Rant & Rave (31/03/13)

Rant

"Brides are spending more and more on their big day," is the spin that's being put on a new survey by You and Your Wedding magazine. The average cost of a wedding has risen £7,000 in a decade, to £21,939 – despite the number of guests having fallen. More than a fifth of that budget is spent on food, which nobody will remember. (Disagree? What did you eat at the last wedding you went to?)

But let's not put this down to selfish women wanting their one special day as a princess, please. Let's look at the venues that charge an additional supplement per guest if the couple wants to serve a cake that their mum made. The magazines that imply that hand-made "favours" are essential for a lasting marriage. The shops that add an invisible tax as soon as the word "wedding" is mentioned. A licence to marry a couple is a licence to print money. Let's call the whole thing off!

Rave

Companies that have a significant number of female board members are fairer, more innovative and more successful, according to a new report from the University of Well Yeah Duh. The study (actually for the International Journal of Business Governance & Ethics) puts this down to women being less traditional and more imaginative in their business solutions than men. It concluded that "companies with few female directors may actually be short-changing their investors".

But another explanation could be that all companies have customers, about 50 per cent of whom are women. Ignore them, and they will ignore you. Rant & Rave's application for the position of Chief Executive of the University of Well Yeah Duh is in the post.

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