The juxtaposition

Readers letters

I enjoy a crisp as much as the next man but articles of this type have no place in a serious engineering publication

Reading the otherwise excellent July edition of PE I was struck by the juxtaposition of two articles.

In the first, a highly reputable, innovative and entrepreneurial British engineering company is reported to be using its cash balance to provide interest free loans to its customers. In this way it is assuring the continued capability of the company by delivering profitable business to its shareholders, albeit somewhat offset by the discounted interest that the cash might otherwise earn, and protecting the livelihoods of its workforce and supply chain. That it is able to do this and deliver environmental benefits is doubly to the credit of the Atlas Copco leadership team. James Dyson would undoubtedly support such an initiative.

On the very next page we hear of a, no doubt very talented, Chartered Engineer who’s contribution to the profession appears to be a better type of fish flavoured potato crisp. A project more worthy of Lord Alan Sugar with his well-publicised views on engineers!

I enjoy a crisp as much as the next man but really articles of this latter type have no place in a serious engineering publication.