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Andrew Campbell on why good leaders do bad things at Robinson College
June 10, 2009 from 6pm to 7pm
Sir Fred Goodwin pushed Royal Bank of Scotland into the ABNAmro deal.
Tony Blair took Britain into Iraq.
Lord Browne, ex CEO of BP, lied in court about where he met his boyfriend.
Matthew Broderick, head of the operations centre responsible for c…
Alain de Botton at Cambridge Business Lectures at Robinson College
May 14, 2009 from 6pm to 7pm
We spend much of our lives at work – but surprisingly little gets written about what makes work both one of the most exciting and most painful of all our activities. Alain de Botton comes to Robinson College to present his new, ninth book, The Pleas…
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- Initiatives I am involved in
- Looking for people who want to start businesses in Ely
- My day job
- Entrepreneur - Wash Barrier
- My Website
- http://washbarrier.org
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Peter
I'm sure many of us here agree with your analysis of the causes for the current woes in the financial sector and would be quite happy to bank with an organisation that has a conservative attitude to risk.
Now is the time to launch a new bank and Cambridge is the right place.
1)The current banks have monumental historical problems.
They have massive non-performing debts, pension liabilities, property portfolios/lease liabilities, redundancy liabilities, their staff are generally overpaid, as there is now a surplus of skilled bankers in the market.
And perhaps most importantly, they have lost the trust of the public
2)High banking margins
The high street banks are currently charging the highest prices and the highest interest up-lift ever! They justify this as a need to recapitalise their depleted balance sheets. (What other business would say to government that it needed to make super profits because I wants to increase shareholder funds that it lost through poor management decisions?)
3)Lots of money available
Contrary to what you may think, there is just as much money around now as there was before the crunch, it is just that those with the money don’t know whom to trust. So have put it in ‘safe havens’. A new bank with a clear conservative mandate would, I believe attract a lots of investors, both equity and deposits.
4)Lots of skilled management
Ok, One needs to be careful here, the senior management will need to be checked out for culpability in their former employment. But the lower levels of staff are plentiful and eager to work for a good employer. They will accept ‘normal’ pay levels after a few months without a job! Of the senior managers, they will have typically received obscene pay-offs, so should be willing to take their chances in a start-up.
5)Lots of cheap premises
With so many high street banks merging, nearly 50% of banking premises are now surplus to requirements. A new bank could pretty much set the rent in such a buyers market!
6)Why Cambridge?
Looking at the last few recessions, Cambridge has fared much better than other regions. The low level of private employment means that it is less effected than say Oxford. Also, the large number of venture-funded companies means that there is a need for a home for the ‘lumpy’ equity injections that are typical for these types of company. Cambridge also has a large number of people with ‘new money’ that is more mobile than ‘old money’ thus they should be willing to deposit their surplus into a local bank. Finally there are a number of Venture funds that also have cash. How better to monitor their investments than to have a close relationship with their bankers!
I’ve designed the banks business mandate too, that will assure investors and depositors alike, that this bank will be highly profitable AND safe. But that is only available if the founders of the New Cambridge Bank offer me a nice juicy non-exec role!
Contact me if you want this to progress!"
Peter