NQ magazine, May 2014

MAY 2014

THE VOICE OF ALL NQs Contact us

email: graham@pqaccountant.com twitter: @pqmagazine facebook: pqmag.com call: 020 7216 6444

P10 LEADERSHIP Become a ‘changemaker’ in your organisation

ALL THE NEWS YOU NEED Pages 4 and 6

ENTERPRISE ZONE

A NEW CHALLENGE Making the switch: from practice to industry

ACCOUNTANCY & FINANCE

Page 8 ACCOUNTANCY & FINANCE

Salary Guide and Salary Market Guide Insight and 2014 Market Insight SALARY 2014

reedglobal.com

CHECKER

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ARE YOU GETTING PAID WHAT YOU SHOULD BE? PART 2 OF OUR SALARY SURVEY

Page 14

RUNNING YOUR OWN BUSINESS IS NOT ALWAYS PLAIN SAILING, SAYS ABLETAX’S HEATHER MILLER

P16 CLIMATE CHANGE

Why Dr Steve Priddy refuses to P20 be glum

EMBEDDING ETHICAL VALUES

P12

1

1

We speak exclusively to CIMA’s ethics guru Tanya Barman

Meet Phil He wears sunglasses indoors and thinks outside the box.

He also earns £15k more than you.

#BeatPhil with LSBF.

At BeatPhil.com: 100 ways to #BeatPhil CV advice Career-focused courses Phil’s Twitter feed

WAY TO BEAT PHIL #49:

Appear on more recruiters’ searches by adding 5 more industry-relevant skills to your LinkedIn profile*. *The number of press-ups you can do isn’t industry-relevant.

COMMENT NUMBER CRUNCHING

150

the ideal number of people you need to have in your network of contacts P6

EDITOR’S COMMENTS May NQ be with you So that’s nearly half of 2014 gone, and here is your third edition of NQ magazine this year. Three down, three to go.

This month our ‘go it alone’ Heather Miller explains that she has been feeling demotivated at times recently. Apparently, this is a quite common problem for entrepreneurs who are always looking for quick successes that often don’t arrive. The best motivation, of course, will be getting a new client!

Former NQ of the Year, Jonathan Simons, is also writing for us, about his move from practice into industry. Jonathan decided that he wanted to try something different, to move away from filling in timesheets and to show off some of his communication and influencing skills. He is really loving his new role and explains the jump doesn’t have to be a scary one.

We know you love a salary survey and with the help of Reed Accountancy we are looking at, among others, the current salaries on offer for those working in manufacturing, FMCG and the creative sectors. If you are working in the creative and media sector in Northern Ireland you should be earning £27,000 to £29,000, for instance.

If you haven’t stopped studying, then what about an insolvency qualification? Neil Taylor has a really refreshing approach to life and insolvency. This issue he has gone all Roman on us. We don’t think he wears a toga around the house though.

Happy reading and please help us spread the word. Oh, and don’t forget that all back issues of NQ magazine can be found on issuu.com. Just type NQ magazine in the search engine and they will appear, or you can create your own stack.

Graham Hambly, Editor (graham@pqaccountant.com)

200,000 that is how many generations man has been on this planet! P18

486

the number of jobs Big 4 firm EY plans to create in Belfast P4

£33,000£40,000 the salary for an NQ working in the pharmaceuticals sector in East Anglia P14

71

the number of authors it took to put together the IPCC AR5 ‘Summary of Policymakers’, a 44page document P16

NEWS

Accountants thinking about next job move Over three in 10 chartered accountants are now thinking they need a change, says the latest ICAEW salary survey.

The biggest motivator in an increasingly confident job market is career progression, followed by a rise in salary.

The average annual basic salary in 2014 is £90,800, compared with £92,600 in 2013. You then need to add the average bonus of £20,500.

The ICAEW is quick to point out that, as in previous years, salaries are inflated by a small number of high earners. The median salary, which better reflects the majority of earnings is £79,500, and the median bonus is £3,000.

When NQ drilled down into the figures we discovered that chartered accountants working overseas are earnings considerably more money than those in the UK. Only those working in Africa were paid less than their UK colleagues.

The average salary for new NQs (0-2 years’ experience) is £47,900 with a bonus of £3,900. Those two to four years post qualified are earning just over £50,000 (£50,100) and are receiving a bonus of £4,200. Finally, those with four to six years’ post-exam experience have an average take home pay of £58,500. A bonus of £5,700 can then be added to that. Salaries aren’t rising too much. That average salary

figure is only £200 more than last year.

