'Apologise for any inconvenience.' We hear this so often but what does it mean? On this current trip I’ve heard it in relation to:  

Late arrival into Kings Cross. 

Late Departure...

Jeremy and I have spoken at many company and association conferences in the last 16 years. Our experiences prompted us to write our guide to conferences ‘Unforgettable’ which is available from our...

It is said that Mothercare has a 25% market share in buggys and cots and larger items. Yet in their own statement they now make 43% of their sales online.

What this says to me is that their...

Many of us watched the Royal Wedding this week and enjoyed the splendour and romance of this beautiful day. The weather, backdrop and participants presented a wonderful advert of our country to...

What are you networking for? 

Responding to the question you dread. 

Whether you are new to business or you’ve been working since the 1950s, chances...

Last week we celebrated a milestone for Reality Training. Ann Harris our Operations Manager, has been with us, for better, for worse, for 10 years!

When I first met Ann she had two young...

LinkedIn has a new and worrying trend. So I have a number of job titles, I am an MD of a training company, I am an executive coach and I am a consultant. That’s specifically what I do for a living...

A recent Saturday in shorts was a first for many of us here in the UK and after six hours of gardening my face had truly caught the sun.

As I walked my dog around some local woods there was...

With the changing of the clocks, overnight we are handed an extra hour of daylight. The question is what are you going to do with it?

In the Nordics this is the beginning of seasons where...

Exhibitions are still popular, and the access they offer for face to face interactions and creating relationships is impressive. Attending a show at the Exel recently I wandered through one that...

So another 1000 jobs in retail go and 60 stores shut.

I was in New Look a few years ago, and I remember squeezing through the rails, and trying to find some space to stand as people pushed...

We commented recently on the Toys R Us situation – and now they’re gone, on the same day that Maplin goes. Over 5,000 people out of a job and big questions around ‘how this could happen?’ filling...

Why James didn’t Buy - a short story
As James parks his car in town to head to the hardware store, he sees that it is covered in scaffolding and his access into the...

One of the problems with Board meetings is that they very rarely allocate enough time to focus on what’s happening right now. When the Board...

The role of marketing is to generate enquiries. The role of sales is to convert those enquiries.

Most marketing people are paid a salary that is fixed and based on their level and years of...

Wandering around the Arndale Centre in Manchester, in early December, I became more and more concerned for the sanity of some of the retail colleagues I saw doing their jobs. Not only were they...

Another conference recently was the Advantage Cruise Champions Conference on the P&O Ventura in Southampton. This is a great event where each attendee gets some earning and information before...

Speaking at a recent event we were surprised at how willing the audience were to interact. A few years ago we did a series of conferences for retailers and travel companies and we were well...

Most companies are obsessed by like for like figures and what has just happened in their business. Their other biggest focus is the future. Where are we going? What are my sales forecasts? What’s...