Blog

Wednesday 30th November, 2016

Although I’m in London most weeks, I rarely go on the DLR. Whenever I do, I’m always struck by the immediate change of atmosphere – a sense of space, growth and change. A great location then for this year’s Basware Connect - Growth Through Finance event, held at the Royal Victoria docks in the aptly named Crystal. The event attracts over 150 procurement, finance, treasury and supply chain professionals,  both customers, and I'm sure Basware would hope, soon to be customers, to a day of trend talks, hands on solution exploration and a number of excellent external speakers. The Crystal is a thrusting glass explosion of everything contemporary, and is apparently “one of the world’s most sustainable buildings" - a far cry then from the area's industrial heyday when the docks were some of the busiest in the world, and were a very visible representation of the last century's trade with it.

24th October, 2016

L S Lowry was someone who was fascinated by his surroundings, by machinery and industry and the connections between them and the people who lived and worked there. He would have loved Manchester’s new Media City – temple to today’s economic giant of communication, and the setting for this year's Shared Services Forum’s annual “Future Vision” conference.  The event was held in the place where Media City sprang from – The Lowry Arts Centre – a spiraling splash of colour and steel. All along the banks of the docks, and with a nod to the industry of the past, glistening steel structures have sprung up – home to ITV, The BBC, the Corrie studios and many others. But it did make me wonder what was there before. And what an enormous transformation those living nearby must have witnessed in just a few short years.

Thursday 29th September, 2016

The newly refurbished QEII exhibition centre in Westminster threw its doors open once more to the 31^st eWorld Procurement & Supply event on Tuesday. And as I walked, thankfully for once without the need of a brolly (it always rains at eWorld), I reflected on that as quite an achievement.