Ron Delnevo's Blog

I love Manchester. It is a vibrant City, with some impressive buildings and much excellent redevelopment, especially near the canals. It is also very easy to get around, whether walking, or using public transport. For those who need regular retail therapy, there are many shops to tempt them into another "fix". The only facet of Manchester which is at all disappointing is in relation to eating ....

Had I opted to have a vote in the Scottish Referendum - I could have done so, because I own an apartment in Edinburgh - I would have voted "no". So, as I write this, it is not in the spirit of being a disappointed supporter of independence. Alex Salmond has been portrayed as a broken man, a loser. He is neither. Alex Salmond has spent his life working to give Scotland the opportunity to gain i....

Everything Everywhere is a TERRIBLE name. The clown who thought it up should be painted Orange and forced to walk around the planet forever ( or until his battery runs out; so about three hours, if he talks to himself while he walks). The worst thing about the EE name, of course, is the fact that the company in reality provide Nothing Nowhere. Take the example of today. I have an international....

I travel quite extensively and everywhere I go, I witness the frantic efforts of Visa and other card schemes to persuade the public - you & me - to switch to using cards, rather than cash or any other payment method. So far they haven't succeeded. The full extent of their failure was made obvious a few months ago, when the European Central Bank revealed that 90% of all payments under 20 ....

I am still debating in my own mind whether I can give up the time required to become a member of the Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank of England. That's the group of worthies who decide on the level of interest rates in the UK. Why the doubts? Well, it is a full half day a month commitment (plus added time for travel and picnic lunches in the Governors private garden).I am a very busy man....

It seems that all over the EC, in almost every one of the 28 Member States, there are large sections of the population who seemingly believe their little bit of rock would be better off if it was chiseled away from the European Mountain. Listening to some of the disenchanted speaking is illuminating. Many seem to "blame" Germany for their misfortunes, as if Germans are doing well at the expens....

Even I, a great lover of cash, was somewhat surprised to learn last week from the European Central Bank that over 90% of all retail payments in the EC under 20 Euros are still made using cash. So all of the hundreds of millions of dollars Visa & MasterCard have spent on hyping payment by card has lead to less than a 10% share of this crucial segment of the payments market.  For "spent", should....

The shocking fact and management of the sacking of David Moyes give a stark insight into the modus operandi of the main shareholders, the Glazer family. It, of course, goes without saying that the Glazers have no interest in the sporting values of one of the Worlds greatest football clubs. They bought what they would simply characterise as a strong "franchise", in the same way that less well-fina....

The search is on for the person who will head up the new Payment Systems Regulator. This is a crucial role. The public interest dictates that this is not an "inside" appointment. It will be a disaster if someone gets the job who has made a career of doing the rounds in the payments sector, attending to the needs of  vested interests as required to secure well-paid personal development.  ....

Some people have had bad experiences in their dealings with UK banks in recent years.Then again,many millions of bank customers have had nothing at all to complain about.They have been quietly content with the service they have received. Complaints are noisy -especally when the media take an interest -whereas satisfaction is normally very quiet.When did you ever see a headline " Millions Happy....