Sharron Gunn, the ICAEW’s executive director, commercial, felt with more accountants considering a new job to progress their career it indicates that people are feeling more secure about job opportunities and is a sign of the economic recovery.

EY to create 500 jobs in Belfast

Financial trading week at LSBF

Big 4 firm EY has announced that it is set to create 486 jobs in Belfast. A new business unit will, it is reported, be advising clients outside Northern Ireland, with the posts being filled over the next 4 years. Half of the jobs will be in management consultancy and most of the remainder in other functions, such as auditing. The firm already employs some 1,500 people in both Northern Ireland and the Republic.

The Stormont’s ministerial executive has confirmed it will be contributing £19m a year in direct salaries once all the roles are filled. Mike McKerr of EY Ireland said: “We are delighted to bring this investment to Belfast, which will further enhance our current service offering to clients.”

He confirmed that since July 2013 EY has added 180 people to its staff in Ireland.

Recruitment for the jobs is expected to begin in July.

For five days, one of the classrooms at LSBF’s London City Campus was converted into a fully-fledged trading floor as students in the GGSB MSc in Finance programme took part in the Trading & Financial Market Analysis week 2014, a practical experience in trading and risk management.

During the programme, delivered in partnership with Amplify Trading, students had personal use of their own trading desk and were able to engage in discussions and analyses with leading industry professionals while live audio feeds were delivered from Amplify trading floors.

Over the course of the programme students had a chance to develop their own trading style, reflecting on their personal skills and risk management experience.

On the last day, students had their trading accounts reset to $100,000.00 as they traded across all asset classes in direct competition with each other, reflecting the pressures of managing risk within an uncertain environment. At the end, the top five traders were invited spend a full day on Amplify’s trading floor in the City of London with all expenses paid.

To see all the pictures, visit: http://bit.ly/LSBF-Trade 4

NQ Magazine May 2014

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Find us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn

NEWS

Get yourself connected Professor Julia Hobsbawm is worried a worried woman. Her white paper ‘Fully Connected: a look ahead to working and networking in 2020’ discovered one in four professionals currently don’t do any networking. Time is the big barrier they say, although with 28% revealing they found or were referred to a new role through a network connection then it is far from a waste of time.

Hobsbawm’s study for EY found that 68% of junior level professional (that’s you) actually value networking face-to-face above online – the highest of any level surveyed. They found that career advancement is the most popular reason for junior professionals.

Hobsbawm came up with five things to improve your networking success: anage your networks: You need to follow Dunbar’s Number 1 M and create a group of 150 people. This is the total number of people you can hold stable relationships with. ace-to-face: You must try to meet five people for coffee/ 2 F lunch every week.

3 K nowledge dashboard: Create a list of your sources of information to stay on top of. The more you can demonstrate your intelligence, the stronger your social capital.

4 L ifestyle not diet: There are no quick fixes. Try to spend a fifth of your working time on all your networking activities.

5 C uriosity & generosity: Share what you know, help others and be interested in ideas and other people.

Partners are not from ‘elite’ backgrounds Partners in Big 4 accountancy firms are no longer from the privileged classes with new research in fact finding they are engines of social mobility.

Those who become partners at the Big Four – Deloitte, PwC, EY and KPMG – can all expect to become millionaires, with some mixing with politicians and celebrities.

A new study ‘Being a successful professional: an exploration of who makes partner in the Big 4’ found that social ties and family background are less important than simply what you can do for the firm. Partners in elite law firms still tend to come from privileged backgrounds and elite universities. This is not the case with partners from the Big 4 accountancy firms, says report author Crawford Spence of Warwick Business School and Chris Carter of the University of Edinburgh. Professor Spence said: “Instead there was a preponderance of provincial university graduates from relatively modest backgrounds – aspiring working or lower middle class.”

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One world, one set of standards

The International Accounting Standards Board must ensure it does not simply pass down diktats from an ivory tower, says IASB vice-chair Ian Mackintosh.

Unfortunately, he stressed if you want the benefits of global accounting standards then you need to accept the cost, which is each country agreeing to stick to the internationally agreed standard and to resist the temptation to tinker with them. The worry of some is that the IASB cuts across the notion of sovereignty.

