Under promise, over deliver: that might well be the maxim BAA and BA adopt for their next launches."A living, breathing advertisement for Britain's ambition," barked BAA chief Sir Nigel Rudd, as he unveiled the new £4.5bn Heathrow Terminal 5.The Queen heralded the UK’s largest free-standing building as "a 21st Century gateway to Britain".The world’s press frothed at its spaceage curves and the 60,000 people, 100 million hours and five years it had taken to build; the 3,800 car park spaces; 150 check-in desks; 192 lifts; 105 escalators; 13km of rail links; 112 shops and, of course, the ability to process 12,000 bags an hour.So how exactly did T5 go from fanfare to unmitigated PR disaster? What unforeseen circumstances led to 208 flights being cancelled in the first three days and a backlog of 20,000 bags?Not a lot. Staff hadn’t been told where to park for the big opening; they couldn’t find their way to the terminal and didn’t know how to use the new baggage system.BA, the sole operator for T5, admits it could take years to recover from the bad publicity. And for what? A few signs and some basic organisation? How mad is that?Seeing as nobody’s actually died I think we can stop short of claiming it tops the Titanic as the most calamitous launch of all time. But it has to beat the Millennium Dome, because T5 probably isn’t anywhere near as bad as it’s been made to look.Image: Flickr

Depending how old you are you’ll either find this utterly depressing or completely inspiring: a new breed of 15-16 year olds are making in excess of £60,000 by trading online.Gone are the days when teenagers wasted away their parents' income; it seems some are now the chief breadwinners!A report by Virgin Media interviewed 700 teenagers aged between 13 and 18 and found a staggering 43% had made money online in the last 12 months, while 22% had set up their own businesses while still in full-time education.15% reported they were raking in £23 per hour – six times the national minimum wage – with an emerging group of teen tycoons cashing in three times the UK average salary.When the 30-somethings among you desperate to escape employment have finished thumping your heads on your keyboards, you’ll surely agree, albeit begrudgingly, this has to be good news.We blogged earlier this week how businesses needed to adapt to the consumer habits of the first generation raised on the internet, and now we’re beginning to see the emergence of a generation who’ll shape the future.If this report is anything to go by, the future looks entrepreneurial - and that has to be exciting for all of us.

“Mary Poppins I am not.” Now that’s a line…Sir Alan Sugar’s return with the fourth series of The Apprentice last night was pure pantomime. “I’ll fire the bleedin’ lot of you if I have to, I don’t give a shit,” he hollered, trademark pointed finger poised.By this time we’d already been treated to opening gambits from this year’s circus of egotists and careerists:“My strategy is to not only beat the other candidates but thrash them.”“I am a natural born salesman.”“I rate myself as the best in Europe.”“There is something inherently in me which means I have to get to the top.”“I am quite happy to cut people out of my life to succeed and be a winner.”Crikey, talk about setting yourself up for a fall/fool. That’s the point, of course, and this is reality TV. Could The Apprentice get any further away from business?Last night’s task had plenty of lessons of how NOT to do business, I guess. For the record, the girls beat the boys at selling fish in an exhibition of poor leadership, team work, negotiation and, well, common sense.Lawyer Nicholas de Lacy-Brown was the fall guy for pricing lobsters at a fiver and waging an ill -advised class war with northern team leader Alex Wotherspoon.Claiming ‘I like art and can’t relate to people who talk about football’ was never going to wash with barrow boy Sugar, was it?“You weren’t outstanding was you?” was his gruff verdict before delivering the fatal words: “You were devastated at getting a B for GCSE French, so you’ll be devastated with the big F I’ve got for you, YOU’RE FIRED!”It just about beats Eastenders – if you can tell the difference – but business, it is not.

