Small but perfectly formed....sort of

The launch of the GRI G4 reporting guidelines has generated something of a second coming atmosphere...well, at least within the cloistered world of sustainability disclosure.  The reporting faithful, in the form of accountants, verifiers, consultants, publishers, event organisers, corporate CSOs and other pilgrims journeyed to Amsterdam to obtain their copies of the sacred text.  This major event has of course generated intense theological dialogue on the merits or otherwise of materiality assessments and performance indicators.  Its manna for reporting zealots everywhere.

While their corporate brethren agonise over data versus engagement, an increasing number of smaller companies are facing up to the challenge of sustainability, either because they get it, or their customers are asking them the hard questions.  Whatever their motivation, a rapidly growing band of such companies, some listed, some private, are getting to grips with CSR, CR, sustainability (let’s leave the terminology debate for now) and opening themselves up to scrutiny.  Unlike their corporate cousins however, many of these companies are not hide-bound by the pressure to keep up with the neighbours on the reporting front.  Mention GRI to them and you might get into a discussion about General Rules of Implementation or Gross Rental Income. 

Mention, the cost of waste or raw materials, the challenge of recruitment and retention, charitable donations or volunteering, intricate questionnaires from customers or the growing regulatory burden and you will get their attention.  Please don’t mention carbon.  Those that are addressing sustainability, are doing so under these banners and just getting on with it in their own way.  Given their relative lack of resources and expertise, smaller companies embracing sustainability principles are:

Speaking to their sector peers to learn and share ideas, either directly or through trade and industry bodies.

Maximising the use of government sponsored support and advice.

Motivating employees through personal and professional development opportunities.

Embracing technologies that can reduce time and increase effectiveness.

Recognising the direct link to the bottom line and the need to disclose information on performance to retain or win business.

Those companies that are reporting are responding to customer pressure or seeing the competitive advantages.  The reports vary in form and size and some pay homage to GRI (the sustainability reporting protocol as opposed to Group Repeatibility Indicator), but in the main, they are an honest reflection of what is going on inside the business, even if on a limited basis. 

While the case for international reporting guidelines has been well made, countering corporate greenwash, the model that has developed has still allowed larger companies to duck the big issues, to finesse outputs and to generate reams of reportage that is inherently dull.   So let the corporate sustainability teams and their coterie of assessors and consultants adopt G4 and move to integrated reporting.   Will it solve the transparency deficit?  Will it be a mechanism for effecting fundamental change to business models?   I am not sure.  All I can say is that if you want to see open, honest and engaging communications you could do a lot worse than take a look at what some smaller companies are doing and saying about sustainability.

Twenty Twenty Vision

It seems ironic that there are two distinct meetings taking place with ‘20’ as the key number, where the fate of the world hangs on the decisions made.  At one, the G20 ministerial meeting is discussing the state and future of the global economy, at the other, Rio+20, some slightly less important ministers are discussing the state and future of the world’s environment.
While the lack of progress on a definitive Eurozone solution dominates the former, the lack of progress on a whole swath of sustainability commitments dominates the latter.  So between the 20 countries and across 20 years we see the shortcomings of global governance models and the inability of politicians, businesses and societies to think and act in the long term.  It is short term gain that created the global banking and sovereign debt crisis and the same impetus that is leading us towards a resource and climate crisis.

Perhaps the most frustrating thing is the fact that the relationship between future economic ‘prosperity’ and ecological wellbeing are still seen as being separate, parallel tracks, rather than functionally interdependent.  Assuming that one agrees with the tenet that ‘the world’s economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the world’s ecology’.

There is hope though.  While the politicians enjoy the delights of Rio and tick their expenses boxes, much of the dynamism and idea generation is coming out of the businesses present at the second Earth Summit.  So, while the corporate presence at the first summit in 1992 was minimal, the corporate sector has started to wake up to the fact that finite resources and a changing climate offer both threats and opportunities for those that are willing to view sustainability as something more than CSR box ticking.  Yes, it is ironic that the market economy, which is held up as the great despoiler of the environment, might in fact be its best hope.

The companies that make products and provide services are starting to see that environment equals resource efficiency , costs, risks and opportunity.  Not only the corporate, but the smaller companies linked to them through supply chains.  The associated financial and investment community remain the laggards in this regard, over and above specialists with an interest environmental and social governance.  However, this picture is changing and slowly, very slowly, investors are waking up to sustainability as risk and opportunity, where performance indicators are aligned with the companies of which they have a slice.

The progressive companies are therefore preparing themselves for a world where finance and sustainability co-incide.  For many this begins with a basic re-assessment of priorities and associated process change and data monitoring around waste, water, raw materials and energy.  For most companies, a series of simple, low-cost measures will be the only possible step, but will offer a platform for taking a more sophisticated approach, where they can see cost savings and enhanced competitive advantage while managing cash effectively.  From this, the bigger prizes of new business models and product/service lines will flow.

Fairtrade, forestry and the fast-buck

There has been some reflection on the continued rise in sales of Fairtrade goods in the UK as we approach Fairtrade day on 12th May.  The UK is a significant market for such goods, with £1.3 billion spent each year, a figure that rose by 12% between 2010 and 2011.  Of this total, some 82% is accounted for by sales of coffee, cocoa products, sugar products and bananas.

The arguments for and against the efficacy and effectiveness of the Fairtrade system are often conflated with those of the so called ‘ethical’ or ‘green consumer’.   In other words, it is the consumer through their buying decisions that is driving the demand for Fairtrade products.  This argument was also deployed twenty years ago when the issue of imported tropical timber products became a cause celebre of the environmental movement.  From these scuffles independent certification schemes emerged such as that established and controlled by the Forest Stewardship Council or FSC.

Here the argument ran that individual consumers would go into their local DIY store and be faced with either a non-certified hardwood furniture set or an FSC certified hardwood furniture set.  The view prevailing that the latter would come at a premium because of the costs associated with sustainable management and certification.

As someone that helped to formulate the rules of the FSC and managed some of its pioneering audits in south-east Asia, I was able to observe its effects at close quarters and with interest.  The first thing to note is that history has shown that in the retail context, the price premium for certified timber products was a myth.  In addition, while the ‘chainsaw massacre’ campaigns played their part, the idea of the consumer driving the agenda was also misplaced.  Retailers such as B&Q observed the campaigns, however, they also saw the growing pressures on the supply side so took the decision out of the hands of the individual shopper by making it policy to supply, as far and as rapidly as possible, all of its timber products from certified sources.  Thus the family DIYmeister was relieved of the burden of choosing between clean or sullied rubberwood doors. 