He explained that many jurisdictions (as in Europe) have endorsed mechanisms to act as a form of sovereignty ‘circuitbreaker’. New IFRSs have to undergo a series of steps and evaluations to assess if the adoption of a particular new IFRS is in the interests of the jurisdiction.

Market pressure to conform to international norms does ensure the circuit-breaker is rarely tripped. Indeed there has only ever been one situation where Europe chose not to endorse in its entirety a standard issued by the IASB (on hedge accounting).

Mackintosh also felt the IASB’s structure is also unfamiliar to many.

“We are a private sector body that acts in the public interest; and we are an independent body whose standards are written into law in more than 100 countries.”

Another challenge for the IASB is achieving a single, globally consistent way to describe financial performance and an entity’s financial position.

He pointed out that while capital markers may be globally interconnected, historic business practices in different parts of the world have varied. In the US companies traditionally raised funds through Initial Public Offerings, German businesses are often funded through family or other organic networks while their old accounting standards were heavily orientated towards tax reporting. Japanese companies customarily engage in cross-holdings, whereby they have equity stakes in their suppliers and associates. In centrally planned economies such as China, the state is closely related to most if not all larger companies. These different business practices have led in many cases to different historical preferences in accounting standards. Standardising on a single, global consistent approach often involves the introduction of new methods of accounting that are different to those that existed before, which is difficult.

NQ Magazine May 2014

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LEAP OF FAITH

Jonathan Ssmons ex why he was happy t

o

a practice to

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Name: Jonathan Simons Role: Internal Audit Manager – Corporate and Europe C ompany: Costa Coffee, part of Whitbread PLC Jonathan Simons had a successful career in practice, being a global exam prize winner, winning PQ magazine’s ‘NQ of the Year’ 2013, being highly commended/shortlisted at the 2012 and 2013 British Accountancy Awards, and also being part of ACCA’s prestigious ‘Leaders of Tomorrow’ programme. So why did he decide to move on from his time in practice and go into industry with a FTSE 100 business?

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Why the move into industry?

I was at a stage of my career in practice where I really had to make a decision on my longer-term objectives: did I want to try down the route for partner, or did I want to try something different in industry?

I decided that I wanted to try something different; my time in practice had developed me significantly, not only in terms of my technical accounting knowledge (given I started by struggling to understand the concept of a debit and a credit!), but also in some of the softer skills such as communication, influencing and managing others and in presenting more confidently. I really wanted to use these skills in a setting that was more strategically and commercially focused (and I was excited by the thought of not having to fill in any more timesheets!).

How hard was the transition from practice into industry?

Surprisingly easy: the professional qualification and the variety of clients you see in practice gives you a bank of knowledge that you can draw upon and relate to almost any business or situation in some guise – it can be surprising quite how much you learn in practice as you don’t always realise, or reflect on it, until you immerse yourself in something different.

Successful businesses are always innovating, adapting and responding to opportunities and this change means you’re never doing the same thing day-in, day-out, which is one of the things I was particularly apprehensive about when considering my move.

NQ Magazine May 2014

f

LEAP OF FAITH

explains to jump from

o

k industry Why internal audit?

When considering my move, I’d never thought of internal audit as being the most glamorous move from practice. A number of peers were looking at commercial finance roles, which on the face of it certainly sounded more intriguing than a move into internal audit.

However, the role of internal audit in business has developed significantly over the past decade – not only is internal audit there to protect the business from compliance, regulatory and other business risks, but it is also there to deliver measurable value.

It was this mix of control and adding value that really appealed to me – considering risk is a key aspect across both practice and internal audit, but it was the commercial focus that really swayed me. Modern internal audit functions could more glamorously be referred to as being risk managers and business advisors – and there’s a thought for something to put on my business card.

A role in internal audit, or my newly formed ‘risk management and business advisory’ function, allows you to quickly develop a deep understanding of the business and also offers wide exposure to the board and other senior management. Business understanding is essential for a successful career in any position, and that’s why a role in internal audit really does open up a number of doors within the business (it’s not just a myth!).

NQ Magazine May 2014

If you could go back in time, would you still start your career in practice?

Absolutely! A role in practice provides variety and exposure to work with, and learn from, a number of businesses. This variety presents different challenges and opportunities, both in terms of understanding the client’s business but also in terms of technical accounting knowledge and application.

It’s certainly one of the things I looked forward to – not quite knowing what challenge or opportunity you would be presented with each day.

