Weekly Wrap Up: Scottish Referendum

Scotland has voted “no” to independence.

Was this is a shocking result? Well, when compared to the state of the “Yes” vote this time a year ago it is at least surprising if not shocking, as over the past few months the “Yes” vote has managed to sneak its way to almost drawing with the “No” vote. With a final percentage split of 44.7% “Yes” and 55.3% “No”, it was certainly a close call.

As with any political debate, this referendum was a ballroom dance for the political players involved. With the “marriage” metaphor continually dragged up in the media, some could say that watching the Scottish referendum unfold was like watching a particularly colourful divorce between independence seeking Alex Salmond and wounded but loyal Alistair Darling. Each had their teams behind them, as a divorcing couple might have their lawyers, and the statements emitted from both the couple in question and their “lawyers” were almost more interesting than the referendum itself.

What these comments had in common was the conviction in which they were delivered. Each party was absolutely certain that their line of thinking was the right one, and that the alternative would be disastrous for both Scotland and the UK. SNP Party Leader, and leader of the “Yes” campaign, Alex Salmond remained steadfast in his opinion that it was the only way to secure Scotland’s victory, and that "The 'Yes' campaign is the most positive and empowering campaign in recent political history”. Scotland’s first lady Nicola Sturgeon (really the SNP’s Deputy First Minister for Scotland) stood by her “client” with her belief that “local government is a central element to good government, and the interests of people who receive services from local government are best served by a Yes vote”.

On the other side of the divorse table, “there’s no going back if we decide to go,” said Darling, leader of the “Better Together” campaign. In a similar vein, President of the market research firm YouGov Peter Kellner told Sky news “I can’t see No losing this now. At the obvious risk of looking like complete prat in eight hours' time, I would say it is a 99% certainty of a No victory."

The conviction of both parties and controversial statements is something that the City will have been able to recognise from its dealings with business leaders and CEOs. With the number of on-going debates in business and politics, CEOs and business leaders are well accustomed to making controversial statements and predictions about topics that may not conclude in their favour. Whilst this obviously puts those in question at the risk of coming out “looking like a completely prat”, it can be guaranteed that they will still have an impact.

One impact that could result from these statements is that they could influence the end result. The minds of the voting population are notoriously changeable and easily swayed by the comments of those influential leaders that are (or at least, appear to be) speaking with more knowledge than the population themselves possess.

Another impact is just that: impact. If a business leader makes a statement or prediction that turns out to be wrong, he has still positioned himself as a knowledgeable spokesperson on the topic, a man in the “know”, and one to refer to on this and similar debates in the future. It not only raises the profile of his knowledge and expertise in that field, but also the profile of himself, his business and even his business partners.

This was the certainly the case with the celebrities’ open letter to Scotland in August 2014, where more than 200 public figures wrote an open letter to the people of Scotland, urging them vote no to independence. Not only did these celebrities take part in a cause that they obviously believed in, but they had their names splashed across many of the UK and international headlines in the days following.

In the world of communications, positioning a CEO or business leader as an expert for comment is an oft used method of raising a person or company’s profile within the media. In times of political debate, journalists are often looking for experts to pass their judgement on the future or outcome of a particular situation, which is when they turn to PR’s to provide this comment.

The danger here, however, is that PRs will position leaders that actually don’t actually have that much knowledge on the topic but are simply keen to grab a headline. The result of this is that they can often speak out of turn and probably incorrectly. In this new age of social media and accountability, CEOs and business leaders who put out controversial statements just for the sake of it are often called out and up to account, therefore making the exercise more damaging to the person / Company than had they not spoken at all.

The lesson for communicators and businesses is therefore to approach these debates with caution and consideration. Yes, if you are or you represent a leader that is genuinely connected with, knowledgeable about or will be affected by a national debate, then offer them to media with conviction. If, on the other hand, their link to the debate is tenuous and could fall apart under cross-inspection, remove the draft “expert for comment” email from your inbox and wait for someone else to speak out and play the fool.

