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richard baker
Engagement, Strategy and Leadership specialist. I work with organisations to help them innovate, engage and succeed.
Profile
Rich Baker FInstLM, Dip Mgmt (Open), MBA*
Engagement Manager at London Midland
Transportation/Trucking/Railroad | Birmingham, United Kingdom, GB
Summary
Richard Baker has over fifteen years people management experience and has worked at a senior level in business for over five years. He has delivered tangible results in customer service, employee engagement, communications and is an early pioneer in the use of social media for customer service, online PR and relationship marketing.
Richard is a Fellow of the Institute of Leadership and Management.
Richard is a Fellow of the Institute of Leadership and Management.
Specialties: SHRM
Organisation & People Development
Leadership Development
Coaching & Facilitation
Customer Service Strategy & Operations
Transformation & change management
Social Media & Social Media Training
Employer branding
Internal Communication
Employee Engagement
Stakeholder Relations
Experience
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May 2010 - Present
Engagement Manager / London Midland
Responsible for managing and developing the Engagement and Internal Communications Strategy. Providing an expert resource to advise and support colleagues on improving engagement with internal stakeholders. -
Jan 2010 - Present
Managing Director / Conversational-UK Ltd
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Feb 2009 - Dec 2009
General Manager Liverpool & North Wales Coast / Virgin Trains
Direct Reports: 8
The General Manager is part of the senior management and leads the On Board teams at Liverpool, Holyhead and Chester, and works as a regional representative for Virgin Trains amongst external stakeholders.
Led a team of 180+ On Board people (including 5 line managers and 3 administrative staff) to deliver a consistently high level of customer service to each other and external customers.
Negotiating with union representatives on regional matters including working conditions, rosters and disciplinary issues.
Empowering front line people through strong leadership to lead improvements to the way they serve customers.
Working with the Communications Director to develop links with Regional government and statutory bodies, rail user groups, and the media, to ensure a positive profile for Virgin Trains.
Full responsibility for P & L -
Oct 2007 - Feb 2009
Employee Engagement Manager / Virgin Trains
• Development and ongoing implementation of the cultural change programme in a highly unionised environment
• HR Lead of ‘Vision Workshops’ – three day off-site engagement workshops for all employees
• Developing the HR Strategy with the senior HR Team
• Leadership, Coaching and Direction of two ‘Vision Coaches’ and an OD Administrator – business coaches supporting the cultural change programme
• Use of Investors In People to develop strategies for engagement
• Influencing Executive Directors and Senior Managers in support of engagement strategy
• Development of Coaches and Facilitators across the business
• Challenging organisational processes and practices to adapt to the changing culture
• Design, development and delivery of ‘re-engagement’ workshops for line management
• Delivery of Business ‘Priorities’ to Executive – organisational goals devised by front line teams
• Informing the board and Leadership team in emerging themes and issues
• Lead Intranet contributor for Organisational Development and the Virgin Trains HR team
• Member of the re-branding steering group for Virgin Trains, with personal accountability for internal communications and people engagement. -
Feb 2004 - Oct 2007
Head of Sales& Supply / Virgin Trains
Direct Reports: 4
The Head of Sales & Supply is a key member of the senior team responsible for the entire retailing proposition on board Virgin (CrossCountry) Trains including all First Class product and service.
Key achievements
• Internal Communications - design and production of internal communication and engagement strategy
• ‘A pre-curser to Twitter’; concept, design and management of a feedback and results mobile website to capture customer service satisfaction in real-time. The system - an industry first - was used to gather feedback from customers, establish trends, compare service levels and support operational strategy
• Event Management – led company wide conferences for front line management (100+) on customer service and profitability
• Project Managed the introduction of First Class service customers, including service strategy, product selection/development, overseeing the training and development of operational standards
• Nominated and finalist for Rail Person of the Year 2007, a national industry award in recognition of work leading the engagement of front line teams
• Developed and retained results orientated team including two Ordering Managers and Business Improvement Managers
• Responsibility for the national retail operations and first class service strategy through a team of over 500 front line staff -
Jan 2000 - Feb 2004
Customer Service Manager / Virgin Trains
• One of four managers responsible for 200 people based at various locations, serving customers travelling across the Virgin Trains network
• Responsible for all aspects of people management including leadership through significant cultural and organisational change.