The skills I learned in practice have easily been transferrable to my new role, and the variety of clients I have worked on has allowed me to bring experience of what works well and, where I can, see if we can apply similar principles to the work that we do.

Do you have any advice for people thinking of moving into industry?

My main piece of advice would be to carefully consider what you want to achieve in the medium to long-term. It’s very easy to be lured in by the short-term promise of more money, less hours and other company benefits, but I feel it’s important not to make a decision without careful consideration.

Of course, the next move for each individual will depend on personal preference and their ambitions, but I felt it important to consider ‘what next?’ To give an example, an immediate pay rise when moving into a new role certainly appeals, but if there’s limited progression available then there may be a decision to make around whether the shortterm benefits outweigh the longer-term drawbacks.

NQ 9

LEADERSHIP

STRATEGIC Faye Chua explains why you need to become a ‘changemaker’ in your organisation when it comes to integrated reporting

F

or some finance professionals, they already know what role they will play should the business they work for adopt integrated reporting (IR). New findings from an ACCA paper, ‘Accountants and Strategic Leadership’, showed that one in three people surveyed confirmed they, as ACCA finance professionals, would lead their business on adopting IR. Yet, with moves to make non-financial reporting compulsory a step closer with the recent passing of legislation at the European Union requiring some 6,000 businesses across the continent to provide non-financial information such as social and environmental impacts, could it mean the more reluctant finance professionals are left behind?

The new report showed that accountants must become ‘changemakers’ to ensure the profession keeps up-to-date with developing trends, leading to more informative reporting for investors and stakeholders as integrated reporting becomes more widely used in years to come.

From some of ACCA’s other research, the ‘Understanding Investors’ series, it emerged that 93% of investors wanted to see more non-financial reporting, and yet just 40% of finance leaders were actively taking steps to introduce IR in the next few years. There is, perhaps, more change-making to do.

There has been a lot said about whether or not the relationship between society and corporations is changing.

IR has potentially wide-ranging implications for the way the latter communicate with their investors and the public at large.

‘Accountants and Strategic Leadership’ details two strategic drivers that could impact the finance function –

the first being that the finance function is being invested with a broader remit to contribute, through a more holistic approach, to strategic management decisions. The other driver is a wider concept of organisational success, broadening out from financial (profit, return on investments, etc.) linked to wider social and environmental concerns.

We have already identified an opportunity for accountants to be more central in their organisations. In our ‘100 Drivers of Change for the Global Accountancy Profession’ report, we termed accountants making the most of current opportunities as ‘changemakers’, with corporate reporting identified as a key issue for the profession in the short and medium-term.

With the introduction of IR and the framework being developed by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) in December 2013, the paper claims it is “well positioned to be the future of corporate reporting in years to come”.

ACCA supports the IIRC’s work and the introduction of integrated reporting. To show this is the case, we have incorporated IR more thoroughly into our qualification, which will be examinable from December 2014.

The profession must realign itself and accountants should aspire to be ‘changemakers’. Corporate reporting, in particular IR, is an area in which the profession can show its leadership.

Even though one might see the role of corporations as limited to the maximisation of profits for shareholders, new insight can be gained by stakeholders from IR, through the disclosure of a more coherent and complete picture of a company, including its strategic priorities, risks and forwardlooking statements.

As finance professionals we need to consider how we can continue to lead the initiative and show strategic leadership in corporate reporting, and also consider the broader implications, such as the impact on the relationship between strategy and finance teams.

● Faye Chua is head of future research at ACCA 10

NQ Magazine May 2014

LEADERSHIP

LEADERSHIP

NQ Magazine May 2014

11

ETHICS

Embedding ethical values NQ magazine caught up with the busy Tanya Barman for an exclusive interview – she is CIMA’s ethical guru

T

he past few years have highlighted the cost of acting unethically, with the spate of business failures, public distrust and increasingly vocal protest against corporate and governmental misdemeanours.

In turn, reputational risk has become a vital component of decision making – businesses increasingly want to be seen to have ‘a purpose’ and ‘ethics’.

A CGMA reputational risk survey last year found that 76% of CFOs say that their company is prepared to lose profit short-term for the sake of protecting its long-term reputation.

Some 44% of companies also rejected a project that made financial sense because of reputational risk.

Barman explained that most businesses seem to want to make the right decisions for the long-term. That means they have to engage with their employees, clients and other stakeholders and prove they can be ‘trusted’.

But how does this then affect you in your everyday working lives as accountants?

