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Harrods boss on running the world's

favourite corner shop

the intelligent magazine from Four Communications Group

Lola loves literatureBaroness Young on judging the Man Booker Prize

issue 5 | 2017

Sir Peter Bazalgette: Big Brother is in the house

Oui, chef!Raymond Blanc speaks

to Lalla Dutt

2 / foursight foursight / 3

fourwordSince the last edition of Foursight, our agency has grown to a staff of 330-plus – and with more colleagues come more stories.

There’s plenty of box office appeal with chef and client Raymond Blanc, TV guru Sir Peter Bazalgette and Man Booker Prize judge Baroness Lola Young all under the spotlight.

We also talk to young entrepreneur Alana Spencer on becoming the first Welsh winner of The Apprentice.

Danny Groom talks about editing the world’s best-read newspaper website, Mail Online, and speaks a few home truths about its “Sidebar of Shame”.

Although the backgrounds of the people we interviewed are varied, one subject is on all their minds – Brexit. We hear from opinion leaders in private equity, pharmaceuticals and retail about their hopes and fears for when and how the UK exits the Union.

We trust that you’ll find it a topical and entertaining read.

ContentsInterviews with Baroness Lola Young, chair of The Man Booker Prize judges 04

Sir Peter Bazalgette, British television executive 08

Raymond Blanc, chef, best-selling author and TV presenter 14

Danny Groom, editor Mail Online 16

Michael Ward, managing director Harrods 24

Middle East FocusInterview with Amina Taher, head of corporate communications at Etihad Airways 20

Tourism to rise with UAE investment in mega-theme parks 22

Brexit FocusGuide to Brexit - issues, opportunities and challenges 18

Where now for pharma? 32

BusinessAlana Spencer, Lord Sugar’s twelfth apprentice 12

SME champion Stephen Welton, chief executive, the Business Growth Fund 26

Can Spotify et al make streaming work for listeners - and artists? 34

EducationUniversities challenged 28

LifestyleA rise in “convenience gardening” and what to grow this summer 30

foursight editorial teamEditor: Matthew Beard Editorial director: Einir Williams Editorial assistant: Natasha Monroe Photography: John Scully Design: Four Creative -Laura Crouch, Amy Chevis

foursight / 5

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ou would expect Lola Young to be a keen reader. After all, she’s agreed to take on the daunting task of assessing

up to 150 books to find this year’s esteemed Man Booker Prize winner. But books and reading mean much more to her than a simple pastime. They have been her salvation and are perhaps the key to her successful career – from social work, acting (she starred in 1980s TV series Metal Mickey), arts management and academia, to serving in the House of Lords where we find her now.

“Books were a refuge for me … they helped me survive and do the sort of things I do today", she says, explaining that she didn’t have a

“conventional upbringing” having spent her childhood from the age of eight weeks to 18 years in foster care and children’s homes.

Young recalls: “I remember the day I was taken to my infant school for an interview and I saw the library and all the books, and asked if I could stay the night … in a funny sort of way, I almost feel that books brought me up".

Well, that and football. Being a Gunner ignited her passion, sense of belonging and identity. She has since found some allies in the Lords who share her love: “We could have an All-Party Parliamentary Group related to the Arsenal", she jokes.

In talking to Young, who is warm, easy-going and open, it’s obvious to see how this challenging start to her life, along with her belief in the importance of books, have influenced issues she has championed during her professional career.

Her recent work on The Young Review: Improving outcomes for young black and/or Muslim men in the Criminal Justice System confirmed that “a lot of young men who end up in prison have very poor literacy skills”, she says.

Echoing themes in actor Riz Ahmed’s recent speech in the House of Commons, she explains that one of the issues that young black and

Muslim men expressed during the review was that they were fed up with being constantly stereotyped by people within the criminal justice system and wider society. They felt that people assume “if you are a black boy you are part of a gang and if you are a Muslim lad you are subject to radicalisation and are going to become a terrorist” she says, adding: “What they wanted to see were more positive images of themselves, a more diverse range of images – not only on television – but also in books".

Stereotyping is something Young says she experienced first-hand as a young black actress being cast as a “nurse, prostitute, bus conductor” so it’s a subject she’s passionate about. She argues: “Books are about ideas and beliefs – challenging or confirming them. In a world that is becoming increasingly divided, we need people to read more books. One way to bridge the divide is to read something that really moves you in ways that you hadn’t anticipated and reframes a whole set of issues for you".

There will be plenty of opportunities for Young to have her own views challenged over the next few months as she and her fellow judges – literary critic Lila Azam Zanganeh, novelist Sarah Hall, artist Tom Phillips, and travel writer Colin Thubron – whittle down the Man Booker Prize submissions to a longlist, shortlist and eventual winner. With the prize’s illustrious history holding a tale or two of judge fallouts, does she anticipate having to put her experience of debating and chairing committees in the House of Lords to good use?

She laughs and says that, one meeting in, “there was a huge amount of consensus, which was really encouraging. Where some of us felt yes and some of us felt no [about a book], there was a really rigorous discussion about why we held those positions".

A baroness brought up on books

Lola, Baroness Young of Hornsey, chair of the 2017 Man Booker Prize judging

panel, speaks to Hannah Davies' I can now read on my phone much to my surprise – I didn’t think I’d like that'

Culture

Y


Culture

"The power of books is something extraordinary".

"People were saying we should keep books in and look again at them down the line". She accepts though that the final day, when they have to come up with a winner within a set time period, “will be a test of my chairing skills".

Young has got previous literary judging experience – she chaired the Orange Prize for Fiction in 1999 – but says the role is a huge adjustment to her life and she’s discovering new things about herself in the process. “My social life, such as it was, has gone completely out the window. I initially allowed myself a couple of hours of television on a Saturday night, but that has completely gone", she laments. And with the demands of reading three or more books a week, she says, “I can now read on my phone much to my surprise – I didn’t think I’d like that".

More fundamentally, she is relieved that she is still capable of having an emotional response to the books. “Sometimes when you participate in enquiries in Parliament you hear harrowing evidence. The last select committee I was in was on sexual violence in conflict zones and so reading that material and talking to women who have been captured by Isis, my fear was that I might have become so used to it that it ceased to have any impact on me", she explains.

Although Young can’t reveal which books she’s been judging, she says a title she’d read the previous week put paid to her fears: “I could feel myself getting emotionally engaged with it and there was one line where I couldn’t stop crying. I thought this is what reading literature and the arts are about – it’s about the ability of someone really skilful and talented to produce this great well, this spring of emotion. The power of books is something extraordinary". n

Hannah Davies is an account director in Four Culture and a former journalist for The Bookseller

2017 judges: Tom Phillips CBE RA, Sarah Hall, Baroness Lola Young, Lila Azam Zanganeh, Colin Thubron CBE

Paul Beatty, 2016 winner Marlon James, 2015 winner Richard Flanagan, 2014 winner

David Grossman and translator Jessica Cohen, 2017 international winner

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foursight / 98 / foursight

He is one of the defining figures of 21st century television as the creator of some of the UK’s favourite lifestyle programming from cookery to DIY.But Sir Peter Bazalgette is probably best known as the man responsible for Channel 4’s Big Brother, a broadcasting phenomenon that popularised the reality TV genre and in its heyday prompted national conversations about class, race and fame.

The “BB” housemates have upped sticks to Channel 5, and Bazalgette has long since moved on. He has led many of the premier arts and culture organisations – latterly as chair of the Arts Council England. He recently became chairman of ITV and also chairs the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction.

Sir Peter visited Four for a candid conversation encompassing the role of creative industries to his thesis about what Big Brother tells us about cultural differences around the world.

For a man used to being centre stage and battling controversy, Bazalgette is less formidable in person

– though how much of this due to the fact he has just published a book on empathy is hard to tell.

The great-great-grandson of Sir Joseph Bazalgette, who created London’s sewer system, Sir Peter went to Dulwich College and looked set to be a lawyer but after managing only a third at Cambridge University his career took a different path. He secured a place on the prestigious BBC journalism training scheme, getting his big break finding consumer affairs angles for Esther Rantzen’s That’s Life.

There followed a whirlwind of successes such as Ready Steady Cook, Ground Force and Changing Rooms that have become household names.

Then the independent TV production group he was working for was taken over by a Dutch media company. Among the shows owned by his new employer Endemol was an experimental series in which strangers lived in a figurative goldfish bowl, their every interaction followed by “Big Brother” cameras.

Culture

Big Brother is still watching

Sir Peter Bazalgette speaks to Foursight editor, Matthew Beard


Culture

Bazalgette was tasked with bringing the format to British audiences before embarking on the highly lucrative business of selling the show to TV stations around the world.

“ It completely took over my life for four to five years” said Bazalgette.

“ When Big Brother first started it seemed rather shocking. I wrote a book about Big Brother around the world and the phenomenon of reality television.

“ It caused a constitutional crisis in Malawi, a German regulator tried to ban it, in Mexico 200 companies owned by Catholic families tried to strangle it by taking advertising off the TV station, it caused a fatwa in Bahrain because we launched it there and even though they had separate rooms and prayer rooms it closed after four days.

