Guardian Business Quiz

2010 Business Quiz

1. Part 1
2. Part 2
3. Part 3
4. Part 4

Genuine complaint call...

OK, it's doubtful whether it's genuine or not but this is still a hilarious call.

Economic news

Unemployment

In the 3 months to July 2010, unemployment fell by 8,000 to 2.47 million. The overall UK unemployment rate remains at 7.8%. The worry amongst economists is that the unemployment rates will rise again later in the year as the effects of the government cuts begin to take effect.

Regional unemployment

Wales - fall from 8.4% to 8.3%
England - fall from 7.9% to 7.7%
Northern Ireland - fall from 7.1% to 6.8%
Scotland - rise from 8.9% to 9.1%

Inflation

The CPI inflation rate remained at 3.1% in August, still well above the Bank of England 2% target and signalled the end of 3 consecutive months of falling inflation. The high rate was boosted by strong rises in air fares, clothing and food although fuel prices fell. RPI fell from 4.8% to 4.7%.

Points of note

• CPI is used for the Bank of England's target
• RPI, which includes housing costs, is important for wage negotiations and certain benefit negotiations.
• A combination of record low interest rates and high rates of inflation mean the real value of savings is being weakened.

Climate change activitists invade book festival event!

At the Joseph Stiglitz event on Sunday - yes, I know I also attended it on Saturday but blame Edinburgh Book Festival for not making it clear that it was the same event! - his address was interrupted by four young climate change protesters who invaded the tent. As three of them started dropping newspapers entitled "Never Mind The Bankers", the young female spokesperson demanded two minutes to speak out against the sponsor of the event, the RBS. Needless to say, the audience were not entirely sympathetic to their viewpoint and booed and jeered the proetesters as they were escorted from the premises by Book Festival staff.

With the protests against RBS escalating in recent days, perhaps it was just as well that the protest was peaceful and they left with minimum fuss. There didn't appear to be adequate security to deal with the problem and the onus fell on the young, mainly female, staff to deal with a situation surely outwith their remit. There was also a sense of irony that the protesters should invade an event in which the speaker was berating the banks, including the RBS, for their role in the economic downturn and the need to change the way the finance sector works.

Thankfully, it made my second viewing of the event quite interesting!

Economics at the Edinburgh International Book Festival

This evening I had the pleasure of attending a talk by Joseph Stiglitz, an American economist and professor at Columbia University, at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. He was the Chief Economist at the World Bank and won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2001. Mr Stiglitz was at the festival to promote his new book Freefall – Free Markets and the Sinking of the Global Economy. During the hour, he talked about why the global economy is in the mess it is in, what the underlying causes are, who is to blame and why the current action by both the American and UK governments may not be the correct solution. He also took questions about the increasing financial power of China, the lack of competition in the banking sector and the lack of progress in developing an environmentally friendly economy. An hour well spent!

Farewell.......

After two excellent years at St Ninian’s High School, I am leaving for a new role as a Teacher of Economics and Business Management at Stewart’s Melville College in Edinburgh. During my time at St Ninian’s, I have worked with some wonderful people who have supported me, offered me invaluable advice and helped develop me further as a teacher. I have also had the pleasure of teaching some fantastic pupils and I wish all of them all the best for their future education – I know you are in safe hands! Both teachers and pupils alike will be greatly missed.

Are Facebook friends really friends?

On Sunday, I attended "Are Friends Electric", an event at the Edinburgh Book Festival which looked at the rise of social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Twitter etc. The speakers were Jason Bradbury from Channel 5's "The Gadget Show" and Dr Mariann Hardey, a social media researcher who writes a blog on social networking etiquette.

The event raised some really interesting questions about the rise of social networking sites in general and I was very interested in the impact they have on young people. Both speakers were understandably enthusiastic about the potential of a much more connected world but what is the greater impact? Eric Schmidt, the boss of Google, today warned that young people lack an understanding of the consequences of posting so much personal information online and may have to change their names to escape their online history in the future.

Scaremongering? Possibly. Cynical? Maybe.

But real issues remain.....

• Stories already exist of employees being caught for insulting employees, benefit cheats defrauding the system, people being sacked for using social networking sites while off sick and even one girl who was sacked for branding work "boring" on her first day at work - forgetting that she had added her new boss as a friend!


• Rumours abound of employers using social networking sites as part of their recruitment process - could an inappropriate picture of you posted on a site affect your employment opportunities in the years to come?


