Bikes, business and bloomin' customers!

A recently published transport survey highlighted the lack of co-ordination between bus and train timetables and the general difficulty in many instances of getting to a station. One issue mentioned was the lack of secure cycle parking at stations. In my 15th August Ramble I talked about the UK’s outdated infrastructure and in particular, compared Birmingham’s transport system unfavourably with Barcelona’s.

My Barcelona ‘branch office’, aka my daughter Anna, tells me that the city has now taken another step forward in it’s transport integration. There is a scheme whereby you can hire a bike for a short period in the city. When you register for the scheme you have to provide your bank details. You are then given a bike scheme card which you insert into a meter at the various bike parking locations. This releases the bike from its locking system. When you arrive at your destination you relock the bike and are charged for the time that you have used. At the moment the scheme only operates in central Barcelona and there are a limited number of bike parking locations. However, where it does operate it overcomes the concern about having your bike stolen and it means that you can make one way journeys. And of course, if you live in a city centre flat you are not faced with the problem of trying to find space to store your own bike.

The UK has an enviable record when it comes to individual giving to charity and many large companies also provide valuable sponsorship. Increasingly voluntary organisations are recognising the need to operate in a more businesslike manner if they are to survive. Sometimes business sponsorship of a charity takes the form of seconding staff from the company for a period. This is often offers personal development opportunities for the individual as well as bringing a benefit to the charity. In London there is a scheme pioneered by Pilotlight, a charity that matches commercial expertise with small voluntary groups.

The idea is already well-established in the US, where it has been dubbed venture philanthropy. Thanks to this initiative, top-level managers are able to put their planning abilities, experience and mentoring skills at the disposal of charities, rather than simply writing out a cheque. Many years ago I heard a story about the newspaper magnate, Roy Thomson, later to become Baron Thomson of Fleet. He was asked to help a charity. He declined to give money as that was easy for a rich person. Instead he offered his time, which to him was a far more valuable commodity.

Through the Pilotlight initiative, Goldman Sachs, KPMG, BT, Sainsbury's, BP and Channel 4 are some of the companies whose executives are following Roy Thomson’s philosophy.

One morning last week my wife ventured into the local branch of a well known building society turned bank (the one that sounds like an ecclesiastical building) to seek clarification on what sounded like a particularly attractive investment opportunity. Unlike our own bank where there are always people ‘floating around’ waiting to offer help, there was nobody around except the two cashiers. As one of them was free my wife asked if she, or anyone else could help with a simple query. No, there wasn’t anyone available at that point so could she come back in an hour, or they could possibly ‘fit her in’ at 2.30 in the afternoon!

Not altogether surprisingly she concluded that they weren’t that bothered about having her business and so she declined to return. I would love to know how many staff were in the back office chatting, drinking coffee or outside the back door having a smoke. Perhaps the said bank’s Spanish parent company would do well to spend less on TV advertising and more on staff training.

From time to time I hope to have guest Ramblers. Next week will feature the first such guest, Trevor Gay. Trevor is the author of a number of books on management and leadership topics and fellow ranter about poor customer service.

David Wike