Friday 24th July

If anybody was missing me last week, I am sorry. I had a week off. Mind you, 7 full days of my one year old twin boys was not that restful I can assure you. So what happened whilst I was away? Well, the cost of URA data was announced - it is over £50k if you add on the cost of the accreditation process. I was called 'Mr URA' by somebody the other day, as I do seem to be discussing this topic way too much for my own health (in my head I would have preferred that to have been Mr Universe but then that would be a very large stretch of the truth - certainly better than Mr PVC or Mr QVC... Stop it Paul, you are being silly now).

But in all seriousness I think this figure is very excessive. Organisations that need to take this data to incorporate into existing products that help maintain good credit decisions or compliance processes are not going to be able to pass this cost on at a time when all clients are looking for more value for money. As I struggle to build a business case, I find by chatting to some of my counterparts that they are in the same boat. It would be a strange world where we all know our clients see a benefit for this data but individually we cannot make it pay, so it is parked as a 'project to do when we can see a stronger revenue justification' - they are also in the same file as ‘wouldn't it be good if we could...’

Something else that may have slipped under the radar. It looks like we may get documents that look similar to those published by the Government after the expenses scandal broke. Yep, it turns out people can ask Companies House to rescan old Annual Returns and have the residential address blacked out with a great big black marker pen! Ok, I might be adding to that for dramatic licence but for a fee, it will be possible to reissue Annual Returns with this data expunged. ICC will get a rescan replacement document so once it is changed it is gone forever!

Finally, and perhaps the strangest set of conversations I have had in a while: how do you ensure the project is swine flu proof?! I love this topic because it is so divisive. I must admit I am in the 'it’s gonna happen and there is nothing we can do about it’ camp. But in the spirit of BBC impartiality I do understand why some individuals want to plan for the potential loss of key staff, disrupting the project. The alternatives – from working from home to wearing head to toe body suits - must all be considered (how do you use a keyboard in a full protective body suit?) However, for a small business a few good people down will take its toll. We will of course take precautions and attempt to make sure our delivery is not derailed by swine flu. But I suspect all the planning in the world will never enable us to be completely swine proofed.

Talking of the BBC (I hope you are keeping up), let us be thankful for small mercies. Imagine if Robert Preston had broken the news on swine flu like he did on Northern Rock. By now we would be more sick of his really odd diction telling us the end of the world is nigh than from the illness itself. Moreover the Government would have been injecting every banker in Great Britain with vaccine to ensure the economy was not brought to its knees.

I make no apologies if today’s slab of random thoughts has a more frivolous tone. Hey - it is nearly the silly season, you’re all about to have summer breaks, and you never know what is coming next so to be serious all the time is just bad for one’s mental health.

Now, better put some Joy Division on my iPod and get one’s perspective back on track...