Chris Skinner's blog

Shaping the future of finance

History

Who’s who on a banknote: Jane Austen versus George Best

For us Brits, we pride ourselves on having famous figures from history on our bank notes. Some are more historical than others, and some are even still alive so, if you're interested, here's how the nations of Britain celebrate their heroes through their bank notes. The Who’s Who of UK Banknotes [Infographic] by the team…

The Who’s Who of UK Banknotes

Is this a bank branch I see before me?

I was going to blog about something ephemeral, academic, insightful and rich today … but then realised that I’m feeling energised by a relaxing weekend in Stratford, the home of Shakespeare, and felt it worth blogging about a few things that were intriguing there. One of the most intriguing things in Stratford is HSBC’s bank…

Shakespear branch

Sir Ranulph Fiennes caught trying to rob a bank

Like others in the conference hall, I felt a sense of awe as the world’s greatest living explorer, Sir Ranulph ‘Ran’ Fiennes, took to the stage to recount some of the stories about his life and travels, including the day he was in court over trying to rob a bank.  Bear in mind, this is…

Ranulph Fiennes

400 years of boom and bust

I just had a quick tour of the British Museum inspired by an article I read in The Telegraph about their exhibition of British bubbles and bankruptcies.  The exhibition traces back schemes from the 1600s, such as the Darien Disaster, right through the Railway Mania and Overend and Gurney Bank failure of 1866 through to Northern…

Entr

400 years of boom and bust

I just had a quick tour of the British Museum inspired by an article I read in The Telegraph about their exhibition of British bubbles and bankruptcies.  The exhibition traces back schemes from the 1600s, such as the Darien Disaster, right through the Railway Mania and Overend and Gurney Bank failure of 1866 through to Northern…

Entr

Try to destroy yourself … and then do it

One of the panellists at this week’s conference said that he employed twenty people whose sole duty was to find a way to destroy the business. I liked the idea of that.  It is a strong and emotive statement.  But what did he mean? “I employ twenty people in my innovation department who purely look…

First digital camera

Try to destroy yourself … and then do it

One of the panellists at this week’s conference said that he employed twenty people whose sole duty was to find a way to destroy the business. I liked the idea of that.  It is a strong and emotive statement.  But what did he mean? “I employ twenty people in my innovation department who purely look…

First digital camera