• Retail and First Class Operations Champion
• Monitoring, defining and improving standards in line with the Virgin group standards, including service, sales and safety
• Influencing at board, regional and national management level; designing and implementing processes to improve the delivery of the product and customer service
Education
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2005 - 2011
The Open University
MBA in Finance, Performance, Business Strategy, Strategic HRM -
2006 - 2007
The Open University
Managing Performance & Change in Business Management
Additional information
Websites:
Honors:
Nominated and Finalist in Rail Person of the Year, 2007
Featured in '5 Star Service' - the best selling book by Michael Heppell
Interests:
Communications, Leadership, Social Media, Politics, Engagement, Travel
Assoc.:
Fellow of the Institute of Leadership and Management, Member of the CIPD
Posts
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July 08, 01:40 PM
#sharemyscreen on iOS4
Hello!
I’ve never really collected anything before. When I was young I tried most things; football cards, stickers, even stamps but I never really saw the point.
The launch of iOS4 on the iphone means that people can now arrange and classify their apps into folders and perhaps most importantly, name them. The ability to add wallpaper also allows people to express their individuality which again is interesting.
‘So what?’ you might think. At first thats what I thought. It wasn’t until I began organising and renaming folders that I began to realise that this process says something about a person. It’s a window into someone’s life and the things they are interested in. Does it also say something about how people compartmentalise their lives?
I decided to create a hashtag on Twitter called #sharemyscreen. I sent the following tweet;
‘I’m building a collection.. if you have iOS4 take a screenshot of your home screen and tweet it with #sharemyscreen hashtag. Pls RT!’
and shared my home screen below;
You’ll notice the way I classify folders isn’t a normal approach but it works for me! Since the, the lovely folk on Twitter have been retweeting my request and theres quite a selection growing. I’m going to share some below, with their owners twitter names so you can follow/sayhi/copy!
If you’d like to share how you compartmentalise, please post a screenshot on Twitter using the hashtag #sharemyscreen and let me know @richard_baker
© richard baker 2010
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July 05, 01:44 PM
The Amazing Bobble Water Bottle
It’s not often I come across a product that really impresses me. For me to blog about it is ever rarer.
The Bobble is a simple, elegant and beautifully designed idea that reduces the environmental impact of millions of plastic mineral water bottles. In the UK alone there were 2.09 billion litres drunk last year (source: britishbottledwater.org). Thats a lot of money spent on water!
The bobble is a clear, PET bottle with a coloured carbon filter that filters tap water and can be used over 300 times before a new carbon filter is needed. That’s about two months worth.
Lets say you buy one bottle of mineral water a day. That’s gonna cost you at least £56 every two months compared to the £6.77 plus shipping the Bobble would cost you (and thats the initial cost, the refills cost even less).
But its not the cost that appeals to me, it’s the convenience. If I run out at work, I can just fill it up at a drinking water tap. Same for the gym.
The bottle looks good too, designed by the prolific and gifted designer Karim Rashid who designed, among other things, the Issey Miyake perfume bottle.
Its a cheap, convenient alternative to buying expensive bottled water. I’ve ordered a couple today and I’ll let you know how I get on via Twitter.
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June 18, 01:12 PM
Media140 Scotland
In case you missed it – you can watch the full live stream taken from last nights brilliant Media140 event in Scotland. Hosted by Mark Jennings – @markofrespect, MD of D8 Digital, with guests including Pat Kane, Steve Berry and the brilliant Trey Pennington. Oh, and an introduction that starts about 9 1/2 minutes in from Mark that made me blush furiously… Thank you!
Watch live streaming video from media140live at livestream.com -
May 30, 10:08 AM
Human Judgement and Organisational Effectiveness
By Rich Baker
One of the areas I am studying as part of an MBA involves a look at how innovation and creativity manifest themselves in individuals and organisations.
Part of this considers the perception we have of intuition. Rather than it be a ‘magical’ ability that some possess and others do not, it is argued that intuition is more a matter of ‘expert recognition’ i.e. a ‘by-product of of training and experience that has been stored as knowledge’. (Simons, 1988).
Traditionally, in the West we have always sought to rationalise decision making, and this has implications upon the value placed upon both individuals in organisations, and the role they play. I have a friend who has little ‘formal’ education, but is an insightful people manager who always seems to know what to say and when to achieve the best out of people, in sometimes complex political environments. Luckily the organisation in which she works recognises this, and she holds a senior leadership position.
Similarily, our judgement is affected by patterns that might seem rational, are in fact a product of what we might expect to happen.
Try this test;
Which of the following birth orders is more likely?
