March 2012
1 post
WatchSEVEN HILLS - Britain’s Campaigning Company
October 2011
3 posts
Optimism Can Help Spark Recovery
By Michael Hayman Published by Yorkshire Post on Tuesday 30 August 2011 09:11
Yorkshire must sell its credentials as a can-do county if it is serious about economic recovery.
Hope is no easy task when confronted with a bleak economic outlook, with business confidence as fragile as bone china, riots in Britain’s city...
September 2011
1 post
One Young World: The world has to be enough
“I don’t want you to talk, Mr. Bond, I want you to die!” So says Goldfinger to Bond on a Swiss mountaintop facility, and so begins my most gratuitously self-indulgent opener to a column yet.
By Michael Hayman
2 September 2011 @ 09:26.
I have just arrived in Zurich to attend One Young World, a vibrant Davos for the young and surely a great title for a future 007 epic.
As many have come...
August 2011
5 posts
Random Acts Of Kindness
I’ve come to realise that the best things happen when you least expect them. These random acts of kindness really do matter – and Britain’s startups are the first to recognise this.
By Michael Hayman
26 August 2011 @ 14:36.
What a washout. When it rains like this I certainly suffer from seasonal affective disorder – it makes me SAD indeed!
Nothing seems to go right when it...
Back Britain at the MADE Festival
If you want to see everything that’s brilliant about British business then head to the MADE Festival in Sheffield this September.
By Michael Hayman
16 August 2011 @ 10:02.
If you want take a break to help you gear up for growth, you would do better to toss away the bucket and spade and head to the steel city. It will offer an oasis of opportunity from the very best in enterprise ...
OUTRUNNING THE CORPORATE COMPETITION
Monday 15th August 2011, 2:47am ENTREPRENEUR MICHAEL HAYMAN IT’S HOT and the big beasts of the corporate jungle are getting desperate for easy prey. Gathering around the entrepreneurial watering holes, they are hungrily eyeing up one species in particular, the...
Go for growth and put the brakes on plodding...
A new survey from SAP and Delta Economics tells us that fast growth companies should beware of growth. What nonsense. Put your foot on the accelerator and enjoy the ride.
By Michael Hayman
1 August 2011 @ 16:45.
The latest analysis by SAP UK & Ireland and Delta Economics is a wonderful read if you were, say, as enquiring as the Mad Hatter. Because if you delve a bit further into the...
July 2011
8 posts
Fairy Tales That Your Business Needs To Read
Reputation is the Cinderella asset: you never quite know what you’ve got until you’ve lost it, as Rupert Murdoch is discovering.
By Michael Hayman
Rupert Murdoch is no Prince Charming, but I daresay he will respect the sentiment when facing the Select Committee for Culture, Media and Sport.
Now, I’m no stranger in my columns to the use of superlatives and clichés, but for once,...
Was Reagan The Entrepreneurs' President?
How great a president was Ronald Reagan? Granted not a question that I ask myself that often, but I’ve found myself asking it today.
Because today – Independence Day – I was a guest at the US Embassy for the unveiling of a new statue in Grosvenor Square that commemorates the contribution to global freedom made by the former US president.
It was a superb occasion, and speeches by...
Searching For Innovation
To become an entrepreneur is to become a searcher: a searcher for ideas, a searcher for people, a searcher for capital.
Nice words, wish they were mine. But they belong to Carl Schramm, the eloquent head of the Kauffman Foundation. Schramm is a fitting ambassador for enterprise, and entrepreneurs have a thinking champion in him.
Schramm’s point is that we have to let go. That attempts ...
June 2011
3 posts
Watch
LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL
GLOBAL LEADERSHIP SUMMIT 2011
How do you set the scene for innovation? Michael Hayman (Founder, Seven Hills), Richard Tyler (Enterprise Editor, Daily Telegraph) Antonio Horta-Osorio (CEO, Lloyds), Philip Rutnam (MD, Kodadk), , Philip Cullimore (Department Business, Innovation and Skills) and Phanish Puranam (London Business School) discuss their thoughts on this ...
May 2011
7 posts
Paternity leave: take it or leave it?
As the proud new father of a baby girl, I’m faced with a dilemma: how much time off should I take?
