The secret to our post-transition success: planning
President of motor technology specialist Control Techniques, Anthony Pickering says planning has helped the Powys-based company cope with the changes. “We export to 77 countries, and have 26 sales offices around the world, so we had to be well prepared for the transition out of the EU. This meant going to our suppliers and making sure they were ready, and having contingency plans in place – for example, if the port at Dover became blocked.
“Planning has been the root cause of our success since January 1, because we’re reliant on our supply chain. Our factories are full – we’re absolutely flat out, with orders coming out of our ears. We’ve not missed a beat, and our business is continuing to evolve. There are some delays – items that would take two days to come from Europe are now taking two weeks – but I think it will figure itself out.”
LAST week I received the call I have been waiting for. No, it wasn’t the National Lottery, so that new Aston Martin will just have to wait. But something even better. It was a call from my GP’s surgery offering me the opportunity to have my Covid jab.
Within a couple of hours I was in the car heading to my local vaccination centre and by mid-afternoon I’d had my first dose and back home.
It was quick, easy and painless and I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude to the scientists, the NHS, the MHRA and whoever in government had the foresight to put this ambitious programme into effect. At the time of writing, I am now one of more than 20 million people vaccinated in England, according to provisional NHS England data.
This is a remarkable achievement and means that very shortly everyone in the first seven groups will have been offered a jab, with people aged between 50 and 60 next in line.
The news last week that just one shot of the Pfizer or Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine can reduce the risk of being admitted to hospital by more than 90 per cent shows how important it is that everyone who is offered a jab should take it.
It is extremely worrying that misinformation about the vaccines means that some people especially in black and ethnic minority groups are hesitating getting the vaccine particularly as they are disproportionately affected by the virus.
I therefore welcome all initiatives to encourage take up including from our own Asian Business Chamber of Commerce.
With spring in the air and the publication last week of the government’s road map to ending the lockdown, there is at last a feeling of optimism that things may slowly get back to normal, whatever the new ‘normal’ might be. But, we are not there yet.
Last week I chaired a Zoom meeting of regional business leaders and some of our local politicians. It gave them the opportunity to speak directly to those key decision makers about the continuing problems their businesses face as a result of current lockdown restrictions.
It was by no means a pretty picture with many businesses struggling to survive with cash flow continuing to be a major problem. Many thousands of jobs remain at risk.
This is particularly the case for indoor hospitality and events which cannot open before at least May 17, if all goes well.
At least the news that non-essential retail may open after April 12 is a welcome boost to our regional city and town centres.
The message I took from the meeting was that it is essential that all current business support schemes must be extended in order that businesses can make it to the finish line and to give them a fighting chance to recover.
By the time you read this article we will know the outcome of the Chancellor’s Budget on March 3.
Here at the Chamber we have been lobbying hard to ensure that government support remains in place for as long as business needs it and highlighting those areas where we feel gaps remain which need addressing. I hope that the Chancellor takes these and other representations on board.
Last week, we witnessed the remarkable feat of NASA’s Perseverance Rover land on Mars. Encoded in its parachute was the motto ‘Dare mighty things’.
Who would have dared to have hoped over 12 months ago that our scientists would have developed vaccines that could be rolled out so quickly and would give us so much hope for the future?
We’re not there yet and there’s still some way to go but the end of our Covid-19 lockdown is in sight – a mighty thing indeed.
ANYONE would have thought, given the outrage, that Mr Potato Head had joined Al Qaeda.
But no, the iconic children’s toy had not been armed by makers with a plastic gun, it was instead announcing it would be dropping his title.
No longer was the brand to be called a Mister. After 71 years ‘he’ had finally had his chips.
The decision was the latest move to ensure gender does not upset. Another victim of the world’s woke culture.
Makers Hasbro decided to break away from traditional gender norms, and the toy would be named Potato Head on packaging, saying “the way the brand currently exists - with the ‘Mr.’ and ‘Mrs.’ - is limiting when it comes to both gender identity and family structure”. However following the furore, the company later tweeted that despite the rebrand Mr and Mrs Potato Head would remain.
But just as we prematurely mourned Mr Potato Head’s loss, along came an American pop star who turned woke into a complete joke with her comments on the issues we now face.
Singer Demi Lovato took to Instagram to tell her 100 million followers that expectant parents were unknowingly spreading transphobia by hosting genderreveal parties.
The 28-year-old posted a ninepage message, originally shared by writer and transgender rights activist Alok Vaid-Menon, that attempted to shed light on why gender reveal parties are harmful and need to stop.
According to the post, such celebrations uphold a “belief system that presumes non-trans people to be more ‘natural’ than trans people”.
“This is not about being politically correct, it’s about being correct,” it read. It then went on to explain, “transphobia isn’t just violence or prejudice against an individual trans person,” it is about promoting that belief system.
The missive ended by saying only individuals – presumably not parents at a gender-reveal party – “can determine their gender”.
Even Lovato’s fans thought it too much. Although appreciating her desire to be inclusive and support transgender rights, many said she was taking political correctness “too far”.
People believed it was wrong for her to condemn parents for celebrating the sex of their child or even to be happy about the fact a child was on the way.
I have a hard time believing an unborn baby is somehow offended by a party to reveal their gender. I have an even harder time comprehending why any adult would be offended by a joyous celebration that doesn’t affect them.
This is how America has increasingly become, and I suspect it will only be a matter of time before Britain follows suit, if not already. The States is at a crossroads.
Laws are being passed that would mean if a 7ft tall male basketball player were to identify as a woman, he would be legally allowed to compete against them in the women’s league.
Such legislation is grossly inequitable to those females who have dedicated their entire lives to sporting success to then be gazumped by a transgender athlete who is physically stronger and biologically bigger.
Surely it would be fair - and that is all that people want - to have a system that negates such physiological advantages making the playing field even for all.
All of us should embrace everyone, irrespective of how they want to live their lives or how they would like to be called. Prejudices must be stopped.
But I, for one, am exhausted by this generation who are offended by the slightest thing.
PRODUCERS of this weekend’s Prince Harry and Meghan Markle interview with Oprah Winfrey are refusing to pull the tell-all chat irrespective of Prince’s Philip’s condition.
TV bosses’ refusal, says one insider, has the potential to detonate a “diplomatic bomb” if they continue with plans to broadcast the programme if the Duke of Edinburgh’s health worsens.
It is not known if Harry, 36, has made appeals to Winfrey or makers CBS to postpone its airing if, God forbid, his grandfather’s condition worsens.
The digging in of LA TV bosses’ heels comes as the Prince, 99, was moved to a specialist heart hospital as he enters a third week under doctors’ care.
Covid running rampant in LA makes me wonder if the virus has not taken hold of CBS bosses, after all, it appears they have lost all sense of taste. With that said, it seems their smell appears intact when it comes to sniffing out money.
Shame on them.
I have a hard time believing an unborn baby is somehow offended by a party to reveal their gender
FALLEN British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell has told a US court she will renounce her British citizenship if they grant her bail while awaiting trial.
The daughter of crooked tycoon Robert Maxwell is currently being held in New York on suspicion of child grooming and abuse charges.
The 59-year-old is accused of helping paedophile and former boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein, which she bitterly denies.
Now, in her third application for bail, Maxwell has offered to renounce her British and French citizenships in an attempt to prove she is not a flight risk.
She may want to offer up her pilot’s licence too.