You may have heard the interview on the radio this morning with Sam Laidlaw, Chief Executive of Centrica, in which he defends the 11% increase in profits in the residential arm of British Gas. If not, and you want to listen to it, it's here. The criticism levelled at Centrica, in this interview and more broadly in the press today, is that this level of profits illustrates that the 6% rise in prices to UK customers during the last year was unnecessary, and unfair given the squeeze in disposable income than many people are experiencing.
Mr Laidlaw defends the increase and explains why increased profits are important. During the interview he refers to (admittedly in a slightly different context) it being about a balance and whether you or I agree with his explanations and believe that the balance is right, it's clear that many are questionning it directly as a result of the size of the increase.
And it's yet another example of disquiet about the morality of big business and indeed about society in general. You just have to think back over the last few years to numerous examples: PPI mis-selling, LIBOR fixing, MP's expenses, MP's cash for questions, NoTW phone hacking, the BBC Jimmy Saville affair, Mid-Staff NHS Trust and of course just last week the Chris Huhne's belated guilty plea for perverting the course of justice over a 10 year old driving offence - examples that I could think of off the top of my head in a couple of minutes, and all of which have damaged the level of trust people have in an institution and the engagement they feel with it.
In direct contrast to the negative feelings associated with such stories I came across the story of Billy Ray Harris earlier this week. Billy Ray is the homeless man who has become the centre of a global fundraising campaign after returning a platinum and diamond engagement ring to a bride to be who accidentally dropped it in the cup he was using to collect coins.
After realising it was gone she rushed back to the scene the next day and was overjoyed when Harris had kept the ring and returned it to her. The lady's fianceé Bill Krejci, then set up an online fundraising page to raise money to reward Billy Ray's honesty and people from around the world, warmed by the story, have since been contributing. When I checked a few minutes ago over $164,000 had been donated.
The act of honesty has been described as a 'miracle' by Bill. And yet, Harris himself simply said: "I thank the good Lord for his blessing that I do still have some character".
You can see a video about the story here. It truly is a heart-warming tale and one that has struck a chord with thousands of people, from all over the world. Over 7,000 people have taken the trouble to donate on the GiveForward page that Bill set up.
Whilst all of that is true I do wonder why it has become world news. I don't want to appear cynical (and I'm as touched by the story as anyone else) but I'm sure there are many more people out there who have done similar things and have the same degree of honesty and morality as Billy Ray Harris. Somehow I doubt this would have been such big news in times past. What makes is so special right now is that it's happened at a time when people around the world have become conditioned to expect dishonesty but still desperately want honesty and integrity from people and organisations they want to trust and respect.
Honesty, integrity and doing what's right - the challenge for people and the organisations they are a part of and the opportunity.
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/timhadfield
Twitter: @accordengage
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