• You may be careful about what you publish - but what about what others put on about you?


• What about the concerns regarding cyber bullying?


• If the information is in the public domain, is it fair game for large businesses to use it to market products and services to you?

As a Business Studies teacher, I need to look at the rise of social networking sites from two sides - the costs and benefits from a business perspective as it changes the way businesses operate, and the impact it has on the young people I teach. With no sign of a downturn in their popularity, their impact on both in the future will be very interesting to monitor.

And for me, one of the main questions is: is an electric friend truly a real friend? If I have 500 friends on Facebook, do I truly have 500 friends?

I would be interested to hear any views from my readers.

Fall in rise of inflation - but still well above MPC target!

The rate of inflation in the UK dropped slightly from 3.2% to 3.1% in July but still remains well above the Bank of England's 2% target.

Mervyn King, the governer of the Bank of England, said that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) believed the recent strength of inflation was down to "temporary" factors including the recent increase in the rate of VAT to 17.5%, past oil price rises and more expensive imports due to depreciation in the pound since 2007. The Bank expect inflation to fall below the 2% target in 2012.

The slight fall in the rise of inflation was due to a fall in transport costs (price of second hand cars and fuel) as well as a fall in the price of clothing and footwear, which managed to offset rises in food and non-alcoholic drinks.

Consumer Price Index (CPI) - Measure of changes in the purchasing-power of a currency and the rate of inflation. CPI expresses the current prices of a 'basket' of goods and services in terms of the prices during the same period in a previous year, to show effect of inflation on purchasing power.

£650m bar of chocolate

A hedge fund manager has bought 240,000 tonnes of cocoa beans in a £650m investment which would enable him to make more than 5 billion small chocolate bars. The hedge fund, Armajaro, has taken the unusual step of taking delivery of the cocoa beans and will store them in warehouses in England and the Netherlands.

Why?

• The price of cocoa has risen sharply in recent years due to increased demand - a 16% increase in the last year alone due to decreased production of cocoa beans in Africa.
• By having a degree of control over the supply, you can squeeze the market and push the price up. When you feel the price has gone up sufficiently, release the supply and make a massive profit.

This type of market speculation is common in food markets, coffee and wheat where speculators push up prices. Farmers, seeing the increased prices, could end up growing the wrong crops only to make a loss when withheld supplies are released and prices start to fall.

S@S Kilmarnock Questionnaires

This years Business Challenge at the S@S Summer Academy involves the young people rebranding Kilmarnock. As part of the project, they need your help to answer a short questionnaire , the results of which they will use in their 10 minute presentation to a panel of business people on Friday.

Please click on the links below and complete the simple questionnaires. Your help is greatly appreciated!

1. Questionnaire 1
2. Questionnaire 2
3. Questionnaire 3
4. Questionnaire 4
5. Questionnaire 5

S@S Kilmarnock Questionnnaire

Marketing research figures don't add up.....

While watching the TV tonight, an advert came on for Gillette or L'Oreal men with the claim that it was the best product a man could get. At the end of the advert, the words "85% of 68 men agree" appeared to back up the adverts bold claim. Two things struck me.....

• Firstly, it seems a very small sample of men to use on which to claim that the product is the best a man could get and.....

• Secondly, when I worked out 85% of 68, the answer was 57.8!! Does this mean that 57 full men and 4/5 of a further man agreed?

If anyone can explain this strange mathematical equation, I would be keen to hear from you.

Posterous in the classroom!

During this year and following the departure of another teacher, myself and a colleague, Kenny O'Donnell, were given an S1 ICT class to share between us. Since joining St Ninian's High School, Kenny has been an inspirational exponent of the use of technology in the classroom and a great source of support and advice to me. At times, when I questioned the purpose or the value of technology in teaching and learning, Kenny often gave me examples of other ways to use it and opened up new, innovative opportunities for me and my classes.

A prime example of this was in the use of Posterous as a method of pupils creating a portfolio or record of work which they could then share with their friends and family outside the classroom. Kenny has written a fantastic review of our experiences on his blog and if the use of technology in the classroom is something of interest to you, I recommend you read it.

Posterous Review

Please feel free to post any comments.

VAT explained.....

