Elemental

What I’ve been reading about:

• Home – The British Cartoon Archive – University of Kent – Fantastic social history resource. Past cartoons from most of the major British newspapers.
• Empire building – What if you built a global design business without a global headquarters? The radical new business model of the 139-year-old Adelaide building design practice Woods Bagot could provide the template on how to go global. – A former architect and academic who joined the firm seven years ago, Donaldson says that his role is not unlike the process of designing a building – every day as managing director he is designing a company. Four years ago, Woods Bagot changed its structure from a firm with 14 board members with shareholdings, to 49 principals with shareholdings.
  The change to this model, which is seen more often in law firms, is clearly working. Business is booming, with turnover tripling in the past year and exports now accounting for more than 50% of revenue.
• Cash the king for struggling property firms – Property Week – Cash generating policies include cutting dividends and asset sales, and some companies have had to renegotiate bank facilities to see them through the worst of the cycle.

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