Amenworld, ‘the company that makes it simple for businesses to get started on the 'net’, has launched a 'Support Independent Online Shops' campaign.Cynical publicity stunt? Well, yes, it’s impossible to deny.Impossible for everyone except Amenworld’s marketing honcho Andrew Fassnidge that is, who no doubt dreamt up this cunning PR plan. Except, annoyingly, he does have a point.Armed with a convincing arsenal of stats and reason, Fassnidge argues while there’s plenty of hype over growing online retail sales it’s the big boys increasingly prospering.Plucking one particularly potent point, a survey from Directline.com found consumers were more likely to buy from a "household name" retailer’s website rather than an e-commerce site without a physical presence in the shopping centre.“People buying a pair of socks shop online with Burtons or Marks and Spencer, just because they know the brand name. People could easily choose some individually knitted socks from an independent online craft shop with potentially better quality and value for money,” fires Fassnidge.He’s right. Early internet innovators might have caught high street monoliths napping but it’s increasingly difficult for independents to enter markets with established brands.Not that we’re sure exactly what the ‘Support Independent Online Shops’ campaign will do about this. Its Facebook group currently has 155 excited members sharing their small biz stories while there’s a more muted affair over at MySpace.Ah well, as Henry Ford once said: “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”

Young people are spending in excess of 20 hours a week online, primarily using social networking sites such as Bebo, Facebook, MySpace and YouTube.Most of them use the internet unsupervised, over half admit to having viewed porn, while even more are expected to have browsed content that would have faced restrictions under UK law if screened on TV.Oh and most teenagers have mobiles which they leave on all night in case they’re texted in the early hours.According to the Institute for Public Policy Research, which compiled the research, and much of the press reports on it, the results highlight a growing need to monitor and regulate content viewed by young people.Our thoughts? Well, politics isn’t our game, but one initial thought: 20 hours, is that all?Surely the first generation raised on the internet is spending at least half its waking time online?!Now we’re not claiming to be down with the kidz, but every1 knows TV, print and radio are dead as standalone mediums. What you want you download.Hit TV show Skins screened its first episode on MySpace, while you can now watch on the E4 website or your iPod via iTunes. There’s also whole generation of Lost fanatics taking great pleasure in watching, albeit illegally, series four without replemishing Murdoch’s millions with a Sky subscription.Yet still brands continue to blow millions targetting young people with traditional advertising instead of where it matters: online, social networks and well SEO-ed engaging sites.Pls sA ur nt 1?

Delia Smith's had foodies in a right tizz since advocating the use of frozen mash potato in her TV series and book How To Cheat At Cooking, but the catering queen’s culinary controversies have got at least two companies licking their lips.Aunt Bessie's, which started life making frozen Yorkshire Puddings for Butlin’s holiday camps, has seen sales of its frozen mash rise 1,000% since Delia’s endorsement.Food giant Heinz makes the potato products under license from Hull-based Tryton Foods, with both companies forcasting healthy profits after a helping hand from Delia.Heinz, heard in November that Delia would be recommending the potatoes, and stocked up in preparation, while the supermarkets also pre-empted a rush with Sainsbury’s and ASDA quadrupling their normal orders ahead of the series and book launch.Jane Jones, Heinz’s marketing manager for the Aunt Bessie’s range, told the FT sales of the frozen mash had 'skyrocketed':“Having someone like Delia include our products is fantastic because consumers trust what she’s telling them,” she said.Tryton expects a ‘halo effect’ from Delia’s recommendation to encompass the rest of Aunt Bessie’s range, demonstrating the impact of successful celebrity endorsement - whether the critics agree or not!

Phew! Just as Smarta was about to blog about Robin Klein of The Accelerator Group’s (TAG) claim that “funding for first time entrepreneurs won’t happen anymore”, he’s retracted the statement.Robin had insinuated that the investment vehicle that backed Love Film, Mind Candy, GlassesDirect and Moo is now only looking at 2nd or 3rd time entrepreneurs who have already ‘demonstrated’ consumer uptake.However, Robin now says:“TAG loves first time entrepreneurs and makes a habit of backing them. If you look down the list of our investments, more than half were first timers.“We particularly like those who can demonstrate the tenacity, invention, persistence and sheer bloody mindedness that has enabled them to get their product together with little or no external funding.”He does maintain that funding will be harder to come by for those that haven’t tested the model, though:“First time entrepreneurs who simply have a business plan (ie a PowerPoint + spreadsheet) would find it very difficult to get funding. They will need to have built something - a demo - a basic service.”If Robin’s retraction is to be taken at face value, it could actually be good news. Greater emphasis on proving business models and ability to make profit might see a drop in the number of start-ups funded, but should hopefully give those that do secure backing a better chance of survival – especially if the economy dips further.

