Barclay’s Chief Executive, John Varley, has been brilliant on Sky TV, the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme (and later this week on Panorama). Not a moment before time, we have a senior current banking figure not only talking (that’s very rare) but talking like a human being. Read on ›

Cleared snow from our road. Went to Basel. Got back and my wife said I had a letter from Peter Kurer, chairman of UBS. Whoopee. And yikes. Perhaps he’s suing me over my blog. Read on ›

Carly Fiorina, the former chairman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard, is spot-on in advising CEOs on how to restore trust in their role. Read on ›

Wal-Mart’s business and reputation are growing. CEO Lee Scott is leaving the company on a deserved high. There’s a twist: it looks like the “bad” old lean Wal-Mart is what’s doing well, not the reborn touchy-feely version. Read on ›

I recommend today’s opinion piece column by Libby Purves in The Times. She argues that the first rule of sacking is show some respect. She cites an example of how the BBC fired Ed Stourton, an admired Today presenter, in an ill-mannered fashion. Her point is: times might be hard, but dignity and respect still matter. Mine is: get it wrong and reputations will suffer.

Here is a good example of preemptive crisis management. It is a text-book example of how to manage a controversial issue by facing up to market realities. Read on ›

Sorry to blow my own trumpet, but I have a piece in the Wall Street Journal (Europe) today. Read on ›

This piece comes with a health warning. It is a bit rude about a very prevalent fashion. I want to diss the idea that PR online strategies must be nice, non-judgmental, inclusive, blah blah. Read on ›

Last week I had coffee with a PR executive who helped manage Thursday’s UBS shareholders’ meeting in Lucerne. We met at Sprüngli on the Paradeplatz, the branch of the posh chocolate, cake and coffee shop favoured by wives of Zurich gnomes. He gave me an insider’s account of his work to restore trust in the Swiss icon. Read on ›

Going by the media outrage over shadow immigration minister Damien Green’s arrest, the entire Tory front bench should seek to get its collar felt. The right is discovering what the left long ago learned. There’s nothing so chic as a policeman’s truncheon. Read on ›