Since those early days, some twenty years ago, the FSC has achieved a great deal and as of May 2012, 151 million hectares, or just over  5% of the world’s production forests had been certified.  However, it is worth noting that North America and Europe between them accounted for about 82% of the total certified forest areas, while the whole of Asia, including China, accounted for a mere 3.44%, consisting of 145 certificates out of a world total of 1125.  This is certainly progress since my mid-nineties forays into the forests of south-east Asia and in particular Indonesia, but what the numbers do perhaps illustrate is the scale of the challenge in this part of the world to establish a real and acceptable market value for standing forest and maintain it as such.  This scenario, as opposed to the continued pressure to extract valuable timber at an unsustainable rate and in a poor way and then convert what is left to a mono-crop or grazing.    Hence we see the continued shrinking in the area of standing natural forest and the efforts taken by the UN to initiate global schemes to price and monitor the existence of what is left for ‘ecosystem services’.

As it was then, so it is now, with big money continuing to talk in the south-east Asian forestry realm, despite the improved efforts of Governments to control malpractice.  Indeed, the rise of China as a major market has affected management and prices across the globe.  In my experience, the companies looking to buy FSC certified timber were small, insignificant players compared to those customers not too interested in the source and willing to buy hardwood timber, no questions asked, subject to quality, price and shipping suitability.

While both FSC and Fairtrade have undoubtedly achieved a great deal, facilitating fair and environmentally sound supply chains, the major challenge of making sustainability a mainstream business dynamic remains.  This will only happen when the global investment community recognises that the dynamics of sustainability are not soft, blurry and irrelevant, but are risk-based, fundamental drivers of value.  Perhaps surprisingly, given the ongoing claim and counter-claim in the climate change and carbon debate, things are starting to happen in the world of capital markets.  New models of management and investment are emerging and multinational corporations are actually starting to pay more than lip-service to sustainability.  While mechanisms that were designed to shape and by-pass capitalist models have had moderate success, it seems ironic that the true saviours of the planet may be local, national and international markets, the multinational corporations and marauding entrepreneurs.

Trees, Haggis and Babies

I have the distinct pleasure of speaking on business and sustainability at the Scotland Food & Drink AGM in Perth on 24th February.

The presentation, entitled 'Trees, Haggis & Babies' takes a quick whizz through my early days auditing forest management in Asia, helping Macsween create its sustainability reports and co-founding Totseat, the company that makes the world leading fabric highchair 'babies who lunch'.

See www.scotlandfoodanddrink.org

Don't Fight the Power, Like the Power

Expert panel uses film clips to explore a smart networked, low carbon energy future for Scotland

The Fintry Renewable Show, FRESH 2012, is playing host on March 9th to the entertaining debating format Moving Conversations.  ‘Power to the People – the citizen and energy independence’ brings together ice cream and wind power magnate, Maitland Mackie, localism activist and Chair of the Forestry Commission, Pam Warhurst, land ownership campaigner, Andy Wightman and renewable energy entrepreneur, Max Carcas.  Each will come armed with an entertaining clip from the Scottish Screen Archive with which they will try to convince the audience of the strength of their arguments.

FRESH 2012 organiser Kelly McIntyre said:
“While renewable energy is a serious subject, the village of Fintry wishes to celebrate the success and potential of low carbon technologies.  Hence FRESH, our third renewable energy show, will offer a wide array of talks, exhibitions, workshops, food, crafts and fun.  Moving Conversations is the centrepiece of our events schedule and with the line-up of experts, allied to some intriguing film clips, we can guarantee a fantastic wide-ranging debate on Scotland’s energy future.  Don’t fight the power, like the power!”

The Moving Conversations debate is set to explore the future of energy generation and use in Scotland.  Its particular focus will be on the potential for individuals and households to generate more of their own energy and control that which they use.  A key question will be if we can look forward to energy independence for the citizen, regardless of the political backdrop.  To fuel the debate, each panellist will show a clip that they have chosen from the Scottish Screen Archive, the national audiovisual collection, managed by the National Libraries of Scotland.

Organised by the Fintry Development Trust, FRESH 2012, takes place over the 9^th and 10^th March in and around the village of Fintry in Stirlingshire.  As well as talks, the festival includes demonstrations of micro-renewable power technologies, visits to domestic installations, a local food and crafts market, kids’ activities and trips around the local Earlsburn wind farm.  For more information visit www.fintrydt.org.uk

Moving Conversations is from 2.30-4pm on 9^th March in Menzies Hall, Main Street, Fintry.  The event is free to attend.

Creativity and sustainability - shurely shome mishtake

An upcoming conference in Edinburgh has its sights firmly set on the role that creativity can play in all areas of Scottish policy making, business and society.  While the so called ‘Creative Industries’ – film, art, broadcast, music, gaming – will inevitably be a focus, the conference sets out to identify how the wider business and government sectors can embrace the creative urge.  This may mean redesigning processes, products and business plans, embracing digital technologies or redefining the ways in which businesses and government deal with employees and indeed their customers.

This debate fuels my own view that the urge and need for reinvention also applies in business attitudes towards the environment and sustainability.  At the moment, as soon as the ‘E’ word is mentioned it induces well rehearsed arguments along the lines of “the debt crisis and recession are infinitely more important issues;” “head-hunters are telling me that demand for sustainability professionals has fallen off a cliff;” “we comply with legislation, and that is enough of a cost burden”, or “our customers are not asking about this stuff.”

While fully accepting that there are of course many and competing external pressures on business, there is a growing band of companies that have redefined the importance of sustainability and are seeing the rewards in cost savings, enhanced employee motivation, better management control and a much greater degree of competitive advantage.

With some noteable exceptions, the real business action on creativity and sustainability is taking place in small and medium sized enterprises.   One exception is Interface, world’s biggest producer of carpet tiles, founded by the late, great Ray Anderson in the 1970’s.  In the mid-1990’s he reinvented the business with environmental sustainability at its heart.  While still subject to the vagaries of the global market, Ray Anderson showed that sustainability and business success are not separate bedfellows. The company remains at the top of the flooring tree.

For small businesses, that decision to place sustainability to the fore and centre can be somewhat daunting, particularly as the first task is to decide what it means in its own context.  Having done so and defined priorities, the next major challenge is one of performance measurement, which means some data crunching.  All this takes time and resources, but there is lots of free advice and support out there from the likes of Zero Waste Scotland, Carbon Trust and business organisations such as FSB or the Scottish Food and Drink Federation.   Once the groundwork is done, the business can then review its performance or report to customers or financiers.