BGBBGB
or
BBBBGB
Most people assume the first, in actual fact both are as likely to happen.The same would be true if we were to toss coins. This is what is called representativeness bias. (Thanks to the Open University for the exercise).
I’m interested in the impact this has not only on the individual, but also upon decision making in organisations. How do we reduce bias, but harness and leverage intuition?
Thoughts? Does your business/organisation place value upon tacit knowledge or ‘intuition’?
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May 28, 09:46 AM
Media140/Scotland -A chat with Curator Mark Jennings
By Rich Baker
Here is a conversation I had with Mark Jennings, MD of D8 Digital, on the forthcoming Media140/Scotland event. Remember to follow @Scotland140 for info.
Just click the arrow below. Enjoy!
By Rich Baker Here is a conversation I had with Mark Jennings, MD of D8 Digital, on the forthcoming Media140/Scotland event. Remember to follow @Scotland140 for info. Just click the arrow below. Enjoy!
- May 28, 04:45 AM
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May 14, 08:56 AM
PR and not throwing stones – who wins?
I’m writing this as a response to the interesting blog post by Polly Becker over at wallblog, which is from the Revolution stable.
The story covers a controversial blog post by Jed Hallum from Wolfstar concerning the email ‘spam’ (Jed’s words, not mine) from the agency that recently won the lucrative and high profile Vodafone PR account. The post criticised the Agency’s emails and was, in my opinion, a little harsh.
Adam Vincenzini at the Agency in question responded here saying ‘its a shame you have chosen to take this route’.
Now, before I carry on I should say I like and respect all the people above. This post isn’t about what they did or didn’t do. My thoughts instead are about the industry itself as a bystander – and Polly’s summary learnings from the incident. I’ve copied them below;
1. Don’t slate your rivals in public. It will bite you in the arse.
I disagree. Rivalry is an essential part of the competitive environment in which we operate. In every other industry people do it. Senior figures in industries do it (I’m looking at Richard Branson, Michael O’Leary etc) and probably at the advice of their PR departments.
2. Bloggers are like journalists. They publish and so you need to treat with a degree of respect and care.Umm I agree generally.
3. Don’t send out rubbish beyond belief emails with bad grammar.Err yep I agree!
4. This is early early days for social media.Social Media may be relatively new (although I’m not that sure it is; exactly how long are we going to keep on using this as an excuse?) but the competitive business environment isn’t. Neither is PR.
Let’s assume we choose to live in a world where we never criticise each other or point out where we make mistakes. We would get along very well and have jolly nice meetings and tweet ups but would never actually learn anything from each other.
In my opinion, criticism (and yes, not always constructive) is a healthy part of learning and subsequent growth. People don’t always need people around them who agree with them all the time – look at our Government. It’s also part of business life.
Finally, I do wonder if the industry is being a little bit hypocritical when it says it shouldn’t be criticising the competition, when that is exactly what it (sometimes) encourages its clients to do.
I’d be delighted if you disagreed with me.
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April 23, 01:38 PM
Michael Heppell’s Five Star Service – FREE preview
Michael Heppell
By Rich Baker
UPDATE! Michael’s book is now available to order at a special price from Amazon here
Michael Heppell is described as ‘the cure for an average life’ and as one of the top three professional speakers in the world, Michael Heppell is taking people development to a new level.
He is the International Best Selling Author of ‘How to Be Brilliant’, ‘Five Star Service – One Star Budget’, ‘Brilliant Life’ and ‘Flip It’.
His clients and advocates include: Vauxhall, Scottish Power, Britvic, Asda, Association of Colleges, HM Prison Service, Microsoft, Virgin Atlantic, Pearson, HSBC, EDF Energy, NHS Scotland, Metropolitan Police, Argos, O2 and ME!
He coaches and advises: business leaders, top athletes, TV personalities and film makers on how to raise their game.
I’ve been lucky enough to attend one of his Speaking Workshops and found him to be insightful, generous and a brilliantly creative thinker.
Michael’s about to launch a second edition of his best selling ’5 Star Service’ and he’s giving away a free ebook preview! I’m really pleased to say I’m featured in it as Michael and I first met when I was at Virgin Trains. He talks about the use of social media from customer’s point of view and it’s worth a read.
Click here to download the FREE preview.
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April 20, 01:33 PM
Are Psychics a Fraud? James Randi thinks so.
I really like people who are unconventional and speak from the heart. James Randi is one of them – he famously said he will give $1 million dollars in negotiable bonds to the person who can prove to him the existence of psychic ability. Here he is talking at TED. Even if you don’t agree with him, he is an engaging speaker. Enjoy.
