OxBowBusiness: February 2006

23 February 2006

Operating and Financial Review

Just under a year ago Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer, unilaterally decided that the Operating and Financial Review, for which there is a formal Accounting Standard, was not needed and listed companies no longer needed to bother to prepare one.

The International Accounting Standards Board diasagree with Brown and are working on their own Operating and Financial Review, which they call a Management Commentary.

Moreover, the EU likes these Operating and Financial Reviews too and they have their own opinion.

So, again written for another client, here is an article that outlines what the Operating and Financial Review is, what it might be, examples of real reviews ... again this file is hosted on my own web site but it's still free of charge for all.

Get the file here ... it's in PDF format.

Duncan Williamson

Barclays Bank and their Profits

You probably saw the business news on Tuesday when they announced that Barclays Bank in the UK had made a record £5.3 billion profit.

That was the headline news and suspecting that all was not what it seemed, I delved a little and came up with a final profit figure that is far, far removed from £5.3 billion.

Barclays did make a large profit in 2005 but the reality is that the headline figure needs to be adjusted to take account of things like minority interest and taxation.

I prepared this analysis for another client so it is hosted on my own web site and it is in PDF format.

Get the file for here ...

Duncan Williamson

12 February 2006

Shite Kudasi

Funny thing, language. A business communicates in so many ways with the general public. We see how it treats its employees (which is why ‘industrial relations is in the marketing mix), how it advertises, what its products are like. Perhaps we read about its success, its profits, the awards the business has won. Perhaps the CEO receives a peerage.

Yet despite a business’s success, despite its image, just one sloppy letter, one casual comment can put a customer off for life. Obviously more than the one sloppy letter and the greater the deterrent to buy from that corporation.

What’s brought this to mind is my membership of Esporta You see, it’s run out. I let it run out owing to a current injury I sustained because of some problems caused by Polish builders and…well, I won’t bore you. Suffice to say, that I am not using any gym at the moment.

Even if I were, I’d not use Esporta. Not because the facilities are poor – they aren’t. It’s because of the way they treat Members. Perhaps not all members but certainly some. Let me give you an example. I’ll leave aside the spelling mistakes on their notices, their refusal to respond to any of the numerous Feedback forms I have filled in during the last two years and their lack of response to the 100+ suggestions made in the last 36 months or so.

No, it’s the way some staff don’t seem to care. Again I am not referring to the fitness room staff - all excellent and all hard-working – but more to those involved in management. Taking just one example, in the summer last year Esporta were ‘desperately’ looking for staff. I told one of my ex-students about the vacancies. He drove to Oxford and filled out an application form as ‘no-one is around who can see you’. Three weeks later no-one had been in contact with him. He telephoned and left messages. I also telephoned. No response at all.

He wrote to me saying how disgusted he was with Esporta. I forwarded those to Senior Management who then wrote back to say they had forwarded it to the ‘appropriate people’.

Again, absolutely no response.

Then there was the vacancy for a Sales and Marketing manager. I sent in an enquiry. Two days later a colleague of mine – female – also emailed in an enquiry. She - a non-member - received a reply within hours. Five days later I was still waiting.

That does not seem to be the way to treat members. When I telephoned their Club Class (Club Class is Esporta's internal standards and service initiative which incentivises and rewards clubs which adopt the company's minimum 'Gold' standard) no-one told me I was being recorded until I grew suspicious and asked. That type of behaviour would never happen with a bank or building society!

Esporta also have a scheme for hunting talent which on the face of it seems impressive. However when I asked members of staff about it not one of them had ever even heard of it!

This shows how lack of communication can also ‘communicate’ a lack of interest, a lack of organisation.

Good communication encourages customers. David Lloyd Leisure is a case in point. I was given a three day pass to use their facilities. After one visit I had a number of negative things to say and emailed the Marketing manager. He replied within 24 hours and went through each one of my comments, explaining what he was doing about it. He also gave me another pass.

That’s excellent work and that alone is enough to encourage people to go. In the end a club is only as good as its members – and its members need to feel that the club cares about their views.

Sometimes errors are made in communication that are not ‘errors’ as such but seem to be so. One of my half-term students is from Japan. He attends a boarding school in the UK. Last week he emailed his parents and used the phrase ‘Shite Kudasi’ in his email which, I am told, means ‘to do something’. The email censor picked it up and his email was deleted and he was reported.

