World record holder Michael Johnson: Encourage employees to act like athletes when it comes to far-off goals September 7, 2014 Claims that elite sports men and women have something to teach businesses are often (rightly) greeted with scepticism. Sir Alex Ferguson’s lectures at Harvard Business School aside, the topic can be dominated by empty phrases like “hard work” and “will to win”, with few specific pieces of advice or strategies translating from one domain to [...]
Living in luxury in London… as a student? September 5, 2014 Students deserve better and they’re willing to pay for it. At least, this is what some of the country’s leading estate agents and developers are starting to realise, and they’re happy to oblige with a range of quality alternatives to traditional student digs. Gone are the days when students were expected to put up with [...]
Focus On… The City: residential is finally taking off in the Square Mile September 5, 2014 When it comes to residential developments, the Square Mile has a bit of an image problem. The ancient financial heart of the City of London has been abuzz with business for 1,000 years and it’s still graced by some of the capital’s most impressive architecture. Around 370,000 people go there to work every day, but [...]
Barts Square: A new quarter in the heart of the City September 5, 2014 Behind the shimmering tower of 200 Aldersgate – a modern office block at London Wall – is a myriad of streets that once served as the City of London’s trading lifeline. They wind in between Smithfield meat market, the Barbican, St Bart’s Hospital and up to the Old Bailey and the cells of Newgate Street. [...]
The historic Islington mansion at the heart of London’s brick boom September 5, 2014 Before the Giraffes, Byrons and Starbucks, before the lawyers moved in with their taste for organic food and artisan delis, the area we now know as Angel was famed for something altogether more prosaic: bricks. As urban London expanded in the early 18th century, local merchants took advantage of the sturdy outer-London soil and built [...]
Four ways to beat procrastination September 4, 2014 An “active” approach and making use of others can help you take the bull by the horns. If you procrastinate, you’re not alone. A survey last year, released by Crucial.com, showed that 75 per cent of Brits are living with the constant burden of procrastination guilt – even putting off simple household tasks. And [...]
The nap debate: Is an afternoon kip a good idea? September 3, 2014 The cosy, pro-sleep consensus is showing signs of breaking. The nap is in – there’s no doubting it. Once associated with laziness (consider the saying “caught napping”, or “sleeping on the job”), a growing body of research touting the health benefits of an afternoon kip has seen the practice receive endorsements from Google and [...]
How to save for your child’s future September 2, 2014 In the first half of this year, peer-to-peer lending passed a fresh milestone in the UK. According to the Peer-to-Peer Finance Association, online platforms handled new loans worth £500m over the period, with over 66,000 individuals offering loans through them. While cash and stocks and shares still attract the vast bulk of investor money, those [...]
Peer-to-peer lending can help you save for your child’s future September 2, 2014 How could peer-to-peer (P2P) lending help you save for your child’s future? The cost of childcare, education, food, clothing and the like could total almost £230,000 by the time they’re 21, according to Liverpool Victoria. And while this includes university fees (which many will choose to fund through student loans), it doesn’t include private [...]
How to end the tyranny of futile work meetings September 2, 2014 Cut down on numbers and be sure to avoid red wine discussions. It's not exactly novel to argue that meetings can be a waste of time. That was persuasively done by Jason Fried, a tech entrepreneur (predictably), in his 2010 Ted talk titled Why Work Doesn’t Happen at Work. Meetings can be the place [...]