China’s Growth Is Slowing

China released grim economic data this weekend suggesting that the economy will further weakness in the months ahead. The worst of the data concerns industrial production, which slowed to its lowest level since the crises year 2008. According to Westpac’s Singapore-based strategist Jonathan Cavenagh, over the weekend China released industrial production (IP), fixed asset investment… Continue reading China’s Growth Is Slowing

New French trains are “too large”

A news article caught my eye this morning which demonstrates how easily a project can go badly wrong, and the financial consequences of rectifying the problem. France’s national railway operator SNCF recently ordered 2,000 new TER (Trains Express Regionaux) trains from Alstom and Bombardier, as part of a £2.43bn national upgrade. Responding to customer demands… Continue reading New French trains are “too large”

EBN TECH CAMP 2013

On the 4th to 6th December 2013, the Bearing team attended the successful EBN (European Business Network) Tech Camp 2013 event in Rovereto, northern Italy. The three day event was organised by EBN for Business & Innovation Centres, Incubators, Accelerators and similar organisations whose clients are new or early-stage companies growing innovative businesses. Providing innovation… Continue reading EBN TECH CAMP 2013

Visit Östergötland Place Management Development Workshop

In partnership with East Sweden Business Region (ESBR) and Visit Östergötland, Bearing held a Place Management development seminar and workshop on the 20th November at the beautiful Hemslöjden building in Linköping, Sweden. This seminar was one in a series of four where the goal is to prepare the regions’ tourism and hospitality industry for the… Continue reading Visit Östergötland Place Management Development Workshop

High Speed 2: Controversy on the rails

High Speed 2 (HS2), the controversial planned high speed railway which will link London, Birmingham and the north west of England has taken a major step forward this week as Members of Parliament have approved legislation allowing funding for the next stage. Phase 1 of HS2 will run from London to Birmingham, with a small… Continue reading High Speed 2: Controversy on the rails

SymbioCity conference in Kenya

On the 20th and 21st November I attended a conference organised by the Swedish Trade Council in Nairobi and spoke about project finance on the second day. The conference was held at the Laico Regency Hotel, it was very well organised and attended and the talks very interesting. Mr Björn Häggmark, the Chargé d’Affaires at… Continue reading SymbioCity conference in Kenya

Wargön in the news

SVT News broadcasted a segment about the disruptive technology of drawing out textile fiber from old cotton clothes on Sunday 21/10/12.             A lot of the clothes we consumers buy end up in the trash. It has come to the point where the clothing industry sees a pending shortage of… Continue reading Wargön in the news

Hyper Competition and the Speed of Change

Yesterday, in the weekend issue Friday – Sunday July 22-22, 2012, Wall Street Journal published a two page article about the decline and fall of Nokia. The title was “Nokia loses Mobile Lead Amid Bad Call on Phones”, with the sub title “Corporate Culture Lavished Funds on R&D but Squandered Chances to Bring Innovations to… Continue reading Hyper Competition and the Speed of Change

The Launching of a European Hub for M-commerce

We have said it before: Successful place managers must open up their places for demo-activities. The demo dimension has become an attraction factor. Companies and innovators need to verify their theories and achievements. They need to do that in a business climate where the time factor is vital. They need to save time in their… Continue reading The Launching of a European Hub for M-commerce

Congratulations, Jan Snygg!

Congratulations to Jan Snygg at Bearing Consulting, who was awarded “Member of the Year – North” by Founders Alliance at last night award ceremony in Umeå, Sweden. All of us at Bearing are very proud to have two of our colleagues as “Founders Alliance Member of the Year”: Magnus Penker for the East region and… Continue reading Congratulations, Jan Snygg!