It was interesting to read this month that police officers don’t have a code of ethics. You do, and it is there to protect you and guide you. As a CIMA member you also have to comply with the code and adopt the fundamental principles to your working lives. Failure to do so could see you facing disciplinary action and in the worse cases expelled from the institute.

The CIMA Code has five fundamental principles: integrity; objectivity; professional competence and due care; confidentiality; and professional behaviour. These are in turn based on the IFAC Code of Ethics.

The problem for many members, stressed Barman, is that while CIMA has a Code of Ethics many businesses do not.

To this end, Barman has produced two great new guides, with the help of the Institute of Business Ethics. ‘Embedding ethical values’ and ‘Business Ethics for SMEs’ are invaluable guides for CIMA partners. Maybe this is a resource you should be sharing with your boss!

What is interesting is just how short the documents are.

12

Barman believes that good, concise and accessible guidance will win out.

The ability of companies to allow employees to speak up about unethical behaviour is a key part of any corporate ethical programme.

The Bribery Act is, of course, there to protect people as well, but we are still awaiting our first big case here, explained Barman. Together with the Combined Code on Corporate Governance, this means listed companies in the UK must have ‘whistleblowing’ arrangements – or explain why they don’t.

However, she felt that there are some companies that are ahead of the curve here, with Siemens and Diageo leading the way. Both publically report calls they have had to their internal hotlines. This information is broken down into how many of these have been turned into cases, disciplinary action, or led to someone being fired.

Diageo even has a target for calls. Barman said that if you get no calls that would be more worrying than if the lines were regularly used.

The accountancy bodies, too, are under scrutiny here.

The Financial Reporting Council’s £14m penalty for Deloitte’s ‘conflict of interest’ over MG Rover is one of Barman’s regular slides. It shows that strong and clear messages are now being sent that all accountants have a responsibility to act in the public interest and comply with their code of ethics.

If members do come under pressure, then CIMA has a helpline for them and can offer legal guidance. Overseas members and students have access to an Expolink helpline for guidance and reassurance.

Barman truly believes the world is moving to a different place. It will become harder and harder to behave unethically. She isn’t naive enough to think it doesn’t exist, even on a large scale, but there is a movement against it.

The laws and norms are changing and people power is changing things too.

Employers also see the huge value in employing people with high ethical values and Barman says that gives CIMA qualifieds the edge here, too. Acting ethically then will make you more employable and put more money in your pocket – in the right way.

NQ NQ Magazine May 2014

SALARY SURVEY

THE ULTIMATE ACCOUNTANCY & FINANCE

Salary Guide and Market Insight 2014 reedglobal.com

1

What are you worth as an NQ? There is only one place to find out – the Reed Accountancy & Finance Salary Guide & Market Insight 2014 If you want to look ahead and see what a director of finance or financial controller is earning in your sector then the Reed Accountancy & Finance Salary Guide has it all, and it is just a click away

SOUTH WEST FMCG - £27,000 -£41,000 Property & construction - £25,000 - £40,000 Pharmaceuticals - £27,000 - £42,000 Manufacturing - £25,000 - £39,000 Energy & utilities - £27,000 - £41,000 Creative & media - £26,000 - £40,000

CENTRAL LONDON FMCG - £45,000 - £61,000 Property & construction - £44,000 - £58,000 Pharmaceuticals - £46,000 - £61,000 Manufacturing - £43,000 - £57,000 Energy & utilities - £45,000 - £61,000 Creative & media - £44,000 - £59,000

HOME COUNTIES FMCG - £35,000 - £43,000 Property & construction - £33,000 - £42,000 Pharmaceuticals - £35,000 - £44,000 Manufacturing - £33,000 - £41,000 Energy & utilities - £35,000 - £43,000 Creative & media - £34,000 - £42,000 14

NQ Magazine May 2014

SALARY SURVEY

SALARY GUIDE SOUTH EAST FMCG - £37,000 - £43,000 Property & constructions - £35,000 - £41,000 Pharmaceuticals - £37,000 - £43,000 Manufacturing - £34,000 - £40,000 Energy & utilities - £37,000 - £43,000 Creative & media - £36,000 - £42,000

NORTH WEST FMCG - £32,000 - £40,000 Property & construction - £31,000 - £39,000 Pharmaceuticals - £32,000 - £41,000 Manufacturing - £30,000 - £38,000 Energy & utilities - £32,000 - £40,000 Creative & media - £31,000 - £39,000

