Alastair Thomson @FinanceDirCFO Twitter profile

Last Seen Profiles

@GridStudiocc

@carteramanda69

@bokeplokalmalam

@Peaches_KM13

@terusbersinar07

@yaiizafernandez

@curious_paddy

@bokeplokalmalam

@nomejunio

@Yukisa51_NB

@Acomicfan52

@ChintanParikh10

@mixtape615

@ZWH_Himalaya

@tiramvi

@sakimichanmale

@MohsinUrologist

@CuriousKitX

@LeisureLano

@meiridasai666

@AlryPasutri

@joeyblizzzard

@VertigoRel

@hnnn01

@gobelz_

@giraffe_sama

@WrenSpecialty

@dog_cat_support

@Sebastian_S8

@clawdez

@roman_paqr

@bokeplokalmalam

@kaerugb3spike

@mionmol

@cukienaknikmati

@brsileirissimos

Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

2 years

Ian Wright playing a real blinder as he rips into the FA, sponsors, clubs and TV companies for not doing enough to support women's football... It shouldn't be unusual to see such wholehearted support from a well known figure in the game, but apparently it is. Well done, Ian...

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

8 months

Well if that's not worth a spontaneous round of applause from passers-by, I don't know what is...

Julia Proofreader

@ProofreadJulia

8 months

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

5 months

Smartest comment I've seen on this subject yet...

Eric Alper 🎧

@ThatEricAlper

5 months

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

2 years

I know politicians are a bit dim as a rule, but preventing people coming here from overseas, then proposing that the solution to labour shortages in the care home sector is to hire people from overseas is next level dim....

Care homes should give hiring foreign workers a go, says minister

Helen Whately reveals her tips for tackling staff shortages and acknowledges ‘great challenges’ facing the social care sector

www.telegraph.co.uk

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

9 months

Funnily enough, it ran pretty well in 2010. Can't imagine what might have happened in the meantime...

Farrukh

@implausibleblog

9 months

Shaun Bailey, "The NHS is run horrifically. It is only system in the world. Nobody has copied this. There's a reason for that. And we need wholesale change in the NHS if we are to pay anybody properly" #DoctorsStrike

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

3 years

In purely governance terms, this is troubling. Subordinates investigating their own boss would be considered completely unacceptable in a FTSE100 business. Can't think of any reason why it should be considered acceptable in government.

Jo Maugham

@JolyonMaugham

3 years

"Sue Gray is an immensely capable investigator but one has to recognise that two of the principal actors here – the PM and the cabinet secretary, effectively her bosses – are now deeply implicated in the inquiry."

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

9 months

Donating money to a political party should disqualify you from the honours process, esp for HoL appointments. Applies to union barons, think tank founders and billionaires alike. Often this is just a shabby "repaying the favour" transaction.

Paul Lewis

@paullewismoney

9 months

Cash for honours claim as Conservative donors get their New Year rewards

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

1 year

For the umpteenth time, it becomes apparent that nobody thought any of this through. Not even for a moment. It's so painful that our politicians...on all sides of the House...are this stupid...

Anand Menon

@anandMenon1

1 year

'the UK quit the EU’s...chemical management system but has repeatedly delayed the introduction of its own arrangements after a gov impact assessment discovered it would cost the industry £2bn to duplicate..data already held in Brussels.' H/T @pmdfoster

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

9 months

Very hard to avoid coming to the conclusion that nobody in govt has a clue what they're doing from one moment to the next...

Ed Conway

@EdConwaySky

9 months

Btw let's not forget that the main reason govt eventually approved the Whitehaven mine in Cumbria was to produce coking coal for blast furnaces. Yet now the UK looks set to shut down all its blast furnaces this looks doubly odd. Certainly smacks of a lack of any guiding strategy

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

1 year

@nazirafzal Respectfully, it makes an even stronger case for abolishing Boris Johnson, a man who has debased the public realm more than any other politician in my lifetime. (The concept of a second chamber is a good one. Just not one stuffed with cronies, dodgy funders and fellow travelers)

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

4 years

If you can put aside any prejudices you have about the DM to read this article from @afneil , it's worth your time I'm less optimistic than he is in the short term, but he correctly identifies both the opportunities and the potential downsides imho

ANDREW NEIL: Yes, Britain CAN spring back!

