Virgin Atlantic Betray Pasenger Trust

 I've been a member of Virgin Atlantic's frequent flyer programme Flying Club for over 10 years. This recent experience causes me to question my loyalty to the Virgin brand.

 Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points or miles can be accumulated by choosing to fly with Virgin Atlantic. The points can then be redeemed against flights (less taxes) or combined with money for a reduced price fare, a scheme Virgin call 'Miles plus Money'

 Having recently used points equivalent to a return London to New York flight to buy five Miles plus Money tickets to LA next summer, I was surprised to discover that if I'd simply booked the five flights without Flying Club miles the fares would have been lower. Puzzled, I wrote to Virgin Atlantic, this is a copy of the correspondence:

 To Virgin Atlantic 15th October

 I've discovered that miles plus money fares are higher than cash fares. I've recently booked 5 flights using miles when I'd have been better off booking cash fares.  Can you refund the miles I've now spent unnecessarily?

 No reply recieved

 To Virgin Atlantic 26th October

 I've had no response to this question.  Please reply

 From Virgin Atlantic 29th October

 Dear Mr Xxxxx 
 Thank you for your email and apologies for our delayed response. I was concerned to read of the circumstances that have led you to contact us and of your current dissatisfaction with Virgin Atlantic and I would like to offer our sincere apologies for the upset caused. Please be assured we value your loyalty and it is not our intention to mislead our passengers in any way. 

 Whilst it is true that by booking early you will get the lowest fare at that time, this also guarantees you're able to travel on the flights and dates of your choice. At the time you made your reservation via our website, Miles plus Money Reward and revenue seats were both available for you to investigate and decide on the best deal. 

 Upon choosing to use your miles for a Miles plus Money Reward and completing your transaction, you have entered into a legal agreement to adhere to the terms and conditions which stipulate miles cannot be refunded. 

 In the same way that we cannot refund your miles, we wouldn't ask you to pay for any increase to a fare after you've booked. Therefore it is with regret we're unable to grant your request on this occasion, to refund the miles spent for your booking. 

 We understand this may be of a disappointment to you, and hope this won't lessen the enjoyment of your forthcoming flight with Virgin Atlantic. We look forward to welcoming you and your family on board. 

 Kind regards 

Mxxxxx Sxxxx Customer Relations Executive 


 Unfortunately I do feel I've been 'misled' and this experience will certainly 'lessen the enjoyment' of my forthcoming flight.

Four years ago, with a then client now friend I set about writing a fictional story about the ethics of the chocolate industry.

The book was published in 2008, a time when Fairtrade chocolate was the preserve of one or two specialist brands. Since then Cadbury and Nestle have made tentative steps towards using cocoa that has not been farmed by children, albeit in just one brand each!

Last night the issue hit the national consciousness as Panorama dedicated a one hour show to this shocking issue, which I suspect isn't limited to the chocolate industry.

Watch the show here http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00rqm4n/Panorama_Chocolate_The_Bitter_Truth/


Or if you'd like to preview the book go to www.TrustUnwrapped.com

Happy Teams

It's thought that the seasonal increase in absence from work might not simply be due to bugs and viruses. Lack of daylight had been attributed to winter blues or SAD.

When we encounter stress, conflict or depression, those around us may see a change in our behaviour.

Some people become more introverted and analytical, others might suddenly appear more demanding while a third group will go from being hard working and productive to disinterested and lazy.

In a team a change in behaviour like this can upset the balance and lower morale across the group. There are questionnaires that can help to identify how, why and importantly when our behaviour can alter. Popular examples include Belbin Team Roles and the Strength Deployment Inventory.

For a team to perform at it's best, time should be spent understanding the different personalities in the group and not just within a work context.

The most effective teams routinely invest time in their development. They might set aside half a day to complete and discuss a psychometric questionnaire or simply head out into the countryside to get some fresh air and to have some fun together.

Dan Collins from team building experts Fresh Tracks suggests "On one hand technology has led to great improvements in business communication. We can now talk to any number of people, anywhere in the world, at any time of day for virtually no cost. The flip side of this increased breadth of communication is a working population with relationships a mile wide but an inch deep."

As businesses seek to become more innovative and operate more efficiently it's essential to make time for significant conversations and to build the relationships that are so essential in a modern organization.

Long cold nights needn't mean a SAD and lonely workforce.

Concerned over Cadbury plus Kraft

So the deal is done, Kraft now own Cadbury.

In 2009 Cadbury lived up to it's founding values by making it's flagship Dairy Milk brand Fair Trade.

Kraft however have made little effort to put principles ahead of price when sourcing raw materials for it's brand's, including coffee. Let's not forget that up until 2007 Kraft was owned by tobacco giant Philip Morris.