On your marks. Get set. Put it off until tomorrow.Apparently, you’re not overly excited about the London 2012 Olympics. Now we can understand your scepticism over the prospect of a home soil medal haul, but did you realise there are £6bn of contracts up for grabs?A report by Lloyds TSB reckons three quarters of firms haven’t yet looked into the opportunities the games will create.The Welsh have been the slowest out of the blocks while there’s also been little interest from companies in the South West and Midlands.Seb Coe, chairman of the London Organising Committee of the games, has urged businesses to start limbering up for action:“London 2012 is a unique opportunity for businesses throughout the UK to raise their profile and reputation on the global stage, and the amount of big sporting events coming to the UK could make this a ‘golden decade’ for major events in the UK and, therefore, British business.”Look at the stats and he’s got a point. In addition to the 9.2m event tickets available, a global TV audience of 4bn will watch 14,250 athletes from 205 countries, looked after by 75,000 organisers and covered by 20,000 accredited media.That’s some show and why the Olympic Games remains one of the most respected global brands – can you afford not to compete?Check out the 2012 Business Network for how to get involved.

Plenty of us suspected it and now some evidence that proves it: more people than ever before are starting their own business.Annual stats released by Barclays show a record 471,500 new businesses opened their doors in 2007, a 3% increase on the year before and the highest level since the bank started recording activity 20 years ago.During that period, there’s been a 17% increase with an average 393,000 businesses started each year. There are now 2.93 million businesses in the UK, equating to one company per 8.7 people of working age, an increase of 15% over the past 20 years.It’s not all good news, though. During the last downturn in 1992, business closures reached 18% from an average of 14% and start-ups plunged to 290,000.Closures dropped as low as 11% in 2003 but climbed to 17% last year. With the economic climate only expected to worsen, it’s reasonable to assume the number of closures will remain high – but does this necessarily mean start-ups will drop?Possibly. If you’re struggling to pay your mortgage you’ll be less inclined to forgo a salary and we’re already seeing banks pulling back credit.That said, it’s so much easier to start a business than in ’92. Technology and the internet have reduced the barriers to entry so significantly that it's now possible to at least start a business with nothing but a laptop and a mobile.Grow one? Now that’s a different story…

It’s difficult to say which is the week’s biggest new story: How the last minute rescue of US bank Bear Stearns will impact on the global economy, or… the Macca ‘v’ Mucca divorce settlement soap opera.Somehow most of the media considers the latter the lead story. Why a man should pay his wife and the mother of his four-year-old approx 4% of his £800m is clearly more important than, say, spiralling mortgage repayments and inflation.Ahh to hell with it: if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.So what does Smarta think about thumbs-up Paul having to chuck the truth-intolerant Heather Mills £24.3m?Well, he’s only got himself to blame, hasn’t he? No, not for choosing to marry a woman 25 years his junior and with worse references than Nick Leeson.But because he didn’t sign a pre-nuptial (yes we know there's no official pre-nup law in the UK, but you'd have thought some legal protection might have made sense). The man who nobly dismissed pre-nups as ‘unromantic’ is now possibly considering a rewrite of ‘All You Need Is Love’.In all seriousness, Macca’s not alone is he? How many of you in marriages and civil partnerships have protected your business interests should the unthinkable happen?Yes, it’s unromantic – but so is the fact that approximately 160,000 people get divorced every year.We suggest you don’t do it at the same time as working late, losing weight and getting a makeover, but perhaps it’s time to call in a lawyer. If you're business is protected in death, it should also be in the case of divorce. After all, Macca's troubles once seemed so far away...