ANDREW NEIL: The future might not be as unfamiliar as we think. We're just going to reach it sooner than we thought, pre-pandemic.

www.dailymail.co.uk

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

9 months

Think we can expect to see a lot more of this from the world's top, non-UK universities. Well done, UK govt. You played a blinder in undermining...perhaps fatally...one of our greatest economic and cultural exports - the UK higher education system.

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

2 years

Could we just get Dolly Parton to run the world? I have a feeling it would be a nicer, kinder place if we did ...

Goodable

@Goodable

2 years

BREAKING GOOD NEWS ALERT: Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is partnering with Penguin Random House to give free books to refugee children. The program will provide 200 refugee children in London with a free book every month until they turn five.

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

3 years

Every Finance Director in the land is looking at this and doing the sums. There's a lot more WFH to come...even if just 2/3 days & accepting that it won't work everywhere, for all sorts of reasons. But if you can cut office/facilities costs 30-50%, that's a big deal for most cos

Russ Jones

@RussInCheshire

3 years

Official, my employer is closing the office for good. 18 months of working from home, and costs are lower, productivity is higher, employee happiness is way up, work-life balance is better, and everybody wants to keep working this way. So it's here to stay.

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

10 months

As Chief Secretaries to the Treasury go, this is like the Finance Director telling the Board that the company's finances are absolutely fine at exactly the same moment the Serious Fraud Office turns up in Reception with a search warrant...

Adam Bienkov

@AdamBienkov

10 months

After the Chief Secretary to the Treasury Laura Trott claims the Government is taking "steps to bring the tax burden down", Sky News puts up a graph showing what is really happening.

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

4 years

My goodness, @Telegraph is turning into a real cesspit of racist views...

Mic Wright

@brokenbottleboy

4 years

The Daily Telegraph is Britain’s pre-eminent fanzine for racists.

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

3 years

For a supposed "senior government lawyer before entering parliament" Dominic Raab knows remarkably little about the law...

Jessica Simor KC

@JMPSimor

3 years

@DominicRaab is generating another false narrative; that ‘foreign judges’ in Strasbourg rule over us - they don’t. Parliament decided how influential ECHR judgments should be and in the Human Rights Act provided that they should be persuasive but not binding.

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

5 months

There is no problem currently being experienced by UK citizens which will be solved making it easier for people to gamble away their salary. I can only imagine some gambling firm is paying off a gaggle of MPs to get this through. Otherwise it makes no sense...

Edwin Hayward

@edwinhayward

5 months

"The UK is to lift a ban on the use of debit cards on gaming machines in casinos, pubs and other venues" This couldn't possibly end in tears, now, could it. Why does everything the Tories touch get worse? It's like an anti-superpower.

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

9 months

Exactly this... One woman on her own should not carry the full weight of the country's collective outrage. She deserves a fair measure of the criticism as CEO but plenty of men, business executives and politicians alike, were involved too. They mustn't get let off scot-free...

Otto English

@Otto_English

9 months

Easy to blame one person and hint that by getting someone to hand back a CBE - justice has been done. Easier to do that than to admit that the entire rotten system conspired to bully hundreds of completely innocent people - and that for 14 years the government just sat on it

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

4 years

Better still, we need to pass a law preventing taxpayers' money being used to find party political messages. This is a serious misuse of taxpayers' money and completely unacceptable on any level. (Irrespective of the party concerned...I'd be no happier if a Labour govt did it.)

Jessica Simor KC

@JMPSimor

4 years

If @DailyMailUK has a “paid for partnership” with the British Government - as it says it does - we need to know how much it’s paid, what the agreement says and we need to rename it Pravda.