“ What interests me are the cultural differences. In most countries the big story was romance between people in the house. Only in Britain was it a class struggle – middle class Nasty Nick versus a Liverpool builder (and BB winner) Craig which was the big story in series one.

“ In the US the winners were very often the people who played the game most aggressively and were rewarded for playing the game

‘well’. Here in the UK we seem to be rather gentler souls and usually the winners were seen to be the people who were most sensitive, cooperative and pleasant".

Bazalgette became chair of the Arts Council in 2012 when post-crash austerity measures were beginning to bite. Its grant was cut by 30 per cent before Bazalgette arrived and he urged theatres, galleries and museums to cushion the blow by becoming more commercially savvy – boosting their coffers through parking charges or opening B&B accommodation.

The medicine, though hard to swallow, appears to have worked as the turnover of the 700 organisations now funded by the Arts Council went up in the austerity years, although it was a familiar story of London faring better than the rest of the country.

He said: “It’s been tough but there was a new generation of arts leaders and entrepreneurs who were becoming better and cleverer at marketing, selling tickets and fundraising. Every successful arts organisation has to be a successful business. There’s no way around that.

“ But that’s not to say government funding is not important as it’s very important. It’s not just the seed corn investment, it’s the mark of approval".

Bazalgette has also worked with arts chiefs to make a better case to preserve public investment – pointing out the wide-ranging social and educational benefits. He was a natural choice to assist in Theresa May’s “industrial strategy”.

He’s cast in a Dragon’s Den-type role identifying how the booming creative industries – such as music, TV, film, advertising and gaming – can contribute to economic growth.

Under the scheme run by business secretary Greg Clark, those who impress will be offered “sector deals” and benefit from government assistance.

He said: “Creative industries are growing at more than twice the rate of the economy and they are pretty significant because in the next 20–30 years artificial intelligence is going to destroy a lot of jobs and the creative industries are going to create jobs".

He adds: “Arts and culture incubates talent for the creative industries and it’s demonstrable”, citing industry hubs in Bristol and Manchester.

He added: “I am looking for ideas that could be upscaled or that help the creative industries outside London and that help recruit talent from all parts of society. One of the historical challenges is that creative industries are quite casualised with freelancers in small companies and if you come from a background where you’ve got no friends or relatives working there you don’t have a network".

Bazalgette has recently taken on an issue highlighted by former US president Barack Obama, namely the “empathy deficit”, or the inability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. In The Empathy Instinct he writes that empathy enhances the way we educate our children and mete out justice to criminals. The internet, once touted as a gateway to new ideas and understanding, has disappointed in its promise to help us understand other viewpoints.

“ We thought it was going to bring us into contact with lots of ideas and different points of view and we will learn so much. But a lot of people use it to connect with people who agree with them and to confirm their prejudices. We are just 10–15 years into the internet era and we don’t fully understand what it is going to do with us". n

Matthew Beard is an associate director in Four Communications’ Business, Corporate and Money practice

“ Creative industries are growing at more than twice the rate of the economy and they are pretty significant because in the next 20–30 years artificial intelligence is going to destroy a lot of jobs and the creative industries are going to create jobs".

Davina McCall was picked by Bazalgette to host Big Brother in the UK.

12 / foursight

Since Alana Spencer was hired as the twelfth Apprentice – becoming the first winner from Wales – she has been hard at work to ensure that her “Ridiculously Rich” range lives up to the promise of the name in satisfying the sweet-toothed as well as her new boss’s taste for money.Spencer's mission – to turn a cake business in to a nationwide franchise – started as a schoolgirl in the kitchen of her parent's Aberystwyth home.

If all goes to plan her scores of “ambassadors” will be selling crème brulee brownies, fudge cakes and rocky roads at farmers’ markets, country shows and food stalls.

When she was still at school, Spencer showed similar business precocity to her mentor. While a young Alan Sugar started out selling car aerials in Hackney, Spencer’s business antennae directed her towards cakes.

With entrepreneurship in her blood – she looks up to her uncle and his successful recycling business – the missing ingredients of confidence with a touch of ruthlessness were developed during the contest to become the country’s most famous apprentice.

She told Foursight: “I’ve always been the sort of person to have good ideas but have doubted them and had to run them by half a million people before I would go ahead because I was worried it would not be right. But The Apprentice taught me to back myself a little bit more because I know myself better than anyone else does. It’s given me the confidence to say I’m just going to do this".

She admitted to having to endure some tough times in the boardroom – subjected to the peer pressure of Lord Sugar and Baroness Karren Brady – and in the notorious interview episode, with Claude Littner acting as henchman in chief.

“The boardrooms were horrendous” she said. “It doesn’t matter what week it was every time you walk in there you know you are going to have to fight and I’m not really fond of that. They were my least favourite bit. I think I had to be more ruthless, but I managed to maintain my integrity throughout".

“At the interview I didn’t have too bad a time although they are brutal. We have all done very well to get to that point and they have to rip us apart. Ultimately it’s a TV show but it was probably the most daunting part of the show.

“They asked me if I wanted to dump my boyfriend and I can assure you he is still working here. My boyfriend works for the company and has done for a few years and is a big part of why the business is a success and they needed to make sure that if he wasn’t in the company whether it would still be able to succeed".

Her prize for defeating novelty-gift trader Courtney Wood in the final was a ride in the boss’s Rolls Royce, a £250,000 investment and the back-up of Lord Sugar and his team at company headquarters in Loughton, Essex.

She said: “I get massive ongoing support from Lord Sugar. We speak every other day and email and he will make sure everything is being set up properly. He keeps an eye on the money – it’s something that can go wrong. You get this massive success and all of a sudden you have spent it all and you don’t know where it’s gone. It’s making sure it is spent in a sensible way and he is all over that.

“You don’t just get Lord Sugar, you get a whole team of people based in Loughton and work for his company who are there for any support you need such as drawing up a franchise contract. They know the pitfalls and I am lucky to have come in after other winners as they know what to keep an eye out for".

Lord Sugar and Spencer agreed a dual strategy of hiring “ambassadors” selling her cakes at farmers’ markets, country shows and food stalls while cafés and delis can order wholesale via the website and receive a “kickback” for their monthly sales.

Ridiculously Rich cakes are made at a factory in Cross Hands, near Swansea, to Spencer’s recipes and she still makes time to cook up new treats. “I’m very hands on with product development. Creating new products and baking is what I love to do” she said.

Spencer’s treats contain local free range eggs and butter and she has used her fame as a platform to champion Welsh produce. Spencer spoke at the recent Taste Wales trade event, where Welsh food and drink producers were given a platform to showcase their produce to buyers from across the world.

She said: “There’s a lot of very good food products in Wales. Where food comes from is important to people as part of the brand and that is certainly part of my brand. I said on The Apprentice that I was going to keep the production in Wales and I’ve very much stuck to that".

With a war on sugar raging, it may seem she’s taken a risk in stressing the richness in her products but Spencer insists that’s not the case.

She said: “People have been eating cakes for years they would surely prefer to have one of my cakes that has been made in the same way that your mum would make a cake. It’s about moderation as long as you are not completely stuffing your face with these products and having it as a treat then it’s absolutely fine".

With her company launched, she has a clear idea of what success looks like. She said: “My dream is to become a leading player within the luxury cake market in the UK. I’m not a mass market product. If you are having an event or treating yourself then I hope you think of my product before anyone else’s. If you do that I will be happy. It might even be the icing on the cake". n

Four Cymru worked with Alana during the promotion of the Welsh Government’s first ever international food and drink trade event at the Celtic Manor, Newport.

Food

foursight / 13

…then add SugarShe was the outside candidate who persuaded Lord Sugar that she

could turn her home made cake-baking business into a sweet success.

My dream is to become a leading player within the luxury cake market in the UK


Cuisine

Peace and calm are rare commodities in the life of Raymond Blanc. In the week before we meet, he has been busy, though a relentless schedule is not unusual.One day tossing pancakes while rapping with grime artist Stormzy, the next cooking dishes at Selfridges in aid of wastED, a campaign by US chef Dan Barber to use by-products that would otherwise end up in the bin. Blanc’s signature was salmon belly tartare with cauliflower core couscous, cucumber ends and wasabi purée.

He has also found the time to cook at Royal Ascot and accepted an invitation to join the Catey Hall of Fame, the highest accolade awarded by The Caterer, the most respected hospitality publication in the UK.

Born in Besançon, eastern France, in 1949, Raymond Blanc is now acknowledged as one of the finest chefs in the world. But his beginnings were very different – coming from humble stock, and one of five children, Blanc was born into a family who liked to debate.

“My maman argued a lot with my father, because she is a guilty Catholic and he is an atheist communist. What my father disliked the most was that my mother took us to mass three times a week when he wanted us to help in the garden".

Perhaps it was witnessing this seeming dichotomy which led to Blanc pouring passion and reason into everything.

“I wanted to excel – it didn’t matter at what. When I was a pot washer, I made sure that those pots shone".

His striving for excellence brought him to England in 1972 – but in the most unexpected way.

