Category Archives: Commerce

Hope I Retire Before I Get Old

Posted on February 9, 2024 by davidsberry

With apologies to The Who and their classic sixties song, the need to think deeply about—and perhaps even achieve—retirement early in life has a new urgency. As if the Cost-of-Living crisis were not enough, along comes a report from yet … Continue reading →

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Robber Baroness II—Sarah Bentley

Posted on February 6, 2024 by davidsberry

The story of Paula Vennells and the destruction brought to the lives of hundreds of sub postmasters outlined earlier in Robber Baroness I, is bad enough. But an even more egregious example of promotion beyond competence which has wider fiscal … Continue reading →

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Robber Baroness I—Paula Vennells

Posted on January 30, 2024 by davidsberry

Hard-line feminists may interpret what follows as critical of women achievers. This is not the intent, but should they consider it detrimental to the cause, I apologise in advance. This writer bows to no-one in conviction that equality is a … Continue reading →

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Can Kemi Count?

Posted on January 28, 2024 by davidsberry

On Sky’s Sunday with Trevor Philips, Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch dismissed speculation about her becoming Tory leader and professed loyalty to Rishi Sunak for having “halved inflation and grown the economy”. Really? In which fiscal fantasy world is the UK government now … Continue reading →

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Fur Coats and No £nickers

Posted on January 1, 2024 by davidsberry

This weekend the Telegraph rounded out a difficult year for the UK and its government with an upbeat article on economic prospects for the country in its Business section, entitled “Britain to outgrow Germany for years to come as eurozone growth engine … Continue reading →

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Council of Despair

Posted on December 3, 2023 by davidsberry

Even during the heyday of empire a century ago, East Lothian was a sleepy country cousin of its dynamic Lothian sibling. Back then, despite the industrial might of Glasgow, Edinburgh buzzed with brewing, publishing and the law, West Lothian exploited … Continue reading →

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Mass Oysteria?

Posted on October 2, 2023 by davidsberry

Time was when the denizens of the Edinburgh Enlightenment dined on woodcock and pigeon, while the poor had to make do with the humble Scottish oyster. So plentiful were they along the foreshore of the Forth. Since medieval times, they … Continue reading →

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The Tangle O’ The Isles

Posted on August 28, 2023 by davidsberry

Open Letter to Transport Minister Hyslop Dear Fiona: When we last met in the re-purposed Infirmary Street baths, you were Culture Minister, which shows the time since we last spoke.  This week’s news of further delay to delivery of the MV … Continue reading →

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Boardroom Banditry

Posted on August 24, 2023 by davidsberry

The last few years have not been kind to Joe Punter. After two decades of growing prosperity in the aftermath of the Thatcherite 1988 stock market “Big Bang”, Harry Enfield’s “Loadsamoney” satire came uncomfortably close to reality. Then “Prudence” Brown, … Continue reading →

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A Dearth O’ Bield*

Posted on July 14, 2023 by davidsberry

The Scottish media latched on to another “bad news” story this week when they discovered that there were over a quarter million people on housing waiting lists, with barely a tenth of them being allocated affordable houses each year. Though … Continue reading →

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