I’ve been having a few problems with my car in the last day or so. So, as usual, I contacted the main dealers to book in a service/repair.  “Sorry mate can’t help you until the middle of next week at the earliest…” was the reply.

Thankfully a small independent garage around the corner from us, who is specialises in my make of car can fit it in ‘somehow’ despite being busy tomorrow.  Once again, the triumph of the independent third party contractor who truly knows how to put the customer first over the incumbents.

Neil Anderson
MD, qcom

On Radio 4’s ‘Today’ programme, an individual was being followed in his recruitment search.  Unbelievably, he had accumulated more than £100k of personal debts (non-mortgage) on a £50k salary – no wonder we are in a mess.  He stated this was not unusual!

At the same time he had sent out more than 500 applications in a search for a job.   Where is the support for this sort of individual in the unfortunate position of redundancy?  Quality no quantity is what counts in the job search: ‘Which vacancies I am most suited to and how can I closely align myself to the skills they need?’

Neil Anderson
MD, qcom

A warm welcome to my readers as we finally see green shoots….unfortunately only of spring and not yet in the wider economy.

I want to begin, however, with a quick thank you to our customers for their understanding in the heaviest snows across the south for 18 years. Almost without exception, we kept all our engineers mobile, although travel was inevitably slowed on the worst-affected roads.  We understand the importance of keeping your machinery going so you can continue to service your customers, and hope we have delivered as required.

Of course, this disruption has highlighted the value of the latest mobile technology, and the benefits of remote/home working when it comes to maintaining business productivity.

With a focus on cost and cash, all of us are looking for strategies that make our businesses more efficient. Moving to a truly mobile flexible business model powered by the latest collaborative communications technology could well represent the changes that will take us out of this recession and actually be the mythical green shoots we seek this spring.

Neil Anderson
MD, qcom