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April 09, 08:24 AM
General Election 2010 – Twitter Question Time
By Rich Baker
As expected, a General Election has been announced and suddenly the political parties are rushing around to convince us to vote for them. I said on Twitter that it’s a bit like a mate you haven’t seen for ages suddenly ask to borrow some money, but maybe that’s the point of the push for greater Digital Engagement by the Government.
Problem is, the electorate seems more disillusioned than ever about our political system. People have said to me on Twitter that it has always been that way, but I’m not not sure. I remember clearly when Labour won the election in 1997 and there was a real tangible feeling of hope by Blair’s supporters, and a real feeling of disappointment by his opposers. Of course, that’s all changed now. I can’t help feeling that when the results do come in, most people won’t care, or will simply shrug and wait for the next round of sleaze. People are turned off by politics and feel powerless to be able to change things.
Take the Digital Economy Bill for example. I looked at the stream on Twitter when it was being debated and it was the most I had ever seen a trending topic take over. You’d think with so many people taking a keen interest in it that their MP’s would see this a a great opportunity to win votes. Take a look at the turnout below;
Hardly packed to the rafters is it? Are we now in a time when our MP’s don’t even feel they need to represent us anymore?
People will undoubtedly blame Blair and New Labour for the cynicism and mistrust in our system and whilst I think it’s partly the cause, I also think there have been significant changes in technology and the media that has led to a much more enlightened voting public. It’s more difficult to pull the wool over people’s eyes. Which, I think, is a good thing.
I also wonder if we all are looking for a perfect answer in an imperfect system. People talk about communism and say ‘it just doesn’t work in practice’. Have we now proved the same of capitalism? The worldwide economic crash (caused by US sub-prime lending) demonstrates that decisions made in other countries can have devasting effects on our economy. Has globalisation delivered a society that is too tightly linked to be stable?
Which brings me back to the UK political scene. With so much of the global decision making being affected by global business, is there really any point in us voting anymore? Why should we vote labour/conversative/lib dem when they can’t seem to give us any hope that they will be different.
So, I extend an offer to the UK’s MP’s to explain to the Twitterati why we should still believe in our system and why we should vote for them. In a word, why are they different.
If you know of a parliamentary candidate who has embraced social media and would be interested in being asked questions via Twitter get in touch. I’m pretty sure the people in my social network would be able to provide some great observations and questions.
The reward for the MP? Exposure on the hottest social network in the UK by some of it’s most influential users at a time when you really need it.
As ever, share your thoughts below.
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Checkin history
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Posts
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July 27, 02:36 PM
Apple’s new trackpad..
Nice - I have a macbook pro and an imac and the trackpad on the macbook is much easier to use these days than a mouse..
Clipped from www.apple.comWhy should notebooks have all the fun?
Desktop users, your time has come. The new Magic Trackpad is the first Multi-Touch trackpad designed to work with your Mac desktop computer. It uses the same Multi-Touch technology you love on the MacBook Pro. And it supports a full set of gestures, giving you a whole new way to control and interact with what’s on your screen. Swiping through pages online feels just like flipping through pages in a book or magazine. And inertial scrolling makes moving up and down a page more natural than ever. Magic Trackpad connects to your Mac via Bluetooth wireless technology. Use it in place of a mouse or in conjunction with one on any Mac computer — even a notebook.
The largest Multi-Touch trackpad ever.
Magic Trackpad is just like the trackpad on the MacBook Pro — but bigger. It’s made with the same advanced touch-friendly and wear-resistant glass surface. But with nearly 80 per cent more area, it’s the largest Multi-Touch trackpad made by Apple. So there’s even more room for you to scroll, swipe, pinch and rotate to your fingers’ content. And since the entire surface is a button that clicks, you can use it in place of a mouse.
Magic Trackpad features the same sculpted aluminium design as the Apple Wireless Keyboard, and side by side, the two sit flush at the same angle and height. Go from typing to gesturing in one motion, or do both at the same time. How perfect is that?
It fits in perfectly.
With your thumb and index finger on the Multi-Touch surface, twist clockwise or anticlockwise to rotate an image.
Rotate
Using three fingers, brush left and right along the Multi-Touch surface to page forward and back.
Swipe
Brush two fingers along the Multi-Touch surface to scroll in any direction — vertically, horizontally or diagonally.
Scroll
Press down anywhere on the Multi-Touch surface to physically click or double-click. Or, with “Tap to Click” enabled in System Preferences, simply tap or double-tap the surface.