That seems fair enough – after all ‘shite’ in English is not a pleasant word. But…he was then interviewed and, despite explaining why he used that word, he was suspended from using the school internet facilities for a week.

Talk about over-reaction! What does that tell you about management style?

Chris Sivewright

For a lesson plan about communication click here

Resits ... Chris was right all along

Now I only bought The Daily Telegraph yesterday because of the free DVD: the fantastic Saturday Night Sunday Morning starring Albert Finney and Shirley Ann Field. It's old, in black and white but it's from the era of great British films that were really the precursor to soap operas such as Coronation Street and eventually Emmerdale Farm and East Enders (and many more). Even if you're only 16 years old you will enjoy this story of work and love in Nottingham in the 1950s/1960s.

Well anyway, on the front page of yesterday's Telegraph was an article entitled, Pupils raise grades with up to 5 re sits. The thrust of the story is that pupils are taking their AS and A2 exams, let's say three AS papers and three A2 papers and then if, eg, they get A, A, D for their AS exams, thy will retake the D and attempt to turn it into an A or B or at least a C grade. Don't forget that only the best result is taken into account by Universities.

The article (also available on line here) starts with this shocker: Sixth-formers are re-sitting A-level papers up to five times to improve results, it was disclosed yesterday.

More than that, Universities are not told which candidates achieve grades by multiple re sits and which reach the standard at the first attempt.; and There is no restriction on the number of times pupils can sit each of the six parts or "modules" that make up an A level and ... the facility was widely used.

Not surprisingly, what has been found is that At grammar and independent schools overall, 43% of students gained an A grade and 21% a B grade in maths. The figures for schools putting candidates in for all six papers at once were 34% A grade and 19% B. So, what would you do?

So what's the problem if the system allows them to do all of this? Why should we complain? Well, now we can begin to see why the "pass rate" for A levels is now so high ... as Prof Alan Smithers, who is the director for education at Buckingham University, said the grades gave a false picture of a young person's ability and potential to succeed at university because there was no longer a level playing field between those who re sat the exam and those who did not.

They also interviewed John McIntosh, who is the headmaster of the London Oratory School, which has educated Tony Blair's three eldest children, said: "I very much regret the re take culture. It's bad enough that the integrity of subjects has been fragmented by modularisation; continual retaking of units drives the nails deeper into the coffin."

Chris has argued strongly against the resit philosophy and has been pilloried for taking that stance. Now the truth is coming out in the mainstream press so it's official ... Chris was right!

Duncan Williamson

10 February 2006

Half-term beckons - maximise your oxytocin release

For many teachers half-term starts next week. In terms of commitment one could argue that half-term actually starts at the end of today. For some teachers this is an opportunity to run half-term courses and earn a few extra pounds (maybe even several hundred.)

For others, half-term is an opportunity to catch up with the exciting task of marking work, (especially coursework) – or even preparing lessons for the second half of term

For others half-term is an opportunity to start to rebuild after a stressful first few weeks of the year. Often it is the NQTs who are under most stress and comments such as:

“I have a difficult class, Y6, the mix doesn’t work, they are VERY vocal, argumentative, both towards each other and to me. Last term I was hit by one child which resulted in fixed term exclusion, after having spent weeks of trying to contain the child enough so that I could teach the rest of the class. There was also a second child with massive behaviour problems who was moved to another class and has since also been excluded for hitting a teacher”

are, sadly, not uncommon On rare occasions this can even lead to a shooting incident.

So what is stress?

The Health and Safety Executive says:

“HSE defines stress as "the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressure or other types of demand placed on them". Pressure is part and parcel of all work and helps to keep us motivated . But excessive pressure can lead to stress which undermines performance, is costly to employers and can make people ill.”

So what can be done about stress?

A search on Google will offer many ways to reduce stress. This may be listening to certain types of music, exercise, changing diet, changing job, changing partner, meditation, yoga – or having sex

Now the BBC article I have linked to about sex and stress is aimed at those who are preparing for a public speech. But then, that’s what teachers do all day every day. Admittedly speaking on Leaver’s Day or at the Christmas Carol Service is more ‘in public’ than merely addressing a class but presumably ways of reducing stress for those conducting Assembly would equally apply to those who are faced by year 10 on a Friday afternoon.