The latter are playing an increasingly interesting and important role as agents of sustainability, for if we accept the enhanced importance within a business, it inevitably has financial consequences.  These may be reducing overheads by diverting waste from landfill and turning this material into revenue as recyclate or an investment may be required in machinery to help process and store the waste.  Through having performance information to hand and a willingness to communicate, the business can respond to external scrutiny from customers and investors.  This scrutiny may be in the form of tendering requirements, where a ready response on questions about sustainability, not only saves on management time, but might help to win the business.

Where investment is required, the company’s bank may profit through working with a stronger business and providing asset finance for new plant or equipment.  Getting closer to the customer is an oft quoted banking aspiration, so, in the form of a sustainability dialogue, there is a way for the banks to [1] understand and de-risk their customers, existing and potential; [2] unearth new business from those customers and [3] promote some creativity and innovation within the bank’s own product development teams. 

The opportunities presented around sustainability are there for businesses and their financiers.  It just needs a bit of guts and some creativity.  That’s why I welcome the conference and its effort to provoke a debate on the wide ranging benefits of ‘creativity’ to Scotland’s future.

The Creativity Applied conference is organised by the RSA Fellows' Media, Creative Industries, Culture & Heritage Network and the Institute for Capitalising on Creativity, University of St Andrews.  It will take place on Monday 21st November 2011 at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, 9 Queen Street, Edinburgh EH2 1JQ.  The conference is free, but bookings should be made before 16^th November http://creativityapplied.eventbrite.com

Great Circle gets a slug of private equity

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f9f3aacc-f29d-11e0-931e-00144feab49a.html#axzz1aKH3PlDL

The College Group (http://www.thecollegegroup.com/), including my business Great Circle (http://www.greatcircle.co.uk/), has received a substantial investment from private equity outfit Vitruvian Partners (http://www.vitruvianpartners.com/).  Onwards and upwards!

Trading with the West amongst the best at EIF

Trading with the West

Edinburgh International Festival

19^th August, 2.30pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Rd, Edinburgh

www.eif.co.uk/trading

A panel of business gurus use film clips to discuss the status and future of business relationships between Scotland and Asia.

Michael E Ward, Screenwriter, producer and marketer
Michael Ward was born and raised in India.  A veteran of business and the arts in the West, including producer and co-adaptor of The Far Pavilions stage musical in 2005 and theatrical director in 2007 of Miss Bollywood, starring Shilpa Shetty.  Michael is deeply involved in the UK-India creative corridor and works to build bridges between the two countries, solving problems in order to increase co-operation for mutual commercial benefit.  His first film will be the low budget urban comedy "The Phone Thief" to be shot in Mumbai in October and distributed in India by Fox Star Studios.

Catherine Schenk, Professor of International Economic History, University of Glasgow
Catherine Schenk has written widely on changes in the international economy since 1945.  Most of her research has been on the development of international banking in East Asia and Europe since the 1960s and also on crises in the international monetary system.  Her current project examines the failure to introduce effective international banking supervision.  She has been a visiting researcher at the International Monetary Fund and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and has presented at the Bank for International Settlements, Bank of Japan and at Chatham House.  Her most recent book is entitled International Economic Relations since 1945 (Routledge, 2011).

Zarir J Cama, Group General Manager – Group Management Office, HSBC Holdings PLC

Zarir Cama joined HSBC in 1968, becoming CEO of HSBC India in 1999, the first Indian to hold the position.  In 2002, he became CEO HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd and in June 2007 set up a new International Division overseeing the Group’s business worldwide.  In 2009 he ran the Group’s Continental European business, before taking up his current role of Group General Manager – Group Management Office.  Zarir was born and educated in India, is on the Committee of the British Malaysian Society and the Royal Society for Asian Affairs and has recently been elected to the Board of Trustees of Asia House.

Ian Ritchie CBE

Ian Ritchie founded Office Workstations Limited (OWL) in Edinburgh in 1984.  OWL became the largest supplier of Hypertext/Hypermedia authoring tools for personal computers and was sold to Matsushita of Japan in 1989.  Ian Ritchie was awarded a CBE in 2003, for services to enterprise and education.  He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering; a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh; a Fellow and a past-President of the British Computer Society; Co-Chair of the Scottish Science Advisory Council and was a member of Scotland's Cultural Commission in 2005/2006.  He is Chairman of leading technology companies and advises a number of venture capital firms.

John Callaghan, Former President, Director and CEO pt hero tbk, Indonesia

John Callaghan has a 40 year career in retail, encompassing Canada, South Africa, UK, Ireland, Hong Kong and Malaysia.  For the past four years he has been based in Jakarta, where he held a number of senior positions within major retail companies in the UK and overseas.  He is active in the Globalscot network, assisting Scottish businesses to internationalise and grow.

Michael Groves, Creator and Producer, Moving Conversations

Since completing a PhD in airborne remote sensing, Michael has worked in the UK and internationally in the fields of environmental management, sustainability and corporate communications.  This included three years based in Indonesia, pioneering forest certification throughout south-east Asia.  Since returning to the UK he has advised companies on sustainability strategies and reporting and co-founded a consumer product company that exports to more than 40 countries.  Moving Conversations^® was born from a long standing interest in cinema.  It is now an established format, attracting sponsorship and working with film archives in the UK and internationally.

Moving Conversations^®

“It’s a terrific format”, Sir Michael Grade

Moving Conversations^® is a proven ‘intelligent entertainment’ format where expert panellists choose film and television archive material to shed light on any topic.  Moving Conversations^® have covered a wide range of subjects, including the oil industry, climate change, renewable energy, urban development, fast food, comedy, digital media, journalism, acting, conflict, heritage, banking and television; working with a range of public and private sector sponsors.  Moving Conversations^® have been produced in the UK and Ireland with more planned internationally.

The National Library of Scotland, Scottish Screen Archive

The Scottish Screen Archive is a film and video collection of over 100 years of Scotland's history.  The archive reflects 20th-century Scottish social, cultural and industrial history, the lives of ordinary Scots across the generations and the achievements of Scottish film-makers in the craft of film production.  It houses more than 32,000 items, mostly non-fiction, including documentaries, newsreels, educational material, home movies, television and public information films (including Gaelic broadcasts), industrial material, promotional films and an array of written and printed matter.  The archive was set up in 1976 and has been part of the Collections Department at the National Library of Scotland since 2007.

Cashmere is Scottish....isn't it?

