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Nostalgia is a funny old thing. People’s shock at the news Woolworths is in serious trouble is bizarre, but very British.

How on earth could 99-year-old high street national institution Woolworths be in trouble? How can this have been allowed to happen? Don’t kids buy pick ‘n’ mix anymore?

Without getting into the real financial mess behind Woolworths’ woes and its £100m pensions deficit, is it really a surprise a shop which has no real USP other than a tired brand is struggling?

Almost all its core audience know they can buy the same products for less at Tesco or online, or visit a specialist niche retailer offering wider choice, superior service and increasingly sexier shopping environment.

Like fellow dinosaur WH Smith, there’s no longer a compelling reason to shop at Woolworths where choice is limited, price is either high or representative of low quality. Both shops' only value are their prime locations making them convenient to visit for low cost urgent buys and of interest for a buy-out.

Aside from the redundancies and knock-on blow to suppliers (and that's a big aside), does it matter it if these dinosaurs become extinct?

It shouldn’t. Red phone boxes and routemaster buses, though, now that’s a scandal...

Have you been mugged for your Oyster card? If you have, Transport for London (TfL) knows how you feel.

What exactly was TfL thinking about five years ago when it brokered the deal with Transys, the supplier consortium that manages its Oyster card system?

Let’s forget the software crashes, allegations of hacking, corrupted cards and security concerns. Transys paid for that this week when TfL cancelled its £100m contract.

Yet, bizarrely, it could be TfL that ends up ruing the split most. Guess who owns the Oyster brand TfL has spent five years marketing and covering the Capital’s transport network with? Yep, you guessed it, Transys.

So after giving out 17 million Oyster cards since 2003, TfL is now locked in talks with Transys over ‘how to ensure the continuation of the brand’. I’m sure a deal will be struck, mainly because it’s too palatable for one not to be, but it’s clear who holds all the, er, cards – and it isn’t TfL.

Perhaps TfL’s chiefs need to take a trip up the Victoria Line to Kings Cross, turn right upon exit and pay a visit to the British Library Business & IP Centre and read up on how to protect their intellectual property.

Needless to say, if you’re thinking of spending the next five years pushing a brand and banging out 17 million related products, make sure you own it!

Image: Flickr

What’s the first thing us Brits do in a crisis? Make a brew, of course.

That could be the explanation behind a healthy jump in profits at tea and coffee specialist Whittard of Chelsea, which appears to be making rich trade as a result of the economic downturn.

It seems caffeine addicts are saving their pennies by getting their fixes at home instead of the high street. Sales of coffee are up 15% on last year at Whittard, while coffee-making equipment is up 11%, cafetieres 7% and milk frothers 4%.

Whittard is just the latest credit crunch winner. Ryanair reported a 19% rise in passengers in July, while Travelodge and Haven have seen a jump in bookings from holiday seekers unable to afford foreign holidays this year.

Budget supermarkets Aldi and Lidl are booming, while DVD sales and pizza delivery are also on the up as 'nights in' become the new 'nights out'.

It seems the UK consumer is prepared to economise however they can – Superdrug has even reported a 15% rise in condom sales!

Image: Flickr

How come domestic energy suppliers have to publish their tariffs, but business suppliers don't? Why do domestic contracts allow people to switch every 28 days, businesses have to sign-up for inflexible long-term deals?

Two very valid questions posed by the British Chambers of Commerce, which is campaigning for new measures to help businesses deal with exploitative energy companies.

Well done to the BCC for flagging this. More than 32,000 businesses every year phone energy regulator Ofgem, seeking help and advice with their bills and providers.

David Frost, director general of the BCC, says: “With the economy slowing and energy bills on the rise it is totally unacceptable that hard-pressed businesses are left so open to exploitation.”

Here, here – let’s hope the BCC isn't wasting its energy and Ofgem and the government are listening.

Image: Flickr

Need a holiday? Hell yes! Feel like you’re able to take one? Hell no!

I hear entrepreneurs say this all the time. The ambitious highfliers running fast-growth companies haven’t got a gap in their diaries for a frapacuino in the sun let alone a whole week, while the sole traders and micro businesses are working on such limited resources they’ve often resigned themselves to a life without breaks.