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

4 years

@chrismohney As a Brit, I can assure you this person strikes a fresh wave of alarm and disbelief in us too... ;-)

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

3 months

. @rorysutherland is spot on with this analysis. I often say that opportunity cost is the biggest cost in any business, and there's usually no-one managing that...

ST

@seyitaylor

3 months

. ⁦ @rorysutherland ⁩ is a gift.

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

7 months

If you only support free speech for people who agree with you, you don't really support free speech at all. As is often the case, cartoonists say it better ...

Jonesy Cartoons

@jonesycartoons

7 months

As this @PrivateEyeNews #cartoon shows, #ToryGaslighting & #Hypocrisy are nothing new... #PritiPatel #ProtestLaw

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

9 months

The question for me is how much further is it possible to "lurch to the right" without falling off the end...

Tim Bale

@ProfTimBale

9 months

"Heavy election defeat could lead to Tory lurch to right, analysis shows" @peterwalker99 ft @DrDavidJeffery

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

6 months

I've loved the line "when the data and the anecdotes disagree, usually the anecdotes are correct" since the first time I heard it. Even though performance metrics are a big part of my job, it's important to know when they're selling you a dummy...

Startup Archive

@StartupArchive_

6 months

Jeff Bezos recounts the time he called Amazon’s customer service number mid-meeting to prove a metric was wrong In the clip below, Jeff tells a story from the early days of Amazon when their metrics said customers waited less than 60 seconds after calling customer service. Yet

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

11 months

Considering it was a comedy show, this scene is one of the most gut-wrenchingly emotional things I've ever seen on TV. The writing, the acting, the concept... everything about it was just perfect. And so desperately, desperately sad...

The King of Blackadder 👑🇬🇧

@pitchblacksteed

11 months

34 years ago this month (November 1989) the last ep of #Blackadder Goes Forth was shown. The brilliant series ended with this moving scene, cementing the legend of the comedy. Vid: BlackadderQtes

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

7 months

I suspect a lot of people... myself included... enjoy Twitter precisely because it *isn't* a video first platform. If I wanted that, I'd spend my time on Insta instead. I'm here for typed words, snarky commentary and dad jokes. None of that works anything like as well on video.

Linda Yaccarino

@lindayaX

7 months

X is becoming a video first platform

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

6 months

As a printing industry veteran, this sort of thing never fails to amuse me...

Stan/Lee

@StanLeeTweets

6 months

Print may not be what it once was, but it's still a great opportunity. One of the things young creatives should be taught is to think about 'the gutter' when laying out a print ad. Looks like the art director at this mag didn't get the benefit of this sort of teaching.

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

2 years

While I've no comment to make on this specific case, if true, this wouldn't be the first tendering exercise to be structured solely to give the appearance of objectivity in justifying a decision that had already been taken to award the business to a particular organisation...

Jo Maugham

@JolyonMaugham

2 years

Here is the so-called tender for a data platform for the NHS. I say 'so-called' because a number of features of the tender make it extremely difficult for anyone but Palantir to win it.

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

2 years

I'm not a medical expert, but from a lifetime running private sector businesses know there are fewer more expensive ways to run an organisation than to stack out every minute of productive capacity. It sounds counterintuitive, but being too busy is high risk, and v expensive...

Dr Dan Goyal

@danielgoyal

2 years

Japan has issued a 'red alert' for their hospitals due to their bed occupancy level reaching 59%. Currently, the UK’s is 94.6%. [1] Why are we not more worried? A thread...

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

1 year

Most people get this completely wrong. It's not that civil service pensions are too high, it's that private sector pensions are too low to sustain people in retirement. Cut pensions today, you increase benefits 20 years from now. Just short-term self-destructive cost savings...

John Ralfe

@JohnRalfe1

1 year

Should I be flattered that @Jacob_Rees_Mogg has pinched/adopted my idea " @jacob_Rees_Mogg said that striking public sector workers should be offered pay rises in exchange for a smaller pension in retirement" ?

