Hello from the Isle of Wight. Suddenly autumn is here.

I have been revising and updating my novel “Bank-cor-Rupt”, and it has brought home to me again, the experiences I went through thirty years ago which convinced me that banks could not be trusted. They are only interested in their shareholders – never their customers.

Although “Bank-cor-Rupt” is completely fictional and none of the characters is in the least like anybody involved in my personal experiences, what happens in chapters 7, 13, 18 and 20 is very similar to what happened to me all that time ago.

The awful thing is that banks are specifically excluded from more recent legislation that companies must be responsible for their behaviour towards their customers. This is the silent injustice practiced by successive governments on private firms. It does a lot of damage to the British economy and industry, because it is in these modest-sized companies where most new enterprise takes place.

Above all, if you are borrowing money from a bank, NEVER EVER sign a debenture. If you do, you are handing control of your future to the bank, and they cannot be trusted.

Good reading.

Michael Hillier