For now, we can only envisage how the result of the Scottish referendum will affect the future of Scotland at the UK. What we can be certain of, however, is that the predictions and statements of one set of business leaders will be wrong or at least out of tune with the majority. Whilst this won’t be damaging for those truly positioned business leaders that didn’t end up sitting on the winning side of the table, it may well be for those that unjustly threw themselves into the spotlight, and so the firing line of the referendum debate.



Michael Campbell has joined Northland Capital Partners as a research analyst. He was previously a senior analyst of Daniel Stewart. Linklater has appointed Stuart Bedford to head its London corporate practice. Stuart was previously head of Linklater’s Asia corporate practice. Bradley Phillips has joined PWC as the asset management tax director from Herbert Smith Freehills, where he was a tax partner.



The summer may be coming to a close but don’t feel the need to turn your back on the world of BBQs just yet! In Camden this Saturday there is a celebration of one of the BBQs greatest conquests; Brisket! If you like ‘em low and slow then we suggest heading to the Camden Town Brewery Bar to indulge!

If you want to enjoy some of London’s finest architectural marvels, then this weekend celebrates the annual Open House London where hundreds of buildings that are not normally accessible to the general public are opened up for your viewing pleasure. Paperworks.

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Weekly Wrap Up: Top PR-marks post crisis

This week George Weston, CEO of Associated British Foods, proudly reported that the sales of one of its most famous subsidiaries, Primark, had grown by 22% in the year to 14 September. Impressive figures for any company, let alone one that has had a very public scandal this year.

This particular scandal took place a little further afield, in Bangladesh. On 24 April, 1,131 people tragically lost their lives in the collapse of an eight story garment factory, that manufactures Primark apparel.

The incident stirred local and global furor, making both initial headlines and then continued to receive substantial media attention. It was considered by many as the worst clothing industry crisis for years.

How were Primark sales affected in the aftermath of this crisis? 13 new stores are planned before Christmas and customers are still flooding through the doors. A significant portion of this resilience was deemed to be down to strategic and well-executed PR.

Primark quickly publicised their hands-on response to the crisis; sound-bites were generated; on-the-ground insights were circulated alongside stories of heroic recovery and personal triumph. More importantly, Primark choose not to communicate a defensive message and deny association to the factory, unlike members of their peer group, Mango and Benetton. Instead, they acknowledged that their products were manufactured in the building, and even agreed to pay compensation.

Both Primark’s response and the communication of it were regarded favourably. This has been reiterated by the recently published strong financial results, demonstrating the power of effective crisis communications.

Primark’s results have however reignited the argument as to whether companies who choose the cheap option of manufacturing in the developing world, are doing so irresponsibly. Whether this cynicism has the capacity to filter down to affect consumer behaviour is yet to be seen, but the sustainability of Primark’s profits is, at a minimum, called into question. How many times can PRs save face with effective crisis communications until stakeholders get fed up and stop buying?

If PRs can encourage and then communicate the ethically sound operations of their clients, long term profitability will ultimately come from honesty and transparency. There won't be anything scandalous about it.



Abchaps attended some brilliant events this week, including Allenby Capital's corporate rugby at Twickenham, where England ruled Britannia, and an event hosted by Olswang and the Malaysia Multimedia Development Corporation about business development in Asia.

We also treated some city friends to corporate hospitality at the Chelsea v Shalke 04 match on Wednesday, where the blues won 3-0. And our graduate Abchaps also underwent some excellent training at Finance Talking this week, learning finance essentials for communicators.



Our friends over at Crowe Clark Whitehill have strengthened their Midlands office with the appointment of Rob Gunn as a partner, specialising in corporate tax. Imilarly, Investec Wealth & Investment bolsters its regional office expertise in their Glasgow office with new investment directors David Kerr and Lisa Brown of Barclays.

Finally Ruth Crowell leaves law firm Norton Rose to become the Chief Executive of the trade association London Bullion Market Association on 1 January 2014.



Central London is being closed off this Saturday for the 2013 Lord Mayor’s Show. Starting at 8:30am, the Lord Mayor boards QRB Gloriana and along with a spectacular Flotilla makes his way from Westminster to Tower Bridge. Then at 11am, Mansion House, the 3.5 mile modern procession commences, wrapping with an elaborate Fireworks display at 5pm at Waterloo, officially confirming the beginning of the new mayoral year.