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

5 months

Every time I see charts like this, I feel obliged to point out that the real scandal isn't the fees charged by private schools. It's the almost criminal under-investment in state-supported schools and colleges. The green line on that chart is the direct result of govt policy...

Lewis Goodall

@lewis_goodall

5 months

This, by contrast, is one of the very biggest issues in modern British education today.

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

6 months

They don't need to hire experts. I used to run a large call centre and they can have this for free... Just employ enough people to answer the effing phones. We used to answer >80% of calls in 20secs and >95% in 2 mins. Really. Just pay people to do the job. It's not hard...!!!

Sky News

@SkyNews

6 months

Labour hires experts to 'modernise' HMRC and stop people being left 'hanging on the phone'

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

5 years

I know @karaswisher is a tremendous writer, but can we all just take a moment to applaud her use of the expression "disingenuous digital sousaphone"...

Kara Swisher

@karaswisher

5 years

To those hoping @jack would also take action against one of the platform’s most famous rules violators, let’s make one thing clear: @realdonaldtrump can still huff and puff away on his disingenuous digital sousaphone, but his campaign cannot pay to do so.

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

5 months

Almost impossible to overstate how economically self-destructive this idea is ... Both in the short term and the long term...

Jim Pickard 🐋

@PickardJE

5 months

number of international students paying deposits to study at UK universities has “plummeted” after Sunak put restrictions on education visas Enroly said deposits to a sample of 24 British universities had declined 57% year-on-year as of May via @pmdfoster

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

4 years

@rhyswynne Don't want to be picky, because I agree with your general point, but you're comparing company value with income here, which isn't "apples with apples". Games Workshop had a turnover (income) of £250m last year vs the £1bn "income" of the fishing industry. (Trying to be helpful)

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

2 years

The new PM might herald an end to The Star's run of excellent front pages of late, but if this one turns out to be their swansong, today's front page is pretty good as valedictorian addresses go...

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

1 year

Nobody should trust politicians to have anything other than their own best interests at heart. Legal protections like ECHR and the Human Rights Act are important protections for ordinary people. We should be very concerned about politicians wanting to remove them...

sarah murphy

@13sarahmurphy

1 year

If a politician is pushing to leave the ECHR or dismantle the Human Rights Act and the Equality Act, then they’re basically telling you that your rights are their playthings - there to be exploited, limited or removed entirely because you don’t matter. It’s dangerously deranged.

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

2 years

@Samfr The only people it's unpopular with are commercial property developers who, along with the Russians, fund large chunks of the conservative party... Every CFO I know is eagerly eyeing the opportunity for major cost savings by having at least 2-3 days pw working from home...

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

6 months

I never expected Truss's book to bring me joy. Quite the opposite. And yet it has...in the most unexpected ways...thanks to the legions of satirists who have given it the respect it deserves...

HENRY MORRIS

@mrhenrymorris

6 months

Liz Truss's 'why me?' reaction to the Queen's death is quite the thing, but what she then goes on to reveal is equally eyebrow raising.

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

3 years

Breaking my social media fast today to say #CheersCaptain to @ScotStratGuy and send my best wishes to his family and all who knew him. Rest in peace, Murray...

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

1 year

It doesn't matter how beautiful your Tufton St think-tank's theory for creating a vibrant, wealthy economy is. If it means that millions of children starve and millions of adults can't afford a roof over their heads, it's wrong. In that simple statement is the key to economics.

Prof. Feynman

@ProfFeynman

1 year

It doesn't matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn't matter how smart you are. If it doesn't agree with experiment, it's wrong. In that simple statement is the key to science.

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

3 years

Very clever...(when you see it, you see it...)

Britt Cobb

@thebrittcobb

3 years

On the record here: This is the best airport logo of all time.

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

1 year

Why don't we have good ideas like this...?

Marc A. Ross

@marcaross

1 year

Bold.

