Alan Bunce

Last updated: 31st December, 2009 06:21pm

New year, old methods

by Alan Bunce

ONE prediction for 2010 that's hard to dispute is that we will see increasing use of technology - but equally certain is the fact we will waste a lot of it too.

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Last updated: 14th December, 2009 10:40pm

Gadgets for the greedy

by Alan Bunce

While greedy bankers are getting under everyone's skin, they are not the only ones who want a fortune for little effort.

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Last updated: 2nd December, 2009 08:00am

A Sting in the environmental tail

by Alan Bunce

In a world where you are only allowed only one opinion on environmental issues, campaigning celebrities make an interesting contribution.

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Last updated: 18th November, 2009 11:44pm

This shade of green doesn't wash

by Alan Bunce

It may be the age of energy efficiency but waste never goes away.

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Last updated: 9th November, 2009 10:40am

Policing a new line in business

by Alan Bunce

A NEW line in business may open up in towns throughout the country if Darlington residents succeed with their private security patrols.

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Last updated: 27th October, 2009 07:42pm

Retro, a business of the future

by Alan Bunce

BEFORE the internet I could have wallpapered my house with the number of company brochures sent to this office, which businesses somehow thought we could make into newspaper stories.

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Last updated: 15th October, 2009 05:56pm

Uni-que night out

by Alan Bunce

A university is an unlikely place for entertainment but if last week was anything to go public lectures can be much more interesting than your average film or play.

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Last updated: 3rd October, 2009 11:43am

Google alert

by Alan Bunce

THE biggest name missing from the Thames Valley's cluster of top IT firms has to be Google.

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Last updated: 21st September, 2009 01:50pm

Predict the end of the recession

by Alan Bunce

THE TIMES' website offers readers '10 reasons to ignore house price statistics'. A Strange thing to do since the Times and many other papers have been awash with them for years.

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Last updated: 14th September, 2009 09:26am

Dragons' Den deal not done

by Alan Bunce

One of the star attractions at this year's Thames Valley Franchise Show was a humble food van.

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Last updated: 2nd September, 2009 01:46pm

Go - Western

by Alan Bunce

A CRUMBLING office block in the centre of Reading reveals a depressing truth.

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Last updated: 21st August, 2009 04:50pm

Stay, the dragons

by Alan Bunce

TV dragon James Caan and former dragon Rachel Elnaugh backed our We Can Work It Out Campaign this week, prompting thoughts about how business has become an unlikely entertainment source. But it isn't that unlikely.

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Last updated: 7th August, 2009 09:46am

Swedes ahead

by Alan Bunce

STOOD in a long queue for Ikea to open a few years ago, it occurred to me how much cleverer the Swedish are than us.

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Last updated: 28th July, 2009 04:13pm

Why not ask what retailers are up to?

by Alan Bunce

THE fact that broadband speeds advertised such as 'up to 8mbps' are actually less than that, is somehow hitting the headlines as if no-one knew.

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Last updated: 23rd July, 2009 10:01am

Beer can beat recession

by Alan Bunce

WHILE corporate hospitality has dropped like a stone in recent times it was interesting to note two contrasting experiences last week.

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Last updated: 17th July, 2009 05:44pm

Easter rules the waves

by Alan Bunce

TWO stories this week illustrate how stories can benefit from firms who do not have a press office.

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Last updated: 6th July, 2009 03:44pm

The appliance of Thames Valley science

by Alan Bunce

Companies which are focussed on research always seem more interesting than those focussed on profit. Today I joined other guests to visit the newly opened £25million R&D lab at UCB Celltech in Slough.

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Last updated: 24th June, 2009 06:11pm

Recovery? What recovery?

by Alan Bunce

It seems the rash of stories about how bad the recession is, is giving way to stories about how much the decline is slowing down.

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Last updated: 11th June, 2009 12:32pm

Entertainer that tops the bill

by Alan Bunce

If only there were more shops like The Entertainer.

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Last updated: 27th May, 2009 01:00pm

Independents' day

by Alan Bunce

I WOULDN'T normally get exercised by National Something-or-Other Week but there is one starting June 1 that most people would probably have sympathy with.

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Last updated: 19th May, 2009 02:53pm

The trouble with buzzwords

by Alan Bunce

One of the local entrants in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards this year, illustrates one of the thorns in the side to anyone who writes about business in the Thames Valley.

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Last updated: 8th May, 2009 02:17pm

Is the end of the housing downturn in sight?

by Alan Bunce

It seems the housing market, if not recovering, is now falling more slowly.

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Published: 7th April, 2009 09:30am

Short memories in financial reporting

by Alan Bunce

It was a relief to read in the Sunday Express yesterday that the 0.5% interest rate would continue into 2010. Phew.

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Published: 3rd April, 2009 12:30pm

Networking - it's better than the news

by Alan Bunce

They call it networking but it is really socialising with an agenda. Networking brought me in touch with many estate agents recently and their musings on the housing market are worth reporting.

That's because the transactions those surveys refer to are when sales complete, not at the time the price is agreed. So if you rely on Five Live or the any of the national news services, the latest news is actually December's or January's.

But on this occasion I think they are right.

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Published: 24th March, 2009 01:54pm

We CAN Work It Out

by Alan Bunce

IT'S rare to have a conversation about the recession without someone referring to the fact we are 'talking ourselves into it'. Usually the media is blamed but in an era when anyone can publish or broadcast, the media is no longer confined to newspapers or TV. So amid the criticism we at Berkshire Media Group have won a lot of praise, thanks to our campaign that is taking a 'glass half-full' approach to what is probably the toughest economic times many of us have ever experienced. We Can Work It Out is aimed at highlighting the positive and helping where we - or our readers - can. The surprising thing is just how many people are doing well. Only last night at a networking function I came across a sports injury treament business expanding, a woman who provides Botox doing very well and a debt recovery business (!) finding ever more clients. There was an artist starting up in business and a new boss of a pub/restaurant with ambitious plans to make it succeed. But it's the old story of a balancing act. Take the rose tinted specs off and within three miles of my house three pubs have closed, the local M&S has just gone and even the estate agents are driving smaller cars. Even my local community centre is living on the edge. So are we heading for depression or will we be climbing out of recession in 12 months? I haven't a clue. As someone said at last week's Connect Reading conference 'economic forcasting was only invented to make astronomy look respectable'. What I do know is a lot of businesses in Berkshire are doing well. If you are one of them, why not let us know? Email me at abunce@berksmedia.co.uk.

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