Bill Midgley column

Jan 31 2007 By Bill Midgley, The Journal

The term "old curmudgeon" is one that has been used about me far too often, and I have to say that I do object to the use of the word old.

That, however, is until tomorrow, when I shall officially qualify as one of the grey fraternity, and when I had hoped to be standing in the Post Office to collect the return on many years' investment in the nation's government.

However, it would appear that government rules are such that I do not quite qualify for a pension on my 65th birthday, but rather will have to wait until the Monday after. A nice little earner for them, and something (as ever) that seems to be lost in the "small print".

Perhaps more alarmingly, however, yet a further example of how we have to fit the system, rather than the system meet the demands of the community.

However, one aspect of ageing is to know when to quit the field.

Having been in the public view in one form or another for the best part of a quarter of a century, now is the time for others to take up the role as the voice of business, or at least to represent business and the needs of the wider business community in our region.

And, in particular, to continue to push home the fact that business has so much to offer the region.

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the past quarter of a century has been the increasing tendency of making us all fit the system.

Certainly business is ever more talked at, and talked down to, by those who have little - if any - knowledge of what it is really like to manage a company that operates in the real world.

The watchword over the next 25 years will be competition, and I am afraid that the public sector has no idea at all of how to operate in a truly competitive environment.

This is a serious word on which to finish this column, which I have enjoyed writing and I hope has provoked some thought, and on occasions challenged or ruffled the complacency that surrounds us.

I have no intention of retiring from life, nor indeed the business community, but perhaps it is time to speak with a softer voice and watch from the sidelines.

Bill Midgley Past President, British Chambers of Commerce.