“While I was starting out in the first kitchen I worked in (Le Palais de la Bière in Besançon), I talked to the head chef and suggested how I would improve one of his signature sauces".

The result was that Blanc was whacked across the head with such force that he ended up in hospital with a severe concussion and his mind made up – he would travel to the UK. It was time to try something new.

Blanc has won a number of accolades, in 1984 attaining two Michelin stars, which he has retained for over 30 years and along the way, has picked up an OBE

and the Légion D’Honneur, the highest French decoration. Since 1984, he has also continued to work on one of the greatest loves of his life, Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, the hotel and restaurant in Oxfordshire.

He has also found time to write a raft of books – both cookery books and an autobiography – A Taste of My Life. His most recent, published last year – Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons: The Story of a Modern Classic – is a Proust like celebration of the house and all that goes on within and without.

We meet at his club, Home House, a mix of traditional and ultra-modern elegance, where Blanc seems perfectly at home. Staff greet him like an old ami and the warmth is returned in a stream of bonjours and merci beaucoups.

As the Frenchman who made Britain his home, he is concerned about Brexit.

“It’s not going to be great", he says, “but we will survive. We depend on being a mixed society. I have learnt so much from having so many languages and cultures in my kitchen. When I first came to Britain it was very traditional and inward looking – the addition of other cultures, sentiments, languages has meant that we have grown so very much. I became a better Frenchman by living in England – I learnt to listen – but the fact that over the years, we have learnt from so many others can only enrich us".

If he has learnt so many things from so many different people and places (he is an ardent traveller and has done everything from cooking with street hawkers in Malaysia to searching for Kobe beef in Japan), does he, I wonder, see himself as a renaissance man who has been given the greatest gift of all – the ability to do anything? “Renaissance is a wonderful word, don’t you think? If you want to stay at the top of your game, I think you have to be renaissance. Keep tradition but try something new all the time.

“But", he adds, “I think I’ve also been quietly consistent, both in what I’ve said and what I’ve done. I like to think I have vision. I write books, and am interviewed and I work with charities ... I feel privileged to do all that – to be all that. It means that everything is exciting. Belmond Le Manoir has that energy".

One of Blanc’s great passions is his extensive garden at Belmond Le Manoir. Guests who visit always head to the kitchen garden, a magnificent two-acre vegetable and herb plot that produces more than 90 types of vegetables and 70 herbs.

Blanc has also grown orchards full of unusual British species of fruit, with some 800 apple and pear trees.

“The garden is where it all begins doesn’t it? Where food is created", he says. “You take a little seed and get your hands dirty in the earth, and look what happens. Voilà, magic is made!”

His mother, Anne Marie, better known to him as maman Blanc is also an inspiration. He smiles as he recalls being her little kitchen helper at home. “When she asked me to bring tomatoes from the garden, I knew which variety to get, depending on what she was making". His carousel mind then takes him to the subject of his father. “When I was a young boy, he asked me to taste the earth to truly understand the whole growing process. Of course I hated it at the time, but it built in me a real love of the garden, of nature. My quest to learn more about where food comes from has continued ever since".

This summer sees the launch of The Raymond Blanc Gardening School at Belmond Le Manoir, with lessons which include growing seasonal vegetables and understanding the science of soil.

“I remember, a few years ago, the Prince of Wales (patron of Garden Organic which Blanc works closely with) came and planted a tree in the gardens. It was wonderful but he is not the first to come to us. His grandmother, the Queen Mother, visited many years ago and sang La Marseillaise with me".

So what of the future of food? “It is as if we are waking up from a long sleep. We know that we need to understand where our food comes from. I want everyone to understand how easy it is and how complicated we make it".

It is time for Blanc to be photographed. But first, he must say farewell to the people who have served him. He is gracious; the room is alight with wide smiles, laughter, warm handshakes and cheek-kissing, French style. “You see, Lalla", says the greatest schmoozer in Britain’s hospitality industry, “I know that a little ‘thank you’ at the end of a meal, or even at the end of tea or coffee, is so massively important. Who am I to break with tradition?” n

Lalla Dutt is a practice director in Four Travel

Le grandBlancby Lalla Dutt


Media

Need for speed Mail Online UK editor Danny Groom on clicks, tricks and ethics.

by Matthew Beard

Now established as the world’s most visited English language newspaper website, Mail Online encompasses large teams of journalists in Sydney, Los Angeles, New York and London. Chasing stories and pictures across time zones, it is the news operation that never sleeps.

The website was set up as a digital offshoot of the Daily Mail a decade ago and the staff has long since grown to outnumber those of the print edition at their grand offices in Kensington.

Success has been driven by Martin Clarke, the trailblazing Mail Online publisher who now spends much of his time in New York running the global operation.

The UK edition has been in the safekeeping of another veteran newsman, Danny Groom, who has held executive roles at the Daily Mail, The Observer and The Independent before he was tempted by the world of digital.

He was largely responsible for setting up Mail Online’s US operation in 2010 before returning to the UK to settle his young family in North London and be nearer to his beloved West Ham United, though not necessarily in that order of priority.

Danny has a legendary capacity for hard work and it is something of a prerequisite in the role. As well as overseeing the many editorial departments such as news, show business and Femail, he is responsible for editing the content they produce and presenting it on the UK homepage, which displays around 100 stories at any one time.

He describes this online editing process as a juggling act, saying: “The real skill for any homepage editor is to juggle what everyone wants to read and what you think they might be interested in. It’s very easy to chase the numbers but at the same time you have to use your judgement and your editing skills to project stories you think are worthwhile.

“ You don’t get it right all the time but having done it for several years you have a fairly clear, incisive instinct for what’s going to be read and what’s going to snare people. It can be to do with the mix of the homepage or you might feel there are great images attached to a story that aren’t being displayed".

The statistics are impressive. Mail Online boasts 230 million monthly global unique visitors and 15.5 million daily global unique visitors. Some 400 employees worldwide produce 1,500 stories and 12,000 pictures daily.

The sheer size of Mail Online’s editorial team would make most editors of newspapers green with envy. On any given day there are 25–40 general reporters plus teams of specialists dedicated to areas such health, showbusiness, science and politics.

Demand for their output peaks at 9am, lunchtime and increasingly 9pm–10pm when readers check in before bedtime. Its international reach in LA, New York and Sydney is what sets Mail Online apart while its rivals are asleep, Danny says. “If you do the maths then someone somewhere in the world is firing on all cylinders at some point in that 24 hours. That gives us a massive advantage due to the rolling co-operation between the centres and we are constantly swapping and sharing and obviously there is a big crossover as so many stories are international these days".

Danny says social media has “transformed” newsgathering, both online and in print. But the biggest change in online news is the need for speed. He said: “Whereas previously you might have a few hours to put a story together, obviously we are in a very competitive market and speed is of the essence. Generally, depending on content, we would want to turn something around as fast as is humanly possible".

Such a huge staff enables Mail Online to produce high volumes of copy and images while still having troops on the ground.

“Online journalism has not eroded the desire or the need to have reporters on the ground” he said.

“Ultimately you can’t beat human contact but at the same time you can’t get away from the fact that if an event happens in the day of mobile phones everywhere, quite often images and information are available on social media before that process can begin. I’m still a great believer in being on the ground and pressing the flesh and speaking to people".

Mail Online relies on high volumes of traffic to attract advertisers – its main source of revenue, with no plans to erect paywall in the manner of other UK newspaper sites such as The Times, The Sun and The Telegraph. Its rivals are “many and varied” due to the scope of its coverage and can range from the New York Times to entertainment websites such as TMZ.

Journalistic standards are under increased scrutiny following the phone hacking scandal and the subsequent inquiry by Lord Leveson. That the spotlight is shining on journalists has proved an important bulwark at a time of “fake news”, Danny believes.

He said: “For various reasons that we all know about there are more demands for checks and balances for reporters both in print and online than at any other time in my career without a shadow of a doubt. Editors are extremely wary of overstepping the mark and we run a pretty tight ship when it comes to demanding accuracy and checks".

With such a huge readership, Mail Online is frequently the top target for those in the public relations industry. Not all are adapting to the needs of online and some still neglect the basics.

Danny said: “Any story has to have first and foremost a news element at its core, not necessarily a big development but you need to be telling the readers something they didn’t know. Increasingly what we see is that people aren’t stupid and they can see through anything that is dressed up and is a glorified puff for a company.

“ There’s a wide range in quality. Many PRs, particularly those agencies that have an input from ex-journalists, know how it works and are aware of the demands of online. But at the other end of the scale I never cease to get amazed by PRs who try and present us with what is shameless puff without any pictorial addition or video and of no value to us whatsoever".

Talking of picture-led content, does he often find himself having to defend the celebrity column universally known as the sidebar of shame?

“ Not really” he said. “Most people who raise it with me tend to display an encyclopaedic knowledge of the personalities that we feature so I think there’s a huge amount of love for it – though people don’t often admit that". n

Matthew Beard is an associate director in Four Communications’ Business, Corporate and Money practice

“Online journalism has not eroded the desire or the need to have reporters on the ground. Ultimately you can’t beat

human contact but at the same time you can’t get away from the fact that if an event happens in the day of mobile phones

everywhere, quite often images and information are available on social media before that process can begin".