NORTH EAST FMCG - £28,000 - £34,000 Property & construction - £27,000 - £33,000 Pharmaceuticals - £28,000 - £34,000 Manufacturing - £26,000 - £33,000 Energy & utilities - £28,000 - £35,000 Creative & media - £27,000 - £32,000

EAST ANGLIA FMCG - £33,000 - £40,000 Property & construction - £31,000 - £38,000 Pharmaceuticals - £33,000 - £40,000 Manufacturing - £31,000 - £37,000 Energy & utilities - £33,000 - £40,000 Creative & media - £32,000 - £39,000 NQ Magazine May 2014

NORTHERN IRELAND FMCG - £30,000 - £40,000 Property & construction - £29,000 - £39,000 Pharmaceuticals - £30,000 - £40,000 Manufacturing - £28,000 - £37,000 Energy & utilities - £27,000 - £40,000 Creative & media - £27,000 - £29,000

SCOTLAND FMCG - £30,000 - £40,000 Property & construction - £29,000 - £38,000 Pharmaceuticals - £30,000 - £40,000 Manufacturing - £28,000 - £38,000 Energy & utilities - £30,000 - £40,000 Creative & media - £29,000 - £39,000

WALES FMCG - £28,000 - £41,000 Property & construction - £27,000 - £39,000 Pharmaceuticals - £28,000 - £41,000 Manufacturing - £26,000 - £38,000 Energy & utilities – £27,000 - £41,000 Creative & media –£27,000 - £40,000

MIDLANDS FMCG - £30,000 - £37,000 Property & construction - £29,000 - £36,000 Pharmaceuticals - £31,000 - £38,000 Manufacturing - £29,000 - £35,000 Energy & utilities - £30,000 - £40,000 Creative & media - £30,000 - £40,000 15

THE BUSINESS WORLD

Reasons to be cheerful…

Dr Steve Priddy is refusing to get downhearted about climate change – and here he explains why

T

he Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has recently published its latest appraisal on the state of scientific understanding on the causes of climate change and it is unremittingly gloomy. This Nobel Prize recognised international organisation now has a nearly monopolistic hold on our thinking about climate change, its causes, how to adapt to it, and how to mitigate its adverse impacts.

At the danger of being labelled a climate change denier – and that term 16

itself is deeply offensive to anyone who understands its history – I would like to suggest a few reasons to be cheerful, or at least to voice some criticism of the litany of doom that seems to be the current tone of the IPCC. For those of you not familiar with the way IPCC writes, an encounter with their published output is enlightening.

I looked at, for example, IPCC AR5 “Summary for Policymakers”. This is a 44-page document with – wait for it – 71 authors. Helpfully, the authors’ page also lists the home

country of the contributor. Of the 71, only 19 are resident in emerging economies – BRICSA, Egypt, Mexico, Malaysia, and the like. These two aspects, the monopolistic hold, and the concentration of scientists from the developed, northern economies are increasingly a cause for concern when seeking to understand a physical phenomenon which by its very definition does not respect borders.

Reading an IPCC document is also to enter a linguistic labyrinth where terms like ‘medium to high confidence’, NQ Magazine May 2014

THE BUSINESS WORLD

‘limited evidence’ and ‘high agreement’ pepper the text. A glossary tells the reader how these terms are precisely linked to certainty, confidence and likelihood of outcomes. Another cause for concern for those interested in the work of the IPCC is the way this apparently precise quantification has found its way into the reports without due process or governance.

Commentators note the extent to which human activity via the burning of fossil fuels being the single cause of global climate change has been foregrounded

by IPCC – and how the analytical frame of that assessment has shifted. AR 1 and 2 formed a qualitative assessment of this important issue. AR 3 and then 4 shifted without obvious due process NQ Magazine May 2014

to a quantitative position with AR 3 published in 2001 concluding that most of the recent observed global warming is ‘likely’ (>66% chance) to be caused by humanly induced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; and AR 4 published in 2007 going even further by suggesting this had increased to ‘very likely’ (>90% chance). AR 5, published in the last quarter of 2013 raises this to a >95% chance.

Aside from the specialised use of IPPC’s language, the content of the advice for policymakers is pretty miserable. The body of the report breaks into three sections. Section B is titled “Future risks and opportunities”.

Maybe it was just me, but I struggled to

find any opportunities at all.