That got me thinking – not about sex, you understand, but about provisions a school could make. According to the article:

“In particular, the vagal nerve plays a role in controlling some psychological processes. In addition, the release of the hormone oxytocin during sex might have a calming effect.”

Perhaps schools could provide rooms for ‘stress release’ for consenting couples working at a school – all in the interest of improving staff performance, you understand. These rooms could be bookable with perhaps preference being given to those who have very difficult classes or have to give a major speech later in the day. Maybe this privilege could be extended to teachers who have to face unruly parents at a Parents Evening? A quick release of oxytocin could be just what was needed!

Perhaps in today’s modern world, one way of preparing pupils for exams would be to give them a ‘sex techniques lesson’ or a ‘pick-up manual – of course this would only be for those of the ‘appropriate age’. I can just imagine it, crammer courses (no pun intended) designed to enable students to pass exams where, in addition to standard planning and note-taking classes, they also have lessons on sexual techniques. ‘Maximise your oxytocin release’ doesn’t quite have the same ring about it as ‘Improve your grades’ – but it may be more effective.

According to Dr Peter Bull, a social and political psychologist at the University of York, who is quoted in the article, there are other ways to prepare for a speech that were more likely to reduce stress.

He said: "You are probably better off thinking about what you are going to say, and preparing thoroughly, rather than having sex the previous night."

So that’s it then, back to careful note-taking and planned revision. A pity, I thought there might be a marketing niche there.

As I said at the beginning, half-term beckons and with it the chance to reduce stress.
However you choose to do it – make sure it has the rewards you seek…

Chris Sivewright

09 February 2006

When I Am An Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple.

Now, some of you who read this blog might think this is a strange title for a ‘business’ blog. What has wearing purple got to do with business? Well, I could blag on about the use of different colours in advertising. I could mutter about how we wear colours to suit our moods – or change our mood to suit colours. I could talk about selling a product or a colour to suit anticipated moods. This would then lead me on to talk about the marketing concept and maybe the marketing mix- not the somewhat limited mix that’s taught in schools i.e. the 4Ps (what about industrial relations or market education?) but the 20-element marketing mix written about by Jenkins (Modern Marketing).

But, the title is not a lead-in about colour or even an old woman. Though, in a way, it has got something about age.

“When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple with a red hat that doesn't go, and doesn't suit me. And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves and satin candles, and say we've no money for butter.”

This is an extract from a poem by Jenny Joseph. Again, you might wonder why it is relevant. It doesn’t appear in ‘Teaching Business Studies through Poetry’ by, um, me so I cannot be accused of bringing the poem up for a shameless plug.

But it certainly does have something to do with business studies – though not in the way you might think.

“I shall sit down on the pavement when I am tired and gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells and run my stick along the public railings and make up for the sobriety of my youth. I shall go out in my slippers in the rain and pick the flowers in other people's gardens and learn to spit.”

This clearly talks about how our behaviour changes when we are old – perhaps we mean it to, perhaps we don’t care.

But that’s not the point of this blog entry. The reason I have been thinking about this poem is because if you put “When I am an old woman I shall wear purple” into Google you’ll see that many many sites have this poem. Many sites but not Lady Jaye's The reason that Lady Jaye’s does not have the poem up is because:

“NOTE: from LadyJaye -- this lovely poem has been removed because I was threatened that sharing it with you is copyright infringement. I was informed that only one person (who happens to sell Jenny Joseph items, such as red hats, etc, has soul rights to the copyright.”

Her site was threatened by the supposed owner of the poem (or associates) owing to breach of copyright. The site goes on to say:

“I also want to state that the person who wrote me threatening me was using a bogus email address. Who would do such a thing? In this world of sadness -- the laughter from this poem will be missed. “

Clearly the threatening email had been sent from someone who merely wanted to frighten – and achieve the effect of Lady Jaye not showing the poem.

This is the action either of a competitor (and yet look at the sites showing the poem) or someone who, out of malice, wants to stop the site reaching its full potential.