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

2 years

@gavinesler He doesn't want to set any precedents for UK politicians being prosecuted for, say, taking dirty money from shadowy foreign govts or giving their mates £millions in "under the table" PPE contracts, that's all. If an ordinary citizen would be prosecuted, so should a politician..

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

1 year

The quote about the DfE "not being the responsible body for schools" rather makes me question what the hell the actual Department for *Education* and thinks it *is* responsible for? If true, though, we can fire the ministers and all the civil servants and be no worse off.

Sam Coates Sky

@SamCoatesSky

1 year

If you watch one thing today, it should be @SophyRidgeSky interview with Education Secretary Gillian Keegan. One of the best interviews I’ve seen, a compelling - and at times tense - watch though all credit to her for coming in

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

3 years

@mikegalsworthy If I was looking for corruption in relation to PPE, I wouldn't be looking at doctors, like my wife, who risked her life to save others due to inadequate PPE. I'd be looking at his own colleagues passing £millions in contracts via all manner of dodgy middlemen...

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

6 months

Completely agree. Free markets are great for things like getting a loaf of bread to your local supermarket at a reasonable price. But the marketisation of (eg) education, health and social care has been a disaster. Free markets are good for many things, but not for everything.

Ruth Arnold

@RuthArnold

6 months

Important by @dkernohan Universities should be funded as a public good, true ‘defence of the realm’, an investment in young people individually and a secure, sustainable, better future. I believe this as I also believe in public libraries and funded school and apprentices.

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

2 years

These are always incredibly well-written, but the expression "witless protection programme" had me choking on my tea...

HENRY MORRIS

@mrhenrymorris

2 years

The latest postcard from London from the Papua New Guinea Courier's person on the Home Front.

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

2 years

@DanNeidle Keep fighting the good fight there, Dan...! Innocent people never mind providing evidence that proves their innocence...

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

1 year

This is a dreadful scandal. The Post Office executives at the time should be in jail for what they did to hundreds of innocent men, women and families...

Hundreds of lives ruined. Not a single person held to account. And still: silence on the Post...

Horrific detail piles on horrific detail as the inquiry rumbles on, says Guardian columnist Marina Hyde

www.theguardian.com

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

3 years

This is the key point. Nothing the EU would like more than us shooting ourselves in the foot again to increase costs and complexity for British businesses looking to do business internationally. We desperately need at least 1 or 2 people in govt who know what they're doing...

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

4 years

Whoever did this is a genius...

Andrew Tenzer

@thetenzer

4 years

Brilliant.

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

1 year

Not so long ago, a politician caught doing this would have been forced to resign. One of the worst parts of the last 13 years has been the normalising of appalling personal behaviour like this...

Alex Taylor

@AlexTaylorNews

1 year

"They don't share British values" she said ...

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

2 years

Wild celebrations in the Thomson household this morning... My wonderful son's first choice university place has been secured! Good luck to all the other parents and students in the land this morning! (I say "wild"...I'm having a cuppa, but it's the thought that counts...)

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

3 years

This is the sort of humour I'm here for... ;-)

Judy Gombita

@jgombita

3 years

Someone posted that they had just made synonym buns. I replied "you mean just like the ones that grammar used to make?" I am now blocked.

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

2 years

Dogs are always a better judge of character than the editor of the Daily Mail...

One of the Family

@OneoftheFamily1

2 years

❤️

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

7 months

Always a good idea to run your proposed brand name past the most immature person in the office to see if they spot something everyone else missed...

sᴜᴘᴇʀ ᴛᴠ

@superTV247

7 months

🚨 | BBC confirm WHOROVISION NIGHT! 🇬🇧 On the night of the #Eurovision 2024 Grand Final, #DoctorWho makes its explosive return with a double bill - that’s Saturday 11th May! For the first time ever in a global premiere, both episodes will premiere on BBC Player at midnight!

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

3 years

@emmavj Strong "all the priests in the ladies underwear department" scene from Father Ted vibes ...