Subject

Domestic Priorities

World Trade Organisation (WTO)

"As a newly independent WTO member outside the EU, we will continue to fight for trade liberalisation” Liam Fox, Secretary of State for International Trade

“We will use this moment of opportunity to build a stronger economy & a fairer society, so that we secure both the right deal for Britain abroad & a better deal for ordinary working people at home.” Theresa May, UK Prime Minister

“Brexit.. is going to be the development of a new partnership between Britain and the EU and be beneficial to both sides.” Boris Johnson, Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs

"We want to ensure that as many of the existing EU free trade agreements carry straight over, which will also be lower than MFN (Most Favoured Nation) rates.” David Davis, Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union

New & Existing FreeTrade Agreements

Border controls

Relationship with the European Union

GUIDE to BR EXITIssues, opportunities

& challenges

The UK will automatically regain its independent membership of the WTO when it leaves the EU

The UK will initially replicate all of the EU's tariff rates, which then applies to any countries lacking an FTA with the UK

Revisions to EU Quotas on goods imports will be problematic, with agreement required from EU and WTO members

UK-EU arrangements: Unless a deal is agreed, the UK could become subject to the existing EU quota system, which would cause problems internationally

Other WTO members might object and be able to block any division if they felt it limited their access to either market or their flexibility about what market to sell to

The EU's current schedule of quotas has not been formally certified following its enlargement to 28 members, which might affect how easy it is to divide them

Introduction of new tariff rates are only possible when the UK has left the full Customs Union

Increasing tariffs would be met with opposition from other nations and take time to be agreed

The UK and ROI have pledged to avoid a 'hard border' but soft versions may entail hard checks between NI and the UK mainland

Spain's sovereignty demands over Gibraltar may frustrate movement

Customs facilities will need to be built, or substantially expanded, before UK ports have the capacity to process EU-related cargos

The French Government might revoke the bilateral Le Touquet agreement, removing UK border facilities and controls in Calais

Scottish Government's request for second referendum rejected until after Brexit

Scotland would need to reapply for EU membership, commit to Euro, free movement and likely to be vetoed by Spain

The UK Government could resist pressure to devolve repatriated competencies to Holyrood, Cardiff, Stormont, mayors or councils

Metro Mayors eager to secure repatriated powers and calls have been made for the creation of a 'Brexit committee for the nations and regions'

Potential scope for collapse of power-sharing in Northern Ireland & greater calls for a United Ireland

Developing and appraising different options for both the negotiations and for new policy regimes

Skills and capacity needed to prepare, draft and manage the passage into law of a large body of legislation

Developing capacity to adminster new regulatory regimes, including setting up a new immigraiton system and a new system of custom checks

Using the government machine to coordinate and draw expertise and insight from across Whitehall, devolved administrations and wider civil society

Guy Verhofstat has suggested individual EU membership for those UK citizens requesting continued freedoms (travel and election participation)

Great Repeal Bill will transfer EU law into UK law, but detailed legislation is needed because some EU law will require further primary legislation which would be at risk of sustained parliamentary debate

A new UK immigration system will replace freedom of movement through a combination of qualifying restrictions or quotas

HM Treasury has underwritten any EU funding that is already approved & CAP-based payments to UK farmers until 2020

The UK will regain full control of fishing rights, although access will probably be offered to EU fleets in return for concessions

The UK may need to establish over 30 specialist regulatory bodies to replace existing EU regulators, unless it scraps requirements or opts back in

HMRC's ageing I.T. system will only be replaced by the Customs Declaration Service in 2019, which was not designed for EU volumes

Brexit will allow UK state support for key sectors identified in Industrial Strategy; including nuclear, life sciences, low carbon emission vehicles, industry 4.0 and the creative sector

Parliament will need to pass at least seven bills; covering immigration, tax, agriculture, trade and customs regimes, fisheries, data protection and sanctions

The UK will be free to vary the structure and rates of VAT, as well as the current duties on energy, fuels, alcohol and tobacco

Industries will argue for reviewing and replacing vast areas of regulations as part of industrial strategy consultation

The UK Government has pledged to maintain EU workers' rights in UK law, however sections may be reviewed in the future

Public procurement is likely to be simplified when the current 'OJEU rules' are replaced, with significant time and cost savings

Fast-tracked agreements: Using the terms of existing EU deals to reach rapid trade agreements with 40 countries

Bespoke arrangements: Some EU deals may be expanded or revised from the outset, with Turkey, South Korea and Switzerland among the UK's targets

Canada, Australia and New Zealand are also pursuing early deals and lending expertise, with some talking of a CANZUK block in the future

UK targets include China and Commonwealth nations; list subject to negotiating capacity and uncertainty around the scope of any UK-EU deal

ME

MBE

RSHIP

quotas

TARIFFS

Adopting

existing EU deals

Prioritising

new FTAs

Future of the UNION

Demands on th

e civ

il se

rvic

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Legislative reform

Replacement

frameworks

PM has made it clear that UK withdrawal from ECJ is priority

UK Home Secretary has stated it is 'essential' to remain a member of European Arrest Warrant & Europol

The UK's defence capabilities in eastern Europe are of greater significance given the new, conditional US approach to NATO

UK may face "exit bill" of up to £60bn worth of liabilities

UK may claim a share of total EU assets worth over €150bn, including 16 percent share of European Investment Bank (EIB)

Potential association agreements on Open Skies, Erasmus, Horizon 2020 to be negotiated

Recognition of the rights and status of UK citizens living in the rest of the EU and, reciprocally, of EU citizens living in the UK

UK to leave Euratom treaty; Likely relocation of European Medicines Agency (EMA) and European Banking Authority (EBA)

Unified Patent Agreement to remain in place and the UK to host section of new Unified Patent Court; however this requires accepting role of ECJ in one element of UK law

New UK-EU FTA to be negotiated from position of full integration; UK will look to maintain status quo in some areas and roll back integration in others

Ambition for UK Govt to seek full FTA within two-year timescale; EU reluctant to commence until divorce terms finalised and transitional deal in place

Periodic renegotiations of a new FTA may be required in the future

For goods and services where a different tariff might apply to a third party, rules on UK/EU origin will be needed to avoid tariff scams

UK to seek to minimise non-tariff barriers on goods and services by mutual recognition of regulatory standards and professional qualifications

Negotiating sector-specific trade deals may be difficult due to technical, legal and political obstacles

A bespoke agreement on customs arrangements could avoid processing at physical borders, or exempt some sectors from checks

A mixed agreement would require national ratification across the EU27; and by 36 legislatures, all of which have power of veto

A UK offer to continue contributory payments into the EU's regional structural funds may assist agreement on other areas of a transitional deal

Tariff-free trade with the EU is a key UK objective, but requires a trade agreement or transitional membership of the Customs Union

Temporary Customs Union membership would provide time to build border facilities, but prevent the UK from setting its own tariffs

Assuming many 'passporting' rights are lost, the UK would seek stronger guarantees about recognising regulatory equivalence in financial

Trade disputes would need to be settled outside the jurisdiction of the ECJ, potentially through a parallel system to the EFTA Court

Guy Verhofstadt has argued that a transitional deal that provides single market access will require the UK to remain within ECJ jurisdiction

Transitional deal to take effect from March 2019, lasting anywhere from 12 months to five years or longer

UK would require transitional membership of the single market and customs union to avoid a 'cliff edge'

Any deal would be subject to approval, and potential veto, from the 27 EU member states

Transitional membership of the EU or the EEA would require continued free movement of EU citizens

Clear end dates will prevent transitional arrangements becoming permanent; without a trade deal, Hard Brexit under WTO terms would then apply

GCHQ and the UK security services make a unique contribution to anti-terrorism efforts in EU countries, which is not obligatory

UK’s position as an

intelligence & military leader

Terms of Divorce

Futu

re U

K-EU Free

T

rade

Agr

eement

A potential transitional deal

TATT RIR FFS

Signs of an early deal with President Trump strengthen the UK's position, not least because the US economy is larger than the combined EU27 foursight / 19

Politics


Aviation

Amina Taher is something of a role model for young women with ambitions to enter business in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

As well as masters degrees from Harvard University and the London Business School, she has a decade of experience in communications and marketing. Today, she is the vice president of corporate affairs at Etihad Airways, the national carrier of the UAE. Promoted in May 2017, she was previously head of corporate communications for the airline.

As if that were not challenging enough, just before she began that role three years ago she took a short career break to try her luck as an amateur boxer.

No longer active in the ring, her job as an official spokesperson for the Etihad Aviation Group involves a busy travelling schedule, most recently promoting Etihad Airways’ major partnership with global fashion weeks around the world.

The eldest of four sisters who grew up in Dubai, timing has been serendipitous in Amina’s life as she has been able to make the most of changing attitudes towards women, not least in the workplace.

Amina was speaking to Foursight at the Saadiyat Beach Club in Abu Dhabi as she posed for pictures in the brilliant sunshine with temperatures nudging 30°C and the palm trees rustling in a cooling breeze.