“You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat and eat three pounds of sausages at a go or only bread and pickles for a week and hoard pens and pencils and beer nuts and things in boxes. “
The thing is, as one gets older we become less combative and more at ease with ourselves with the world. “Not true!” you shout, “What of Victor Meldrew!”
I take your point. Maybe it’s just me then. I find that as I get older -  not more mature, just ‘older’ – I feel less need to fight, less need to retaliate. Maybe I secretly wish to accelerate the age process:
“But now we must have clothes that keep us dry and pay our rent and not swear in the street and set a good example for the children. ‘
Maybe I am less bothered by the reactions of others – and merely wish to stick to what I like doing, without harming others. That’s why when Duncan and I started Oxbow we decided to try and provide the best possible service to others, oddly enough, not necessarily with a view to making a profit. More to provide a service that we felt was not provided by others and, on the way, help a couple of charities, explore new avenues, have a good time and if we cover our costs then that’s fine.
That’s why on the free lesson plan element of the site we have lesson plans on business, sure, but also on ‘Virtue Ethics’ and ‘Dramatic Tension’. In other words we are providing lesson plans well outside our own field of expertise. These lesson plans are for discussion. We don’t necessarily feel they are perfect plans – merely the best we could do given a limited amount of time available. Our plans may differ because where we both contribute, these contributions are done separately.
So, you have the purpose of the site. It would seem our performance has annoyed someone. On New Year’s Eve someone bought the domain name ‘oxbowbusiness.co.uk and it says on the ‘site’ “Coming Soon - A New Website for the Online School of Learning”.
Note the message – ‘Online School of Learning’ – or to abbreviate: OSL.
Now why would someone want to do this? Maybe just a mickey-take. Maybe they want people to think we are they and something nasty is planned. Maybe it’s all part of a very slow strategy that is planned to make sure that Oxbow never really takes off.
Who would do such a thing? A nasty competitor? Someone with a grudge?
“We must have friends to dinner and read the papers. But maybe I ought to practice a little now? “
The sad thing is I don’t really care. If I did care then the various geeks I know (usually of a left-wing variety) who have offered to ‘take down their site and destroy it by putting viruses everywhere – and we’d never be traced’  would have been contacted. Equally another site would have been set up and photos would have been displayed (doctored photos I hasten to add) that would put certain Danish cartoons to shame.

But, like I said, I don’t really care. A few years ago you could type in ‘Chris Sivewright Asian Babes’ and there was a site on Google whereby you click ‘Chris Sivewright’ and pay a fee and you go straight to an Asian babes site. Even now there are whole messages seeking to ‘ prove’ I am a pornographer, a peddler of filth and – by giving my name, phone number and address, ‘all schools should be circulated and the police with a view to driving him out of business’. The odd thing is I am also – allegedly – an American (with a BT dialup?) and have connections in Cyprus…
The person who did this was miffed merely because he criticised a long essay I wrote and I criticised something he wrote.
Equally there are long messages about ‘Mrs Sivewright is covered in chocolate’ which seeks to ‘prove’ that I like covering my wife in chocolate before…well, you can read the rest when you find it.
Again, hatred? Malice or just someone having fun?
In the internet world there are a lot of odious characters – some have personal vendettas. Some merely want to make sure you never succeed – in anything.
But that all depends on what ‘success’ is.
I have been teaching for 25+ years. I never sought to make shed-loads of dosh (even though the newspapers referred to me as ‘Britain’s Richest Teacher’ on £1000 a week which was a lot of money then. ) I just wanted to teach, to enjoy my subject and my job and have a few laughs along the way.
I have done that and I am doing it now, writing books that are sold by three internet-based publishers as well as running conferences at schools and doing bits of private tuition.
That’s why when people like Far_Corner start making posts where the only intention is to pour scorn on what I am doing I recognise it for what it is, naked malice.
Or at least I thought I did.
The strange thing is about Far Corner is that he pretended to be so keen to come to a free conference in Oxford. He wanted details – but wouldn’t email me. He kept on posting for information in the Business Studies section at the TES.
Far_Corner seemed such a keen teacher. He says that he works at Eton College and as he teaches Business Studies one can only assume that he works with  Geoff Riley who is Head of Economics at Eton. As I said in the Forums it seemed very disloyal for Far_Corner to want to bring other people to the conference:
“6  |  Posted by:  Far_Corner  at  01 Nov 2005 06:11
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Some of my colleagues would be interested in coming if there was a programme offering clear guidelines on what will be covered “

My free conference clashed with a fee-paying one run by tutor2u . After all there was Far_Corner, working in the same Department as Geoff Riley, who was openly posting that he and some of his colleagues would be interested in coming – and not supporting Geoff.

That seems very bad behaviour.

This is an opportunity for me to prattle on about loyalty etc – but, resisting that, I’ll stick to the theme which is about the actions of others.

