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Leaving lucrative and secure C-suite positions mid-career to build a part-time portfolio might seem crazy but many of those who’ve done it say it is one of the sanest decisions they’ve made. Take Michael Citroen, who at 58 years old is a 14-year veteran of the part-time portfolio job world. The former Group Finance Director […]

When your company is facing yet another cash flow crisis caused by late paying customers, it can be hard to believe there might be a solution. But there are steps you can take to overcome the problems delinquent payments cause and to avoid them happening again. Late payments are something that hundreds of thousands of […]

The story of how LEGO, the family-owned toy company went from teetering on the brink of disaster and haemorrhaging cash to delivering the highest revenues in its entire history and being voted the 2017 Most Powerful Brand in the World makes for a truly inspirational tale…   Fourteen years ago, LEGO’s Head of Strategic Development […]

What do Sir James Dyson, the Mercedes F1 team, Pixar, Google and the airline industry have in common? They’re hugely successful, yes, but the thing that links them is they never shy away from the ‘F’ word—Failure. Instead, they face and learn from their mistakes, errors and mishaps. So says Matthew Syed, award-winning Times journalist […]

Hear the words ‘corporate espionage’ and you might think it’s only something that corporate giants need to worry about. But that’s not the case. Corporate espionage is something that can affect companies of any size. And despite what you might believe, the threat is highly likely to come from within your organisation. The corporate spy […]

It might look innocent enough but your office shredding machine actually poses as much a threat to your business as the most virulent computer virus. What?! How? How could something that was bought to protect your business be as harmful as a computer Trojan? It’s simple really: it’s not fit for purpose. Yes, it cuts […]

Coffee is one of the most sought after commodities in the world but even that fact doesn’t make coffee traders immune to economic turbulence. Such was the case for family-run green bean coffee merchant D.R. Wakefield. During one particularly volatile period, the UK-based business was subject to some tough grilling by its bank but just […]

Rapid growth is the stuff most entrepreneurs dream about as they take their fledgling company through the early years but when it happens, it can quickly become the stuff of nightmares. The bubbles in the celebratory champagne—“Here’s to our success!”—barely have time to go flat before the problems arise across the high-impact growth or Scale […]

On the first day of Christmas, my part-time FD gave to me an introduction to business reporting and advice on creating a business strategy.  On the second day of Christmas, my part-time FD gave to me more ways to attract money, an introduction to business reporting and advice on creating a business strategy. On the […]