It’s officially Christmas folks – Regent Street, Covent Garden and Duke of York Square are illuminating their streets with snowflakes, reindeer and all things sparkly this Saturday night. Festive fireworks, carols and Christmas cheer will be supplied by top artists such as Leona Lewis, Eliza Doolittle and Emma Bunton.

For something a little less seasonal, head down to the Truman Brewery for some culinary art education at the 4th annual Experimental Food Society Spectacular. Displays by Britain’s most talented and pioneering gourmet artists will create awe-inspring assemblages of butter sculptors, food furturologists and experimental confectioners.

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Climate Week: Innovating our way out of the problem

This week is Climate Week, Britain’s biggest environmental occasion of the year with half a million people attending 3,000 events nationwide. We at Abchurch have been playing our small part in the office by relying only on natural light this week (and we have plenty of it) – it’s quite therapeutic and I thoroughly recommend it, although with it getting dark around 5pm, you need to know when to give in!

Learning about the technology and innovation UK companies are coming up with to counter the climate change issue is one of the key things we can take away from Climate Week. On Monday, 14 companies and individuals received awards at the House of Commons for their work to tackle climate change over the past year. The innovative examples include Loowatt, a waterless lavatory system that uses anaerobic digestion to convert waste into biogas. Invented by a British company and based in Madagascar; there is a clear application for this product in parts of the world where lack of water is an issue, with an added benefit of generating power for the household. This type of innovation is essential to prevent the climate change fiasco that some people predict.

Another award winner was a documentary film called Chasing Ice, documenting a photographer’s effort to capture the effects of climate change by setting up 34 cameras across 16 glaciers in the Arctic. It really is worth a watch because apart from being visually spectacular, it was made by James Balog, a climate change sceptic until 2005 when he was sent to the Arctic for an assignment and saw for himself the extreme change in the glacial landscape since his previous visit. It also seems to have had a strong impact on viewers – an American fan of the famously right-wing and staunch global warming sceptic Bill O’Reilly says this film “has changed her life”.

Excess Meat Consumption

When it comes to concern about climate change, most people think close to home and of their own transport and energy efficiency. We do need to reduce our personal CO2 emissions, but I don’t think people realise the efficiency and inefficiency of some other products that we buy. Take meat production for example, beef is the least efficient, and pork is the most efficient. Did you know that in the USA 80% of the output from agricultural land is used to feed animals? 80% of corn, 90% of soy, 70% of wheat produced goes directly into the mouths of the animals that will go into our mouths. That’s not all: 50% of the water in America is used to irrigate the food that is fed to animals. This level of consumption is not sustainable in the long term, particularly considering the projected population increases. Research by Exeter University suggests that in order to become sustainable we need to reduce global meat consumption from 16.6% to 15% of the average daily calorie intake – about half of the average western diet.

Many organisations are promoting the concept of eating less meat - not no meat, just less. I think this is a much more workable solution of cutting down the consumption of meat per person. Most people would struggle to go fully vegetarian, so promoting eating less meat is more constructive and realistic. Meat Free Monday for example is a completely workable idea. If more people signed up to this sort of initiative we could quickly cut our demand for meat.

Reducing CO2 Emissions

There are signs that Europe is moving in the right direction in terms of cutting CO2 and making farming more efficient. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the system that subsidises farmers within the EU, is undergoing reforms to align itself with the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. This includes proposals to ‘green’ the direct payments to farms by offering farmers extra money to do green good deeds. Considering the size of the CAP budget (€58 billion in 2011), this is a serious amount of money. It would encourage farmers, for example, to buy items such as an anaerobic digester that would turn cow manure into methane which would be used to generate electricity. However, in true EU policymaker fashion, this is a slow process and the exact specifications of the reforms are still unknown.

Can we afford to change?

