Today, we're delighted to share an article from good friend, Robert Coucher, the International Editor of Octane Magazine which features classic and performance cars. 
 
Robert used to have a real job in advertising with Ogilvy & Mather ad agency. But his love was always old motor cars so he created Octane magazine in 2003 (Classic and performance cars) which expanded into Enzo, the Ferrari magazine, as well as Vantage, the Aston Martin magazine.  His magazines were sold to Dennis Publishing in 2007. Robert’s daily driver in London is a 1955 Jaguar XK 140 fixed head coupe.

Visit  https://www.msb-forum.com/connect  to read the article.

Our Four Pillars post today features an article by renowned financial services expert and MSB Advisory Board colleague, Dr Tim May. 

Tim’s article considers the significant challenges of managing and engaging with staff, many of whom are working remotely from home.
 
https://www.msb-forum.com/commerce

​Our Four Pillars trailer today introduces you to a renowned financial services expert and MSB Advisory Board colleague, Dr Tim May.  Tim has held several COO positions in the wealth management sector and is the former CEO of The Wealth Management Association. In addition to his role with MSB, Tim is currently a Non-Executive Director of Investec Wealth & Management.
 
We look forward to posting Tim’s article tomorrow on the significant challenges of managing and engaging with their staff, many of whom are working from home.

​MSB’s Managing Directors, Don Porter and Brian Hamill, were delighted to be invited late last year to the Chancellor of Lancaster University’s Annual Reception for Stakeholders.  
 
Pictured, in addition to the Managing Directors of MSB, are Alan Milburn, Chancellor, the then Vice-Chancellor Mark Smith and Baroness Henig CBE, DL, a former History Lecturer at the University.

Today we’re very pleased to welcome back Mark Hopwood, MD of South Western Railway, to update us on how the company continues to rise to the challenge of Covid-19.
 
When Mark featured on the Forum in April, the country was approaching the peak of the emergency. Daily passenger numbers into Waterloo had fallen from over 100,00 to just 6,000 – many of whom were key workers who still needed to travel to their jobs.
 
As the economy starts to reopen, and with more people travelling, Mark outlines the challenge for his team to keep customers safe through social distancing.
 
As with many businesses, SWR is increasingly relying on technology to keep the company operating – both for the comfort and safety of customers and also for internal stakeholders.
 
MSB is very grateful to Mark Hopwood for taking time in his busy schedule to update our Four Pillars Forum.

​​Visit the forum: https://www.msb-forum.com/commerce 

When crisis strikes, the best business leaders and their companies recognise their responsibility to the wider community and the difference which they can make in issues such as climate change and wealth disparity. 
 
Today, our colleague Carrie Hayton, well known to many MSB clients, writes on the subject of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), offering a personal perspective on the difference which her local Garden Centre, Castle Gardens in Dorset, made to the community during Covid-19 lockdown - a clear example of excellent CSR in practice! 

Visit: https://www.msb-forum.com/commerce

In yesterday's introduction from Alexander Mavros, we gained an insight to the magic of storytelling. Today, we hear from his Father, Patrick, the master of storytelling all the way from Zimbabwe. 
 
As Patrick recounts in his video, during a crisis such as a pandemic, this is a great opportunity to tell stories. He illustrates this with a wonderful African story about a honeyguide bird from which we can draw clear lessons during such challenging times.
 
With grateful thanks to our great friends, Patrick, Alexander and the Mavros family. We wish them and their business all success! 
 
Please do send us your feedback about Patrick's video and your own experiences of how stories have the power to make connections.
 
https://www.msb-forum.com/connect

The art of storytelling has captivated the imagination of people through the generations – and nowhere more profoundly than in Africa.
 
In today’s video contribution to our Four Pillars Forum, Alexander Mavros, a fifth generation Zimbabwean who represents the family’s business in London,  introduces us to his Father, Patrick, and to ‘The Magic of Storytelling’ through the eyes of Africa. In his video tomorrow, our great friend Patrick will share with us how the art of storytelling can help us through these challenging times.

For those living at the margins COVID19 has made life even more challenging, so it’s not surprising that their plight has made headlines with many falling victim to the virus itself. 
 
In his video contribution to The Four Pillars Forum, Alex Le Vey, Development Director at the Centre for Social Justice, outlines the vital work of the organisation and its response to the Covid-19 emergency – where the immediate decision was to scale-up for tackling the rocky road ahead.
 
Without taking the foot off the accelerator with existing projects, the CSJ ramped up its output to actively campaign for those suffering the immediacy of the pandemic, with domestic violence and school exclusions at the top of the agenda. 
 
With hard evidence and help from their network of grassroots organisations, the CSJ has launched a landmark study titled ‘Bounce Back Britain’ which charts the way forward and why the Government must prioritise the poorest and most vulnerable in society as our economy emerges from a very deep recession brought on by Covid-19. 
 
MSB is most grateful to Alex and his colleagues at CSJ for sharing their vital work with us in our Journal. We wish them every success and look forward to hearing more from them.
 
https://www.msb-forum.com/connect

With our young struggling to adjust to the pandemic, ‘Fight For Peace’ combines boxing and martial arts with education and personal development to realise the potential of young people affected by crime, violence and social exclusion. 
 
Filmmaker Yusuf, and Jacob the Director of Practice and Programme Development, demonstrate the proactive ways in which the charity is responding to the Coronavirus pandemic.
 
https://www.msb-forum.com/coping
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