Yet on the street, climate change is driving ever more disruptive technological solutions and therefore commercial opportunity. Here are just three examples: • Solar, wind and battery technologies are experiencing cost reduction at an exponential rate. As newly qualified accountants you will appreciate the specific properties of an exponential scale. Bloomberg New Energy Finance data shows EV batteries having reduced in cost by 40% between the beginning of 2011 and the end of 2013. Similarly the learning curve and cost reduction for solar shows that even without subsidies, such technologies will become increasingly affordable over the next few years in even the cloudiest of countries. And anyone who has walked around the towns and cities of the UK and looked at the roof acreages still to be covered will understand the opportunity; • The circular economy idea has found its time. This philosophy, propounded by the excellent Ellen Macarthur Foundation seeks to apply the smartness of energy efficiency, sustainable design and life cycle value to the most mundane objects of our lives – from washing machines to commercial vehicles – to demonstrate the disruption and profit that such innovation brings; • Electric bicycles, traditionally associated with the old and infirm, are one of those few ideas passing down the generational divide, rather than the other way around. Leaps in design and technology make it increasingly cool to own an electric bicycle. Germany is a great leader, but sales are rocketing across the EU, and in China future prospects are bright as towns and cities ban the internal combustion engine from their centres in a bid to reduce toxic pollution levels.

So, lighten up, IPCC. Human ingenuity has extraordinary powers – let us start celebrating them!

NQ

● Dr Steve Priddy is Head of Research at LSBF

17

INSOLVENCY

Train your brain...

What have the Romans ever done for us? Apart from the memory techniques…

S

omeone foolish once said to me: “It must be a nightmare lecturing insolvency to insolvency professionals; how on earth do you keep them awake?” Are such opinions the result of madness? With limitless inspiration at our disposal, coupled with imagination and the brain’s unquenchable need for stimulation, the only problem we have found is levering students out of the door at the end of a session.

“Give us more!” they scream as you close the door on their rampant little faces. “Don’t leave it there! What happens next?” is the cry echoing around many a corridor at JIEB and CPI teaching locations around the country. Really, haven’t they got Play-Station-induced lives to go to?

Like all propagators of quality educational entertainment, we at Neil Taylor Insolvency recognise that everything we 18

say, do, iterate and repeat has to hit the right chord. When dealing with the most prodigious (and needy) organ in the universe, the order of the day is to enthuse and energise, especially as the brain was doing it all for itself until, what is in generational terms, the day before yesterday.

As a species man has been on the planet for an estimated 200,000 generations. If you consider yourself to be socioeconomic class D, C1, C2 or B there is a very good chance that just five generations ago you had a written and reading vocabulary of about 40 words.

You would have been just as bright and talented three to five generations ago, it is just that reading materials and stationery generally would have been of little use to you.

Instead, you built your memory around colours, symbols, pictures, wordplay, stories and associations.

NQ Magazine May 2014

INSOLVENCY

...the Roman way The Romans had highly developed skills involving linking memory to their environment, and evolved the ability to recall huge numbers of facts through pegging exaggerated memories to rooms they either knew or fantasised about.

Not surprisingly, this is often known as the ‘Roman Room Memory Technique’. For example, if a Roman soldier knew that he should not forget his shield when preparing to leave for work he would place it by the front door in his mind, so he couldn’t walk out, in his imagination, without tripping over it. Equally, if he had to remember to pillage during the day he would massively enlarge an image of a pill(age) in his imagination, and place it in the hallway of his crudely centrally heated home. Then he would exclaim, on the way out: “By the great Dii Consentes at the Lectisternium, what is that huge PILL doing there?” And the caricatured image of the giant pill would trigger the word ‘pillage’.

We strongly argue that everything is memorable; it is just a process waiting to happen. The journey between fact and recall is a chemical response, but like all such responses you can create the conditions that encourage it, or dampen it.

Now that is talking our language.

NQ Magazine May 2014

Everyone working for Neil Taylor Insolvency believes that people must be inspired to succeed. The many-peaked cap we wear with pride can be hung on the hook entitled ‘Accelerated Learning’. This type of learning uses many techniques that are, effectively, accessing the natural instincts of memory, exaggerating them to make them more useful. For example, the brain has been trained to look for patterns and shapes. One (quite dominant) theory suggests that the more you stimulate the brain mechanism the more it grows; so the more connections human beings can make the more (and faster) they will learn.

