Harry Wallop

“Things work”…until a drone smashes into your kitchen

I am fascinated by the *furious* reaction to FT writing – amid dozens of pieces about the war – an article highlighting Dubai residents scrambling to get back to UAE. To avoid big tax bill.

Wall Street’s 100-hour weeks aren’t ambitious, they’re inefficient If you’re paying top dollar for the services of a high-end banker or lawyer, do you really want them to be so sleep deprived they can’t think straight?

Wall Street’s 100-hour weeks aren’t ambitious, they’re inefficient

www.thetimes.com/article/64e7...

😴 🛌 Sleep. Can your boss demand you don’t sleep. And that you keep working until 4am? Obviously, no.
But what if you’re paid £150,000 a year?

This week’s @thetimes.com biz column. On deeply strange – and inefficient – culture of all-nighters on Wall Street and the City…

I was once a witness in an FBI fraud trial in Texas.

This is the view of many drive-thru’ customers, it would seem

Harry Wallop (@harrywallop) I’ve been fascinated for some time how Britain has embraced the drive-thru’ – even though the statistics suggest car traffic has still not recovered to pre-Covid levels. So I went to Britain’s first ...

I did write about this last year, but would love to know why drive thru in the UK is becoming more popular with consumers.
substack.com/@harrywallop...

Drive-thru! Do you use them? If so, why? I need to know.
📻 I’m on Radio4 #youandyours discussing their increasing numbers in the UK, 12.15pm

Tonight on @Channel4, 8pm, a new series starts: 'Battle of the Brands'. The first episode is Nando's vs KFC.
I am on the show giving my insights into the rise and rise of 🐔on the high street.

They just feel cheap. The cast iron ones have proper heft.

UK launches operation to support thousands of Britons in Middle East Officials are understood to be working on plans to evacuate British nationals, should airspace remain closed.

What's happening in Dubai bolsters the argument taxes should be based on people's nationality, not just their country of residence (ie the US model).

If Brits living abroad can expect to be airlifted out by virtue of being British, they should pay some tax towards that.
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Honestly the collective national level of disdain for Brits living in Dubai on all my social media platforms today really is bringing the UK together as one in a way that's hard to achieve in the modern era.

No. But it’s v low number.
Most new boxes seem to be reconfiguring existing ones to take parcels. Not sure they get a new cypher.

Edward VIII postbox no42. Abbots Langley, Herts. The run took me via the (once) huge egg farm dedicated to producing eggs for Ovaltine, and the handsome 1920s factory (now flats).

Inexplicably, I failed to record Edward VIII postbox no41 on this thread last year. Ramsgate – around the back of the biggest Wetherspoon in UK, with lovely terrace. What more could you possibly want from a day out?
I was sent there by an editor. The box was a bonus.

Well, the controversy at last weekend’s @bafta.org awards has had one effect – I watched ‘I Swear’ last night.
And it’s tremendous.

How HR’s expansion strangled British businesses A think tank says cutting human resources workers would boost the economy by £10 billion but focusing on performance not ‘behaviours’ would be a start

Here’s my column on the problem with HR in the UK.
And why policing behaviour is the workplace is a slippery slope…

www.thetimes.com/article/6dd8...

Is HR holding back British business?

Could the fact that many HR directors now call themselves “Head of People and Culture” be a reason that productivity is so sluggish in the UK?

I’ve written about HR (again) for this week’s @thetimes.com biz column…

Really?! Does AirUp think this will persuade people to buy its product?

Which is a bottle that flavours the air around the nozzle, rather than the water. An overpriced Febreeze for your nostrils – while you drink water.

It’s true. But…I’ve given up @nytimes.com Spelling Bee for Lent. Because I was spending *hours* every day getting to Genius level. Rather than listening to my children. Or working.
Me for D.Mail:

BAFTA is advertising a head of communications job to join “it’s” team.
Pay = £55k. Proof-reading skills obviously not necessary.
Could the v poor handling of this week’s crisis be because it doesn’t pay important staff very well?

I know! I can’t help it.

Gregg is making “mortadella pâté”.

And it reminds me of Bo Beaumont’s “crackamolé” in the unsurpassable Victoria Wood Xmas special.

Anyone else seen ‘How to Get to Heaven From Belfast’? From the same writer/team as Derry Girls. On @netflix.com
Very dark comedy, with gripping plot and some great performances. I binged. But, gosh, I have questions

📻 I’m back presenting @listentotimesradio.bsky.social 1pm - 4pm
– Was The Queen to blame for turning Andrew into the entitled brat he became?
– should venison be on school menus?
– the @bafta.org awards are tonight. Is Jessie Buckley going to win?
And much more! Do tune in…

At the end of the movie Zulu one character says "can't you see it's all over. Your bloody egos don't matter any more"

'Ego' was defined by Freud in 1894. Zulu depicts The Battle of Rorke's Drift in 1879, 15 years earlier

This is brilliant!!

Niche, but films showing old homes and castles lit with dozens of candles.

Most people used rush lights and tallow, while beeswax candles were for the rich, and even they had to save them for special events.

It took to the 18th century for beeswax candles to become generally affordable.

Submarines that ping. You NEVER do that. It reveals where you are.

They always show a circular radar display instead of the 'waterfall' sonar.

Thank you! This is something I would not have noticed