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

1 year

Important reminder. Don't believe any politician who tells you the cost of living is coming down. It isn't. It's just not going up as fast as it was. If something cost £1.00 2 months ago, £1.50 last month, and £1.75 today, the rate of increase is down but the cost is still up.

Paul Lewis

@paullewismoney

1 year

The cost of living is NOT coming down. It is is still going up but at the same rate as a month ago. So your £1 coin a year ago is worth about 93.5p now.

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

3 years

Worth 82 seconds of your time...

Simon Gosden. Esq. #fbpe 3.5% 🇪🇺🐟🇬🇧🏴‍☠️🦠💙

@g_gosden

3 years

Rory Stewart is on fire!

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

10 months

This is getting a lot of love around the Twitterverse today... deservedly so...

Joanna Wake

@JoannaTees

10 months

The loveliest Christmas advert I’ve seen this year ❤️ Adults, please do talk to strangers, it could make their day, and yours. Our pubs truly are so much more than places to get a drink.

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

2 years

@ProfTimBale If you only support free speech when it's from someone who agrees with you, you don't support free speech at all...

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

2 years

Pleased to inform you that my washing machine, which set off on what it claimed to be a 2hr 17min wash cycle 3 hrs and 20 mins ago now only has 33 mins left before it's finished...

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

2 years

An icon...

best of debbie harry

@bestofdebbie

2 years

Debbie Harry photographed by Chris Stein

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

2 years

Govt generally assumes people who don't work full time are being self-indulgent or capricious. In my experience, they're generally making a logical and sensible economic decision. Why policymakers don't realise this is beyond me...

‘It’s just not worth it’: why full-time work no longer pays in the UK

Britain has a shrinking economy and a worker shortage – so why aren’t part-time workers increasing their hours?

www.theguardian.com

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

11 months

To believe this, you'd need to believe Rishi is in control of global commodity prices, the war in Ukraine and US interest rates policy...when we all know he's not even in charge of his own cabinet. Good that inflation is down. Rishi has had little or nothing to do with it...

Tim Bale

@ProfTimBale

11 months

I think they mean "The Bank of England has....", no?

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

1 year

@ThatEricAlper Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's...

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

1 year

I don't know why politicians find this so hard to grasp... If you want more engineers, you need to invest in training up the teachers to teach engineering. Then you need to pay them fairly so they spend their entire career in the teaching profession. This really isn't hard...

Darren Hankey

@HCFEprincipal

1 year

An issue in FE as well especially in areas such as construction, engineering, health & digital. A significant lack of investment over the last decade or so is taking its toll.

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

8 months

Thought for the day if you're recruiting... ;⁠-⁠)

Eric Alper 🎧

@ThatEricAlper

8 months

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

2 years

@NoContextBrits I worked with a guy who developed a new obsession nearly every week, bought all the gear, turned up to work dressed in motorcycle leathers one week, a fisherman the next, a pilot the week after, etc. He was known as Mr Benn...

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

2 years

Whatever you think about the specifics, there isn't a dad in the land whose heart wouldn't melt at being described in this way by their own son. And that includes me ...

Dr Rachel Clarke

@doctor_oxford

2 years

Gary Lineker’s son, George, speaking in today’s Mirror 👇

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

1 year

I used to run an award-winning 1000-person call centre. While there are challenges in even the best run organisations, the simple truth is that you have to employ enough people to answer the #£&@*)& phones if you want to provide an excellent service. It's really not that hard..

Sarah Waddington CBE 💙

@Mrs_Wadds

1 year

Tory ‘neglect’ blamed for 3.6m abandoned calls to NHS 111 in England < “The data suggests that, on average, more than 10,000 callers hang up every day without receiving medical advice or treatment.”

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

8 months

You've got to be a pretty terrible accountant to think that selling assets to fund ongoing revenue expenditure is a sensible idea...

Ministers plan to push cash-strapped English councils to sell assets

Exclusive: Critics warn of a ‘fire sale’ of public assets under plans being explored by Levelling Up Department

www.theguardian.com

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

2 years

Loving Adam Lambert singing one of my favourite songs of times gone by... #Strictly

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

4 months

As with almost everything in the last 14 years, nobody ever thought anything through properly...

