by Stuart Cross | Aug 7, 2020 | Business Rocks
Back in the 1990s, my wife and I went on a sailing holiday in the Mediterranean. For the first week, we stayed in an hotel and spent each day learning to sail a 35-foot yacht. The weather was glorious; sun, heat and no wind. The smooth, still sea had been painted with...
by Stuart Cross | Jul 31, 2020 | Business Rocks
For the first time in a couple of years, I have been coaching a junior football team. It is a grassroots under-16s squad and we have a wide range of abilities. I’ve been enjoying the process and have been running two 90-minute sessions for the boys each week. As I’ve...
by Stuart Cross | Jul 17, 2020 | Business Rocks
In a few weeks’ time, my oldest son, Dylan, will receive his A-Level results. These results will determine which, if any, university offers he is able to accept. Like all other A-Level and GCSE students, however, Dylan hasn’t taken any exams. As a result of the...
by Stuart Cross | Jul 3, 2020 | Business Rocks
Most UK bars and restaurants will reopen again this weekend. As the number of Covid-19 cases finally approaches a sustainably manageable level, the 15-week social lockdown is being eased. Not in Leicester, however. There, the bars will remain shut for a further two...
by Stuart Cross | Jun 19, 2020 | Business Rocks
Like many others, I’ve used the lockdown period to improve my fitness. For the first time in over a decade I’ve been running three or four times a week. I must admit that I was a little nervous about it, worrying that I would injure a knee or ankle, so I’ve been...
by Stuart Cross | Jun 5, 2020 | Business Rocks
After the earthquake of the pandemic, we’re now waiting for the tsunami of the recession to hit shore. So, if you’re like the business leaders that I’ve been talking with, you’re currently working out how to rapidly cut costs across your organization. Cost reduction...
by Stuart Cross | May 29, 2020 | Business Rocks
The blacksmith, Francis Bowes, died in Poulton-le-Sands, a small Lancashire fishing village, in 1732. I know this because Mr Bowes made a bequest in his will to start a village school, which, some 240 years later, I attended. Mr Bowes’s generosity was not only a...
by Stuart Cross | May 22, 2020 | Business Rocks
Yesterday, in an idle moment browsing the internet, I came across this photo. It shows the band Prefab Sprout playing to a small crowd in London in early 1984. What really made me stop and look closely at the picture, however, was the fact that it also shows the back...
by Stuart Cross | May 15, 2020 | Business Rocks
I’m in the process of concluding a short, focused post-Covid strategy project with a client. We’ve been working on how the business can continue to grow and thrive through the pandemic and the inevitable economic downturn. We’ve made a lot of progress in a few weeks...
by Stuart Cross | May 8, 2020 | Business Rocks
I’ve been leading some scenario planning as part of a short, focused strategy project with a client. The executive team want to understand how their business can win in the post-crisis world and get to grips with the scale of the challenge ahead. The four scenarios...
by Stuart Cross | May 1, 2020 | Business Rocks
When JF Kennedy became president of the US in 1961, the country lagged well behind the Soviet Union in the space race. Yet, in May of that year, Kennedy announced to Congress his intention of putting a man the moon and returning them safely to Earth, before the end of...
by Stuart Cross | Apr 24, 2020 | Business Rocks
There are two ways to look at the post-Covid world. The first is to look through the lens of risk. After all, there is likely to be a significant recession in most countries. How deep and long-lasting the downturn proves to be is still up for debate, but most...
by Stuart Cross | Apr 17, 2020 | Business Rocks
Crises change markets. In 2008, Aldi, the German-based discount supermarket, had a 1.6% share of the UK grocery market. Then the financial crash happened. As a result, shoppers looked for value and found it in spades at Aldi. The retailer hasn’t looked back and has...
by Stuart Cross | Apr 10, 2020 | Business Rocks
This week’s focus: A few years ago, I was invited to the opening of a new concept store. The store looked great and the initial customer reaction was extremely positive. I turned to one of the project managers who was there and asked him if he’d been closely...
by Stuart Cross | Apr 3, 2020 | Business Rocks
This week’s focus: Over the past month, companies have been working round the clock to respond to the challenges of the coronavirus crisis. Where possible, they have been working out how best to keep some sort of show on the road. Otherwise, business leaders...
by Stuart Cross | Mar 27, 2020 | Business Rocks
This week’s focus: When I worked for Boots the Chemists, the UK’s largest pharmacy chain and health and beauty retailer, the company ran a major supply chain initiative. It was a multi-year programme and one of the key changes was a huge new warehouse, which was...
by Stuart Cross | Mar 23, 2020 | Business Rocks, Strategy
Last week, I shared the outline of my 6-Day Strategy process, which gives a fast, focused but robust approach to setting a compelling strategy for your business. The first question that any strategy review needs to answer is, “What is happening here?” and so the first...
by Stuart Cross | Mar 20, 2020 | Business Rocks
This week’s focus: At this stage, no-one quite knows how long the coronavirus will last, let alone the time it will take for life and the economy to return to ‘normal’. One thing’s for sure, though: the businesses that will recover best will be those that...
by Stuart Cross | Mar 13, 2020 | Business Rocks
This week’s focus: The UK government’s approach to managing the impact of the coronavirus is controversial. Critics say that it is too relaxed and that the government has failed to get a proper grip. And then they point to the more draconian measures that have...
by Stuart Cross | Mar 6, 2020 | Business Rocks
This week’s focus: As the US presidential race gets into gear, I see that many people are bemoaning the fact that all the leading candidates – Trump, Sanders and Biden – are white men in their 70s. The ‘pale, male and stale’ accusations are coming thick and...