She said: “Traditionally in the region, there were defined roles for men and women in society which made it much more challenging for women to break out into areas of expertise such as STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and aviation. I drew great inspiration from my grandmother who faced the same challenges and who used to push me to excel in my studies so I could achieve my aspirations as a modern Emirati woman while keeping my identity and respect for my cultural roots".

She credits the UAE’s rulers with supporting women at home and abroad. Female ambassadors serve the UAE in Spain, Portugal, Montenegro and at the United Nations, and there is a female consul general in Milan.

The female minister for youth, Her Excellency Shamma Al Mazrui, 24, is a “brave” appointment, says Amina.

She also highlights the fact that there are several women fighter pilots and prominent women in UAE sports, such as Fatima Al Ali, a member of the women’s national ice hockey team. Ms Al Ali recently flew courtesy of Etihad Airways to the United States to watch her beloved Washington Capitals after being invited by a former player. Her appearance on the rink in Washington changed perceptions and made newspaper headlines.

Amina said: “It had really positive media coverage in North America. She was on the front page of some publications showing how women are achieving and progressing their dreams". She added: “The UAE leadership has invested a lot in terms of creating roles and believing in women".

Amina said the traditionally male-dominated aviation industry was making strides towards gender equality. She said: “There is just a small minority of women in leadership roles in aviation generally. That is true here too but this is because the industry is very new to the Gulf.

“ Now you see women in the airline across various sectors, whether it’s in cargo or catering or flying the Airbus A380. We are also starting to see more women in management positions. The advantage of being a late starter is that we are not bound by the legacy mindset of older businesses, and so I believe Etihad can make good strides in this area".

The mother of twelve-year old daughter, Shamma, she added: “Because of the nature of what we do, it’s important to have a work-life balance, especially being a Mum. Our industry can involve long hours and considerable amounts of overseas business travel, therefore it’s crucial to strike a healthy balance between work, family and my personal time".

Amina joined Etihad Airways from Abu Dhabi’s investment and development company Mubadala and has been bitten by the aviation bug.

She said: “It’s always evolving, subject to the geopolitical and socio-economic factors. My working day can be radically different from one day to the next. My role involves strategic guidance to the airline in most areas of commercial operations including guest experience, global sales, network planning, cargo and innovation and technology.

“ Being in communications, you have sound knowledge of all areas of the business and international current affairs as well as the trust of the people you work with" she said, citing recent challenges such as the effect of lower oil prices, terror attacks in Europe and the temporary travel ban to the United States imposed on mainly Muslim countries under the current administration.

She says the communications department is a major pillar of any organisation and as the custodian of the brand, quite often has to make decisions that are not always viewed as popular.

“ It’s about educating the people we work with to ensure communication is part of decision making. It requires you to think politically, build relationships and constantly question and assess matters” she said.

That is particularly important for a business that aims to set new standards of service. “At Etihad, we don’t carry passengers – we welcome guests. The whole guest experience is about creating a new age of innovative flying.

“ That means we have to narrate our story creatively. We are not just an airline, we are a global travel group providing superior hospitality services and Arabian generosity".

Juggling a career, challenging norms and keeping family close are all important to Amina and she admires in other people a fully-rounded character. Asked about her role models, she said:

“I don’t have a single role model but I do have many people around me who inspire me such as my daughter Shamma who challenges some of the decisions I make and is in constant negotiation with me. I’m also inspired by my team who come from all walks of life and who between them possess a wealth of experience in the fields of aviation and communication".

To those women just setting out she counsels boldness: “Know your dream, have confidence in yourself, work hard, help others, it’s perfectly ok if you fail in your endeavours, keep going no matter what, enjoy everything you do and rebel". n

Looking upHigh-flying Emirati role model talks to Matthew Beard


Tourism

The United Arab Emirates has transformed from a desert oasis dotted with date farms, mountain wadis, coastal fishing villages and pearl outposts into a destination of superlatives. Desert landscapes have been replaced by skyscrapers. Attractions include the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa rising some 2,722 feet into the sky, the glitziest shopping malls and the largest man-made island – Dubai’s The Palm.

The UAE is already a major international tourist destination. Official figures show that Dubai welcomed more than 14.9 million overnight visitors in 2016, whilst 4.4 million holidaymakers visited neighbouring Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE in 2016. Dubai has plans to welcome more than 20 million visitors annually by 2020, in addition to the 25 million visitors anticipated during the six-month World Expo 2020.

Families are expected to flock to new theme parks, fuelling UAE’s economic growth. Its potential to become a world-class leisure and entertainment destination is highlighted in a 2015 report by PwC. By 2021 more than 18 million people will visit theme parks in the UAE annually and the UAE could rival Orlando, the current market leader in attraction-led tourism, says the professional services consultancy.

The UAE has the potential to take the top spot given the huge market on its doorstep – three billion people in India, China and the subcontinent all within a four hour flight time.

Hotel capacity is set to grow by a third by 2020 and will help the leisure and entertainment industry flourish. Some 180 new hotel projects are underway in Dubai alone, creating 50,000 extra rooms. A key advantage of the Emirates is the emphasis on service and hospitality, as the UAE prides itself on an authentic, Arabian welcome and invests heavily in training.

Five major new theme parks opened in Dubai in 2016, including the largest indoor theme park in the world. IMG Worlds of Adventure which features rides inspired by MARVEL and Cartoon Network characters, opened in August.

Play-doughTourism to rise with UAE investment in mega theme parksby Natalie Amos

Hot on the heels of IMG, Dubai Parks and Resorts situated on a vast 20.5 million square feet of land in Jebel Ali (close to the Expo 2020 site) launched in October. Currently home to four parks (Hollywood inspired MOTIONGATE Dubai, Bollywood Parks Dubai, LEGOLAND Dubai and LEGOLAND Water Park), the destination is connected by Riverland Dubai – a retail, dining and entertainment destination.

Another three major parks are in the pipeline for Dubai. Merlin Entertainments’ Madame Tussauds is expected to open in 2018, making it the first in the Middle East, joining outposts in locations including London, Singapore, Sydney and Hollywood. Six Flags, the American brand also part of the Dubai Parks & Resorts development is slated to launch in 2019 with ‘at least three record breaking rides’ and IMG Worlds

of Legends, sister to IMG Worlds of Adventure has been announced with plans to open by 2020.

The first themed attraction in Abu Dhabi opened in 2010 and a raft of new global theme parks are planned. Abu Dhabi’s Miral Asset Management recently confirmed it will open the Middle East’s first Warner Bros Park, and a SeaWorld with a marine-life research, rehabilitation, rescue and return centre. They will open within the next five years on Yas Island, home to Ferrari World which boasts the world’s fastest and highest roller coasters, and Yas Waterworld. Already home to the F1 racing track and Yas Viceroy hotel, the destination is likely to attract even more guests seeking thrills and spills of a different kind, from across the globe.

It is said that the family that plays together, stays together, but what do

families in the UAE make of the recent theme park boom? LEGOLAND Dubai’s general manager Siegfried Boerst, charged with launching the parks, told us: ‘Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Many of our visitors have never visited a theme park and it is awesome to meet our guests of all ages who are new to the entire experience".

The outlook is positive. The UAE is on an exhilarating roller-coaster journey and time will tell whether the ‘build it and they will come’ adage will ring true of the UAE and its burgeoning entertainment and attractions industry. n

Natalie Amos is practice director at Four Gulf

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Luxury

foursight / 25

As the long-standing boss of Harrods, Michael Ward was a natural choice to head Walpole, the industry body that represents some of Britain’s most prestigious home-grown brands.Aware that such a role might be met with scepticism, he is keen to set the record straight on what luxury means for the UK economy.

“People think the luxury industry is posh people and they question why we should look after them” he said. “But it’s about the Rolls Royce apprentice, the seamstress, the person involved in leather manufacturing for Mulberry or the person who makes the Burberry coat. Don’t think about the posh person".

Walpole’s members include Burberry, Alexander McQueen, Rolls Royce and Jimmy Choo and are part of an industry that the group reckons contributes 2.2 per cent to Britain’s economic output with that set to rise to £54 billion in 2019.

But it is an industry that is challenged on numerous fronts and Ward is candid about the effects that Brexit might have on Walpole’s members.

Speaking to Foursight at his Harrods office, he said: “Businesses work on planning for the future and no one knows what those issues are going to be, whether that’s employment or supply chain issues. If I am a manufacturer what I have got used to is a just-in-time system. If all that goes because of a system of tariffs and barriers I’ve got to rethink my supply chain".

Relating the problem to Harrods, he added: “I’ve got five months to sell all my apparel and it’s all based on just-in-time manufacturing. If it takes a month out of my cycle because it is held up in French and UK customs then I lose one fifth of my ability to sell and that will cost me a fortune".

Ward predicted that attracting workers will get tougher across the industry. He said: “Staffing is a huge issue. It’s not the elite, it’s the people who do the jobs whether its hospitality, construction or retail. Someone is going to wake up and smell the coffee".

Walpole has put its post-Brexit agenda to government, which includes a call to focus efforts on education, skills and creativity.