Simon Calder

@SimonCalder

4 months

Hastings MP who campaigned for Brexit has joined calls to ease the travel ban on most EU school groups with ID cards. Sally-Ann Hart's constituency has seen a collapse in EU school groups. She says it is vital that barriers to inbound tourism are removed.

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

2 years

And who doesn't love a good double-entry bookkeeping joke...?

Velina Tchakarova

@vtchakarova

2 years

Internet remains undefeated. #Credit_Suisse

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

2 years

As a professional accountant, I've never known anyone make £multimillion tax decisions without taking advice from top-drawer tax specialists. Any decisions taken in that scenario might, with the benefit of hindsight, be ill-judged, but they're all deliberate, not careless...

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

5 years

Exciting news, Twitter friends. I've got a book coming out on 12th March! I hope you'll forgive me if I mention it occasionally (Ed - often) in the next few days. It's no "Delusions of Brandeur", but I did consider asking @Dr_Draper if I might call it "Delusions of Solvency"...

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

3 years

@BeverleyPalin I usually double my original price in that scenario. Just like airlines, last minute tickets cost a lot more than the ones booked months in advance... ;-)

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

3 years

Well thank goodness the prime minister, a man of unquestionable integrity, has assured us that the UK isn't a corrupt country, otherwise I might suspect there was something unbelievably dodgy going on here...

Pippa Crerar

@PippaCrerar

3 years

EXCL: Tory minister Nadhim Zahawi banked £1.3m from an oil company while working as an MP, but has been able to keep his total second job earnings hidden due to a Parliamentary loophole - story by @NickSommerlad and @tpettifor

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

5 years

Want to know what #leadership doesn't look like? Whoever at @Forbes who signed off on this one...

cindygallop.eth

@cindygallop

5 years

Wow @forbes @jeffrey_dyer @nathan_furr @clefrandt @Mike_Federle . You should be ashamed of yourselves. It's 2019 and America's Most Innovative Leaders is 99 MEN AND ONE WOMAN? Un-bloody-believable. Did no one at Forbes query this? Where were @forbeswomen ?

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

10 months

I'm sorry to say nobody from the Post Office is in prison yet for what they've done Let's hope that happens soon, because this whole episode is a complete disgrace from a publicly-owned organisation which did immense harm to so many innocent people...

Dan Neidle

@DanNeidle

10 months

One of the most depressing things about the Post Office scandal is the number of times the Post Office had the chance to do the right thing, and didn't take it. This is just one more. I'd say it's the "final insult" but it probably won't be.

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

6 months

This is pretty cool...

Science girl

@gunsnrosesgirl3

6 months

A tunnel in Slovakia was turned into a Miele S8 vacuum cleaner pipe, for an advert It appears to vacuum up everything, including cars and trucks

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

10 months

Not sure Oliver realises it's his government's job to make sure there's a sufficient investment in power generation infrastructure to make sure we don't need matches and candles to light our homes...

Britons should stock up on torches and candles in case of power cuts, says Dowden

Analogue advice given by deputy PM alongside measures to better prepare UK for future pandemics, disasters and cyber-attacks

www.theguardian.com

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

11 months

On Remembrance Day, take a moment to read war poets like Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen, Rupert Brook. They served in the trenches and wanted everlasting peace so no-one else would experience what they had. Remembrance isn't about jingoism. It's about the pursuit of peace.

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

6 months

I'm old enough to remember when govts worked out how to deliver their policies and then issued the press release. The current model where you issue the press release first and then try to work out how to make what you've just announced happen is completely insane...

Paul Lewis

@paullewismoney

6 months

Education Secretary blames Labour for failure of nursery and childcare expansion after admitting 40,000 more staff will be needed to make it work

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

3 months

To HR people travelling by train... There's no need to have a conversation on your phone about some of your most difficult casework that the travelling CFO in the seat in front of you can hear every word of. On the other hand, I hope that poor woman's luck turns round soon...

