John Funnell

Productivity, profit, but also sustainability- these are all key drivers at c-level in these times.  Meeting and enhancing demand while maintaining cash flow, reducing the bottom line, but also ensuring growth can be sustained not only in the coming quarters, but in the years to ... (more)

With August being the holiday month for most executives the CIO Committee (the advisory board behind Europe's most prestigious CIO Event held annually at the Celtic Manor home of the Ryder Cup), have just announced the findings of their recent survey on Executive behaviour during... (more)

Among the innate PR I repeatedly churn out on this blog, I try to imprint the odd piece with some remote integrity, hoping to inspire honest thought (even if in a humorous context). I hope this article is one of the Diamonds in the rough and can engage you a bit more than usual. ... (more)

Tumultuous economic times have forced companies to take a closer look at their liquidity management initiatives and identify areas of cost savings.  Having effective access to near-term liquidity to support critical operations has made its way to the top of the executive's agenda... (more)

The UK recruitment industry, has an annual turnover of £27 billion and the majority of operators are SMEs. It's interesting to note that many of the SMEs that we support through our intensive development schemes, don't actually need cash - they need mentoring, support and advice ... (more)

The economic crisis of 2009 presented a false base for many businesses including ours, giving us nothing upon which to produce any meaningful type of growth statistics or trend data but all things considered our result of 400% is still incredible growth by any standards. So in th... (more)

Looking back on another financial crisis - another generation of finance executives who proudly bear the scars of managing organisational and personal stress in delivering survival over growth! Whose grasp of risk management is not just theoretical but practical. Who are commerci... (more)

Assessment of our Corporate Sustainability is often driven by a need to comply in order to achieve the tick in a box for tender activity but is this how it should be perceived? Surely implemented in the right spirit and with across the board buy-in, this buzz word strategy is a ... (more)

For generations the Finance profession has been deemed to be the most boring of things - mere ‘bean-counters' valuing, counting and confirming quantities throughout the world of commerce. If this remains your perception of your role then you are in danger of being passed to the ... (more)

Green shoots of recovery are appearing in the finance executive job market after a long, hard winter. People who decided to play a game of ‘sit tight, watch and wait' are once again considering their next career move. Pay freezes are melting and company boards have recognised tha... (more)

The way we shop and pay is changing; 41% of people now treat cash as a secondary option and more than half of Brits (54%) remove loose change out of their wallets and purses, leading to an estimated £65 million in pennies lying around the nation’s homes. Which coins do we keep i... (more)

Search Twitter under the hashtag fail (#fail) and you’ll come across examples of poor service, disgruntled customers and some almost unbelievable situations. (My next #FAIL is directed at keyboard manufacturers who bury the hash tag deep in the computer – they need to move with ... (more)

In the US, funding on solar transfer projects has begun to pay dividends. At MIT, scientists have been toiling over solar energy capture and are exploring a thermo-chemical approach, a distinct different from current solar standards which include photovoltaics – turning sunlight ... (more)

Education has at last embraced the future and is not stopping with digital signage and a well run intranet the whole education system will be ‘digitally overhauled'. "With increasing numbers of students applying to universities, the focus now encompasses not only technology but ... (more)

With territorial ownership being put forward in all four corners of the globe, including Great Britain’s claim to the Falkland Islands and more recently Japan’s claim to the Kuril Islands, Great British and Argentinean armed forces are on standby for inevitable confrontation. Arg... (more)

Smartphones are slowly replacing traditional dial and text mobile phones, and as they do they gradually change the face of IT and telecoms infrastructure. Soon mobile phones could pose as not only a device to call a friend, but as a passport and credit card. Morten Hother Sørens... (more)

Recession or not, there has never been a better time for technology to come to the fore and prove its worth within the retail environment. Attitudes towards technology are changing in that the hard times may come and go, but consumer expectations do not. And retail technologists ... (more)

If you want to know what impression your brand is making, there is no need to send out thousands of students armed with clipboards – just simply Google yourself. You are who Google says you are after all. This has been known in the B2C environment for some time as brands fight to... (more)

Away from its stunning beaches and Keys, Miami offers a strong business culture, the region’s leading financial center, and access to one of the world’s fastest growing markets, Latin America. No wonder that Spencer Green, Chairman of the high-end global media and event company G... (more)

The glory days of an unlimited broadband appear to be nearing an end as ISPs look to implement caps and metered pricing for broadband services. In the not-so-distant-future, broadband users will be forced to pay on a metered basis in the same way as other utilities such as electr... (more)