My Moving Conversations show at the Edinburgh International Festival is shaping up well.  All of our panellists have chosen their films from the Scottish Screen Archive - an amusing, amazing and enlightening bunch of movies.  We now await, with eager anticipation, the punchy, controversial arguments from our Bollywood producer, technology investor, banker, retailer and Professor.  The latter is Professor Catherine Schenk, whom has chosen a film called Cashmere is Scottish http://tinyurl.com/3htj4sh, a 1970's promotional film for the cashmere industry.  Catherine has kindly shared some of here thoughts with us on her reasons for choosing this fabulously retro and Joanna Lumley starring film.

The film clip from the 1970s firmly states that Cashmere IS Scottish and this was certainly its reputation and a key part of its value as a luxury product.  It was traditionally a part of Scotland's international brand image (along with bagpipes, shortbread and whisky).  In fact, of course, cashmere was almost always a 'globalised' product that linked Scottish producers and designers with rural Chinese herders who supplied and undertook the first processing of the essential raw material.  In recent years, the production of cashmere has been shifted to China and other countries in East Asia, and the luxury 'brand'  has been somewhat tarnished by variation in quality and fraudulent products.  If cashmere WAS Scottish in the 1970s, it isn't any more - many of the key traditional companies here have been taken over - most notably Pringles.  The ability of Asian companies to produce large amounts of cashmere products for the global market has had an important impact, not only on Scottish business and on consumers, but even more importantly on the environment in China because of the huge expansion of grazing goats.

This leaves the questions:
Was cashmere ever REALLY Scottish or is it an example of long-standing integrated trade links between Scotland and China? 
Does it matter if cashmere is now predominantly 'made in China'?

To see the other films and hear from the other panellists, come along to Trading with the West on 19th August, 2.30pm at Filmhouse, Lothian Rd, Edinburgh.  www.eif.co.uk/trading.

From Folk to Fact: Father and son do Fringe and Festival

A father is performing at the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe while his son is producing a show at the 2011 Edinburgh International Festival.  The father is Mick Groves, one of the legendary Liverpool folk group The Spinners, whom is bringing his one man show, Still Spinning, to the Acoustic Music Festival at Fringe 2011.  The son is Michael Groves, Edinburgh entrepreneur, whom is bringing his successful show Moving Conversations to the Filmhouse, combining lively debate with film clips from the Scottish Screen Archive.

Still Spinning sees Mick perform three shows, weaving together songs and stories from thirty years at the peak of the folk business, including the folk revival in the sixties, many television series and specials in the seventies, 30 plus albums and tours of West Africa, Australia, USA, Canada and Europe throughout (www.edfringe.com/whats-on/music/Still-Spinning).  The Spinners were defined by their ability to fill the UK’s largest concert halls and get audiences singing along to their wide repertoire, encompassing traditional ballads, Caribbean riffs and new songs that have become folk standards.  Somewhat sniffed at by the folk music purists, the ‘other fab four’ nevertheless introduced a generation of young people to the richness and diversity of traditional music.  Mick is now based in Devon and is an active member of the local folk scene, as well as still recording music (www.mickgroves.co.uk).  On May 22^nd 2011, The Spinners received a lifetime achievement award from the Acoustic Music Festival of Great Britain. 

Moving Conversations is a unique combination of lively debate and film archives that has explored a wide array of topics in recent years at venues throughout the UK and Ireland (“It’s a terrific format” says Sir Michael Grade).  Taking its cue from the Asian focus of the International Festival, this particular Moving Conversation, ‘Trading with the West’, will explore the history and future of business and trading links between Scotland and Asia (www.eif.co.uk/trading).  Panellists include Bollywood film producer Michael E. Ward, technology entrepreneur Ian Ritchie, economic historian Professor Catherine Schenk and Directors of HSBC and a Jardine Matheson company.  Each one will show a clip from the NLS Scottish Screen Archive from which they will draw inspiration for an impassioned speech on the future of Scottish-Asian business.

Mick Groves said, “I need no excuses to visit Scotland, having had many, many happy experiences touring with The Spinners.  I recall some wild nights in the Howf in Kircaldy and the many appearances at Aberdeen Music Hall, the Caird Hall in Dundee, Perth Town Hall, Glasgow Empire and Edinburgh’s Playhouse.  It’s great to be back and a pleasure to be doing the Fringe when Michael is doing the International Festival.  I may even persuade him to join me for a number or two.”

Michael Groves said, “As an Edinburgh resident I see the transformative power of the festivals.  Having brought Moving Conversations to the Fringe some years ago, I am absolutely thrilled to be part of the iconic International Festival in 2011.  Given the turmoil in the world economy, the Scottish focus on exporting, the rise of Chinese and Indian business power and underlying concerns over climate change, this is the perfect time to look at the future of Scottish-Asian business.  Moving Conversations has been a family affair previously when Mick joined a debate on the future of television.  As for the Fringe, at the very least, I will join my daughter and help to sell some of his CDs.”

Still Spinning is at 7.30pm on 11^th, 12^th and 13^th August at St Brides centre in Dalry.  Tickets are available through the Fringe and Queens Hall box offices at £8 (£6 concession).  It’s not quite folk, but it’s most definitely entertaining!

Trading with the West is at 2.30pm on 19^th August at Filmhouse.  Tickets are available through the International Festival or Queens Hall box offices at £6.

Real Engineering vs Financial Engineering

Working with private businesses in Scotland on how they can respond to and benefit from sustainability, has really brought into focus the distinction between their world of making, buying and selling and the associated world of financial support.


What has struck me about all of these companies, working across many sectors, is their honesty, commitment, ingenuity and general all round positive approach to life. Despite the fact that they are all operating in a challenging economic environment and some have seen changes as a result, they retain a complete passion and commitment what they are doing and a desire to do it better. They are also characterised by a willingness to adopt new ideas and new approaches, particularly given the resource constraints under which they are working.

The small business sector in the UK has, through force of circumstance, had to consider alternative sources of funding such as traditional private equity investment, public markets or even crowd-sourced loans and investments. The traditional bank loan has become a rare thing because the application process involves endless spreadsheets, management accounts, assignation of all future life earnings and multiple internal examinations, after which the risk manager says ‘No’. Even if the risk matrix is successfully negotiated, the nature of the offer on the table, may make it deeply unattractive. Personal guarantees are sought for loans underwritten by the Government and even widely touted support packages for renewable energy and environmental projects may not be what they seem. In particular, funding for wind turbines may require a charge over the land on which the turbine is built – a very traditional funding model, driven by the pervading culture of balance sheet protection and risk aversion.