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

9 months

The current govt deliberately took us out of Horizon, belatedly realised how stupid that was, and are now claiming that RE-joining (not joining) is a victory when it's actually a sign of their failure. I'd rather be in than out. But this is a mendacious piece of spinning.

Michelle Donelan

@michelledonelan

9 months

Fantastic opportunities as the UK officially joins Horizon from today 🌍 Alongside the EU and global partners, 🇬🇧 UK scientists, researchers and businesses can lead the way in scientific innovation, creating new jobs and boosting the economy🚀🔬 Apply 👇

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

5 years

The last thing your business needs is another target, metric or KPI to report on. Here's why... #business #Finance #leadership #strategy

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

9 months

Fining homeless people money they don't have, and putting them in prison costing £50k a year rather than spending a hell of a lot less money to provide social housing and decent jobs. Truly we are living in the Age of Insanity...

Crisis

@crisis_uk

9 months

The UK Government is trying to pass new laws that would criminalise sleeping on the streets with a fine up to £2,500, or even prison.

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

2 years

I normally buy Moleskin notebooks, but heard a lot about these so thought I'd try one. My goodness it's gorgeous. Very slightly more expensive, but worth every penny. The pic doesn't do justice to the colour either. Don't think I've ever been this excited about a notebook...!

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

3 years

Well said.. "The damning Post Office judgment also shows what will happen when the power and the urge to prosecute is free from any checks and balances."

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

4 years

Yes, the shocking news that, faced with being deported and split from their families or filling in a bit of paper, people chose to do the paperwork. Only the crazies would see this as any sort of overwhelming endorsement for their position...

Steve Peers

@StevePeers

4 years

Missing the vital context that: a) EU citizens had to apply to stay or they would be expelled; b) Vote Leave reneged on their promises to EU citizens

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

3 years

@campbellclaret Prepared to believe he's done naff-all and hasn't thought about it for a moment since his press conference. After all, he's not exactly been busting a gut to get Nazanin Zaghari-Radcliffe out of the jail sentence he landed her in, is he?

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

1 year

I'm prepared to be corrected on this by anyone who knows more on this subject than I do, but I suspect that once the rain hits the ground, pretty much the same things happen, irrespective of which direction the clouds carrying it had originally come from...

Best for Britain

@BestForBritain

1 year

Environment Secretary Therese Coffey on why better assets were not in place to help residents hit by floods: "Most of our rain comes from the West. This was rain coming from the other way. We don't have quite as much experience on that." 👀 ~AA #StormBabet

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

1 year

As a professional CFO, I see this sort of sleight of hand a lot in business plans and business case investment proposals. Whenever I see someone describe an increased cost as a saving like this, I make a mental note never to trust a single word they say ever again...

Tim Bale

@ProfTimBale

1 year

'[T]he decision earlier this year to introduce a lighter-touch border meant that the figure represented a “saving” for business of £520mn from the original border plans.' @pmdfoster

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

1 year

Call me old-fashioned, but I'm going with a strong "no"... BBC News - Is it OK to let your snakes sunbathe in the park?

Is it OK to let your snakes sunbathe in the park?

A man who takes his snakes to his local public park sparks a debate about what animals are acceptable in public spaces.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

1 year

I always learn so much from @BaytAlFann 's threads. They're always a fascinating insight into a world of which I know very little. Today's nuggets include the reason Arabic is written from right to left...keep reading for that, and many other fascinating facts...!

Bayt Al Fann

@BaytAlFann

1 year

Did you know the Arabic language has an “abjad” system and not an alphabet? The Arabic abjad is made up of 28 letters, written from right to left. All of the letters are consonants, since the vowels in Arabic are denoted by diacritics. A thread on Arabic letters & language…

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Alastair Thomson

@FinanceDirCFO

9 months

Powerful image...

Anthony Sider

@BudgetDude

9 months

Life on Social Media. by Unknown

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