One of the more enjoyable parts of my life and career has been the conference circuit. I’ve had the pleasure to visit many parts of the globe, and it would be nice to resume before it’s too late for me!

With that in mind, I’ve been thinking about the Swiss experience as a lesson on a service economy. There is much, in my opinion, to admire about Swiss organisation and life, starting with the trains, but it goes further.

A few years back, we flew to Geneva and caught the train to our conference destination in a lakeside town. Our hosts had sent tickets and given detailed instructions, including options. We had one connection on the journey. The train arrived 4 minutes after we did at the connection. Our seat on the second part entailed a walk of maybe 30 yards across the platform to our seats. At our destination we were told about the taxi rank and a bus to our hotel. The whole journey ran on time.

At the station we could see the jetty, lakeside. Having enjoyed the train we thought we’d try the bus which was modern and comfortable. It was at the stop, and our gap was minutes. When we arrived at our hotel, there were staff who took our luggage to our room while we checked in at reception. Later that evening we got a coach to the jetty for dinner on the lake. Delegates on a later train were able to leave their luggage on the coach and walk to the jetty. It all worked like 'clockwork'. Travel can be stressful, but this was as close to seamless as I have ever had. I could also choose Singapore for a similar experience.

So, what are the lessons here? Integration of the transport infrastructures and co-ordination of timetables adds value over and above individual services!

Compare this with the UK. We have been told for 40 years now that pro-competition policies would lower costs and promote innovation. So, how does British compare to Swiss?

We moved to rural Shropshire after a life in cities 9 years ago. At first, I was pleased to discover that there was a bus stop in our village. With pleasant countryside I thought that it would be good to use the service rather than having to drive everywhere - spoiler alert, I’ve never used the village bus!

Our son went to the local college for a year before University. The bus was timetabled to reach the college at 9.30. Bear in mind, at the college, classes start at 9. Similarly, to reach the local hospital for a 2pm appointment you would have to leave at 11.30. Most of the trains to London have a connection which adds 30 to 40 minutes to the journey (larger than the HS2 time dividend). There are few straight through trains. The bus to the station was timetabled to miss the fast trains.

Since we moved the service has been cut back. The hospital car park is often full and the small station parking means using taxis for reliability. 3 of my last 4 return from London journeys have involved refunds for lateness. Sometimes I have made or missed a connection by a minute as the connecting trains are up to 8 platforms apart.

None of the above require complex solutions to resolve. Why has competition and deregulation delivered poor service, high prices, and a poor experience? For me the focus on costs rather than value lies at the heart of the problem.

So, let’s look at another example, this time in retail. Since childhood, I have been told that we are a nation of shopkeepers. My favourite UK retailer is Richer Sounds. They have knowledgeable staff who care about meeting customer needs and are friendly and price competitive. I have never been disappointed by product or service. If I need something they sell, they will be my first port of call (I give a cheer also to Timpsons).

On that Swiss trip I wanted to take some photos of the lakes and mountains. For some reason, the battery compartment on my camera would not click shut. Staff at the hotel pointed me to a small camera shop in the town. The owner looked at my camera and took it away. He came back 5 minutes later having fixed it. I asked for a price, but he said that it was his pleasure. I bought a spare battery to thank him.

Now compare that to the UK. A different camera was behaving oddly and shutting down at random. I took it to a chain where they charged me £50 to send it away to a repair centre, with a 2 week turnaround. A week later I had a call with an eye watering repair cost. I got the camera back, unfixed, went to a different store and bought a replacement in part exchange. It was an upgrade at less than the repair cost I’d been given. The whole argument over market consolidation in the UK focuses on deskilling the front end and creating economies of scale by centralising functions such as repair. So here my question is: why does this feel like value extraction, not value creation?

This has been known for centuries!

“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.”

Who said it? Benjamin Franklin.