The brain looks for pairings, matches, couplings, etc, and we use this technique a great deal in our Study Support Programmes to stimulate a positive mental response.

So, the next time anyone asks you why you are studying (or have studied) for your particular qualification, look pityingly upon them. Their synapses are probably bunged up and their learning capacity slowed to a near standstill. You have the memory and the life you deserve. Go to it.

NQ

• Thanks to Neil Taylor Insolvency for this article 19

GOING IT ALONE

Don’t just sit there, do something!

In her second diary entry for NQ (dated April/May 2014), Heather Miller explains how bouts of lethargy (and Jeremy Kyle) are part and parcel of being an entrepreneur

YOUR JOURNEY AHEAD MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICE Now that your professional accountancy exams are behind you, the chances are you’ll be looking to capitalise on your newly qualified status and think about the next steps in your career path.

There are a number of things you’ll need to consider and to arrive at the decisions that are best for your career, it’s crucial to equip yourself with accurate, up-to-date market intelligence.

Our Journey Ahead Guide ofers practical advice on how to approach your career progression, the range of career paths available and how to meet your aspirations.

If you’re looking for your next step as a newly qualified professional, we have the tools and advice you to help you make the right choice.

hays.co.uk/journey-ahead

© Copyright Hays Specialist Recruitment Limited 2014. HAYS, the Corporate and Sector H devices, Recruiting experts worldwide, the HAYS Recruiting experts worldwide logo and Powering the World of Work are trade marks of Hays plc. The Corporate and Sector H devices are original designs protected by registration in many countries. All rights are reserved.

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NQ Magazine May 2014 28/04/2014 14:22

GOING IT ALONE

Month 2, April 2014: This month I’ve be en thinking abou t motivation. ‘Think ing about’ being • ‘New customer the operative part of that statem euphoria’ – Takin ent. Since I set up g on a new client is back in February, AbleTax like entrepreneuria all I seem to do is Bu l heroin. t wh en you’re on think! Where am I going to find m immediate prospe the come down with no get the website fu y next client? How can I ct in terms of your rth it can get a little rankings? What ha er up the search engine depressing. It’s so next hit, ppens when my sa important to have several iro vings run out? Frankly, it’s ns in the fire that exhausting. have the potential to make But here’s an inte you feel positive about your resting thing; altho business. ugh I can’t seem to men tally switch off fro m this never- • My iPhone – I love ending carousel it and hate it in eq of AbleTax musin measure. It is, un ual gs, I also can’t seem to get my as doubtedly, an inva s out of bed befo luable business tool and re 9am most days. What’s up th e idea of not havin with that? is not an option. g one Sort of like not ha I think the comm on misnomer is th ving gravity, or ox yg en . But it is without at entrepreneurial typ doubt my bi es are the human distraction, offerin equivalent g me too much ch ggest of the Duracell bu oice as to which thing I want nny. That we just to get done first. can’t squeeze in enough of all th Updates on Twitter? Checking at hard graft. That out LinkedIn? Re if there was a referendum for plying to the morning’s emails? adding another co I now ration myself uple of hours to each day, we’d severely. be ticking the YE • Friends and fam S box with no intention of using ily – it might be ju them to catch up st th m ey e, but ke ep inviting m on sleep.

In truth, we are bu should be workin e to do fun stuff when I t mere mortals. W g and I am weak e like sleep, and we lik and say yes.

I love them but th e sitting around in ey’ve got to stop. our PJs eating ice cream with on e eye on a laptop and one eye on Jeremy Kyle.

Upshot: human!

If anything it is a Heather Miller is MD of Able greater fight to fin Tax. d your motivation because, let’s See http://abletaxcomplia face it, no one is nce.co.uk/ going to sack you if you don’t show up are they ?

So, I spent a few days feeling gene rally mortified about th e fact that I was being a bad entrepreneur, an d then I decided to do a little research (with on e eye on Jeremy Kyle at all times, of course).

Turns out, sporad ic lack of motivation is the biggest unspoken taboo out there right now. W ho knew? Somew hat relieved, I added it to my ev er-growing list of things they don’t tell you befo re you start out on your own, alongside ‘can no longer afford ANYT HING’ and ‘a lot of it is quite du ll at first’.

Now all I had to do was figure out ho combat it, before w to I disappeared co mpletely into the most comforta ble corner of my sofa.

Here are my top three motivation killers to avoid when starti ng out in busines s:

NQ Magazine May 2014

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