Something rang a bell about Far Corner. I remembered some company documents I had been looking at. And then I remembered – Far Corner is the address of someone I know of who teaches Economics. Someone very well-known? Could this be the person who was posting as Far_Corner?

It seemed more than likely. That person would be an Eton teacher and someone who had chosen Far_Corner as an ID. Certainly the Far_Corner person was very supportive of the work done by tutor2u – often posting saying how good the product was – and yet seemed to desert them when enquiring about our (free) conference.

Thing is, his later posts, as I commented, were of the sneering variety as he sought to pour scorn on my endeavours – i.e. my free conference in Oxford.

Now I ask again. Why would someone do this? Certainly I have never met Far_Corner (though I know people how have) so I see no reason for personal dislike. That leaves another option (there may be more) – a competitive strategy.

And that brings me back to www.oxbowbusiness.co.uk.

Recently on the TES forums someone using the name ‘oxbow’ has been ‘upping’ some of my threads. Why would they do this?

One answer is that they think the threads are worthy of bringing to people’s attention – again.

But…what type of behaviour is most likely to get people’s backs up?

Yes – upping threads that are promoting something. And by using the identity Oxbow, people are more likely to think it’s either Duncan or myself doing this – just as a cynic among you might think that Far_Corner praising tutor2u’s stuff is in fact a tutor2u stooge. (Not that I think that, you understand)

So if and when www.oxbowbusiness.co.uk does appear and it either resembles www.oxbow.org.uk , or is a parody or is a full-frontal attack on me or Duncan, remember this blog.

And remember the old woman who wants to wear purple:

“So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple”

The Ginko Biloba seems to be wearing off – when the attack comes I probably won’t even care.

If you would like to read the full poem there are many sites to see it at but I would recommend restuff.co.uk as the owner seems a Good Guy and there is a lot of free stuff there - without even a hint of commercialism – or of Far_Corner.

Chris Sivewright

07 February 2006

Kazakhstan

Here's a post with a bit of background and then a couple of questions to consider.

First of all, hands up anyone who can readily point to Kazakhstan on a world map!

(one hand shoots up)

Right, Duncan, where is it?

Sir, you can find it by finding Delhi in India and going north for about 1,000 miles and then looking up and left ... you see that it's the size of Western Europe but has a population of only 16 - 17,000,000 or so. It stretches from China to the Caspian Sea.

Thank you Duncan, absolutely right! Go to this BBC Page to see.

Anyway, what's to do with Kazakhstan? Well, the BBC just reported that its economy grew at around 9.4% in 2005. Kazakhstan is very rich in many mineral resources, not the least of which is oil and its oil production has doubled production to more than a million barrels a day. That puts it among the world's top 20 oil producers.

The BBC also say that in the past eight years, economic growth, measured in terms of gross domestic product, has grown by 84%.

Now here's the spooky thing. In spite of the apparently good news above, "analysts say the Kazakh economy lacks transparency and is heavily dependent on exports of raw materials."

Question: Why do you think that analysts are worried that the country is heavily dependent on exports of raw materials? What are the arguments and what do you think they would like Kazakhstan to do about it?

See the full, albeit short, article

If you want to see a bit of Kazakhstan, just do a google search with Kazakhstan as the subject and then look at the images that that returns. Some stunning sights to behold.

Why not go to KIMEP's web site to see where Duncan worked from 1993 to 1998. Be impressed when you click on the "About KIMEP" button then the Honorary Professors of KIMEP link ... guess who's there!

(Duncan blushes)

Duncan Williamson

06 February 2006

Taxis for Ladies only

Have you heard of the Pink Ladies of Warrington yet? You will! We all will!

In yesterday's Sunday Telegraph there was an excellent article on the Pink Ladies taxi service that has been started by two enterprising ladies from Warrington, Tina Dutton and Andrea Winders. Basically, all Pink Ladies drivers are women and the only passengers allowed are women.

The motivation behind the firm is to help ladies to protect themselves from attacks from male taxi drivers and from male passengers.

Although the firm was started in Warrington, it is now about to be rolled out nationwide, starting in London. They started with 14 Pink coloured Renault Kangoo cars and after London will open franchises in Manchester, Plymouth and Carlisle in the Spring.

What about discrimination then?