Click
Read more at www.apple.com -
July 25, 06:03 AM
Royal Family set up Flickr Account
Clipped from www.bbc.co.ukRarely-seen images of the Queen and other royals will be available on the Flickr accountRare pictures of the Royal family have been posted on the internet after Buckingham Palace opened an account on photography website Flickr.
The images of recent royal events, archive pictures of the Queen, Prince of Wales and other members of the monarchy can be seen from Monday.
Royal family opens Flickr photography account
More than 600 photographs have been added to the British Monarchy’s Photostream account.
The images will be updated as new engagements and events take place.
The development follows the launch of the updated royal website, British Monarchy Twitter account last year and the Royal Channel on YouTube in 2007.
The Flickr account is timed to coincide with the summer opening of Buckingham Palace, as it features photographs commissioned for the exhibition The Queen’s Year, which opens next Tuesday at the London palace.
Royal children Highlights from the photo website include early pictures of Queen Victoria and other leading figures form the era, images of Queen Elizabeth II as a baby and pictures of the latest royal events.
The account has been divided into two categories - the first, Royal Collection, contains images commissioned for The Queen’s Year exhibition and the Victorian pictures.
There are also behind-the-scenes shots showing the Royal household staff working at a state banquet.
And there are images by photographer Marcus Adams showing royal children, from the Queen as a baby to Prince Charles as a little boy.
The Royal Family section groups pictures of the monarchy by individuals. Prince Harry is shown as a newborn baby, in the arms of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales, for example.
His older brother, Prince William, is pictured as a youngster with his parents and sibling, on exercise with Royal Navy in the Caribbean and meeting David Beckham in South Africa.
Read more at www.bbc.co.uk -
July 24, 09:48 AM
Style over substance?
Clipped from www.bbc.co.ukDead animal beer bottles at £500 each ‘perverse’
The End of History - featuring dead animals - comes at £500 a bottleA beer served in bottles made from stuffed animals has been criticised as “perverse” and “pushing the boundaries of acceptability”.
The End of History, made by BrewDog of Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, is 55% and £500 a bottle.
The bottles have been made using seven dead stoats, four squirrels and a hare, said to be roadkill.
However, Advocates for Animals and Alcohol Focus Scotland both condemned the marketing.
BrewDog claims the beer is the world’s strongest and most expensive.
Related stories
Its co-founder James Watt said: “We want to show people there is an alternative to monolithic corporate beers, introduce them to a completely new approach to beer and elevate the status of beer in our culture.”
Advocates for Animals policy director Libby Anderson told the BBC Scotland news website: “It’s pointless and it’s very negative to use dead animals when we should be celebrating live animals.
“This seems to be a perverse idea.
“It’s just bad thinking about animals, people should learn to respect them, rather than using them for some stupid marketing gimmick.”
She added: “I think the public would not waste £500 on something so gruesome and just ignore it.”
Barbara O’Donnell, director of services at Alcohol Focus Scotland, said: “This is another example of this company pushing the boundaries of acceptability all in the pursuit of cheap marketing tactics.”
Controversial BrewDog has previously been criticised for 32% and 41% strength beers.
See more at www.bbc.co.uk -
June 22, 06:11 PM
Please endorse me!
Please take a moment to endorse me on any of the following topics! Thanks - I’ll return the favour.
Clipped from www.liveintent.comRich Baker (@richard_baker)
Located in Birmingham
Engagement, Strategy and Leadership specialist. I work with organisations to help them engage, communicate and succeed. My views are my own.Topics
Help Rich Baker get recommended by endorsing? his expertise on these topics below.
- social media
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- leadership
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Engagement, Strategy and Leadership specialist. I work with organisations to help them engage, communicate and succeed. My views are my own.following
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Help Rich Baker get recommended by endorsing? his expertise on these topics below.
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- June 22, 05:56 PM
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June 22, 05:04 PM
Getting an iPhone 4? Check out this comparison table.
the best table I have seen for this..
Clipped from www.media-pricer.co.ukiPhone 4 tariff & price comparison
Compare tariffs and plans
Pay monthly contracts and SIM deals
find a plan that best suits you
See which deal matches your monthly usage.
or
Read more at www.media-pricer.co.uk -
June 22, 04:59 PM
Nature by Numbers
Whoever said maths wasn’t beautiful?
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June 20, 05:11 PM
Google Trend data appearing in normal search results
I may be rather behind the times here, but I noticed this evening an interesting addition to google search results - the popularity of my search term at the bottom of the page.