Ward said: “The UK government has got to look at industries that have got a sustainable competitive advantage such as luxury. We have got to focus on areas where we have got real intellectual property and skills, we are not about mass manufacturing but education and skills and creativity in which we lead the world".

He is also a veteran of battles with ministers to relax rules on visas so that there are fewer bureaucratic hurdles for wealthy foreigners to shop at Harrods, a move that he says makes economic sense.

He said: “The British government has done very little to increase the length of visas. It is something that has been promised and never delivered. We still have very-high-net-worth individuals who find it difficult to get in to the country. We find there are people who don’t want to lose face by applying and being rejected. It’s a massive issue and I can’t understand how you can have open doors to America and closed doors to China".

Ward stayed at the helm when the Qatar Investment Authority bought Harrods from Mohamed Al Fayed in 2010 and he has overseen some major improvement works in recent years.

The star attraction of the overhaul is a £20 million replacement escalator painstakingly designed to give the best sightlines of the shop-floor as customers are transported up each of the five floors.

Harrods has also added a new “Salon de Parfums”; and a marble-floored section dedicated to “Superbrands” which spawned “Mini Superbrands” for parents with the means to dress their children in Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi, Loro Piana or Gucci.

An “inner wellness” department opens soon, bringing together the best nutritionists, personal trainers and doctors and with a cryogenics therapy tank.

Driving these projects is an ethos of “creating authority and creating the best”, said Ward.

“Every year you have to create new things and it’s all about being at the cutting edge of the customer experience. We target the top 0.1 per cent of the world’s wealth which is a risky strategy but it works for us".

Ward credits much of Harrods' success to its London location, but that does not mean the business can rest on its laurels.

He said: “It’s the accident of history. London is the leading capital city of the world and it pulls from all different locations and is a magnet for the ultra-high-net-worth individuals of the world. It’s self-fulfilling because if you have the customers you can buy the best product and then they will come".

For the most lucrative markets, “everything looks East” towards the Middle East and Asia, in particular China. Ward’s marketing approach is “rifle not blunderbuss” and to underline the fact he is preparing to host a “quintessentially British seasonal garden party” for VIPs in Beijing.

It is this exclusivity that largely protects Harrods from the threat of Amazon which is putting the squeeze on bricks and mortar retailers.

He said: “The luxury market is largely immune to that. We have built it on selective distribution and the aura of the product and exclusivity which is diametrically opposed to Amazon which is mass.

“At Harrods it’s more than just going shopping, it’s an experience. That’s why we have 28 restaurants and 150 chefs – 75 per cent of products in our food hall are made in our own kitchens".

Although the Harrods brand is riding high, he’d rather it was not known for the end-of-year sale because discount is a dirty word at this rarefied level of retail.

He said: “There’s a small percentage of stock we are left with so we either throw it away or we give our customers an opportunity to buy. We don’t like it, we would rather not do it or be famous for it but it’s a consequence of our business. All I’m doing is setting up the new season and it is a necessary evil". n

Stairway to shopping heavenby Matthew Beard

foursight / 27

Business

26 / foursight

It is a dilemma that faces most entrepreneurs at some stage of their development: do I borrow from the bank or sell a stake in the business in return for an investment?In increasing numbers, they are turning to the Business Growth Fund (BGF), an investment company set up in 2011 in the aftermath of the financial crash to help small and medium sized firms realise their expansion plans by exchanging an equity stake for investment.

From its nine offices across the UK – including a London head office that once housed Britain’s wartime code breakers – BGF is unlocking business potential. With investments totalling £1.1bn, it has partnered with some 170 UK companies who between them employ more than 30,000 workers. BGF made 60 separate investments in 2016, making it the seventh most active fund in the world.

With private equity veteran Stephen Welton as chief executive, BGF invests on a regional basis, partnering with many different types of businesses. Partners include oil and gas technology companies in Scotland, engineering firms in the Midlands, and IT businesses in the South West. In London it has invested in consumer facing businesses and professional services firms, including a £10m cash injection into Four Communications in 2015 in return for a stake in the company and a place on the board.

BGF backs businesses typically with a turnover from £5m-£100m, with beneficiaries including Scottish fancy dress maker Morphsuits, Walsall-based glass manufacturer Brownhills and London arts equipment retailer, Cass Art.

Sussex-based Welton is a former managing director of Barclays Private Equity and is trained in law, with a degree from Durham University. He also has the distinction of being a member of the Magic Circle which he says is a useful ice breaker at dinners and in media interviews.

BGF’s involvement with such a high number of firms makes it a good judge of business confidence, Welton said.

“The economy is performing well (post Brexit) – it is obviously being driven by continuing consumption and employment levels remain high. The more interesting question is how long does this last? Are we in the calm before the storm?”

Welton is candid about the double-edged nature of Brexit for British business. He said: “The obvious losers are businesses that are importing from overseas whose import costs have gone up. In retail, if you are importing hard furniture from Italy, it’s clearly going to cost more and if you are bringing in cars from Germany it’s going to be more expensive. Not all of that can be absorbed by the consumer”.

Ministers will also have to support certain sectors vulnerable to a shortage of low-cost labour, Welton believes. He said: “There are a lot of low-skilled, low-paid sectors which rely on migrant labour which could be in the construction industry, retail, leisure, healthcare, agriculture – that is a major issue which the government has said it will prioritise early. Access to some three million people is something you could not replace at the drop of a hat".

On the plus side, some firms will benefit from an increased focus on exports including traditional markets like Canada, Australia, and the US as well as emerging markets in Asia and beyond. Benefits of a worldwide export push will help to counterbalance reduced or more costly access to the EU market, plus there will be a boost of competitive exchange rates and corporation tax policies, Welton said. Among the winners will be export-focused manufacturing firms and “soft” exports in the creative industries, he predicts, citing TV and film production companies.

Brexit threats to UK professional and financial services he sees as exaggerated.

“Our success in professional services historically has been led by expertise. I don’t think things will change dramatically in the short term” he said.

BGF was established with the backing of five lenders – Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland

and Standard Chartered - with the support of the Government and against a backdrop of banker bashing. There was some scepticism that BGF would make a difference but Welton insists that the subsequent scale and extent of its activity proves it was “not just a press release”.

However he admits one obstacle has been to overturn prejudices small businesses have about funders and a general lack of awareness about equity investment.

He said: “A lot of entrepreneurs are sceptical and nervous about banks. It’s a very broad description of banks, investors, the stock market and advisers – all people they feel uncomfortable with.

“ We shouldn’t assume small companies are familiar with raising capital and bringing in outside investors. At BGF we start from first principles. The primary concern for entrepreneurs is losing control of their business which is a much more personal and emotional concern so we start there. We are not going to take over your business".

While funding opportunities are numerous at the higher end, BGF plugs a gap in the market for smaller firms, he said.

“ We provide money. There’s a lot of that around – so why is there a gap?"

“ When a business is starting to take different risks to drive growth it needs to have enough equity in the business to fund those risks rather than relying on short term bank debt. BGF provides long term equity capital for small growing businesses in exchange for a minority stake. If you were looking to raise £100 million then there are all sorts of capital providers including public markets to do that. If you want to raise £2 million –£10 million those pools of capital dry up – and that’s the gap that we are filling. There is no big institutional pool of capital that does what BGF does".

Corporate code breakerMidsize company champion Stephen Welton, chief executive

of the Business Growth Fund, speaks to Matthew Beard

So how does BGF go about deciding who to invest in?

Welton, a married father of three, responded: “It’s a bit like getting married – you need to understand what you are embarking on and why. If you don’t get that common sense of purpose it won’t work and that’s why it’s relationship led. Many of the businesses we have invested in we have probably known for two or three years in the run up to our investment.

“ One of the investment team will sit on the board of the company – they are not experts in the company or sectors – but they are aligned with the owners of the business and are there to help set goals and execute plans. We also appoint a non-executive chair with prior experience to work with the entrepreneurs to develop the company and act as a mentor to the CEO. We have built up a talent network of 2,000 people right across the UK who may be able to give some advice and perspective to the company and its owners. It’s at the heart of what BGF does".

In the unlikely event that Welton has to call it a day in business, he says he has the second career in magic to fall back on. Foursight promises to throw him a few pounds when he’s busking on the Tube, to which he protests: “I don’t want coins – I want notes!” n

foursight / 29

Education

28 / foursight

Achieving greater campus diversity Ethnic minorities in the UK make up 12 per cent of the working-age population, yet only one in 15 people from an ethnic minority background is currently in a management position according to the latest statistics from Diversity UK.

In order to address this woeful imbalance I believe that it’s the role of schools, colleges and universities to give their ethnic minority students the best possible opportunity to reach their career ambitions. Diversity is important, not only because it is the right and moral thing to do but it also makes good business sense.

When I began my career in legal education as a part-time lecturer in Yorkshire in the late 1980s I taught many girls from working class ethnic backgrounds who were the first female members of their family to attend university and aspire to a professional career.

Their work ethic, determination, and thirst for knowledge was inspirational. Seeing them reach their ambitions and become prominent members of the legal profession has given me a lifelong determination to champion diversity in education.

