Death of an Entrepreneur

The recent death of entrepreneur Nicolas Hayek, reported widely in the press struck me as relevant to several of the questions set in the Applied Management Project.

Hayek was the man behind the Swatch. His simple idea was that a watch need not be expensive, but could still be desirable, if marketed as a stylish "must have" brand.
A fashion accessory as much as a timepiece.

The idea ( and the Swatch ) are still going strong today. Hayek became one of the world's weathiest men...

A look at Hayek's background, and the nature of his ideas could be relevant in particular to the question about whether entrepreneurs are born or created....

What Future BHS ?

In this week's Saturday Daily Telegraph Mary Portas looks at the fortunes of that High Street institution British Home Stores

www.telegraph.co.uk/maryportas

Owner Sir Philip Green promised a bit of a revamp to introduce some of his other mid-market brands, but this doesn't seem to have helped BHS turn the corner at present.

There are some alarming contrasts with rival Primark.

In Luton these rival stores are literally a stone's throw apart ( please don't test this out )

I'm just noting however that BHS usually seems to be more populated by older shoppers ( potentially a big market ), and housed in brutalist 60's buildings.

The picture of the Market Street, Manchester looks very similar to our Luton branch ( pictured )