Personally, I’m an optimist when it comes to climate change and believe that we will innovate our way out of the problem. There will come a point when renewable ways of producing energy become cheaper than their non-renewable counterparts so economically it will make sense to make the change. Solar power in particular is improving at such a rate it will soon be able to compete with fossil fuels on a cost basis, according to Google co-founder Larry Page and futurist Ray Kurzweil.

So whilst Climate Week is drawing to a close, consider the true cost to the environment of everything you consume. You could even attend an event. And with that I’m off to make a cup of tea. No, scratch that. I’ll have a tap water.

Richard Sowler

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Impact Investment: Doing good whilst making a profit

The launch of Social Impact VCT, enables investors to invest “with both their heads and their hearts” in a tax-advantaged vehicle.

 

 

Yesterday afternoon at our offices we saw the launch of the Social Impact VCT. The fund aims to make use of the existing tax incentive scheme to create a pool of readily available investment capital immediately deployable among socially driven companies in the UK.

 

 

Social Impact VCT features:

1. Support the growth of socially motivated companies which make a distinct positive contribution to improving UK society
2. Capital preservation and predictable cash flows due to focus on established companies and companies whose revenue streams are wholly or partially underpinned by delivery contracts
3. 30% income tax relief in year of investment, tax free dividend and capital gains.
4. Planned Exit: return of capital planned for years 6,7 and 8
5. Dividend planned from year 2 onwards.

The VCT will be managed jointly by FSE Fund Managers and Social Finance. It will focus on profitable and/ or growth companies delivering measurable social impact. As part of the launch we heard from the following two socially motivated companies.

CREATE Foundation is a company aimed at providing a place where people can rebuild their life and hope, in the form of work. It is a “for more than profit” company, this means they run a great business, but profits are ploughed back into training, work experience and jobs for people who need them most. In January 2011, they became only the second company to be awarded a Big Society Award by David Cameron.
CREATE is a social enterprise, and this means that it applies “capitalist strategies to achieving philanthropic goals.” The government defines social enterprises as businesses with social objectives whose surpluses are reinvested in the business or in the community, rather than maximising profit for shareholders and owners.

Another example of a social enterprise is Bromley Healthcare, a new community interest company founded of 800 people who will deliver a wide range of NHS Services to people of all ages. From health visiting to district nursing, school nurses to specialist nurses, their nursing services help new parents to care for new born children and older people to continue living at home through care and support. In addition to this broad range of nursing services they also have a wide range of therapy services for adults and children. This includes speech and language therapy, physiotherapy and occupational therapy.

Both Create and Bromley Healthcare are examples of companies that would benefit from Social Finance’s VCT and would in return offer duel level benefits for the investors (both financial and social).

This is a relatively new asset class, but it is growing. However there is still a problem surrounding the understanding of it. What is needed is the development of a clear message to outline to potential investors the financial returns available from social investments as well as the social benefits delivered. It is not philanthropy, but investment with “twice” the return both financially and socially.

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The rise of the ‘mummy bloggers’

Myself and my colleague, Jamie, were entertained last week at the Gorkana Breakfast Briefing by Siobhan Freegard, founder of the parenting site Netmums. Although I had heard of the term ‘mummy blogger’, I, like many others, envisioned a yummy-mummy sitting at her desk with their shiny laptop; uploading endless images of their tiny tots, boasting about their babies latest gurgle and sharing the best cream for curing nappy rash.
 

This image could not have been further from the truth. The endless albums of virtually identical snaps are still appearing in their masses and the threads on ‘Which pushchair should I buy?’ and ‘Do I feed my children whole milk or semi-skimmed?’ do still dominate the pages. However, it became quickly apparent that this side of the ‘mummy bloggers’ is just a part of the story. More significantly, they are fast becoming a respected and influential power outlet.

Their forthright approach in expressing opinions has meant that they have become one of the most trusted and credible voices. The power of bloggers such as these to influence others has transformed the way companies implement marketing campaigns. The social media platform has been tapped into and companies and PR firms flock to this pram-pushing network to act as a lucrative advertising outlet. Their word of mouth alone can function more effectively than a standard ad. These bloggers are being presented with free products, services and holidays to trial, all for a few words on a webpage. I am jealous – maybe it’s time to pop out some sprogs and get typing?!