Now we all know only life coaches believe in ‘escaping the rat race or 9-to-5’, but surely one of the chief motivations to start your business was to enjoy your life more than if you worked for someone else – at what point does this get lost?

In the middle of an economic downturn when the pressure is on, margins are squeezed and you’re livelihood is at stake, is the probably the very real answer.

However, there comes a point where not taking a break can be bad for your business. Mainly because it’s bad for you.

The Shaw Trust a charity which has launched a free online resource to help employers reduce mental illness in the workplace, says stress and mental health problems are on the increase as a result of increasingly pressured working conditions.

If anything, it’s worse for you lot at the top carrying the burden of the whole company’s survival and your employees’ welfare.

Swanning off to the Bahamas for a month while they worry about redundancies mightn't be too sensible, but taking a few days off to recharge your batteries, look at the bigger picture and come back refreshed with a host of new ideas to the take the company forward could help everyone.

Glasses Direct founder Jamie Murray Wells has ended his search for a CEO, appointing Advertising.com’s UK MD Kevin Cornils.

Back in March, Jamie announced that he intended to step away to the role of executive chairman and partner with a CEO to “help me lead the company as we continue to establish the brand as a global leader”.

Launched in 2004, the company’s budget online specs were an immediate hit with everyone but its high street competitors who tried in vain to shut it down and promptly saw its founder scoop a host of entrepreneur awards.

Despite raising £6m from VCs and driving turnover in the millions, the company has yet to hit profitability and has seen a number of copycat competitors launch in its space. This, the fact he’s still only 25, and a tabloid snapping Jamie out on the town with on-off girlfriend of Prince William, Kate Middleton, led to a few rumours the move confirmed today wasn’t all his own choice.

Blog Smarta’s no celebrity gossip column so doesn’t wish to comment. Instead, we’ll consider that perhaps Jamie’s simply realised inside four years what it takes many entrepreneurs a lot longer to fathom: he can’t do everything and is better off concentrating on his strengths.

If that’s the case, Cornils sounds a shrewd appointment. With a track record of web successes, he most recently joined Buy.at to work with the founding partners, taking it to the US and tripling it in size before selling to AOL’s Advertising.com.

With a site redesign, fresh branding (see above) and some cool new features including a virtual mirror that lets Glasses Direct customers upload photos and ‘try on’ different specs all imminent, the company now looks geared to embark on the next phase of its growth.

It’s been said before that celebrity entrepreneurs are the new celebrity chefs. It was with interest then that I read comments in today’s CityA.M. from Herbert Berger, Michelin-starred head chef at London’s lauded One Lombard Street, condemning the fame hungry antics of his peers.

After labelling some of TV’s biggest stars ‘spoilt divas’, ‘petulant children’ and ‘attention seekers’ he asserts: “It is time for the profession to return to the kitchen and decide between food or fame. Let’s return some dignity to what is – for some of us at least – a civilised profession.”

I think we can safely say Gordon Ramsay won’t be losing too much sleep over Berger’s outburst; while the argument celebrity chefs have done anything other than strengthen the food industry is tenuous at best.

For entrepreneurs though, there might be a stronger case. Earlier this week I sat with two bosses of ambitious, expanding companies who’ve both done a bit of TV, as they concurred neither of them was in a rush to do anymore.

“It might give you profile but profile doesn’t run your business or generate profit,” was the consensus.
One was at the meeting having turned down a show due to hit ITV’s schedule in the autumn because it involved eight weeks away filming – what entrepreneur can happily take EIGHT weeks out of their business?!

Before you start throwing the now household names of Dragons’ Den or Alan Sugar at me, they don’t count. They’ve made their fortunes, they’ve nice big senior management teams taking care of the day-to-day. In turn, I'm sure it's not the Gordon Ramsays of the food world, Berger's vitrol is aimed at.

Mind you, I’d question if even Gordon or ‘Sir Alan’ would be comfortable with leaving their businesses for eight weeks.

Celebrity? You can keep it.