While the Greek tragedy unfolds, does this mean that the banks cannot start to unfurl their innovation wings again, to re-assess long term risk models, find new business and meet their own sustainability goals? Even given the macro-economic turmoil, the banks are placing sustainability towards the top of their corporate agendas. This encompasses support for worthy causes, efficient use of resources or control of carbon emissions from office buildings and transport. However, like the supermarkets or public services, the banks are also starting to look at the supply chain, in the form of that which they buy and the products and services that they sell to their varied customer base. The next step is to embrace financial innovation for sustainability, or sustainovation, through which they can enhance their levels of data capture and knowledge about company and sector performance. Further to this, they can develop and nurture demand for standard products and new transactional services that generate revenues while helping customers meet targets around carbon, climate change, water, waste and other environmental impacts.

While the current nervousness about innovation is understandable, surely sliced and diced risk products based on dodgy US mortgages is not the same as tackling the rise of carbon as a valuable and tradeable commodity. An agenda driven by climate change, or the ever rising cost of throwing valuable material into holes in the ground, or the growing costs of fuel and associated materials in the peak oil era, or the rising price of food as land pressures and demand increase, is more pertinent to long term prospects. Perhaps it is more to do with an ability to only deal with the narrow here and now, allied to the view that these are all problems for future generations.

Fortunately there are individuals that understand the potential risks and associated business opportunities – they are just not in the decision making seats at the moment. These individuals working within the banks can draw inspiration from the many honest, toiling private businesses out there in Scotland. They are holders of the innovation flame and need support to deal with rising energy, waste and resource costs – that is when financial engineering will once again benefit real engineering.

Politics....its a clean business

Imagine my surprise at a recent business hustings for the Scottish elections when a significant proportion of the debate focussed on matters ‘environmental’. First there was discussion about high speed rail links, initially about infrastructure, but rapidly focussing on the potential for carbon emission reductions. Inevitably we moved onto the question of the renewable energy dividend in Scotland – onshore and offshore, wind, wave, tidal and associated research, technology and service jobs. It was fascinating to sense that the politicians and businesses were as one on this. It would seem that clean energy and clean technologies are increasingly viewed as the great commercial hope. Quite right – we should not shy away from the fact that Scotland is well placed geographically, with a skills-base forged in the wilds of the North Sea and research labs up and down the country.


As this aspect of the discussion developed, it was also interesting to note the reaction from the audience when discussing the need for nuclear or gas baseload electricity in a country increasingly reliant on renewable sources. It was intimated that renewable energy was alright if the wind was blowing in the right direction, at the right speed for an adequate amount of time. The argument was delivered in a slightly jaded and cynical way, but received by the audience in a fairly hostile manner. How times have changed! Renewables would not have been on the agenda five years ago, let alone received such positive backing from Scottish businesses. The only thing this part of the debate lacked was reference to microgeneration, energy efficieny, energy storage, smart grids, pollution control, recycling and water treatment and we could have been at any number of environmental technology conferences.

Inevitably, in relation to the above, there was much reference to ‘where the growth is coming from’ and the ‘green jobs dividend’. This also brought in a question about the Green Investment Bank and the intensive lobbying effort to locate this in Edinburgh. All parties were in agreement of course, with a slight jarring note about the fact that the bank cannot borrow (initially at least) and that its balance sheet is tiny in comparison to the spending power of the financial behemoths that we already own!

Regardless of the caveats, in my view the Green Investment Bank in Edinburgh is a good idea because:

It focuses minds and attention on the task of decarbonisation, climate change adaptation, waste reduction and the need for new commercial and investment models to support this.

It will be a major boost to Edinburgh if the lobbying works and will act as a focus for other related financial services businesses – creating a financial and investment centre built on new, innovative models of insurance, asset finance and bonds, for example.

It will inevitably form alliances with other established institutions, perhaps acting as a white label route for their own lending resources. Whatever the form of these alliances, it will serve to encourage the big banks to up their game in terms of environmental products and treating the clean technology and clean energy sectors as worth doing business with. This recognises of course that it is not just about renewables, there are a host of technology and services businesses that will grow up around the broader environmental sector.

It will act as a cradle of innovation and represents a great opportunity for Scottish universities and researchers to work with a UK institution that is on their doorstep. Scotland retains an excellent pool of financial talent which can build careers and reputations around the environmental agenda.

Finally, being in Scotland, means that it is slap bang in the centre of one of the most dynamic and potentially fruitful renewable energy technology hubs in the world. Not to mention a centre for financial innovation and one that has a dynamic research base....and a country for which the environment is one of its main selling points, but as we all know, it is a complicated environment, shaped by the hand of man over many centuries.

The coming Scottish elections are fascinating for many reasons. However, where we have a significant amount of political debate about matters environmental, the business sector acknowledges the role of clean technology and clean energy as growth engines and the financial sector is starting to see the commercial upside, Scotland could actually be looking at economic nirvana in a peak oil world.

Moving Conversations launches at world's biggest television market

Moving Conversations launched to the world's broadcast media at MIPTV in Cannes.  Thanks to Scottish Development International and PACT for their help!

"This could be really big", "This is really clever", "There is definitely something here" - just some of the epithets applied once the producers and broadcasters had seen the showreel.  Next step - turn this enthusiasm into an online or broadcast property.

Interesting to see that in addition to the traditional broadcast scene, there was a big emphasis on 'branded' content and entertainment.  That's exactly what Moving Conversations is, so some great contacts made there.

As with all trade shows.....its all in the follow up.  As Steve Jobs has supposedly said, "its all about perseverence".

Yours truly does the Edinburgh International Festival

Having produced a series of Moving Conversations at the Edinburgh Fringe a few years back, I am bringing my 'intelligent entertainment' format to the 2011 Edinburgh International Festival.  www.eif.co.uk/trading From popular culture to the altar of high art - Moving Conversations knows no bounds!

In line with the theme of EIF 2011 - To the Far West - we are bringing together business gurus to discuss the rich tradition of trading links between Scotland and Asia.  As well as a Director of HSBC [yet to be confirmed], the line-up for Trading with the Far West includes:

Ian Ritchie CBE - technology entrepreneur and mentor to many Scottish start-ups.
Michael Ward - a Scottish expat Bollywood film producer! Planning a full length feature of The Far Pavilions.
Professor Catherine Schenk - expert on the history of Chinese financial services and chronicler of the rise of HSBC.
John Callaghan - CEO of pt Hero, Indonesia's biggest supermarket chain and part of the Jardine Matheson trading empire.

As it is a Moving Conversation, each panellist will come armed with an entertaining clip from the Scottish Screen Archive http://ssa.nls.uk/ around which they will build a compelling argument.  It promises to be entertaining and enlightening - worth seeing for its unique historical value, let alone the views of a diverse and engaging panel.