However, aside from the product-promoting, mums are good at starting a conversation; especially when it comes to discussing real issues. The issues of poverty, inequality, unemployment, housing, university fees are what they are really passionate about. They are the issues we can relate to, the ones which will affect childrens' futures and the future of society as a whole. When these ‘mummy bloggers’ and the mums (and dads!) involved in the online parenting forums, such as ‘Coffee House Chat’ - the sugar-coated name of the Netmums forum – get conversing, they are pooling their knowledge. Their collective voices are then harnessed and used to make a difference to policy and services. Campaigns are generated around libel law reform, rape awareness, miscarriage care and children tax credit cuts.  And people are listening.

An ongoing Mumsnet campaign ‘Let Girls Be Girls’ launched from ‘Mumsnetters’ concern that an increasingly sexualised culture was seeping into the lives of children. They actively campaigned to curb this problem by asking retailers not to sell products which emphasise or exploit children’s sexuality. In the last few weeks David Cameron announced his strong backing of this proposal. Despite him not yet committing to a legislation forcing retailers to take such action, it is a step in the right direction. This just highlights how powerful the ‘mummy blogging’ community can be in making small advances in shaping and initiating policy change and demonstrates how powerful outlets such as this can be in terms of public relations and public affairs.

Harriet

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Abchurch Life Sciences Party 2012

Date:

12th June 2012

Location:

The Abchurch Offices; 125 Old Broad Street

Attended by:
A selection of Abchurch’s Life Sciences clients, key journalists, influencers, investors and analysts in the sector

The Event:

With the Life Sciences sector buzzing with activity and the Abchurch team continuously growing, we enthusiastically flung open our doors for the second annual Life Science themed party. It presented an opportunity to bring the industry sector professionals together to mix, mingle and network with like-minded individuals.

With kick-off at 6pm, guests were greeted by the Abchurch team with a glass of sparkling (alcoholic or otherwise!) by a waiter donning Abchurch-branded purple scrubs. Guests migrated into the amazing open office space where the entertainment commenced. Once all had arrived and enjoyed an initial tipple, and a catch-up with the life science fraternity, attention moved to our two guest speakers.  

First on the agenda was Dr Gabrielle Silver; Global Head of Strategic Marketing, Neurology/ General Medicine at GE Healthcare. She gave a very insightful overview of the global burden of neurodegenerative diseases. Specifically, Gaby noted current attitudes towards dementia – which she believes are often driven by fear, especially with patients – as there is currently no known treatment. Fear and denial lead to poor knowledge levels, and specifically that late diagnosis of disease is, at this time, too late to prevent damage and progression. As such, Gaby concluded her talk by looking to the technology horizon, and highlighted the essential requirement for better diagnostics that can pick up the signs of disease as early as possible. Indeed, diagnostics of the future will detect patients vulnerable to dementia before symptoms have even been seen. Such diagnostics will give patients the greatest chance of protection, either through a change in life-style or the new therapeutics coming to fruition.  Indeed, Gaby noted that the next 6-12 months will be very exciting as results from several Phase III studies on drugs for Alzheimer’s will be published – the first drugs to treat the disease, rather than the symptoms.

Second to take to the mic was John Hodgson; Managing Editor of ScripIntelligence. John posed the question: “What lessons could Life Sciences learn from Facebook?” Regardless of Facebook’s valuation at IPO, and lacklustre performance in the aftermarket, John’s point was that there is clearly immense value held in data on people – so what would be the value of patient data and medical records?

He described the current status quo where medical records are held as highly confidential, and only very few physicians may gain access to them. In the Facebook model, it is the owner of the profile that can divulge as much, or as little, as they choose about themselves, to post on the social media site. In healthcare however, patients do not have access to their own data, and are therefore not empowered to disseminate it as they see fit.

