David Parkin on Co-op Bank, culture in Hull and Peter Wilkinson’s latest success

THERE’S a blue plaque at the entrance to a small industrial estate next to our office in Leeds that marks the spot where the Leeds Co-operative Society was formed in 1847 by a group of workers from a nearby flax mill who wanted to launch their own mill.

Those people who started one of the first co-operative societies must be spinning in their graves after the news that emerged this week about their modern day descendent, Co-operative Bank.

History shows that co-operative movements, and mutual organisations generally, have been a force for good in society.

Unfortunately it seems that Co-operative Bank lost the plot when it came to corporate governance and leadership.

Whoever thought that a former local councillor was qualified to be the bank’s chairman should face serious questions, as should the so-called financial watchdogs that approved the appointment of Paul Flowers whose experience seemed to be ignominious stints on Oldham and Bradford councils.

In my experience local councillors can barely be trusted to tie their own shoelaces, never mind head an organisation that is responsible for billions of pounds of the public’s money.

It seems the Co-operative missed a trick when it employed Flowers. It should have put him in charge of the Christmas party…that would have been a lively do.

:::

WHEN Peter Wilkinson sold his InTechnology business to quoted group Redcentric for £65m he could be forgiven for not getting too excited.

You see it was only the latest – and not even the largest – business the serial technology entrepreneur has sold, following on the heels of Planet Online, Freeserve and Sports Internet which he sold to Rupert Murdoch close on 15 years ago and became what we now know as Sky Sports and SkyBet.

The InTechnology sale was announced on the stock market on Monday morning but the deal had finally been done last Friday.

And while a seasoned cynic like Wilko might not have been cracking the champagne on completion of the deal, it represented something of a double celebration in the Wilkinson household.

For that same day, his wife Joanne won an award in the Not for Profit category at the Forward Ladies Women in Business Awards in Leeds.

She set up My Possible Self in 2009, a social enterprise that provides executive and corporate coaching, management skills programmes, corporate counselling services and organisational mediation.

It is unique because all its profits are fed back into the community to sponsor coaching and counselling for organisations including Macmillan Cancer Care nurses, Women’s Refuge, Rape Support Line, Next Steps Mental Health Resource Centre and The Archbishop Sentamu Academy Hull.

Jo was clearly overwhelmed to win the award and her tears on the day probably reflected the years of hard work that have gone into creating such a rewarding project.

Hopefully she’s claimed the bragging rights in the Wilkinson household, which should keep Peter quiet for a while, but probably not long enough.

:::

I REALLY enjoyed the Forward Ladies Women in Business Awards at the Queens Hotel in Leeds. It is rare to go to an event where men are in the minority, but very refreshing, and not at all frightening!

Enthusiasm and good humour were to the fore, everyone on the shortlist in each category got great support.

I was a guest of Linda Jones and her team at Talk Direct, an O2 franchise.

Unfortunately Linda, the sales operations director, didn’t win her Corporate Leader category, losing out to eventual overall winner Jacqui Hall of Harrogate energy business CNG.

Chatting to one of my fellow guests from O2 mobile phone franchise Talk Direct, she told me she had only been with the business for

a couple of months and had previously had a senior role at retail chain Anne Summers.

I suggested to her that the two roles were quite different.

“Not really,” she replied, “both of them are about gadgets.”

I nearly spat the Queen’s finest zinfandel blush all over the table.

:::

CONGRATULATIONS to Hull for winning the right to be European City of Culture in 2017.

The city has a lot to shout about and having a platform like this on which to do it will be a huge boost.

One thing concerns me though.

The last time I got off a train at Hull, I saw a venue called Cheeky Monkey’s Fun Pub opposite the station.

It has been a secret ambition to visit the establishment ever since and I’m worried that all this influx of culture at the eastern end of the M62 will see the demise of such a unique venue.

:::

THANKS to all of you for supporting the efforts of the team I was part of running the Abbey Dash under the Endless banner last Sunday.

I was delighted to get around the 10km course in bang on 48 minutes. It wasn’t so much the time as dispelling a few foul rumours that I can only manage the distance between certain bars in Leeds city centre.

So thank you Robert Solyom and colleagues at Brown Butler for putting aside my “derogatory” comments about accountants a couple of weeks ago and making a generous donation alongside Julian Pitts of Begbies Traynor, Nick Butler of Connect Gazelles and top coach and compere Jon Hammond.

And for Paul Martin of Brewin Dolphin, I took up your pledge to don a mankini, but was wearing it under my running outfit. The chafing has been something of an issue since then, but that’s my problem.

Have a great weekend.