Real Business

School kids should be allowed to be entrepreneurial, argues Pimlico Plumbers founder Charlie Mullins.

Topics: Sales & Marketing

Instead of building confidence in the markets, Bank of England governor Sir Mervyn King seems intent on talking us into a recession, says Pimlico Plumbers boss Charlie Mullins.

It became crystal clear last week that the Labour Party doesn’t understand business. Hardly surprising seeing as most of them have never done a hard day’s work in their lives.

While listening to the debate on the radio about quantitative easing, Pimlico Plumbers boss Charlie Mullins decides to take matters into his own hands and set up a bank.

Pimlico Plumbers founder Charlie Mullins met David Cameron and George Osborne last week to discuss the country's unemployment rates and apprenticeship schemes. Here's how it played out.

Topics: Management & HR

UK GDP will continue flatlining until next year. But that's better than the sharp dive towards the "double dip" we all fear, says Pimlico Plumbers boss Charlie Mullins.

Topics: Finance

How to wean benefit junkies off their regular fix of government handouts.

Topics: Management & HR

The majority of small business owners can’t bear to leave their work behind when they take a vacation. Guilty?

Topics: Management & HR

Last week's A-level results – and the subsequent mad dash for university places – highlights why going to university isn't good for business.

The UK riots may have exposed the "slow-motion moral collapse" of society but they also highlighted the grit and fighting spirit of British business owners.

Topics: Management & HR

Bosses across the country will have given a collective cheer at the result of the Tim Watts vs Debbie Smith tribunal. False claimants (or "vexatious spongers") need to be taught a lesson.

Topics: Management & HR

Lord Digby Jones is on to something with his view that kids should be allowed to leave school at 14 to get a job and trade. And the evidence landed on my desk this week.

Topics: Management & HR

US movie Horrible Bosses is a comedy full of exaggerations but it raises the question: is it really so wrong for a boss to be tough and say what he or she thinks?

Topics: Management & HR

More bad news for the high street as Homeform, the company behind bathroom brand Dolphin and Kitchens Direct, goes down the plughole. The demise of these plumbing-related firms made me sit up and take notice.

Topics: Management & HR

If very mediocre "universities" can charge £9k a year for degrees that guarantee nothing apart from a piece of paper at the end, what's a plumbing qualification, with a guarantee of work for life, worth?

Topics: Management & HR