VAT (Value Added Tax) is the tax you pay on goods and services that you buy. Some items do not include VAT - food, childrens clothing, newspapers and magazines. Some things only include VAT of 5% - domestic gas, domestic electricity and wind turbines. The coalition government are believed to be looking at raising VAT as a way of raising extra cash - raising it from the current rate of 17.5% to 18.5% would raise about £4.65 billion. As VAT is not generally charged on necessities, the government would be able to argue that a rise wouldn't affect the more vulnerable people in society although with the government finances in such a terrible state, it is something that could be considered. The current rate of 17.5% is one of the lowest rates in Europe with Denmark, Hungary and Sweden charging 25%.

The effect of a VAT increase on the customer

Cuddly Toy

17.5% - £9.99

18.5% - £10.07

20% - £10.20

Flat Screen Television

17.5% - £500.00

18.5% - £504.25

20% - £510.64

New Car

17.5% - £15,000.00

18.5% - £15,127.66

20% - £15,319.15

The effect of a VAT increase on government finances

• £700 million for every 1% increase if it decides to charge VAT on food.


• £1 billion if it decided to charge the current rate of 17.5% on clothes and small shoes for children.


• £1.3 billion if it chose to charge the full 17.5% on newspapers, books and magazines.

Intermediate Admin - Commnd Word Help

For those doing the Intermediate Admin Theory S3 Exam on Monday, I have posted examples of command word answers on the Intermediate Admin page of the blog. Hopefully these will help you with the structure expected in the exam.

If you have any questions, please post a comment and I will get back to you.

Mr Alexander

Tesco chief executive to retire in March 2011

Tesco shares dropped by 2.3% on the stock market when it was announced that Sir Terry Leahy is to retire early next year. He has been in charge of the supermarket for the last 13 years and will be replaced by the current international and IT director Philip Clarke.

When he took over, Tesco was roughly the same size as Sainsbury with just over 20% of the market share - it now has over 30%, making it easily the UK's biggest supermarket chain.

Some interesting facts and figures about his time in charge:

• The number of Tesco stores has risen from 568 in 1997 to 2482 in 2010
• Tesco has stores in China, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Japan, Malaysia, Poland, the Republic of Ireland, Slovakia, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey and the US.
• Pre-tax profits have risen from £750 million in 1997 to £3176 million in 2010 - up 10% on the previous year.
• Sales
• It now offers a lot more than just groceries - it now offers insurance, broadband internet, credit cards and even Child Trust funds.
• Tesco's employs approximately 500,000 people worldwide with about 250,000 employed in the UK alone.
• Tesco now has 20 million active members of its Clubcard customer loyalty scheme.

However, Tesco has come under fire from campaign groups who have become increasingly concerned about its dominant position in the UK marketplace. It has been investigated by the Office of Fair Trading on accusations of squeezing suppliers and buying up land to stop rivals building on it. These have on occasions been referred to the Competition Commission. Concern has also been raised about the growth in "Tesco Towns" where in relatively small cities, Tesco has a huge percentage of the market.

Big business news.......

The Prudential has failed in an attempt to but AIA, the Asian insurance business of US group AIG, after shareholders opposed the agreed $24.6 billion price. Although a deal had been agreed last week, a number of shareholders said it was paying too much and vowed to vote against the deal if the price couldn't be lowered. The attempted takeover could cost the Prudential around £150 million in compensation fees to AIG as well as money to banks, lawyers, public-relations firms and advice. It is also expected that the Prudential's chief executive Tidjane Thiam may have to resign following the collapse of the takeover.

Prudential fail in takeover of AIA

BP's continuing failure to stop the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico continues to cost them - their share price today closed down 13%, wiping £12 billion off its stock market value. . The total clean-up costs so far stand at £684m and there are worries that the leak could continue for another 2 months. The BBC's Business Editor said that the cost of the clean up "could wipe out at least an entire year's profit".

BP Share Price Tuesday 1 June 2010

Source: BBC Business

And some positive business news.............

Ryanair is back in profit after suffering its first annual loss this time last year. The budget airline announced pre-tax profits of £289 million for the year to March, benefitting from lower oil prices with fuel 29% lower than last year. It also plans to raise baggage fees from £15 to £20 a bag in July and August.

Ryanair back in profit

Travelling up and down to Kilmarnock every day, it is usual to see important messages about the dangers of drink driving, driving while tired or simply a warning about roadworks. However, I didn't think I would ever see this message on my daily commute!

Flexible working practices for all?

The new coalition government today announced plans to allow all employees the right to request flexible working hours. At the moment, parents of children up to 16 (or 18 if they are disabled) and carers for disabled adults are allowed to request flexible working patterns. Employers must give serious consideration to any requests but can turn them down for sound business reasons.

