An enemy of productivity

Matthew Lynn

The chief executive of British retailer Phones4U has recently banned the use of internal email. He may have a point...

The British retail chain Phones4U cannot claim to be much of an innovator at anything. With garish shops and shrieking adverts pushing cut-price mobile phones, it is an imitative, mass-market business. But, recently, chief executive John Caudwell made a claim for at least a footnote in commercial history. He banned his staff from using internal email, according to the Financial Times. It is not the increasingly common ban on sending private messages at work. His rules say you cannot send emails to co-workers. Customers and suppliers can still be contacted electronically. But all internal ...