David Parkin on economic imbalances…and Evan Davis’ trousers

IS Twitter powerful and influential? I’m not sure but it certainly is an increasingly widespread medium and an easy way of communicating.

I saw a tweet the other night sent by Kenton Robbins, the former boss of the IoD in Yorkshire, about how he thought he was featuring in a BBC TV documentary by Today programme presenter Evan Davis about the imbalance between London’s economy and the rest of the country.

It looked like he had included some big movers and shakers of Yorkshire business in the tweet – until I spotted my name on the list.

Just a few minutes later Dragons’ Den host Davis tweeted a reply saying not only was Kenton on the first programme of his two-part documentary, but would feature in the first minute.

So I switched on, and there was Kenton Robbins (whose name is more suited to a born-again preacher or motivational speaker than someone in recruitment).

Wearing a waxed jacket, driving his Range Rover through the Yorkshire Dales, he looked like a latter-day James Herriott.

From what I hear he was lucky to feature. The BBC was keen to get a female face to speak on behalf of Yorkshire, but when they were offered a failed Apprentice candidate as a talking head they wisely decided on someone better qualified.

The Mind the Gap documentary, which looked at the theory that London gets the lion’s share of investment in the UK leaving the rest of the country with its nose pressed up against the glass, was interesting, challenging and thought-provoking stuff.

But I didn’t really pay attention to the economic arguments. I couldn’t because of Evan Davis’ trousers.

They are simply too tight for the BBC.

OK, this was post the traditional 9pm watershed, but the Beeb is a public service organisation and has to set high standards.

Davis is a gifted broadcaster – both on radio and TV – possessing a deep economic and political knowledge coupled with a sense of fun.

But those trousers need to be addressed.

If you search Google you will only find head and shoulders photos of Evan Davis. The BBC clearly has a policy of trying to hide those trousers.

This photo is a screen grab I took from my telly.

People say Twitter is a force for good. Evan Davis is a keen Twitter user. A social media campaign should be launched to demand Evan’s slacks are sorted.

And I have the perfect candidate to do it.

Toby Luper of Yorkshire-based Hemingway Tailors was named as producing some of the best bespoke strides in Britain by influential menswear blog Permanent Style.

So if we can turn Twitter topsy turvy on trousers then we can achieve our aim.

Evan, your tight trouser days are numbered.

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ELSEWHERE on today’s news from TheBusinessdesk.com you will see a story about a charity fundraising campaign which has a photograph of Chris Silverwood of Ethos Corporate Finance holding a meat cleaver.

It really is the stuff of nightmares. Chris is a larger than life individual who shouldn’t be left anywhere near sharp objects.

But as long as he is properly supervised, then I wish him, restauranteur Tom Van Zeller and dentist Andy Ruffell well in their endeavours to raise money for the fine work done by charity Macmillan Cancer Support.