Well, to be eligible to be a passenger you have to join the club: £1 please. By running the firm as a club, Pink Ladies can choose whom they ferry around the place.

As far as their drivers are concerned, the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act says that an employer can refuse to offer someone work on the grounds of their sex if "the holder of the job provides individuals with personal services promoting their welfare." So it's women offering women greater security and welfare.

Fares on account

They don't carry cash in the cars either since all fares are charged on account: a bonus from running the business as a club. They haven't filed any accounts yet as they are less than a year old so it's not known what level their bad and doubtful debts are running at ... if there are any!

The fares are set at normal rates, too, by the way: being run as a club doesn't mean that it's run as a charity. They say they net £20 an hour for at least eight hours a day on the streets of Warrington.

I think this is a cracking idea and my prediction is that this business will take off in a big way. If it ever floats on the stock exchange I reckon there will be a massive premium to be had. I also predict copy cat companies ... probably a saddo will open up an all make taxi company as well and you can imagine how that would work!

Duncan Williamson

04 February 2006

Brands

Golden Wonder crisps have gone: for wrinklies like me that is the passing of something that suggests another break with my childhood. I have to say, however, that I don't eat many crisps these days and certainly can't remember the last time I ate any Golden Wonder crisps.

There are many stories circulating now relating to GW's failings: slagging off Walkers' rather then extolling their own virtues.

Now it looks as if Hoover may be sinking without trace: the irony here is that the noun Hoover has for a long time also been a verb: "Hoover the floor would you?" "I'll call you back when I've finished the Hoovering ..." even though you might be using a Morphy Richard, a Dyson ...

What has Hoover done that's so bad then that it might be failing?

This is an excellent case study for you and if you are looking for a project for business studies/marketing, it's a good one. There is plenty of scope here:

look at sales of the various vacuum cleaners: get as much data as you can
go to your local white goods retailers (at least three of them?) and see what they are selling: by brand, by model ...
ask people why they do have a Hoover branded vacuum cleaner
ask people why they don't have a Hoover branded vacuum cleaner

and so on. You could find something fascinating.

If your project should include a bit of finance/accounting you can include the fact that it's not allowed to include the value of a brand in a balance sheet unless that brand has been bought. You need to investigate this further because the chances are you don't understand what I have just said ... you need to read and think carefully!

Duncan Williamson

03 February 2006

Organisational Learning

I tried to post here the full contents of page I have written on Organisational Learning: Blogger can't post it without causing serious formatting problems, so I have had to delete it from here. Please go there to see the page that I wrote in response to a question about this topic by a colleague. www.oxbow.org.uk/general/learnorg.html

Duncan Williamson

01 February 2006

EOS Airlines

A fairly new airline, EOS, has built a business model for the business class flyer who wants to travel from the UK to New York (and back). Use an aeroplane big enough to carry 220 people but only carry 48 of them ... and do so in first class style.

For $3,250 each way you can fly from JFK New York to Stansted leaving early in the evening New York time and arriving at breakfast time in Stansted. Alternatively, leave in the evening from Stansted ...

Looks good if you like that sort of thing or would fly business anyway.

Other aspects of this service include being pampered in all the right places: lounges, in flight meals on proper plates, being able to call someone if you're running late to explain ...

Take a look at the EOS site to see what it all means and make sure you read their press releases: there aren't many of them but you will see at least two interesting developments:

they increased their fleet from two to three aeroplanes well ahead of schedule
they changed their take off times from Stansted in direct response to customer feedback

When this company first started out, press reports said that they couldn't survive because no one would want to go to Stansted instead of Heathrow.

Were they wrong?
Do you think there is any evidence that EOS is treating is guests as true business class guests?
What evidence is there that this new business model is working?
Find evidence from the comments/feedback from their guests that they like flying with EOS: are they convincing sentiments or just made up to be kind sentiments do you think?

Anything worrying?

I'm a bit of a stickler for language but even I was shocked at the basic mistakes I found, without really trying, on the EOS site:

well get you there instead of we'll get you there
this is a streamline service instead of this is a streamlined service
conference with your fellow passengers instead of confer with your fellow passengers

Other people wouldn't think those mistakes are important. Well I do and it has given me the impression of their company that despite their first/business class aspirations, maybe there are other things that are not quite right.

Anyway, they could be doing well and good luck to them. Make up your own mind though as you analyse this business.

Duncan Williamson

OxBowBusiness