Trading with the Far West is a one off show at The Filmhouse, Edinburgh, 2.30pm on Friday 19th August.  We are in Screen 2, which seats 100 - so book early!  Tickets are available at £6 through http://www.eif.co.uk/, the Hub or Filmhouse box offices, from 2nd April.

Moving Conversations

Here is a short film about Moving Conversations, my 'intelligent entertainment' format, which has been on the road in Ullapool, Glasgow, London, Dublin, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Liverpool over the past few years.  We work with ITN Source and the Scottish Screen Archive and have covered a huge range of topics - climate change, energy, fast food, urban regeneration, selling, cities of the future, digital media, video games....the list goes on.  Sponsors have included Bank of Scotland, Renewable UK, Ernst & Young, McGrigors, SURF, Scottish Wave of Change, Zero Waste Scotland and EPSRC.

Its a great way to entertain an audience and get under the skin of a topic.  Michael Grade, former Chairman of ITV, says its a 'terrific format' and Stuart Cosgrove, Head of Creative Diversity at Channel 4, thinks its a 'clever concept'.  Audiences love it!

Contact me if you are a corporate looking for a fantastic way to communicate with target audiences [the ROI is excellent] or a broadcaster/online content provider looking for a proven and successful format that attracts an enthusiastic audience and corporate sponsorship.

Look our next week for a further Moving Conversations announcement.

If Anyone Can, Cancun Can

The United Nation’s Cancun Accords, once again shed light on the topsy-turvy world of international climate change policy. Significantly, the Accords move a step closer to binding emissions targets and recognise the need for monitoring and verification, stating that “internationally supported mitigation actions will be measured, reported and verified domestically and will be subject to international measurement, reporting and verification.” Having done my time auditing forest management in Indonesia, I am heartened to see the progress made to address the crucial issue of forest conservation. Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation, or REDD, establishes protocols for national forest protection plans and associated monitoring through satellite imagery. Crucially it invites developed nation governments and the private sector to invest in standing forest as a carbon sink, rather than source of timber.


At the same time Cancun also recognised the urgent need to start adapting to the consequences of climate change. The insurance industry has been engaged in order to get under the skin of the risks associated with extreme weather events. This is an area into which these companies are making significant investments. The main players in the insurance industry have clubbed together into ‘ClimateWise’ to share experiences in order to gain greater insights and respond to climate change. The 2010 independent review of ClimateWise describes the actions taken by different companies in relation to the schemes ‘principles’. These refer to risk analysis methods, informing public policy, supporting customer awareness, reducing the environmental impact of the businesses, reporting and incorporating climate change into investment strategies.

The latter is interesting, as it conjoins the wider debate about the relevance or otherwise of ‘sustainability’ within the context of a company’s performance. The impact on shareholder sentiment of major environmental incidents is self evident, however, the eco-sceptics, still see it as secondary to financial performance. What happens however, when extreme weather events create havoc with retail sales or productivity, the cost of extra heating takes a percentage point off the bottom line or illegal dumping of waste leads to a legal battle, hitting reputation and adding to the professional services cost line? The insurance companies have got it right, because they see climate change and sustainability as a ‘risk’ factor, not some woolly jumpered, yoghurt knitting concept.

The move to embrace adaptation is mirrored elsewhere. While the insurance companies have a clear stake in the implications of climate change – more intense rainfall, flooding, freezing and stifling hot temperature extremes. Other financial companies are also taking it seriously. The banks, over and above their own insurance businesses, are looking at the effects on the productivity of their business clients, mortgage deals on certain properties, asset finance for snow ploughs, corporate finance for novel irrigation systems and of course the ongoing flight to renewable energy.

The venture capitalists are not immune. They are seeing a rash of clean energy, environmental services and smart grid business plans, in other words, technologies that are designed to reduce carbon emissions or help people and companies adapt to changing weather patterns. These may be rapidly mobilised flood defences, under-floor heating for roads, cloud based energy monitoring systems, smart electricity distribution and runways and drainage systems for new houses. These plans and concepts are designed to reap commercial reward from climate change and environmental regulations and associated pressure from the supply chain.

The investment banks and fund managers will be monitoring regional and national climate trends in order to assess the operating context for their portfolio companies. They will also be putting money into REDD projects and fundraising for established clean technology and clean energy companies, not to mention taking some of them into the public markets.

All this of course provides such Scottish based financial companies with a huge opportunity to grow their businesses – with a slight change in attitude towards the sustainability agenda. While their oil and gas clients will continue to flex their muscles, the value of this business is in long term decline. The value of climate adaptation and sustainability based business is on a long term growth trajectory. For those institutions that are willing to look beyond tomorrow’s bonus and whom have the guts to sell this to their shareholders [many of whom will provide a sympathetic ear], the opportunities abound. Sustainability is one foundation stone on which Scotland’s re-shaped financial future can be built.

Thinking - the next great business idea

According to Ove Arup, engineer, designer and philosopher and founder of the eponymous company, “the ultimate immoral act is choosing not to think.” This was quoted by Professor Emeritus Peter Jones as part of his 2010 Ove Arup Foundation Lecture, “Why are three heads better than one? Or: How to prepare for a new Enlightenment.” Professor Jones holds that the “cement of society is conversation and that when we ignore or lose our capacities for conversation we are in peril.”

While views vary on what constitutes a conversation, indeed, some hold that there is no such thing, the definition given at the lecture reads thus: “Conversation is a sacred and improvisatory practice in which the duty to listen precedes the right to speak.” It is essentially a practice because the skills required to be a good conversationalist have to be learned. A duty to listen reinforces the need for participants to understand the context and display appropriate manners. Consequently, the practicing conversationalist welcomes the opportunity to approach a topic from many directions and be open to the views of others while being happy to formulate and present their own arguments.

Ove Arup brought an array of experiences and an open, enquiring mind into the world of architecture and engineering. He noted that practitioners of both were not conversing and therefore, in his view, these disciplines needed reform, with a greater emphasis on learning from each other and opening their minds to other influences. This became the signature approach of his firm, one that applies today.

While the current economic situation has further reinforced the need for architects, engineers and designers to innovate and find new business models, the need to break out of disciplinary silos and actually think and converse is crucial for all companies and indeed governments and other institutions. By this way, can organisations find a way through the economic crisis and indeed plot a route to future success.

