Plymouth Business Portal

1. How to create an effective slide deck. A great presentation depends on more than the quality of the information you’re sharing, it’s about clarity, flow and confidence. I spent part of this weekend helping a friend prepare a critical slide deck for an important meeting, a timely reminder that simplicity, structure and storytelling always win the day. READ MORE

2. Keir and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad fortnight. It’s been just over a week since Lucy Powell beat the Prime Minister’s preferred candidate to become Labour’s deputy, but the bruises still show. Her victory, with 54% of the vote, was a pointed rebuke to Keir Starmer’s authority and a reminder that Labour’s internal battles are far from over. Powell, once sacked from Cabinet, now returns as the self-styled “soft-left conscience” of the party, promising to make Starmer “listen” to grassroots members and the unions. For a leader who values message discipline above all else, that’s the last thing he needs. As Rachel Reeves prepares a bruising Budget, unity would help, but Starmer may instead find himself playing political tennis against his own doubles partner.

3. Labour’s looming tax dilemma. More than a year on from the election, one manifesto promise still echoes: Labour’s pledge not to raise taxes on working people. Now, with the public finances under strain, that vow is colliding with economic reality. Rachel Reeves faces an unenviable choice – cut services people value, raise taxes they can’t afford, or let debt spiral. Leadership is about reconciling the impossible, not avoiding it. Yet a U-turn risks deepening the electorate’s mistrust and gifting ammunition to Labour’s rivals. Some urge bold honesty, that rebuilding Britain will require shared sacrifice. Others warn that breaking faith so soon would destroy political credibility. Reeves’s real test is not fiscal but moral: whether she can balance truth, trust and tough choices, and still claim to lead.

4. Why we don’t make stuff anymore. British industry is fading fast. Vehicle production has hit a 73-year low, cement output is back to 1950s levels, and factories across the country are closing for good. Some blame cyberattacks or global headwinds, but the truth runs deeper. A tangle of taxes, carbon levies and net-zero costs has made Britain an almost impossible place to make anything. Energy bills are double those in France and four times those in the US. A decade ago, manufacturing made up 10% of our GDP, now it’s slipping below France, Germany and even Italy. Leadership built Britain’s industrial past; it will take the same to reclaim its future. We can’t just design, consult or regulate; at some point, we have to make things again.

5. The gender politics of the exclamation mark. Shocking! Women use exclamation marks three times more often than men, according to new research. Apparently, this tiny stroke of ink has become the latest front in the battle for gender equality. Some say it signals warmth and enthusiasm; others claim it betrays insecurity or a need to please. Personally, I think it’s punctuation’s equivalent of a raised eyebrow - subtle, expressive, and occasionally overdone. The good news is that research shows exclamation lovers aren’t seen as less competent, just more likeable - which might explain why I use them liberally! In an online world without tone or facial cues, punctuation has had to pick up the slack. So let’s relax! The odd exclamation mark won’t kill credibility - but overuse might just exhaust it! Do you think people who use lots of exclamation marks seem friendlier or less professional? VOTE HERE

6. When the golden boy fell from the sky. I served with Andrew Mountbatten Windsor aboard the fleet flagship - I was a navigator, he was a pilot - confident, capable, occasionally cocky. Watching his fall has been painful, but also necessary. His behaviour over Epstein was indefensible, and the consequences are his alone to bear. The King’s decision to strip him of his titles and honours marks a seismic moment in the relationship between Crown and Parliament - accountability reaching even the most protected ranks. Leadership is not a shield against error, nor should it be. Yet amid the outrage, it’s worth remembering that public disgrace is its own life sentence. The former Prince's story is a cautionary one: that privilege without humility ends in ruin, and that leadership - royal or otherwise - demands judgment above all.

7. Reform’s biggest problem. Nigel Farage’s biggest obstacle may not be his opponents, but his own supporters. Many Reform voters rely on the very state he vows to shrink. To fix Britain’s finances, he must make deep cuts – yet wherever the axe falls, his base will feel the pain. It’s a leadership dilemma as old as politics itself: can you persuade people to endure short-term hardship for long-term gain? Farage is banking on the familiar culture and migration narratives to carry the day, but reform, by its nature, requires sacrifice. True leadership lies in honesty, not slogans – in explaining the why, not just the what. That’s the test facing Reform: not how loudly it shouts, but how courageously it leads.

8. When the missiles wait for meetings. House of Dynamite unfolds in real time, replaying one 18-minute segment from multiple standpoints and locations - the time estimated between a sudden Pacific launch and a nuclear strike on Chicago. It’s a gripping concept, yet implausible in execution: a world hurtling toward annihilation, but somehow everyone still has time for debate, doubt and coffee. In truth, hesitation is the deadliest weapon of all. The film’s real explosion isn’t nuclear but organisational - a chain of command paralysed by ego and fear. House of Dynamite reminds us that leadership under pressure means acting before the countdown ends, not after the dust settles. When the missiles wait for meetings, leadership’s already gone nuclear.

9. How the Danes beat the clock. Denmark has officially become the world’s slowest-ageing nation, and not because they’ve discovered a new cream. A Nature Medicine study found that Danes are, on average, 2.35 years biologically younger than their age. Their secret? Hygge, trust, and perspective. They cycle, eat sanely, and take holidays without guilt. They also trust their leaders, which, funnily enough, keeps them younger. Perhaps there’s a lesson here: leadership isn’t about working faster, but ageing slower. Stress corrodes; balance restores. Even in command, as a Royal Navy captain once told me, “Monty, even a frigate needs a quiet watch.” Maybe we all do.

10. The bottom line. Meanwhile, the amount of taxpayers’ money being “squandered” on asylum accommodation stands at £15 billion, according to a new report from MPs. The Home Affairs Committee said the expected cost for the ten years to 2029 had more than tripled from £4.5 billion amid “flawed contracts”, “incompetent delivery” and the reliance on hotels in the “failed, chaotic and expensive” system.