Ultimately, following consultation with business, the government would like to extend the right to all workers. The plans, unlikely to come into law during this parliament, have been met with a mixed response - negatively from the British Chambers of Commerce and positively from the TUC.

Best of luck S4 Business Management!

Best of luck to my S4 Business Management class who are sitting their Intermediate exams tomorrow. You have been a pleasure to teach over the last two years and have worked really hard for these exams. Make sure you go in and do yourself proud!

Couple of last minute tips!

• Read the question carefully!
• Remember the command words
• Make your writing readable
• And remember to bring a couple of pens!!!

US Airlines & Continental Airlines merge

United Airlines and Continental Airlines have agreed a merger which will create the world's biggest airline. It will be called United Airlines but the new branding will be a combination of both airline's current colours.

Both companies are currently making losses but expect to make savings of more than $1 billion a year following the $3.2 billion deal. The merger has been described as a "merger of equals" although United Airlines will be seen as the dominant partner. Between them, they fly to 370 destinations and fly 144 million passengers a year. They currently employ a total of 86,000 people and experts believe redundancies will be inevitable as the new company aim to cut costs. Shared IT and maximising the use of the fleet are also expected to deliver cost-savings.

The merger has to be agreed by shareholders and competition regulators and unions will also need to agree to the deal.

How are taxes raised and spent?

One of the main policy differences between the three big parties in this years election is that of taxation and cuts. All parties agree that cuts need to be made and the chances are that taxes will rise in the coming years.

So how are taxes raised and spent?

• In this years Budget, the current Labour Government said that would spend £704 billion during the year up to the end of March 2011.

• The Government expect to raise £541 billion through taxation, with most coming from Income Tax (£146 billion), National Insurance (£97 billion) and VAT (£78 billion).

• They would need to borrow £163 billion to make up the difference between taxes and spending.

• Most money raised will be spent on health (£122 billion), education (£89 billion) and social protection e.g. benefits (£196 billion).

• Other key spending includes Public Order (£36 billion), International Development (£6 billion) and defence, social services, housing, transport, industry etc. (£210 billion).

• Interest on the debts the government has built up will come to £43 billion.

Brilliant advert for Seriously Strong cheese.

Tesco announce huge pre-tax profits!

Tesco continue to to flourish despite the global economic crisis as they announced pre-tax profits of £3.176bn for 2009, up 10% on the previous year. Some interesting information from the news:

• International sales account fro £17.5bn of its £56.9bn annual revenue.
• It plans to create 16,000 jobs this year, 9,000 in the UK.
• It expects non-food and international sales to grow fastest in the recovery.
• Toy sales were up 25% - helped by the clothes like Woolworths closing down.
• Sales of clothes reached £1bn for the first time.
• Tesco finance profits were up 13% at £250m

It also said it had been getting round the disruption caused by flights being grounded by getting their Kenyan suppliers to fly fruit and flowers to Spain and picking them up by truck to transport to the UK.

Eyjafjallajökull - Who wins and who loses?

Airlines - LOSERS!

Obviously the main casualty is the airline industry. The industry is estimated to be losing £130 million a day and could hardly come at a worse time, considering it is already expected to lose £1.4 billion this year. Travel companies are also being hit hard - TUI who own First Choice & Thomson claim they are losing between £5m and £6m a day.

Other Transport - WINNERS!

Eurostar, P&O ferries and train services across Europe and the UK have recorded huge surges in passenger numbers as people find alternative methods to get home.

Tourism - MMMMM?

The effect will be small if the disruption doesn't last too long, particularly as this is not the main peak time for tourism in Europe. Customers stranded and spending more will make up for the expected loss from those unable to make the trip. However, if the disruption continues, it would have a much greater impact if it lasts into the busy summer months.

Imports & Exports - DEPENDS

The disruption has businesses who deal in perishable goods generally transported by air - e.g. food and flowers. Africa and South America, producers of much fresh food transported to Europe are experiencing serious losses. However, most international trade uses road, rail and sea freight - only 1% of UK's trade is carried by air.

Other Business Costs - LOSERS!

Staff being stranded, air mail being delayed and meetings being cancelled are likely to result in lost money for businesses and productivity is expected to suffer as staff can't get back to work.

Economic Growth - MMMMMMM?

If it is short-term, the economic impact is expected to be minimal - however, an extended period without air transport could be very damaging, particularly as the economy is just recovering from recession. A possible drop of 1% and 2% for some European countries could result in no growth for this year.

