Best of the Elevate blog 2010

Wednesday, December 22, 2010 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
| Tags: entrepreneurs, links, blog, best, 2010, Elevate

Our top 10 posts of the year, reflecting the interests and concerns of the entrepreneurs and business leaders in the UK mid-market.

Please note, for the latest information on corporate finance, contact your local Grant Thornton specialist or visit our Entrepreneurial Advisory pages.

1. Alex Connock, CEO, Ten Alps on the media sector
Commenting regularly on the UK media sector for Elevate blog is Alex Connock, chief executive of Ten Alps, the multimedia company he co-founded with Sir Bob Geldof in 1999. This year he wrote about everything from monkey tennis and giganomics to Facebook and the media shift to the North of England.

2. George Davies: My Big Decision
The king of the high street reveals his most difficult business decision.

3. Women in the Boardroom (infographic)
How many women made the C-Suite last year? Which countries are currently topping the list for employing female senior-level female executives? Grant Thornton’s infographic maps figures from 24 countries.

4. ICAEW business monitor: Fall in business confidence indicates slow-down in economic recovery
Following the arrival of a new coalition government, the August edition of the ICAEW/Grant Thornton UK Business Confidence Monitor (BCM) was a big hitter, but brought news of a fall in confidence and a weaker economic recovery.

5. What makes an outstanding FD?
Our survey with Directorbank interviewed 25 of the best FDs in the UK on what it takes to get to the top.

6. Optimism Index of 36 economies in 2010 (infographic)
Can you guess which country is the most economically optimistic in the world? Vietnam is the surprise winner. Grant Thornton’s infographic reveals which economies are smiling, which are po-faced and which are downright unhappy about their projected revenues.

7. When corporate hospitality could equate to bribery -and other new risks arising from new Bribery Act
The UK Bribery Act 2010 is creating a host of fresh risks to business and commercial organisations. So, exactly what are the risks – and how can you mitigate them?

8. Ros Simmons, CEO, VIE at home, posting her entrepreneur’s diary
Together with Alex Connock (see above), businesswoman Ros Simmons posted a weekly diary of her life as a CEO in summer 2009. The diary saw her opening a new base in Germany, as well as launching VIE’s Christmas campaign during a recession.

9. Grant Thornton infographics
2010 was a big year for data visualisations – here are more business infographics from Grant Thornton including: ‘A typology of UK business model behaviours’ and ‘Who’s winning the global race to economic growth?’

10. Grant Thornton wins Accountancy Firm of the Year at M&A Awards and HealthInvestor
This year Grant Thornton added two more awards to its growing trophy cabinet: Accountancy Firm of the Year at the M&A Awards on 20 May 2010 and Accountant of the Year at the HealthInvestor Awards ceremony on 27 May 2010.

We hope you enjoyed reading Elevate in 2010 and that you’ll rejoin us in 2011 –here on Grant Thornton’s Thinking Blogs or subscribing to new posts via RSS. Until then we wish you a very happy Christmas and New Year.

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