According to the latest statistics published by Chambers, ethnic diversity has increased dramatically in the legal profession, with the proportion of trainees and associates from ethnic minorities increasing by around 40 per cent since 2014 and the average percentage of ethnic minority partners is up by 60 per cent, but still remains at only six per cent.

Diversity is about access, fairness and equality for everyone – regardless of what characteristics they have. Ethnicity, age, disability, gender reassignment and sexual orientation are also issues pertinent to making Britain a fairer society.

As one of the largest and longest standing providers of legal training in the UK we believe that it is part of our role to address diversity in the legal profession. We offer a wide range of scholarships to help talented students fund their legal training and reach their career ambitions.

Our student base reflects this ambition and reinforces our commitment to ensure that people from diverse backgrounds have every chance of achieving their ambition to be successful lawyers in the future.

Professor Andrea Nollent, is vice chancellor and chief executive at The University of Law

Universities in the UK have long held an international reputation for the excellence of their teaching and academic research. But with the impending changes to the political landscape and the way research is funded, they face added pressures on the way they communicate their achievements to the outside world.According to the QS World University Rankings, the bellwether of international higher education standards of excellence, four of the world’s top 10 universities are based in the UK and there are a further 26 in the top 200.

This global reputation for excellence among the UK’s leading universities accounts in a large part for the country being the second most popular destination for international students after the United States. More than 437,000 international students study in the UK each year making up 19 per cent of all students registered at UK universities.

International students provide a lucrative economic contribution to university finances and the UK economy as a whole. According to recent research commissioned by Universities UK, international students living and studying in the UK made a £25.8 billion contribution to the economy in the 2014–2015 academic year.

British universities are also recognised by academics as a preferred workplace destination with 29 per cent of the UK’s 200,000 academic community coming from outside the country according to HESA, experts in higher education data and analysis.

Even with the threat of Brexit just around the corner, some universities have suggested that leaving the EU could make British universities better off.

One report from the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) revealed that the revenue for top British universities such as Oxford and Cambridge could benefit from Brexit.

The research suggests that British universities could increase tuition fee income by £187 million in the first year if the Government decides to charge EU students the international rate, as long as they are happy to pay the increased price.

HEPI also claimed that a 10 per cent drop in the price of sterling could lead to around 20,000 additional students. This would raise a further £227 million from tuition fees.

As well as providing a valuable international contribution to the country’s finances, universities are essential for the UK's knowledge economy. The UK has a university sector that many other countries aspire to.

British academics are world leaders in research and innovation, with the best graduates in high demand worldwide.

According to official figures 76 per cent of UK international research is internationally excellent or world-leading. With just one per cent of the world's population, the UK produced 16 per cent of the most highly rated research articles.

While Brexit may be good news for increasing tuition fees it will undoubtedly provide some challenges for UK universities receiving research funding from Europe, which currently stands at €1 billion, as EU countries may be less well disposed to universities domiciled in a country which is no longer part of their community. Therefore domestic funding for research studies will become even more important.

Academic research in the UK is assessed through the Research Excellence Framework (REF) which was first introduced in 2014 to benchmark higher education institutions against their international rivals. It also influences how the four higher education funding bodies allocate research grants to universities. It is designed to show greater levels of accountability for public investment in research and produces evidence of the benefits of this investment.

The next REF awards, which are due for completion in 2021, will require research submissions to show more engagement with the general public and an increased interdisciplinary approach.

The leading universities have already started enhancing their external communications departments as a result of the introduction of the first REF as well the increasingly competitive environment to recruit the brightest and best students and academics.

As a result of changes in the media landscape, academics are increasingly called on as guest experts to explain the background behind complex topics. Gone are the days when national newspapers had specialist correspondents to cover topics as diverse as aviation and architecture. Broadcasters, in particular, need sparkling academics. They are passionate and quirky and don’t have a commercial axe to grind. And the benefit to the university can be enormous.

Universities are keen to be distinctive and stand above their competitors. One of the ways institutions have done this is through these media academic ‘stars’, individuals who transcend academia and public life. For example, Manchester University has always been a popular choice for physics but a recent rise in applications is partially driven by the attraction of Professor Brian Cox, one of the department’s academics and presenter of television series such as Stargazing Live and Wonders of the Universe. Manchester now has one of the highest entry levels for any physics course in Britain and many attribute this in part to the ‘Cox’ factor.

Universities increasingly operate like well oiled business machines as the competitive nature of higher education continues to rise. British universities remain at the forefront of the sector and look set to remain there for many years to come. n

Mark Knight is a director of Four Broadgate

Universities challengedby Mark Knight

4 of the world’s top 10

universitiesare based in the UK

£25.8 billion contribution to

the UK economy from international students

according to Universities UK

76 per cent of UK researchis internationally excellent

or world-leading

16 per cent of the top research articles

were produced by the UK, with just one per cent of the world's population

437,000+ international

studentsstudy in the UK annually

20,000 extra students

could be the impact of a 10 per cent drop in the price of sterling

£227 million additional income

could be raised from extra tuition fees

foursight / 31

Lifestyle

'Small space' gardening is growing in popularity as more people rent and are living in smaller spaces. Younger gardeners lack the basic horticultural knowledge and want instant gratification such as colourful pot plants including geraniums, roses, hydrangeas and lavender.

Renters won’t spend on laying down roots in their gardens and we’ve seen a rise in sales of lightweight pots as they’re much easier to move than terracotta. Lightweight pots, or planters on wheels, enable people to take their gardens with them when they move.

Houseplants are also here to stay and greenery in the home is in vogue, influenced by trends in fashion and design. We’ve seen drought-resistant 'succulents' explode in popularity over the last year and this is set to continue.

The popularity of hardy plants is also increasing as a reaction to extreme weather. Viburnums, aucuba, hydrangea, fatsia, foxgloves and euphorbias are less likely to be ruined by a storm and provide colour to the garden.

It has never been easier to grow your own whether you have enough garden space for a large vegetable patch or if you just want to make use of a small balcony space.

More people than ever are getting involved to overcome shortages in supermarkets. Drought, flooding and freezing conditions in European countries such as Spain in 2016 has meant a shortage in UK supermarkets this year of courgettes, lettuces and broccoli.

Of the fruit and vegetables, the original Heinz tomato varieties used to make ketchup, will sell. Purple coloured fruit and vegetables are going to be a big hit this season. Purple foods such as purple carrots, purple broccoli, purple potatoes have health benefits particularly for the heart.

We also have a new range of deep purple coloured tomatoes set to get everyone talking on the allotment this summer.

As people plan their gardens I would advise them to think garden all year round. It is very easy to get carried away in the summer months with a huge range of plants available to put in your garden and it is often overlooked that with consideration and foresight, you can have colour and interest each and every day of the year.

Every season promises the start of something new and exciting in the garden. If I had to choose one then it would be the early spring months of February and March. Colour leading up to this time of year has been limited and the winter season long. The first snowdrops or crocus appearing early in the year are most welcome.

The easiest plant to grow is an indoor flowering Streptocarpus or ‘cape primrose’ which is resilient to different conditions indoors. The hardest to grow is the Wake Robin or Trillium as they are very slow to flourish in a new environment. In spring they flower for a short period and are normally long lived. My garden is on a bedrock of chalk overlain with London clay which is prone to be heavy and thick in the winter and sets like concrete at the slightest hint of some summer sunshine.

The plant I’d like to eradicate from the UK is the Rhododendron species called Rhododendron Ponticum that was introduced by the Victorians and was popular on country estates. Although on the surface an innocuous plant that retains its leaves all year round and displays mauve coloured flowers, it has a significant impact on both the wildlife and ecology that it inhabits. It smothers surrounding plants and removes the diversity of the land it occupies which results in habitat and wildlife loss plus holds no intrinsic benefit as most parts of the plants are toxic – a truly alien species. n

Expert horticulturalist Mark Sage, head of plants at Wyvale Garden Centres, predicts what we will be growing in our

gardens and explains how the housing crisis is leading to a rise in “convenience gardening”

Purple patchby Mark Sage


Business

Where now for pharma?When Leslie Galloway sounds the alarm on Brexit and its

effect on the pharmaceutical industry, people pay attention. With four decades’ industry experience, he is chair of the trade

body representing UK pharma companies and advises the government health watchdog, NICE.

by Gemma Medcalf

Leslie understands better than most the impact that leaving the single market will have on the UK healthcare system, innovation in medicine, patient access to medicines and our economy.

“ Leaving the EU poses huge complications. In the event of a hard Brexit (where the UK no longer has access to single market and EU regulatory framework), pharma companies will be faced with having to make two license submissions, one to the EU and one to the UK. These submissions are significantly different and would probably require twice the amount of work. The UK pharma industry has no choice, but our globally located colleagues do. If they are given the choice between making a submission to one licensing authority over the other, they are highly likely to choose the EU process” he said.

This, Galloway said, would give them instant marketing authorisation across 27 EU countries, minus the UK. The UK could become a secondary or tertiary launch country, which means that there could be an additional two year delay before new medicines reach the UK market.