Last night’s Dragons’ Den was a classic, with two DD firsts and one poor guy being practically set alight by the dragons' fury!

First, Clive Billing was offered a DD record £255,000 for a 40% stake in his online jewellery retailer Diamond Geezer from Peter Jones, James Caan and Theo Paphitis – and then turned it down! “I’ve no regrets whatsoever, it wasn’t a fair offer,” said Clive, who was holding out for 20%, after the show.

He’s confident he’ll get a better deal elsewhere. Given Clive only made £3,000 from £1.6m turnover last year and has liabilities of approx £300,000, we’re not so sure! And fancy passing up on the opportunity of adding three dragons to your board!

The unique aspect to Peter Jones’s £75,000 investment for 35% of Victoria McGrane’s fledgling fashion company Neurotica was that she’d only asked for £56,000! While one by one the other dragons balked at Victoria’s obvious failure to budget for stock to meet supply orders, Peter readily upped his offer to account for the oversight.

While hardly a first, the dragons were also at their fiercest best. Diamond Geezer Clive got a stern reprimand from Deborah Meaden for having broken the show rules by previously contacting her, while unimpressed Duncan assured him the pleasure in their meeting was all Clive's.

The real pasting was saved for Richard Mire and his Screen Machine idea to help parents control children’s TV viewing. The dragons’ nonplussed reaction was just the start; the real action began when Richard revealed his other business made £300,000 last year.

“Get out of here. GO AWAY!” screamed Theo, repeating it several times. When the chorus of abuse subsided, James Caan spelled out Richard’s crime for him: “So this is such a amazing idea you want to put £2,500 in for 85% and I’m going to put in £150,000 for 15%?! I’m a bit disappointed that you think we’re that stupid.”

Duncan Bannatyne quickly lowered the tone again, sending Richard packing with possibly the hardest exit line in DD history: “I wish you absolute failure. I hope it doesn’t take off. I hope people don’t buy it, I hope it fails. I think it’s ridiculous.” Just in case that didn’t fully clarify where he stood, Duncan added the all too familiar “I’m out.” Harsh. But, on reflection, probably fair.

If you missed, catch it iplayer until Monday.

Brits are pitching their tents and going camping for their summer holidays this summer. Entrepreneurs will be joining in too with September marking the return of last year’s highly-successful Seedcamp, where a more familiar form of pitching will be on the agenda.

The week-long experience will see 20 selected start-ups undergo an intensive investment-readiness programme, with the help of a diverse mentor network of serial entrepreneurs, corporates, product designers, venture capitalists, recruiters, marketing specialists, lawyers and accountants.

At the end of the week, five of the companies will win €50,000 in exchange for a 10% stake. Those five then get the same ecosystem of experts for an extended three-month tutorship which, in addition to more intensive scaling up, includes two investor presentation days.

Organised by Index Partner’s Saul Klein, founder of Video Island and former VP of marketing and e-commerce at Skype, Seedcamp has representatives from Google, Microsoft, NESTA, Cisco and Mizilla on its advisory board.

If you’re an early stage idea and meet Seedcamp’s flexible criteria, you’ve got just under two weeks to apply.

Oh, and don't forget those tentpegs...

Image: Flickr

A novel idea it might be, but I can’t see the Sony Reader catching on.

The ebook that stores 160 downloadable novels hit UK stores this week. Priced at £199 and weighing 250g, every battery charge allows 6,800 page turns.

Now I might be missing something here, but when would you ever need, or more importantly, want access to 160 novels? Possibly if you were circumnavigating the globe or locked in a world of 24hr Big Brother, I suppose. And if you did why would you want to read them via screen and have to manually click for a new page every 17 lines or so?

OK so it’s easy to say it now, but MP3 players worked because they improved the alternative experience. We love being able to shuffle, flick and rotate our record collections, while 8,000 7” vinyls and a turntable always were a bit of a bitch to get on the bus.

MP3 players also worked because iPod made them look cool as funk. The ebook looks like an Etch-A-Sketch in a cheap suit.

Great ideas are solutions to problems and improve experiences. It feels like the ebook is a semi-solution searching for a problem that doesn’t exist.