Small Business Friendly Concordat and institutional memory loss

Isn't it great to hear Chloe Smith has made a commitment to bring about change in central government procurement so that it is easier for SME's, particularly in the construction sector, to gain business.

Not so great that no-one actually briefed Chloe that what was being said had little new. Not so great that Chloe wasn't briefed that much of what was being championed had been committed to in the 2001 'Smaller Supplier ... Better Value? Not so great that Chloe wants local government to follow her example, without having been made aware that many council's have already signed the 2005 Small Business Friendly Concordat.

What we really need Chloe to tell us, isn't the old, old story of commitment to ..., but a new story of accountability for implementation, what's going to change to ensure her commitment is acted upon, and whether the Government are prepared to be measured against this commitment in May 2015 election.

PRM: stepping in where banks fear to tread

I've discussed SRM a lot lately - more often than not about the vulnerability of firms which do not take it seriously (you can pick up on the previous discussions here).  So learning of Rolls Royce and GlaxoSmithKline stepping in where banks have feared to tread, by providing supply chain financing, impressed me quite a bit.

Rolls Royce have stepped in to lend £500m to small suppliers as a result of banks failing to do so - prior to the Global Financial Crisis there had been no need to.  It's not clear how much GSK have lent. Honda haven't actually lent any money but they have spoken up on behalf of their suppliers so that they can obtain bank finance.

This has to be a strong demonstration of true partnership working.  I would like to hear the government had learnt from this and were going to do similar.  However, it may be more pragmatic if the government introduced an incentive for others to do likewise by under-writing some of the risk the buyers have taken on.  If that were the case, and the offer was extended to public authorities too, I could see this being just the type of initiative which could encourage SME investment and accelerate the UK recovery - let's wait and see if the Chancellor or Business Secretary think so too, mind you I'll not hold my breath.

On bankers' bonuses, MP expenses and GPS.

Few of us will have missed the furore over Hester’s bonus. He is well paid and recognised by some as doing a good job.  Some of the outrage seems to be driven by the morality of rewarding a banker while SMEs struggle to gain banks favour and access credit.  Nevertheless he decided to forgo his bonus.  There appeared to have been some stirring of his moral compass– his GPS.

Some of the pressure on Hester came from politicians.  To some politicians it was immoral to accept such a bonus while many are suffering as a result of the global financial crisis.  It was also viewed as particularly immoral since RBS is one of the banks indebted to the government for its survival. To some politicians it appeared