It's coming home...?

With Freedom Day postponed for at least four weeks due to rising cases of the Delta variant, we must now rely on the England football team to put a smile on our faces. That’s always a dangerous proposition, but with our former nemesis Iceland not taking part this time, and with three points already in the bag, maybe, just maybe, it’s time to start dreaming?

One of the great things about the Euros is, of course, the way it brings so many nations together, dishing out both pain and pleasure over 90 minutes in seemingly equal measure. So, it’s been a great tournament so far and let’s hope it stays that way for you and your team (even if it’s Scotland).

It’s going away

Is it just me or do you find it slightly disturbing that, while we’re all busy trying to build a better and more sustainable world here on earth, some of the richest people on the planet are intent on leaving it as soon as possible?

Putting that nagging doubt aside, it was incredible to see one wealthy bidder book their ticket on Jeff Bezos’s New Shephard rocket, due to take off from Texas next month. The unnamed space tourist will join (the fabulously stylish and good-looking) Jeff and his brother Mark on the trip, having forked out ￡20m for the privilege. Now that’s what I call paying towards the petrol.

Taxi take-off

Let’s hope Jeff’s taxi to the moon doesn’t bump into one of Brit entrepreneur Stephen Fitzpatrick’s Bladerunner-style flying electric taxis on the way. The Londoner, fast gaining a reputation as Britain’s answer to Elon Musk, floated his Vertical Aerospace company in the US this week, becoming a billionaire in the process. He claims his electric aircraft will be faster, quicker and greener than helicopters but will be just as flexible in terms of where they take off and land. It would be a great way to beat the rush hour or, these days, the rush to the beach.

Beach plans beached

Despite the possibilities of space travel and air taxis, many of us would settle for any flight to somewhere nice. That would also be good news for our airports, with Heathrow reporting that passenger numbers were down 79% between June 2020 and May 2021. The transatlantic routes, which are a key money maker for the airport, saw just 543 passengers between January and May 2021. It is so astonishing, that I had to check that fact a few times...

Pasty with purpose

It turns out we weren’t exaggerating in an earlier blog; the world (and indeed Team Morris) really is heading for Cornwall. The G7 summit not only went ahead as planned but saw all the right noises being made about building back better and the route to net zero. The proof will be in the pudding, of course, but it did dovetail with what we’re hearing from businesses. Sustainability, purpose and long-term value are all rising up the boardroom agenda. Those changes in corporate priorities were the subject of a fascinating podcast last week featuring high-profile author, broadcaster and economist Will Hutton, alongside EY and business leaders.

A good idea on paper

One company well ahead of the chasing pack on sustainability and reaping the benefits is Unilever. Their green brands now consistently outperform other products within their portfolio, growing 69% faster than the rest of the business and delivering 75% of the company’s growth. This week they made another major step forward with the world’s first paper-based laundry detergent bottle. Made of sustainably sourced and recyclable pulp, the bottles were made possible by a major collaboration between global consumer brands. Yet another example of rivals dropping their defences for a common goal (but let’s hope England and Scotland don’t try that on Friday).

Picking winners

If this week’s news stories prove one thing, it’s the power of ideas, individuals and innovation. So it was great to see the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year? 2021 named last week. JungJin SEO’s Celltrion Group in South Korea has developed ground-breaking drugs to treat cancer, autoimmune diseases and COVID-19. “Entrepreneurship to me has always been about bringing together a group of people toward a common vision, embracing challenges as opportunities and committing oneself to contribute to the greater good,” he says. That’s a sentiment I’m sure we can all agree with.

And finally

This week a San Francisco man returned the Bob Dylan record he’d borrowed from an Ohio school library. Hardly a great story there you’d think, except that he’d taken it out as an eighth-grader in 1973, making it an incredible 17,480 days overdue. I’ll take that as a sign. It’s now over 20,000 days since the England football team last won a major trophy so surely it’s time that came home too. Stay safe.

More of my musings can be found here