Whilst a handful of hedge fund managers who speculatively bought Cadbury's shares are now better off. The estimated twelve thousand children who are forced to work as slaves in the West African cocoa plantations face a bleak future. Let's hope that the glimmer of hope from Cadbury's step towards Fair Trade wont be extinguished by this deal.

Information Ain't Power Anymore

The phrase information is power has long been used to explain political manoeuvres in public life and in businesses. Generations have striven to acquire knowledge and thereby rise up the food chain.
I would suggest that with the advent of Google and more recently mobile devices like the iPhone, information and therefore knowledge on virtually any subject is available to anyone, anyplace anytime.
So if knowledge is no longer the factor that differentiates us then what is?
The answer as I see it, is time, or more precisely our lack of it. It shouldn't be that way because most of us subscribe to more supposedly time saving devices than our parents ever did. Yet we work longer hours, commute further and proudly claim to be "sooo busy"
Strangely this must mean that the very busy are at a distinct disadvantage. When do they find the time and energy to think creatively, research new opportunities and tap into the infinite knowledge library that is just a click away?
More importantly is our busyness and connectedness fooling us into believing we are establishing and maintaining deep and meaningful relationships when really we are just developing relationships a mile wide and an inch deep.
What if the thing that keeps us busy stopped? Would our lives still have meaning?
Each minute of each day we are free to choose how we use our time, its more valuable than ever, let's not waste it.

Break the rules

When I was young I instinctively believed I knew better and would always look for another way of doing anything that was asked of me.

As I've grown older I've learnt to conform and that very often the tried and tested way is the best.

The trouble is, if none of us ever challenge convention the world can't progress, innovation is the mother of invention and invention is the essence of enterprise. Dyson, Lego and innocent wouldn't exist if their founders hadn't been prepared to defy convention.

Entrepreneurs are rule breakers and if we conform too much we stifle the creativity that drives us. Age does bring wisdom but it can also take away the bravery that we need if we are to stand out from the masses and make a difference.

Fairtrade - Fad or Future?

Is Fairtrade a Phase or the Future?

In recent years, like most professionals with a young family, I’ve found myself becoming not so much a follower of fashion, as a follower of fairness. As a family we do our utmost to fill our shopping basket with fairly traded coffee and ethical chocolate, alongside all of the organic fruit and free range eggs.

As the recession bites it’s tempting to put the altruism to one side and refocus on price as many consumers around Europe are reportably doing. Does this spell the end for fashionable Fairtrade? Or do ethical brands have more to offer than a label that says ‘buy me and be a better person.’

The sudden rise in popularity of these obscure, premium priced products certainly hasn’t escaped the notice of the multi-nationals, many of whom have been keen to add a friendly faced brand to their balance sheet. First, those quirky American hippies Ben & Jerry sold out to Unilever, then Body Shop submitted itself to L’Oreal, later, in the UK, organic chocolate pioneers Green and Blacks were acquired by cocoa giant Cadbury and earlier this year the three college friends that founded smoothie pioneer innocent, were ‘guilty’ of inviting Coke to join their party.

The innocent team claim, that they chose Coke over other suitors, despite the businesses shaky human rights record because they liked the people they met and found them to be smart and honest. They also point out that the money came from Coke with no strings attached, while other potential investors wanted to take control or to limit innocent’s policy of donating 10% of profits to charity. Founder Richard Reed says
“We of course did a boat load of due diligence, it’s the single biggest decision we’ve had to make over the last ten years. We looked into all of the accusations, we spoke to a wide variety of different people and we got extremely comfortable ourselves, that it (Coca-Cola) is a decent business, that the people in it are decent folk and that the company, overall, is a decent company.”

So in this case at least it appears that the corporate giant behaved with integrity. I’d venture that Coca Cola’s motivation for investing in innocent was about far more that getting a return on the £30m invested, they also wanted to understand how ethics can be good business. By any measure innocent is a very successful enterprise, going from an idea and just £500 worth of fruit to a £100m FMCG business in just 7 years is a phenomenal achievement that even a mega brand like Coke could learn from. Especially, if that commercial success can be achieved with a conscience.

Like all listed businesses, The Coca-Cola Company is looking for ways to match it’s Corporate Social Responsibility statements with actions. Charitable donations and allowing staff to work in the community are a gesture at best that has little impact on the bottom line. Whereas doing business the ‘innocent way’ is perhaps, the very essence of entrepreneurship.

It’s possible that Coke have predicted that in future their great size may be a disadvantage. Post recession, consumers will tend towards smaller businesses they can trust, that wear their values on their sleeve, not carefully scripted into a policy statement. In a world in which a Google search often tells a different story than the official marketing, small is beautiful and big is risky. Maybe the meek will inherit the earth.