What is required, according to John, is a major change in mindset – not easy, he hastened to add. However, if patients owned their medical records, they could choose to make it available for anyone to use, to specific groups only, or completely secret; whatever works for them. But, like Facebook, you can be sure that significant volumes of data would move into the public domain. John noted that the value of this data is impossible to calculate, but it wouldn’t be used to steer advertising campaigns, but drive the development of the multi-billion dollar drug industry.   

Throughout this exclusive evening, the guest’s taste buds were tickled by a selection of, what I would class as, Michelin star quality canapés. For the main course we were treated to seared chilli beef and nasu dengaku served in kidney dishes; duck, watermelon & cashew salad, tiger prawns with mango in a rice paper roll arranged around forceps, salmon tartar (my personal favourite) served around syringes, and betal leaf with pomelo & pomegranate for the veggies, scattered amongst Abchurch purple stethoscopes. Then, if this wasn’t enough to satisfy cravings or fill the stomach void, we had an equally impressive spread of delicious deserts. Keeping of course to the Life Science theme, the chocolate mousse with roasted hazelnuts and lychee jelly with mango DNA-style pearls served in petri dishes. To which I must add, the lychee jelly did look uncannily like an agar gel harbouring bacteria…but this realistic interpretation still failed to put me off eating more than my fair share! More mingling and medical deserts of a strawberry & coconut ‘syrup’ served on silver ‘dosing’ spoons, white chocolate ‘tablets’, and vanilla & strawberry ‘dentures’ scattered amongst dental tools, and the party started to draw to a close.

Once again Abchurch’s organisational and hosting skills could not be faulted. The evening was a sterling success; with guests remaining extremely animated as they discussed the ins, outs and issues of the sector. Thank you to all who attended and contributed to the event and hopefully see you for the same again next year!

Harriet

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King Pin 2012

Following on from the success of last year’s event, Abchurch was delighted to again receive an invite from Dorsey & Whitney LLP, to attend the 2012 King Pin Tournament. The Abchurch team, consisting of Adam, Mark, Quincy, Jo, Olly B and Oli H, were one of eight companies competing for this year’s trophy.

Considering the Abchurch team had enjoyed a sneaky practice session a couple of days before the event (where Mark had manage to produce a ‘Turkey’ for those in the know with the bowling lingo), the Abchurch team’s collective performance was somewhat of a disappointment. Having headed into the evening in buoyant spirit, the phrase ‘gutter ball’ was repeatedly heckled behind the Abchurch team’s lane and was fair testament to the bowling on show.

BDO LLP came away eventual winners having fielded what can only be fairly described as five potential hopefuls for the Great Britain 2012 bowling team. Aside from the action on the lanes, Roger Gregory and his colleagues again hosted a fantastic evening’s entertainment, allowing everyone to catch up with friendly faces and some new contacts.

Special thanks must again go to the Dorsey & Whitney team for inviting us to attend. We look forward to returning the favour at our Future Faces event on April 19th!


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King Pin 2011

The Abchurch Team joined forces last night to take part in King Pin 2011, the 10 Pin Bowling tournament, organised by Roger Gregory of global full-service lawyers Dorsey &Whitney LLP. A total of six teams from a wide range of business backgrounds gathered together to take on the challenge and compete for the title of King Pin 2011.


The Abchurch team comprised of Julian, Mark, Tania, Claire, Oliver, Joanne, Simone, and Adam and a sterling effort was made by all. New Abchap Adam was by far the star of the Abchurch team with smooth moves on the bowling alley but it was most definitely a team effort. Within some fantastic moments of true sporting talent and the bad bowling displays providing classic entertainment for everyone involved.
The highlight of the evening was Team Abchurch finishing in the top three, although perhaps the greatest disappointment was that we lost out on second place (and therefore being entered into the final Champion’s play off) by just a single point!

The King Pin 2011 title was awarded to a team fielded by Evolution Securities who definitely deserved their title!

A huge thank you to Roger Gregory and to Dorsey and Whitney for organising the event and for inviting us along to take part. We’re looking forward to returning the favour and seeing some of the team at our next Future Faces party!

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PLC Awards 2011

It’s that time of year again with the much anticipated PLC Awards at the Grosvenor House Hotel, and the 2011 Awards Dinner certainly lived up to expectations. Defined as “the” City event of the year it was attended by quoted companies, investment banks, fund managers, analysts and corporate advisors and Abchurch were there in the thick of it.

