DIGGING BELOW THE SURFACE WITH INDUSTRY MOLE

“You’re fired!” I can’t wait for someone at the BBC to say that to Lord Alan Sugar after what feels like the 478th series of The Apprentice, a TV show that sheds about as much light on running a small company as Jack and the Beanstalk does on the forest products industry. For me, Sugar is a one-hit wonder, or maybe one-and-a-half hit wonder (Amstrad plus making satellite dishes for Rupert Murdoch), the Kajagoogoo of British business.

To my mind his enduring profile says more about the paucity of the media’s imagination, than it does about his actual achievements or indeed the quality of British management.

In that respect, Sugar is not dissimilar to Sir Richard Branson. Don’t get me wrong. I’m old enough to have listened to Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells, an album that would have never been released if not for Branson’s fledgling Virgin label. And I remember, in the late 1980s, the thrill of being treated like a person, not a number, as a passenger on Virgin Atlantic. And then I had the misfortune to take Virgin Trains from London to Manchester. As time wears on - and his success rate diminishes - I suspect that Branson’s greatest skill is promoting himself. And I’d love to know how he reconciles his passion for space travel with fighting climate change - given that each flight could emit 30-60 tonnes of CO2.

My real concern is that these fellow septuagenarians have, as much by default as anything, come to stand for private enterprise in the UK. If we’re trying to attract the best and the brightest young Britons to work in proper business - and resist the siren call of media studies, TikTok and the likewe badly need some new role models. I have more time for the Dragon’s Den judges, especially Deborah Meaden and Peter Jones, but wouldn’t it be great if we had a public face for business who is under 30, a woman, from an ethnic minority, or just working class?

Someone needs to make business cool in this country in the 21st century - as a variety of corporate leaders from Steve Jobs to the idiosyncratic Elon Musk have done in America - and Sugar and Branson make private enterprise look like a panto or a sleight of hand.

When?

21 - 23 March, 2023

Where?

NEC, Birmingham

Cost? Free

When?

16-17 May, 2023

Where?

CCD Congress Center, Dusseldorf, Germany

Cost?

TBA though online pre-registration is now open.

Who will be there?

Expect an array of exhibitors from across the the sign and digital print space.

When?

23 - 26 May, 2023

Where?

Messe Munich, Germany

Cost?

TBD

When?

28 May - 7June, 2024

Where?

Messe Dusseldorf, Germany

Cost?

TBD

Who will be there?

Who will be there?

Who will be there?

Should you go?

If you want to network in the Midlands.

The concept is to present solutions for combining print with digital and online strategies, and as such the speakers and exhibitors will come from a wide range of disciplines feeding into nine ‘theme worlds’ including interior/exterior design covering POP/POS and OOH. Should you go?

It sounds intriguing. It looks ideal for those wanting to know about the future of comms and get an insight into how print can reposition itself as part of the mix.

Pretty much everyone connected with digital large-format printand more - across 32,000m2 of exhibition space.

It’s so far ahead of the event that it’s pointless looking at the exhibitor list yet but, suffice to say, you can expect most of the major players to get involved.

Should you go? Yes

Should you go?

Decide closer to the time, but it’s worth noting the dates.