As a result, new innovative medicines would be launched in the EU ahead of the UK and the standard of care in other countries would move forward ahead of that in the UK. “Pharma companies in the UK must lobby for access to the EU regulatory framework and the single market”, warned Galloway.

Brexit also brings about challenges in keeping expertise in the UK. “People are very important to every industry, but this is a particular issue with the pharmaceutical industry as it moves its people around the globe to develop their experience of significant global markets. Good researchers and scientists are very valuable and not easy to find. If our exit from the EU weakens our pharmaceutical industry, we will definitely lose valuable people".

Any impact will be significant given the scale of the pharmaceutical industry. In the UK, more medicines are launched than any country except the US and Germany. The UK launches more speciality medicines for rare diseases than most countries globally, coming in just behind Germany and France.

Life sciences alone are worth £30 billion to the UK economy and the sector employs 482,000 people and generates £8.6 billion in taxes.

The vast majority of new medicines pass through the centralised procedure in order to be marketed in the EU. The UK’s exit from the EU means the licensing body in charge of the centralised procedure, the European Medicines Agency, will be forced to leave its current offices in Canary Wharf and find a new EU base, with the potential loss of thousands of jobs for UK nationals.

But Galloway believes all is not lost. “Hopefully we will see a realistic exchange of ideas on how we can make this work for the UK and the EU. There are opportunities to simplify and speed up regulatory processes, which would enable rapid approval of the latest medical technologies in the UK when compared with other EU countries".

“ Examples include working with the regulatory bodies and government to leverage the UK’s expertise in understanding how treatments work in the real world (Real World Evidence). The Clinical Trials Directive could also be simplified to encourage greater participation” he said.

Regulation of medicines and devices in combination is very different from their use separately; this could pose an opportunity for the UK to improve this regulatory process to help bring more innovations more rapidly to market.

Other opportunities provided by Brexit include the chance for the UK to become the worldwide ‘hub’ for the development of advanced therapies. For example it is currently easier to access funding for stem cell research in the UK than it is in the US. Also up for the taking is the optimisation of patient access to medicine. The international regard for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance in supporting the use of a medicine is of enormous value to the perception of the UK’s role in global pharmaceuticals, particularly for the US who could work with us to refine and adopt our model” explains Leslie.

“ We need to ensure that the UK is still an attractive and accessible market post-Brexit. If global pharma companies are going to invest time and resources in two marketing authorisation submissions, they need to have sound business reasons for doing so. We need to ensure that medicines are going to reach UK patients quickly". n

Leslie Galloway speaks to Gemma Medcalf, associate director, Four Health

Business

foursight / 3534 / foursight

Streaming seems to be seen as an inevitability that the industry must adapt to.

Adrian Pope believes that “streaming will be the dominant ‘format’ of the next decade. It will evolve, and services will become nuanced but essentially access to music anytime, anywhere is the main driver for future growth".

Tim Ingham agrees, but suggests that while it will remain dominant, streaming will also act as a complement to physical music while supplanting other digital formats.

“ Physical music formats will remain, but only if they feel special to the consumer”, he says. “Downloads will effectively be dead by 2020".

Ultimately, though, in the face of this inevitability, Tom Kiehl asserts that

“The emphasis now has to be on developing a streaming marketplace that’s fair, respects rights and delivers a level playing field for all". n

Harry Saunders is a senior account manager in Four Communications’ Business, Corporate and Money practice

The advent of streaming platforms has changed the way that we buy music, and made platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music household names. Their birth can be traced back to illegal downloading and file-sharing that threatened to wreak havoc on the global music industry in the early-21st Century by removing the need to pay for music ever again, most memorably charted in Stephen Witt’s book ‘How Music Got Free’. Streaming emerged as a way to compensate music rights holders who were suffering badly from file-sharing, by putting in place a Netflix-style subscription model whereby users pay a set fee for unlimited access to a platform’s extensive music library.

Amongst all of the fame and glamour associated with the world of music, it is easy to forget that it is also an industry that wields significant financial might. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) put global music sales alone at $15 billion in 2015, excluding wider industry revenues such as live music and music publishing, which has been estimated at around the $130 billion mark in total.

But many wonder whether streaming is the future of the music industry, or doomed to go the way of vinyl, tapes and CDs, and be supplanted by the next big idea. After all, at the time iTunes launched, the digital download was viewed as unsurpassable, and now that looks to be on its last legs as well.

But there are still a number of controversies such as licensing, compensation for musicians and corporate monopolies.

First, there’s the issue of who owns the music. It’s the subject of many battles between record labels and streaming platforms.

Best known among these was the decision by Taylor Swift and her record label Big Machine to remove her entire music catalogue from Spotify in 2014. Swift’s move was a protest against what she and her team viewed as an unacceptable valuation of music as a whole by the platform. As a result streaming platforms started to worry that if stars such as Swift, whose music had been streamed by 25 per cent of all Spotify users at that time, decide not to list their music on the platform, it could hit their revenues.

But Tom Kiehl, director of government relations and public affairs at UK Music, which represents the interests of the British music industry to government and corporates, highlights the opportunity that streaming offers not just artists, but the industry as a whole. “The music industry has shown over the years that it is more than adept at embracing change. It has adapted from tape to vinyl to CDs, and there’s no reason why streaming should be any different". If rights holders and streaming companies can find a middle ground, it has the potential to be beneficial for all.

Second, though, there’s a concern about whether streaming provides artists with enough money to survive. For stars such as hip-hop artist Drake it’s not a problem as he makes around $15 million per year from streaming. Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran broke streaming records by netting 375 million streams in a single week for his album ‘÷’. But for legacy artists with large back catalogues locked into pre-streaming era deals, such as The Beatles, and new artists looking to break through, it’s a major issue.

Spotify pays $0.006 - $0.0084 per individual track listened to which means an artist needs to be streamed 1,190 times to earn $10. That money is shared between all rights holders, including artist, record label and publisher.

To earn more, up-and-coming musicians including UK grime artist Stormzy and Chicago-based rapper Chance the Rapper, have been striking out on their

own, hoping to find success without the backing of a traditional record label.

But Tim Ingham, editor of trade publication Music Business Worldwide, says even these upstarts need support, and reports of demise of the record label are exaggerated. “Even Chance the Rapper pointed out at the Grammys that he wouldn’t be where he is without his team. Just because he owns his copyrights doesn’t mean he did everything himself. He still needed a press person, a distribution person, a manager, a live agent…not to mention a big cheque from Apple".

One additional threat to the streaming industry is the risk of consolidation by the bigger industry players. While Spotify is currently valued in the region of $8 billion, it still falls into the category of ‘plucky startup’ in the streaming world, and has never managed to turn a profit. Apple’s service Apple Music is already growing at a significant rate, and many see online retail giant Amazon’s Prime Music platform as a significant threat to Spotify’s current market-leader status as well. There are some worries that this prospective lack of competition could hurt standards in streaming, and see innovators such as Spotify disappear, and in its place come a monopolistic tech company driven only by profit rather than product standards.

According to Adrian Pope, “Apple and Amazon have multiple other channels that they can use to drive sales – not least hardware such as the iPhone and wider consumer engagement through things like film, TV and shopping like Amazon’s Prime offering. Spotify’s challenge is that they are a pure play music service playing in the big boys' park".

But Pope does ultimately suggest that he expects the marketplace to remain meritocratic. “We want them to survive and grow but Apple and Amazon are more than capable of catching them. So it ultimately becomes about service and user experience".

Fair playCan Spotify et al make streaming

work for listeners - and artists?by Harry Saunders

TIDAL – How not to launch a streaming platformWhen Jay-Z set out to launch his challenger to the existing streaming platforms, TIDAL, in 2015, he was seemingly on a noble mission. He wanted to address the issue of artist compensation by offering a higher value per stream than competing platforms. And in addition, he billed the platform as high-fidelity streaming, ostensibly offering better sound quality than normally experienced on those platforms.

At the time of launch, those USPs were compounded by endorsements from some of the world’s most famous musicians. Jay-Z was joined by Kanye West, Madonna and Daft Punk on stage at the launch event in New York City. With all of that going for the platform, surely its entry into the market was a rousing success - a welcome disruptor into an industry ripe for innovation?

Not quite. The media jumped on Jay-Z’s message of ‘doing right by the artists’, framing the story around the idea of putting more money into

the pockets of the artists on stage, whose net worth sits around the $2 billion mark. As far as the press was concerned, helping struggling artists this was not.

And TIDAL has continued to court controversy post-launch as well. Through deals with artists such as Beyoncé that offer them exclusivity for new albums, known as windowing, TIDAL has attempted to boost its subscriber numbers. But in reality, to date this has largely served to alienate fans and audiences that have no intention of signing up to the platform, and feel cheated by the artist for excluding them from their latest release.

Clearly, TIDAL has not got off to the best of starts. If it is to repair its reputation with music fans, and emerge to challenge some of the current key players in the streaming space, it has a number of significant communications challenges to overcome first.

“ Physical music formats will remain, but only if they feel special to the consumer. Downloads will effectively be dead by 2020".

m [email protected] l @fourcomms

www.fourcommunications.com

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