At the micro-level, this could begin by turning business meetings into conversations. Rather than mechanistic encounters where agenda items are ticked and the senior manager pontificates, all present have been schooled as conversationalists and all enter the meeting with an open mind and desire to tackle the agenda from many quarters, to learn, to assess, to think. While retrofitting a conversational ethos onto a company can be beneficial, the ultimate gift to society will be through structural changes to the way we educate young people – from nursery to university. Only the most ardent educational ideologue would disagree that we could be doing more to empower our school and university graduates with an ability to critically appraise, to question conventional methods and to posit their own views. While there will always be exceptions, the UK educational system needs to work harder, if its aim is to nurture thinking individuals.

Business too, is not a hotbed of thought and conversation, as the pressure to deliver on ‘key performance indicators’ takes precedence. The bigger the company, the less thought takes place as the job is driven by process and procedure. The smaller, dynamic entrepreneurial company though, is more of a cradle for silo breaking and thoughtfulness, but even then speed is more the order of the day.

For the businessman hungry for debate and conversation, there are opportunities out there, beyond the normal run of conferences and award ceremonies. For example, a desire to look beyond the here and now has been taken to heart by the Scottish urban regeneration community. An upcoming conference aims to take a creative and positive view of regeneration in the light of the economic crisis. Called Creative Approaches, the whole conference is built around ‘Moving Conversations’ which combines lively debate with film and television archive clips. The normal flood of bullet pointed slides has been replaced by rare footage and discussion, with the express aim of exploring ideas and stimulating new thinking amongst the public, private and voluntary sectors.

As Professor Jones concludes:

“Let us not further deceive ourselves into believing that, over the centuries, Governments or Instituitions or Professions have always, or even very often, put into place people and resources to promote relentless, self-critical and exploratory thinking.”

Far from being a luxury that a business cannot afford, finding the time to think might be just what all Chief Executives need right now.

Its an ecosystem Jim, but not as we know it

Amidst the ongoing talk of a ‘green’ dividend for the Scottish economy and the creation of thousands of eco jobs, I am encouraged to hear of that last week British wind farms have provided over 5% of electricity to the UK national grid over the period of a day . Over one hour on Sunday 29th August, wind turbines in the north of Scotland produced more energy, approximately 700MW, than was required by customers. Add this to the recent expansion of Whitelees Wind Farm, already the biggest in Europe, and all seems to be going swimmingly in the clean energy world. Not to mention the onward expansion of offshore wind, wave and tidal energy technologies.


Even the hardest sceptics are perhaps coming to accept that there may be something in all of this green eco stuff. Something that smells of money as opposed to freshly mown grass or wildflower meadows (prescious few of which remain alas). These same sceptics rightly pointed out that wind turbines [on or offshore] require less manpower to maintain, however, they missed the many other jobs in design, engineering, support, consultancy, IT, marketing and finance that have and will be created. While renewable have been grabbing all the glory, the green dividend will also be reaped through a whole host of other companies and organisations that will create a wide variety of jobs and add economic value in previously unseen ways – an ecosystem if you like.

This ecosystem will contain financial services companies such as the Green Insurance Company that recently announced record profits and the creation of 60 new jobs in Scotland. While the ‘green’ element of this company primarily relates to the purchase of carbon offsets of customer vehicle emissions, this business model will no doubt develop. For example, low carbon travel insurance or vehicle or business cover that prices in carbon emission or waste reductions. Other financial service providers will also emerge from existing companies or start ups. Banks’ asset finance operations will grow through funding for clean technologies, possibly building the value of waste, water or carbon savings into the lending formulae. Auditors and accountants will grow their assurance business as more companies choose or are compelled to disclose their environmental and sustainability performance. Fund managers will start to take climate change adaptation seriously and turn to the vast array of data and experience at the Met Office to draw up regional risk and investment profiles.

In addition to the finance jobs, there will be work aplenty for those that actually do the work and get their hands dirty helping to reduce environmental impacts. There will be opportunities for the entrepreneurs and companies that develop and sell technology to decontaminate water, reduce water use, recycle waste, reuse waste, clean contaminated land, monitor and scrub air pollution, monitor and reduce energy. The list goes on. These jobs will be research based, operational, marketing and financial – either in house or supporting outsourced providers.

Within and around this, there will be a growing band of companies that continue to sell food, chemicals, consumer goods and many other products or services, while taking greater control over their impacts on the environment. These companies will be users of the services and products offered from elsewhere within the ecosystem, whether it be to reduce waste or energy, for example. These companies will do so because they see the opportunity to be leaner, more cost efficient and pursue competitive advantage through greater control and disclosure of their environmental performance. While they may be responding to pressure from their own customers, they will pass this pressure up the supply chain and demand greater scrutiny of their own suppliers. Thereby the ecosystem propagates and thrives, with all parts linked to and depending on others.

Accepting the above, the green dividend could be very significant for Scotland as a home for clean technology and service companies and other companies tackling their environmental impacts. The ultimate environmental good is hard to predict, however, the need to adapt to a changing climate will be ever present anyway. Our ecosystems are changing, long live the ecosystem.

Banging on about sustainability as competitive advantage

My brief talk at the Thrive for Business event on the subject of Corporate Social Responsibility....

Over the next five minutes I will attempt to argue that CSR is ‘common sense really’, nothing more and nothing less than good old fashioned governance and a source of competitive advantage. Since we have to call it something this morning, I will refer to it as ‘sustainability’ – why use three words when one will do.


Before getting into practicalities, its worth mulling over the question of who drives the sustainability agenda. Orthodoxy says that sustainability should be embedded within the values of the business and driven from the top. In reality there will be all manner of prods and pressure from customers, peers, regulators, investors, local communities, as well as the management team and, yes, even the CEO. Then we have the activists, non-governmental organisations and elements of the sustainability industry. Here perhaps, and this is admittedly a cynical view, the agenda is less about accountability but more about an aversion to profit and the abhorrent pursuit thereof. Let’s whip the fat cats in their pinstripes and make them atone for their wicked ways!

Being a trendy concept, sustainability also comes with its own mountain of written material. However, if you ask me too much of this material can be inappropriate, boring, turgid and seemingly created to satisfy a generic audience that does not actually exist (hence no-one reads, listens or watches). This has a particular relevance in a world where communication channels are globalising and multiplying and ‘audiences’ are disaggregating.

Fundamentally, sustainability is about commercial longevity, which is more likely to be achieved by those companies that innovate, that are sensitive to the needs of their employees, customers and suppliers, that manage and mitigate their impacts on the environment and whose systems are efficient and effective, that are not afraid of making hard decisions based on a long term view, that enjoy what they do and bring stakeholders along with them.