By Michael Hayman
27 May 2011 @ 10:00.
Entrepreneurs rarely find themselves on the wrong side of the popularity stakes.
But there are issues that put many entrepreneurs at odds with received wisdom – and I would venture that paternity leave is one of them.
The government has plans...
Optimism is back in business
“Events, dear boy, events.” So said the former Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, on the factors that change the status quo.
By Michael Hayman
This weekend’s Royal Wedding was one such event and there will be many people returning to work feeling very proud to be British. With this spring in our national step are we at the point where we can tell the grandkids, “I was there...
Can a bad CEO kill a good business?
The captains of industry who are unwittingly sinking their own ships.
By Michael Hayman
27 April 2011 @ 10:51.
On the high seas of business, many of our own captains of industry have been caught out by the heavy going of recent times.
Sometimes it seems to have been less about the strength of the recessionary storm and more about the navigation skills of those sailing the ship.
Take...
Heels and deals: women in enterprise
What happens when you bring together four successful and fiery women to discuss “heels and deals”?
By Jason Hesse
23 April 2011 @ 10:14.
Michael Hayman – the co-founder of Seven Hills and of StartUp Britain, and a Real Business columnist – brought together a panel of four successful, opinionated women.
In this must-watch video, Lara Morgan (CompanyShortcuts, Pacific Direct), ...
Michael Hayman, the founder of Seven Hills PR, on...
By Kate Bassett
18 April 2011 @ 11:11.
Michael Hayman
Name: Michael Hayman
Age: 41
Company: Seven Hills, a campaigning public relations business specialising in entrepreneurs and enterprise
Company turnover: £1m-plus
First job: Parliamentary research assistant
Dream job: Got it – being my own boss
Car: Jaguar XK8 and Range Rover Sport
Economy, business or first class: Business whenever...
April 2011
5 posts
Watch out Obama: Trump's running for president
Michael Hayman write for Real Business - April 18th 2011
It’s official: Donald Trump is to run for US president. But does he have what it takes to make it as a politician?
Watch out Obama – for here’s a man that’s actually had a real job in the real world.
When Donald Trump talks about overturning a complacent establishment, a cynical electorate may just be ready to listen.
And...
Entrepreneurs join forces to StartUp Britain
On March 28th 2011 Michael Hayman and seven entrepreneurs launched the StartUp Britain campaign
Michael Hayman writes for Real Business - 28th March 2011
Entrepreneurs join forces to launch StartUp Britain campaign
Earlier this year, I was one of a number of entrepreneurs that met with Lord Young to discuss enterprise in the UK.
We left that meeting with a shared view that if you want...
March 2011
3 posts
Keep your enemies close
How government can hit bureaucracy for six by Michael Hayman, March 2011
The prime minister recently used the Conservative Spring Conference in Cardiff to declare war on “the enemies of enterprise”. In so doing he has put the spotlight on the ghostly public servants that he believes lurk in the shadows and hold back British business.
The Guardian’s leader in response was predictable...
Bring on the wonder kids
Real Business March 2011 - by Michael Hayman
A new nationwide initiative for enterprise education, Tenner Tycoon, launched today. For one month, up to 40,000 school students will be challenged to see just how enterprising they can be with £10. It’s a campaign I am proud to be involved with as it’s a fun way for children to learn about the value of money and the possibilities of...
How to make a killer comeback
REAL BUSINESS - 1st March - by Michael Hayman
Former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson once offered this gem: “They all have a strategy until they get hit.” The same applies in business.
Clever communication
Business owners can make a comeback through clever communication. Look at another fighting legend, Muhammad Ali – this is the man who got the power of message, of the...
February 2011
3 posts
Recovery needs to be back in fashion
REAL BUSINESS FEBRUARY 2011 BY MICHAEL HAYMAN
London Fashion Week is almost upon us, and once again it’s set to dazzle and amaze. Spring is a great time for new styles and the UK is ripe for a makeover with the vibrant colours of recovery.
After all, isn’t the seasonal black of recession is “so yesterday”?
“Dress cute wherever you go, life is too short to blend...