How have supermarkets continued to make profit in the recession?

I watched a really interesting programme by the ITV Tonight team on how supermarkets have continued to make huge profits despite the worst financial crisis in over 60 years. Well worth half an hour of your time!

Supermarkets

Teaching S3 Business Management using homemade tomato ketchup!

In a previous life before I became a teacher, I used to work as a commis chef in various restaurants. I was actually going to train to be a chef before I decided to head off to University to do my Business degree. However, every now and again I still think I have the knack and so it was on Sunday afternoon, that with the sun shining, I opened the windows to let in the first fresh air of spring and set about making my own tomato ketchup courtesy of one of Jamie Oliver's recipes. This followed on from a successful attempt at making chilli-pepper chutney the previous week.

I headed off to Tescos and came back with the following:

• 1 large red onion
• 1/2 bulb of fennel
• 1 stick of celery
• Ginger
• 1/2 fresh red chilli
• Fresh basil
• 1kg of red tomatoes
• Red wine vinegar

I already had the olive oil, garlic, salt, cloves, black pepper and brown sugar that was needed to complete the masterpiece. 3 hours of cooking later and the picture at the top is what I had to show for my efforts. Approximately 350ml of homemade tomato ketchup!

And why do I tell you this.....

Today with my S3 Business Management, I was discussing different methods of production - Job, Batch and Flow. My attempt at homemade tomato ketchup was an obvious example of job production. The raw materials were good quality but expensive, I had to do all the tasks myself which took time and effort but the final product met with my exact requirements. Unfortunately, I don't have my receipt handy but the tomatoes themselves were £2.24. I imagine, everything included (minus my labour costs), the tomato ketchup probably cost me close to £4 to make. Products created by job production are expensive due to the labour intensive, unique aspects of them.

We discussed how much I would need to sell this individual bottle at to make a profit. £5, £6, £7 was shouted out. When asked who would pay that, no one offered and it was pointed out that a bottle of 350g Heinz Tomato Ketchup costs £1 to buy in Tesco.

So, if I decided to use the wonder of the internet and start selling my homemade tomato ketchup or chilli-pepper chutney online, how would I get my costs down to a level which would enable me to sell it at a reasonable price and start to make a profit. My brilliant S3 Business Management class immediately identified the need to make it in enough quantity to be able to buy my raw materials in bulk and thus bring the cost of them down by negotiating a discount with the suppliers.

Top Trivia from Heinz Ketchup website

Did you know that we use enough tomatoes to fill an Olympic-size swimming pool – EVERY day – to make enough tomato ketchup for all our fans?

So we started to look at Batch production - making batches of tomato ketchup using batches of red tomatoes or yellow tomatoes, chilli-pepper chutney using red chillis, green chillis, orange chillis etc.

We then looked at how we could manufacture the tomato ketchup using Flow production with everyone having a specific job, utilising technology to do much of the work e.g. blenders, and how this would enable us to drive down the costs of each individual jar of chilli-pepper chutney or tomato ketchup until we could make a decent profit.

We then used this to discuss the disadvantages of each of these methods - the obvious cost element of the Job Production but also the high initial costs of the machinery for Flow Production and the monotonous jobs of both Batch and Flow Production.

And that is how my Sunday afternoon making home made tomato-ketchup impacted on my S3 Business Management lesson the next day.

S2 Business Management Dragon's Den Final

Congratulations to Anita Kaur, Eve McGlynn and Ellis Macaulay a.k.a. The Pet People who represented my class at this years S2 Business Management Dragon's Den Final. Despite an excellent presentation for their product, Communikanine, which received rave reviews from the four Dragon's, the team were pipped into first place by Chandles, who had the excellent idea of chocolate candles which, when lit, would coat a cake with melting chocolate.

Communikanine Presentation

View more presentations or Upload your own.

The Dragon's Den project is one of the highlights of the S2 Business Management course at St Ninian's High School. Starting in November, the pupils work in groups to come up with a product or service idea which they then have to market research, cost and promote. As well as this, they also have to look at any competition, consider what sources of finance to use and decide on the type of business organisation they want to be and why e.g. partnership, private limited company etc.

This year, we invited four "Dragons" from the local business community who had to make the final decision on who triumphed. They were all very impressed with the level of effort and commitment the three finalists had put into the project.

Congratulations to all pupils involved in the project and here is to an even more successful Dragon's Den in 2010-2011.

