Letters: Give me an A for Aria March 22, 2022 [Re: Inbound boss of Cummings’ brainchild ARIA withdraws, March 17] The Government’s prized new innovation agency, ARIA, is off to a shaky start. Like most people in the UK’s R&D space, I was excited when the Government announced that they were launching ARIA. The initial plans certainly ticked a lot of the right boxes, with [...]
Letters: Weaning off Covid-19 cash March 21, 2022 [Re: Small business lending tumbles amid strong economic rebound, March 14] UK Finance data shows strong economic recovery from the pandemic led to borrowing among small businesses falling off a cliff last year. However, we observed a 58 per cent year-on-year increase in SMEs seeking finance in January 2022, demonstrating a rebound in activity and [...]
Letters: Online banking, with a twist March 18, 2022 [Re: HSBC dives into metaverse amid shutdown of bank branches, 16 March] HSBC’s move into the metaverse is the latest in a line of high-profile brands exploring this new channel to engage with customers. It shows that Web3 is here to stay. Metaverses and NFTs are not a fad, but something that will soon become part [...]
Letters: Diversity is private capital’s nut to crack March 17, 2022 [Re: International women’s day , March 9]Private capital has barriers to entry. Being a woman should not be one of them. Regardless of how you approach it, private capital is a tough industry to crack. Whether you are a founder seeking private equity or venture capital funding for your business – or looking to join [...]
Letters: Russia inaction on Boris’ watch March 16, 2022 [Re: We mut not put ourselves into turmoil for a short-lived upper hand on Russia, March 14] I completely agree with Eliot Wilson’s piece on Monday that we must not hurt ourselves in our bid to look like we have a handle on the situation in Ukraine. The truth is we have forgone a serious policy [...]
Letters: Sunak, stand up for the little guy March 15, 2022 [Re: Sunak urged to ‘turn wise words into action’ by FSB chair after small retailers feel ‘abandoned’, March 11] While “levelling up” has become the government’s phrase of the year, for the vast majority of small and medium-sized businesses this is a slogan without substance. Although schemes like Help to Grow are a step in [...]
Letters: A much-needed shakeup for education March 14, 2022 [Re: Covid fuels deepening education inequalities in UK, March 11] The Education Select Committee’s findings that the pandemic has fuelled education equalities in England brings to light the serious impact of learning loss for young people. Findings also show that Yorkshire and the Humber and the North-East are the worst affected areas with the average [...]
Letters: Time to bank on it with Solvency II March 9, 2022 [Re: Insurers and analysts temper enthusiasm on Solvency II reforms, March 2] They say good things come to those who wait. The governments proposed post-Brexit reforms to the EU’s Solvency II requirements finally incentivises UK insurers to put their excess cash to better use with lower capital charges. Solvency II has proved to be overkill [...]
Letters: Just Eat just working hard March 7, 2022 [RE: Just Eat revenue jumps a third as it mulls pulling out of Portugal and Norway, March 2] This week’s results from Just Eat were by no means the result of trend or chance; Just Eat worked to fill an important gap in the delivery market for consumers: experience. Their business model delivers on high [...]
Letters: A priceless ofgem? Don’t scrap us, says CEO March 1, 2022 [Re: Is it time for Ofgem to head to the scrapheap? Feb 24] This article underplays both the history and the current circumstances affecting the energy market. In 2010, the market was dominated by a small number of large vertically integrated players without pricing regulation. For customers, this meant systemically high prices and poor service [...]