Newly appointed Sunday Times Business Editor, Oliver Shah, joined us at Pagefield to discuss stories and insights from his new book Damaged Goods: The Inside Story of Sir Philip Green, the Collapse of BHS and the Death of the High Street. Sam Postlethwaite shares five things we learned.
Shah first came across Green while working as The Sunday Times retail correspondent; a role which required one of your first calls to be into the business behemoth, according to Shah. The relationship between the two grew as he moved on to become City Editor at the paper in 2017, with Shah describing the passing down of the connection between successive City Editors and Green as like a family heirloom.
The relationship predictably soured following media scrutiny of Green’s sale of BHS for £1 in 2015, however he will still always take the retail tycoon’s calls and defines their current association as mutual Stockholm syndrome. Shah’s connection with Green over the years has provided him with “five books’ worth of insider information on the man” and plenty of behind the scenes access to the world of British retail.
Here are five things we learned:
- The sun is setting on colourful business tycoons
The days of colourful business tycoons are coming to a close, according to Shah. Characters like Green are being replaced with more professional, finer-tuned business leaders who are more receptive to advisors and less likely to cultivate a culture of fear.
In the place of Philip Green and his boardroom walls adorned with esteem-inflating press cuttings we now find more polished, less bullish characters such as Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, which is a shame for copy, but good news for communications professionals.
- The death of the high street may have been exaggerated
While Death of the High Street features in the title of Shah’s book, the Business Editor was slightly more sanguine about the retail sector’s prospects than most. He predicted a brutal short-term period which will then level-out, despite the “maximum pessimism” displayed by many. Amazon pondering over whether to acquire an established supermarket chain should act as reassurance that even the beasts of e-commerce recognise that you need to have a physical presence in order to attract and maintain consumer interest.
Shah believes business rates are a huge issue which will at some point strangle communities and local economies, destroying employment. How these small businesses will be heard by politicians above the considerable noise of Brexit, however, is currently not so clear.
- Businesses are struggling for air time
This relationship between business and politics is the worst it’s ever been, according to Shah. Because of issues such as Brexit, businesses are struggling for air time and are way down politicians’ lists of importance. This is demonstrated by the fact that letters published by the CBI and signed by hundreds of business leaders struggle to stay on the agenda for more than a couple of hours let alone days.
John McDonnell is the latest example of a politician who delights in his discomfort towards the City, said Shah. The Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer failing to recall a business leader he admires, and MPs growing taste for admonishing businesses in Select Committees prove that businesses are struggling to hold the sort of sway with Westminster that they once did.
- News is taking an increasing interest in tech
In response to the evolving entrepreneur, organisations have changed how they cover business. News outlets such as The Sunday Times are taking an increasing interest in tech. This was reflected in the paper’s posting last year of Danny Forston as West Coast Correspondent, providing the paper with a steady pipeline of cutting-edge content and the must listen ‘Danny in the Valley’ podcast.
- The Sunday Times business pages will tweak, not transform
While leadership figures within business may be evolving at a rapid rate, The Sunday Times business pages will be experiencing no such revolution under Shah’s stewardship. Shah has always believed that The Sunday Times boasts the best business section in Britain, with each edition required to have a huge scoop or an engrossing investigation.
His plans for maintaining this level of quality include a few tweaks, such as introducing a couple of exciting new columns, and a focus on colourful interviews and powerful human stories.