We hosted a table and our guests included our client Proventec, Analysts and Brokers from Brewin Dolphin, FinnCap, Collins Stewart and Seymour Pierce, law firm Pinsent Masons, BBC News Online and accountants Grant Thornton. The mix of guests and personalities meant the conversation was animated and interesting and went on until late into the evening.

The event was hosted by BBC TV presenter Kate Silverton who presented the awards, and was followed by Ronnie Corbett who provided much amusement! Many congratulations to all the winners on the night, who included The Rank Group plc, Volex Group plc (twice!), Mike Prentis, BlackRock, D S Smith plc, Renishaw plc, SuperGroup plc, Richard Harpin of Homeserve plc, and Domino Printing Sciences plc.

Thank you to all involved in organising another extremely successful and thoroughly enjoyable event; the 25th anniversary of the PLC Awards was certainly one to remember, and we are already looking forward to next year.

Jo

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Rosenblatt’s New Energy Awards 2011

On the 24th February, Abchurch hosted a table at the New Energy Awards 2011 where Acta, an Abchurch client was nominated for the ‘Company of the Year’ award.

These days, the awards are THE place to be seen for the great and the good of the cleantech world with well over 700 people attending. About four years ago, they were held in a hotel with approximately 300 people. The ceremony is now held in the Natural History Museum, with tables based around the iconic skeleton of the Diplodocus.

However, the highlight of the evening was a talk by Henry Worsley who led the Matrix Shackleton Centenary Expedition to the South Pole last year. The images of the Southern Polar cap and changing landscapes bought home the important role the cleantech sector has in preserving places such as this. Henry showed fascinating pictures of the Shackleton expedition 100 years ago which included taking a car as well as horses along for the ride! The horses did prove useful of course, but the car did not last very long in sub zero degrees.

Unfortunately Acta did not win but there is always next year when I am sure the awards would have grown even larger, reflecting the increasing size and spread of the cleantech sector. The winners also gave a hint as to which technologies to keep an eye on over the coming year and they ranged from wave power to smart meters. The latter is a sure reality for everyone because the Government aims to have every home in the UK equipped with one by 2020.

For more information on the winners, please click on this link:

http://www.growthbusiness.co.uk/businessxl-events/rosenblatt-new-energy-awards-2011/2011-shortlist-and-winners/

Ashleigh


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Vulcans and Veyrons - Abchurch visits the Goodwood Festival of Speed

Sunday saw Abchurch on site at the motoring event of the year, enjoying the exquisite delights of some of the world’s finest machines. Goodwood Festival of Speed 2010 was a sell out and it was no wonder given the wondrous array of sights, sounds, smells and motoring legends on the line up combined with unusually balmy and consistent British summer weather. Where else can you see a shiny chrome Bugatti Veyron, a newly flight certified Vulcan and Lewis Hamilton doing doughnuts in his 2008 Formula 1 car?

Yet, at the heart the cacophony of V12’s, W16’s and spitfire engines stood the peace and calm of the FoS-TECH pavilion, rather ironically in association with BP Ultimate, showcasing sustainable cars and technologies of the future from major car manufacturers such as Lexus, Audi and Honda. Stifled yelps were common as the public scrambled out of the way of silently approaching vehicles slinking their way through the drifting crowd. Amongst the exhibitors was Abchurch client and clean energy products company, Acta S.p.A, which exhibited its hydrogen fuel enrichment technology as well as its award winning electrolyser to the general public for the first time in the UK. The British reception did not disappoint, with both manufacturers and the general public alike demonstrating profound interest in sustainable technologies.

As this Abchick soaked up the last rays of the day while munching happily on scones with clotted cream and the final hours of the Festival of Speed 2010 came to a close we were treated to an ostentatious display of bravery and stupidity in equal measure with a crowd-pleasing motorcyclist displaying more stunts than James Bond on the roof of Goodwood House. A truly spectacular day and bring on Revival.

Hannah


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