Who is right and who is wrong in the BA strike?

As the first strike by British Airways cabin crew comes to an end with a second planned from 27 March, relations between British Airways and Unite, the trade union representing the cabin crew, show no sign of improving.

At the centre of the dispute is BA's decision to reduce the number of cabin crew on long haul flights from 15 to 14 and a 2 year pay freeze from 2010. New contracts have also been proposed for new people joining and newly promoted staff which would see them paid significantly less than current staff. Unite have put forward their own proposals but BA have rejected them as the £63m savings through pay cuts and part time working would not save as much money as the union claim.

BA claim they need to restructure to permanently reduce costs. The company made losses of £342 million in the nine months leading up to the end of December 2009 and say the will make 4,900 redundancies globally by the end of the year. In recent years, BA have lost many air travellers to low-cost airline, many of whom are business travellers, BA's core customers. This could be fatal to BA in the future. Coupled with an economic slowdown, BA would be unable to continue in its current structure and cost levels unless the profitable business passengers come back and pay the prices they were before. BA are experimenting with not serving food on some flights and charging for second bags.

Some staff have decided to break the strike, with one saying 'he and other colleagues were thinking about the long term effects the strike would have on the company".

And therein lies the issue. Some reports have claimed that British Airways staff are paid nearly double that of rival airlines. With British Airways making losses and facing a troubling future, should staff accept that sacrifices have to be made in the current climate? Or should British Airways accept that it's staff are highly professional, experienced cabin crew and pay them accordingly? And what of the role of the Union? Is industrial action and the knock on effect of the strikes to the general public? Is this the best way to conduct negotiations in the current economic situation?

It's a tough situation and very difficult to see how a satisfactory outcome can be decided upon.

Glasgow 2014 Games logo unveiled

The Glasgow 2014 Games logo was revealed on Monday at a cost of £95,000. Glasgow design agency Marque came up with the brand after a worldwide search, beating 66 entries, and the logo is based on three principles of sport - time, data and measurement. Any companies sponsoring the games will be offered the logo for use. For the first time, the Commonwealth Games Federation approved the use of an alternative Gaelic form of the design.

Do you like the Glasgow 2014 Games logo?polls

Business in Sport - Football in the Red debate

Following the news that Real Madrid have topped the league table of the world's richest clubs for a fifth successive season, the BBC are holding a Football in the Red debate tonight on BBC Radio 5 Live. It will look at the financial problems affecting football clubs. It will start at 8pm and finishes at 9.30pm. Should be an interesting debate.

Real Madrid top football rich list

Business in sport

One area of business which intrigues me is that of business in sport, particularly football. I listened to a podcast recently in which a financial expert said that if football clubs were run as normal businesses, most would have collapsed. With Manchester United, Liverpool, Rangers etc. creaking under huge debt burdens and Portsmouth last week becoming the first Premiership team to go into administration, the full impact of the current economic climate is there for all sports fans to see.

If you are a student of Business Management, knowing about business in sport can be a great help. Much of the terminology is the same and being able to put something into a context you understand can make things so much easier to learn.

The BBC have a page called Business in Sport and I have attached a link to the menu bar on the right under Interesting Websites. I don't expect you to read every single business article on the internet or newspaper, but it would greatly help your own learning if you have a look at any stories on this page which interest you. You never know when the information you pick up may come in handy!

What's your job title?

For any of my classes who have studied the role of the Human Resources Department, they know the importance that the job title plays in the job description to attract possible new employees. People want and expect their job title to reflect their level of seniority or responsibility.

With the current economic doom and gloom having a negative effect on salaries, could the lure of a fancy job title be they way of keeping staff motivated? Examples from the Plain English Campaign, a campaigning group against jargon and misleading public information, include the following:

• Ambient Replenishment Controller = Shelf stacker
• Regional Head of Services, Infrastructure and Procurement = Caretaker
• Revenue Protection Officers = Ticket inspectors
• Waste Removal Engineer = Binman
• Education Centre Nourishment Production Assistant = Dinner lady
• Vision Clearance Engineer = Window cleaner

However, a director at thinktank Policy Exchange thinks the pressure on public finances could signal the end for bizarre job titles as people will be more focussed on what people do and their titles. Both the private and public sector will have to focus on their core business. However, it does seem that the days of the self-evident career - the butcher, baker etc. - are all but gone.

P.S. I am not a teacher anymore, I am a knowledge navigator!