Clipped from www.google.co.ukRead more at www.google.co.uk
ios4 release
- Add to iGoogle82nd most popular search in the past hour.
Hotness:Mildgoogle.com/trends -
June 20, 04:48 PM
Shocking or a logical progression?
Clipped from news.bbc.co.ukUtah firing squad death announced on Twitter
It was a very modern way to announce a very old-fashioned death.
Shortly after midnight in the US state of Utah, Attorney General Mark Shurtleff picked up his Apple iPhone, opened up a Twitter “app” on his handset and began tweeting.
But Mr Shurtleff’s 134-character composition was no ordinary post. This was not a piece of miscellany from the 53-year-old’s home life, a link chosen to amuse or interest his followers, nor even a political prod at his Democratic rivals.
Instead, Mr Shurtleff used Twitter to announce that most important of all things: the death of a human being, convicted murderer Ronnie Lee Gardner.
“I just gave the go ahead to Corrections Director to proceed with Gardner’s execution. May God grant him the mercy he denied his victims,” the attorney general wrote.
The message would have been seen by the 7,000 or so users who “follow” Mr Shurtleff on Twitter.
But thanks to the exponential way in which messages are spread on Twitter - being “retweeted” by those who find them interesting - the Utah politician’s words soon found their way to a wider audience.
ut Gardner to death.
In his first , sent at 1318 local time (1918 GMT) on Thursday, Mr Shurtleff acknowledged the gravity of the occasion.
“A solemn day. Barring a stay by Sup Ct [US Supreme Court], & with my final nod, Utah
In all Mark Shurtleff sent three tweets around the time that a five-man firing squad put Gardner to death.
“A solemn day. Barring a stay by Sup Ct [US Supreme Court], & with my final nod, Utah will use most extreme power & execute a killer. Mourn his victims. Justice”.
Later he posted confirmation that he had indeed given that “final nod”.
Fifteen minutes after that, at 0015 local time, his Tweet served a purpose more recognisable to regular users of the service: self-publicity.
“We will be streaming live my press conference as soon as I’m told Gardner is dead. Watch it at www.attorneygeneral.Utah.gov/live.html” he wrote.
Read more at news.bbc.co.uk -
June 20, 05:40 AM
iPhone 4 prices compared
Useful - I’m probably getting mine next weekend..
Clipped from crave.cnet.co.ukiPhone 4 prices: Best deals compared
O2, T-Mobile, Vodafone, Tesco Mobile, 3 and Orange are all jumping into the jelly wrestling pool for the fight over our iPhone 4 cash, but we won’t leave you to compare the deals on your own. Our bank of supercomputers, aided by an almost infinite team of monkeys, will find the best iPhone 4 prices for you.
Bookmark this page and keep coming back to check out our expert opinion on which tariffs are the ones to choose — we’ll be updating it as each network announces its prices.
Vodafone’s prices are are now official, but we haven’t seen Tesco Mobile, 3 or T-Mobile’s prices yet.
Don’t forget that, if you’re feeling flush, you can buy an iPhone 4 SIM-free and unlocked directly from Apple, and then shop around for the cheapest SIM-card-only deals. For example, an iPhone 4 16GB costs £499. Add a £10-a-month, 30-day rolling SIM card from T-Mobile — which includes 100 minutes, 100 texts and ‘unlimited’ Internet with a fair-use policy of 1GB — and, over 24 months, you’ll pay £739.
SIM-free iPhone 4 deal: £739 for 24 months, £679 for 18 months
That’s a lot less than any of the 24-month contracts on offer. You can shop around for a new deal any time you want because you’re not locked in, and your phone is unlocked, which is better if you ever want to sell it.
But, if that’s not an option for you, or you prefer shopping with a network, check out our favourite deals below.
If you just want the cheapest deal you can get, you don’t need many minutes or texts, and you’re happy with a 16GB iPhone 4, check out Vodafone.
Cheapest 24-month iPhone 4 deal: £819 for 24 months
An iPhone 4 16GB on a 24-month, £25-a-month contract will cost you £219, and the total cost for the two years is £819.
The deal includes 75 minutes, 250 texts and 1GB of data.
Cheapest 18-month iPhone 4 deal: £749 for 18 months
If you want to keep the contract to 18 months, O2’s tariff is the cheapest. It’s £30 per month and the phone will cost £209 up front. The total cost over the year-and-a-half period is £749.
This deal includes 100 minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB of data.
See more at crave.cnet.co.uk
