Quotes from the CBI conference

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‘I believe this is what is known as an away fixture.’
Brendan Barber, TUC general secretary.

‘Male, pale and stale.’
Kieran Poynter, UK chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers, describing the state of diversity among senior management at PwC.

‘I eliminated 10,000 civil servants. In France, it is possible to initiate change and still be popular.’
Nicolas Sarkozy, French finance minister on government efficiency drives.

‘My understanding of business is you don’t start by saying ‘these jobs will go and let’s work out how to deliver once we’ve got rid of them’, you actually start from new working methods, new working practices and assess the consequences.’
Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, on the civil service efficiency drive.

‘Business and people are the same thing.’
Digby Jones, director general of the CBI.

‘We need to ensure that those who take risks see the rewards – and for those who took a chance and fail, allow them to regroup and do it again, albeit learning their lessons from their failure.’
Ben Verwaayen, Chief executive, BT plc, on how to encourage entrepreneurship in your business.