Entrepreneurs Selling Entrepreneurs
Friday, 4th February 2011
How General Petraeus inspired the next Saatchi & Saatchi by Donata Huggins
“I phoned Nick and said: it’s General Petraeus, he’s the man! This is our strategy,” says Michael Hayman, the co-founder of the campaigning start-up Seven Hills. He leans over his honey porridge and the rim of his glasses and says: “You see, General Petraeus – Bush’s general...
Recovery? Follow the yellow brick road
REAL BUSINESS - JANUARY 2011 - MICHAEL HAYMAN
Davos has finished, and as the world’s political and business wizards cast aside their champagne flutes, I can’t stop thinking of The Wizard of Oz.
While the emerald city of Davos debated the gripping title of “Shared norms for the new reality”, the underlying narrative was a story of courage overcoming fear and triumph over...
January 2011
12 posts
Partnerships: Starting-Up With Flair
DIRECTOR - FEBRUARY 2011 Nick Giles and Michael Hayman interviewed by Richard Cree
A masterclass from Doug Richard convinced two senior PR executives that entrepreneurship and enterprise would be the focus of their newly launched Seven Hills communications group
Nick Giles We first met when Michael joined the PR firm Abacus in 1998. I had already been there for about 18 months, working...
Have the Met become the Millwall of public...
The Met Needs A Premier League Message Argues Michael Hayman
Thoughts from tonight’s BBC interview
“Everyone hates us but we don’t care” is the anthem of Millwall fans. My fear is that in recent days it may well have been adopted by the senior offices running the Met.
I have just left an interview with BBC London and was asked to address the question, ‘is the Met in crisis?’
My...
Going for gold: what makes a winner?
Michael Hayman interviews World Champion Heptathlete Jessica Ennis in association with the Financial Times
“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. You can’t hit what you can’t see”. These are the words of Mohammed Ali, one of the immortal greats. But how much of what we remember is his sporting prowess or just the sheer showmanship of the master communicator?
I suspect it is an element...
THE LIFE OF A PAMPERED POOCH
I was featured in The Times with my Welsh Terrier, Dora. Here I explain why a man’s best friend is his Mutt!
“Claire loves her as much as I do. I’m pretty sure that if I hadn’t had Dora at my side during my proposal of marriage it may have been a completely different story! Whenever we’re away both Claire and I miss her more than words can ever explain. She’s the original pampered ...
A family that works together, stays together
In our house we believe in the adage that “Families that eat together, stay together.” I think that the world of work could take a few lessons from the world of home.
Family is one word that may explain why some businesses are called “special”. It isn’t a biological definition, more a state of mind. Not every business has it, but for those that do, it’s...
Time To Get Tax In Tune
JANUARY 2011 - REAL BUSINESS - MICHAEL HAYMAN
In a bid to beat the VAT rise, I used the new year break to turn my back on the age of austerity. One of my chief treats was the recently released Beatles collection on iTunes.
It has, as part of it, the album Revolver, released in 1966. One of the big hits of that record was “Taxman”.
Talk about history repeating itself. How do these...
A silent CEO is a dead CEO: a lesson in...
DECEMBER 2010 - REAL BUSINESS - MICHAEL HAYMAN
Donald Trump is back in the news. Pity the poor sand dunes of Eastern Scotland, but Trump has not only bulldozed natural beauty into golfing fairways, he has also just about flattened his opposition with a communication blitzkrieg.
Flamboyant and forceful, he is definitely the strongest cheese of corporate leadership. You either love him or...
Young business beasts will define 2011
DECEMBER 2010 - REAL BUSINESS - MICHAEL HAYMAN
Flying up in the lofty blue skies, the doves and hawks are locking talons over economic policy; on the open plain of the markets the bulls are battling the bears; and on the mean city streets the fat cats are being told to forget the cream of the Christmas bonus.
Look carefully at the commercial savannah and you might also see a new species,...
Never had it so good: It should be a debate not a...
NOVEMBER 2010 - BUSINESS ZONE - MICHAEL HAYMAN
“I have considered my position overnight and in view of the reaction to the reporting of the interview I gave earlier this week feel that it would be right to resign forthwith from my position as your adviser.” With these words the UK loses its enterprise tsar and is, in my view, all the worse for it. It is not least because the...
