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p>A Happy New Year and along with the rest of you my quest for the elusive utopia continues as we head off into 2015.
Of course, in business the search can seem futile as pressures both macro and micro snap at our heels.
So I was interested to note that the Aldersgate Group has set out a new macro-economic roadmap, in which it argues that the UK is becoming shamefully detached from the long-term needs of society.
Another left of centre think tank with nothing better to do? Yes, you could dismiss the group's "An Economy that Works" report as just that.
But hold on, a coalition of some of the UK's biggest businesses have signed up to the notion that GDP growth on its own can't define a path to prosperity in its wider sense.
Aldersgate's business supporters have a combined turnover in excess of £280 billion and include Nestlé, Sky, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Aviva Investors, BT, Interface, Kingfisher and, unsurprisingly, M&S.
Sir Ian Cheshire, group chief executive of Kingfisher plc, summed up the coalition's sentiment as follows: "The last seven years have shown us that we urgently need an economy that contributes to society and strengthens it. GDP is not a comprehensive measure of prosperity: it is an important tool, not a goal in itself. Instead of maximum linear growth in GDP, we need to start thinking of maximum wellbeing for minimum planetary input."
Sir Ian's comments may be well-meant but I question their value because some of the names lined up in this venture are, well... tarnished.
Nestlé's social responsibility profile extends from the African baby milk scandal to the more recent "horsemeat in your pasta meal" debacle. Sky's reputation is best summed up in a comment I heard at the time of the Scottish referendum when concerns over sorting potential constitutional issues in rapid time were dismissed on the grounds that they "couldn't be more difficult than getting out of a Sky contract"!
When it comes to Bank of America Merrill Lynch and its social conscience, I can only gulp.
I'm not someone who believes that profit is bad. It can fuel positive social change and altruism. But why would I believe that the likes of Nestlé, Sky, Bank of America, Aviva Investors and even BT would grasp the nettle and throw their weight behind a movement to tackle rising inequality, when they are locked into the short-termism that has fuelled our problems?
This is reflected by the BBC's endless reporting of unexpected share price movements and an industry of professionals - fund managers/analysts and more, who help maintain the status quo by overreacting to share price jitters and trading updates.
Most of us have taken a right battering from the credit crisis and recession so I will be watching to see if the Aldersgate Group and its backers really are a "progressive" alliance because in 2015, I intend to be on bovine excreta alert.
Our society is in need of repair and whatever Sky, Nestlé and Bank of America can do to help remedy this is of interest to me. But if they don't have a credible plan or credible commitment I want to know about that too.
I am expecting these corporate giants to demonstrate just how they will reduce inequality and strengthen the UK's social networks and democratic institutions, as set out by Aldersgate. It had better be good and I will be looking later in the year to see whether or not they are delivering platitudes without substance.
If we can learn anything this year, it is that keeping free speech alive is essential and that includes speaking out against social and financial injustice and identifying bovine excreta when it is being dumped on our door steps.
Defending free speech is obviously not without its problems but as an opinionated writer I can only say "Je suis Charlie" and invite you to make a New Year's resolution not to be a bystander but to be a participant in the defence of free speech where ever the opportunity arises.
Those who know me well are aware that I am no Francophile but I cannot end without echoing that call for unity "Vive la France!".
Firstly, happy New Year, and along with the rest of you, my quest for the elusive utopia continues as we head off into 2015....
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