Building BRICS

I arrived in the office this morning after a long cycle...eighteen miles is a good way to wake up before you start work. The trouble is that by 11, I'm generally ready to go back to sleep again. Anyway, I arrived and my bladder spread its contents all over the floor by my desk. Quite embarrassing really Mr Film Man was just introducing me to someone. Someone just happened to be a cyclist as well, so immediately realised what my problem was...my valve wasn't sealing properly so capillary action meant that the liquid was just spilling out everywhere. Anyway, I guess a quick trip to the cycle shop to get a new valve should solve my problem and once more my Camelback (TM) will be water tight ready to refresh me for my next cycle. Enough about rucksacks and water bladders. It had been a slow cycle as I was trying to take a picture for tomorrow...I have plenty and it will just be tricky deciding which one to choose.

Today, however, I give you this to summarise my day yesterday.



Ha ha...no I'm not emigrating to Turkey. I've been there once. Twice if you count the day trip to Turkish Cyprus with Grandma in Cyprus. Lovely place. Fascinating place. I'd love to go back, but not to live. I was in the building beyond...the IPA. This is Belgravia Square...one of the poshest in London and full of embassies and wealthy people. It makes you realise there's a whole different world out there when you see nothing less than a top of the range Mercedes parked there and mostly it's Rolls Royces and Bentleys. I had my first London job, so not a bad start. My first day was a Friday and on my desk was a memo to every employee explaining that rumours that the company was about to be sold were without foundation. When I arrived on Monday, there was another memo welcoming everyone to their new employers. The company had been bought.

Back at the IPA, I was learning about how companies are doing business in the BRIC countries...that is Brazil, Russia, India, China. Mexico got an honourable mention. These are the countries whose economies will dominate our children's futures. I learnt many things. Inspite of the headlines about drug lords, Mexico is a great place to do business...especially as it's all done over lunch. India is not one country but many, with food, customs, business etiquette changing every few hundred kilometres; it's difficult to start doing business there so make sure you're in there for the long haul. They are adding 15 million phone subscribers every month. Can that really be the case? China is easy to start doing business in, but difficult to sustain a business there. Staff turnover is 200% per annum. And the bureaucracy is almost unbelievable. Anyway it was fascinating for me...I learnt a lot.