that was missing was that she didn’t add “for once”.
So, I think after a bit of a wobble, skiing will remain as the physical and mental break for the foreseeable future.
Of course having had to replace my helmet, goggles and skis with new kit means I need to get my money’s worth too!
As a post script it was interesting to see that all of that snow that dumped on us caused a big avalanche a couple of days after we came home. I always compartmentalise avalanche risk by thinking that it’s only really a risk if you are off piste. Well’ if you watch this video we were actually queueing in that very lift queue four days before the avalanche- makes you think!!!
EV Charger ‘Connections’
Recently I was reading on LinkedIn about how installing EV chargers at retail outlets was a great way of increasing footfall.
Last week whilst driving down to Courmayeur in Italy we stopped at a convenient charger in Chamonix to top up the battery before we went through the Mont Blanc (or should that be Monte Bianco?) tunnel to Courmayeur. We used the excellent Octopus Electroverse system as it’s a great way of finding and planning the use of suitable chargers and avoiding any range anxiety.
Not only was there an easy to use 300Kw charger there but unbeknownst to us it was the Global Design Centre for Decathlon Winter Sports division and a massive winter sports store.
Very handy for me as the excellent Maxime tried very hard to fix a broken ski binding for me but in the end didn’t have the spare parts (they were over 10 years old so had paid for themselves many times over)
So a win for me and a win for Decathlon too as I got a great deal on a new pair of Atomic skiis and bindings (and those trainers) and left nearly €500 lighter!
I would add that as a family we have always been massive Decathlon fans.
There’s a clear message here that as more of us move over to EVs there are massive opportunities for retailers and venues of all kinds to attract visitors who want to do something else whilst they are charging their car- and even spend money!
Southern Manufacturing 2026
Out and about this morning at the Southern Manufacturing & Electronics show. After many years of attending this has to be the biggest show in a long time, with car parks full and a (very well managed) queue to get in. Hall One was crammed with so many exhibitors and visitors demonstrating the vibrancy, range and depth of our manufacturing industry. Also great to catch up with friends and colleagues as usual.
Happy Holidays!
Wishing friends and colleagues a very merry Christmas and a prosperous and successful New Year.
For those of us who are fortunate, it’s a time to relax and refresh with friends and family.
However, many people struggle at this time of year for a whole variety of reasons.
For that reason, as I usually do, instead of cards I will be making a donation to Oakleaf who help and support people less fortunate than many of us. https://www.oakleaf-enterprise.org
If you can support them in any way please do.
Thank You
Thames Valley Deals Awards 2025
I was honoured to be invited to be an Independent Judge for the recent Thames Valley Deals Awards for 2025. The dinner was held at the Select Car Leasing Stadium, home of Reading FC.
This was a new experience for me as my previous judging had been in the South East region, which I think went back to 2016 when I was Regional Chair of the IoD and went on up until 2023.
Apparently Farnham, where I live, is in the Thames Valley for the purposes of these awards, so theoretically I was on my home patch!
It was really interesting to learn about the Deal and M&A activity on another patch and find out who were the leading players and what was different about this region.
On the evening itself I presented two awards
Firstly to BDO for the Transaction Services Team of the Year award. A great night for them as they scooped a series of awards!
https://www.insidermedia.com/galleries/thames-valley-deals-awards-2025/image#9
And secondly to Jack Griggs of James Cowper Kreston Corporate Finance for the Emerging Dealmaker of the Year, always a nice award to judge seeing how young talent is emerging.
https://www.insidermedia.com/galleries/thames-valley-deals-awards-2025/image#12
A summary of the event, listing all of the shortlisted and winners can be found here
Many thanks to The Business Magazine and Insider Media teams for all of their great work in facilitating the judging and running the event- everything was first class.
Also to host Mark Durden-Smith the host- I hope that the ‘Chicken slayer’ moniker doesn’t stick!
Joining the Team at Stroud International
I’m very pleased to be joining the Stroud International team as Strategic Advisor.
Stroud International is a specialised operations improvement firm working in both manufacturing and capital projects sectors.
Working across Europe, USA and Canada it helps companies solve their highest impact problems and deliver lasting improvement to costs, capacity and quality.
With experience of facilitating projects in sectors as diverse as food & beverage, plastics, ceramics, health and personal care, chemicals, machining, furniture and high end motorsports, Stroud is familiar with the needs of both high and low volume industries.
“The team at Stroud International is delighted to have David Seall supporting our mission to unleash the potential of UK manufacturers – helping them to achieve rapid, real improvement in their operations.
David’s deep understanding of the UK manufacturing landscape means he is uniquely placed to help us shape and target our support where it will create the greatest value for the sector.”
The team work with the shop floor in an intensive methodology to deliver swift returns on investment and longstanding productivity gains. https://www.stroudinternational.com
Photo of me with Alec Stephens and Rob Potter at the Stroud Office in Holborn London
Another day in the Houses of Parliament- In the Lords this time
I was back in the HoP this week for an evidence session for the Manufacturing Commission’s inquiry into the Government’s Industrial Strategy this time concerning ‘Access to Finance’.
The session was chaired by Lord Bilimoria, always a great supporter of UK Manufacturing.
we were very fortunate to be joined by representatives of the British Business Bank who outlined how they will be supporting the Government’s Industrial Strategy and providing investments to finance growth.
We were also joined by EMC Corporate Finance’s Michael Gibbs in what was a lively session exploring many areas that stifle UK Manufacturing in fulfilling its potential.
We covered areas such as raising finance for capital investment (always an issue for manufacturers), accessing grant income, the R&D Tax Credit and working with banks.
Solving the skills conundrum
I was back in Parliament recently to attend a round table meeting to discuss the progress of Skills England after its first year.
It was a vibrant and challenging session with some tremendous contributions from the participants.
After 30 years of working in and around the skills sector it still remains a mess particularly in Higher and Further education. However Skills England under their inspirational Chair Phil Smith are getting a grip on things, asking the difficult questions and focussing on what really matters. I left the meeting feeling very encouraged.
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