While this is all well and good, how do customers, regulators, investors and others take a view on a company’s sustainability record when there is no official ‘standard’ against which companies can be measured. The corporates have been producing detailed Corporate Responsibility or Sustainability reports for many years and signing up to voluntary sustainability standards such as AA1000, BS8901, GRI, however, questions remain about their effectiveness as genuine tools of transparency. At the same time, the pressure has been growing on smaller companies to disclose more information on their environmental performance or their record in relation to employees and local communities.

At its basic level, this pressure is coming from a growing raft of eco, HR and disclosure regulations which drive up the costs and associated risks of non-compliance. For those companies supplying the supermarkets, take heed. The buyers may not be asking about sustainability now, but they will start doing so over the next few years. This is already happening in relation to certain products, for example, European legislation that targets imports of illegal timber. Suppliers of other products should start preparing for increased scrutiny.

Consequently let us forget sustainability, as the soft and fluffy, nice to have, lets think of it as a necessary pre-requisite for growing a business and being prepared for that moment when the legislators, customers or even financiers come knocking. From its eco-roots, sustainability has emerged blinking into the light as a full-blown source of competitive advantage, particularly in a world chasing a diminishing number of public sector contracts and fighting pressure on margins.

So while its fine for the multinationals, what about small and medium sized business. How should they respond to the pressure – if it exists for them:

Firstly, ensure that it is taken seriously at Board and senior management level. Noting here that the drive to be more sustainable may come from the top.

Secondly, seek advice. There is loads of it out there and much of it is free. Speak to Envirowise, Zero Waste Scotland, CarbonTrust, Environmental Protection Agency, Ethical Trading Initiative, trade associations and any number of other organisations. They can help with advice, audits, standard setting and contacts.

Next. Start to measure performance and put in place a simple roadmap to manage in the long term. A management system may be appropriate, it may not. Also think through the expectations of your employees – how can they help and contribute. Your customers and suppliers may also have questions, particularly where you are bidding for new work or terms of trade are changed, with greater emphasis on sustainability.

At the same time, somehow work out a means of managing and monitoring sustainability in the long term. You may not be able to afford the resources to do this in-house, but perhaps its a part-time role or one that can be economically outsourced, perhaps to one or other of the organisations offering free or low cost services.

Finally, learn how to communicate what you are doing. This will be required in order to speak and listen to your employees, however, it will also be important when customers and others come calling, looking for a concise and credible summary of your actions in relation to sustainability. By this stage you may be able to report on how you have saved on landfill costs, found outlets for waste packaging, reduced your water and wastewater bills, saved on energy costs, reduced the risk from poor suppliers and raw materials, won more work and motivated employees. You might even have developed new products and services.

Along the way, you will find and benefit from companies who have taken a similar view. If you have international ambitions, not only will it free up some cash for export marketing [through greater resource efficiency and employee motivation], it will be a fantastic calling card, since all key international markets are upping their own scrutiny of sustainability performance.

While there will be up-front cost, some of this outlay will be required for compliance purposes anyway. The rest, if spent wisely, will more than pay itself back through greater resource efficiency, lower bills, more business and a better reputation. Double dip or not, I would urge Directors of companies to revisit sustainability, not as eco-irrelevance, but as part and parcel of competitive advantage.

The ‘many’ heroes of the Battle of Britain

The 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain is rightly receiving the attention it deserves. While Scotland remains geographically distant from the airspace that saw the heaviest of the aerial combat between 10th July and 31st October 1940, we should not forget that Scottish born squadrons fought with distinction and gained their Battle of Britain honours. Both 602 ‘City of Glasgow’ and 603 ‘City of Edinburgh’ squadrons were involved in the harsh, unforgiving combat within the 11 Group sector over south-east England and the English Channel.

The anniversary brought to mind a Moving Conversation that I organised one September at Edinburgh’s Dominion Cinema, on the subject of the Battle of Britain. We preceded a showing of the 1969 film of that name with some short but telling contributions from the then Commanding Officer of 603 Squadron, a Tornado pilot from RAF Leuchars and a historian of 602 Squadron. While we could not be joined by one of Scotland’s surviving fighter pilots, we were honoured to hear from Squadron Leader Andrew Jackson, DFC, AE, MID, who had flown two operational tours, including the first bombing raids over Berlin in August 1940. These raids took place during the full heat of the Battle, at which time the Luftwaffe was dealing heavy blows to the RAF’s Fighter Command airbases and associated infrastructure. As a morale booster more than anything else, Winston Churchill ordered the bombing raids on Berlin.

Andrew Jackson described the raids in his Aircrew Association paper ‘The First Raids on Berlin’, “On the 28th August 1940, we took off from Norwich Airfield, as an advanced base from Marham to attack Berlin, on the first operation by Wellington bombers....Search lights and heavy flak were encountered on our flight, but over the actual target there was very little opposition – not what we expected. We had a clear view of the city and the marshalling yards were easily identified and attacked. Two nights later we returned to be met by numerous searchlights and well-directed and intensive flak. The enemy was learning fast!”

History shows that these raids were decisive factors in Hitler and Luftwaffe chief, Goering’s decision to concentrate their own bombing efforts on British ports and railways, thereby providing the RAF with some desperately needed relief. With the change of tactics, came greater success for Fighter Command, ultimately leading to the decision to withdraw the German invasion forces gathered on the French coast.

While the Berlin raids were astounding at that time, throughout the summer of 1940, Bomber Command continued to harass the German invasion fleet and destroy shipping in the heavily defended French ports of Dunkirk, Calais and Ostend. The role of these crews and those whom flew to Berlin during 1940, should be acknowledged, as should those of the men and women who kept the aircraft in the air, transported men and machines across the Atlantic and the UK, designed, built and tested the aircraft, designed and manned the control and radar centres, trained the pilots, manned observation posts and the many others that combined to keep the aircraft in the air and homing in on their targets. Not to mention of course, the now legendary young men of Fighter Command, whom took on the German bombers and their fighter escorts.

That night at the Dominion Cinema left an indelible mark, confirming the debt of gratitude that we owe men like Andrew Jackson, whom accepted the need to act in the interest of their country while forging unbreakable bonds with their Squadron colleagues under the greatest of pressure. While historians continue to debate the Battle of Britain’s significance in the great scheme of the Second World War, in this 70th anniversary year we should remember the Fighter Command’s ‘few’ and the those from other arms of the RAF, working in the air and on the ground. I will leave the last word to Andrew Jackson, “Britain was saved from invasion by the Royal Air Force, and that was what the Battle of Britain was all about. The young men from the UK and overseas stood side by side, risking all, with many paying the ultimate price in violent death. We owe them a huge debt!”

Sadly, Squadron Leader Jackson died in 2009. We owe him and his generation a huge debt.