The new lord mayor must look to the future November 14, 2016 The City now has its 689th lord mayor. On Saturday, Andrew Parmley donned the traditional finery and paraded through the City in the magnificent State Coach that has carried his predecessors every year since 1757. The Lord Mayor’s Parade is one the most public-facing elements of the City of London Corporation, which can lay claim to [...]
Sir Stuart Rose, chairman of Dressipi: The next revolution in retail is data-based, personalised services, and the UK is at the vanguard November 14, 2016 THE DEMISE of BHS and Austin Reed, as well as gyrating retail sales figures, has again highlighted the variety of headwinds facing the retail sector, particularly on the high street. These include: the threat from companies such as Amazon, increasing costs, squeezed margins, keeping brands fresh or even the good, old-fashioned unpredictable British weather. The [...]
The world according to Trump: American nationalism now drives US foreign policy November 14, 2016 “Every good citizen makes his country’s honour his own.” – Andrew Jackson, seventh US President Donald Trump’s overall foreign policy views are not the mystery the highly-discredited commentariat presently make them out to be. He largely hews to what Walter Russell Mead calls the Jacksonian nationalist strain of American foreign policy, long a minority (if [...]
Shelve the EU’s anti-innovation precautionary principle to turbocharge the UK’s Fourth Industrial Revolution post-Brexit November 14, 2016 Thirty years ago, Big Bang launched a wave of technological change, transforming the City’s fortunes and securing its future. Facing down vested interests and naysayers, the Thatcher government understood that championing innovation would turbo-charge Britain’s economy – and seized the day. June’s EU referendum result was also a decisive turning point. Both Remainers and Leavers [...]
My key aim as lord mayor is to promote London’s unique business and cultural offering November 14, 2016 It has been a busy few days since starting as the 689th lord mayor. After my swearing in at the ancient Silent Ceremony on Friday came the world’s biggest and oldest street pageant: the Lord Mayor’s Show. Since 1215, every newly-elected lord mayor has travelled through the City of London to Westminster to swear loyalty to the [...]
Singles Day: What can British retailers learn from China’s version of Black Friday? November 11, 2016 Today marks the world’s largest e-commerce event. No, it’s not Black Friday yet – Singles Day is taking place in China, and it’s bigger than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined. At midnight local time it took Alibaba just 52 seconds to take its first 1bn renminbi (£116m) and just under seven minutes to reach 10bn [...]
City A.M. Awards 2016: Our business heroes make the most of the madness November 11, 2016 Businesses hate uncertainty, so we’re told. The lobby groups that represent UK plc constantly remind us of the benefits of a calm economic and political environment, with benign conditions nurturing growth and prosperity. It’s a nice thought, and an understandable sentiment. But the reality is that life is never straightforward, and some of the business [...]
The new bridge to China heralds the start of a golden age for UK fintech November 11, 2016 Over the past few years I’ve witnessed first-hand the UK’s fintech sector emerge as the world’s dominant hub – over traditional technology centres such as Silicon Valley, New York, Israel, Singapore, and Hong Kong. There is no question that more technology innovation and value creation in financial services comes from the UK than anywhere else [...]
Editor’s notes: Does Trump’s victory provide opportunities for the UK? Maybe November 10, 2016 One benefit of Trump’s shock victory is that it makes the Brexit vote look like a council by-election in comparison. The world is now used to the idea that over the next two years the UK will slip the surly bonds of Brussels, and although the full details of that plan aren’t fully understood it’s the [...]
Businesses are unwittingly entering the political fray with post-Brexit price rises November 10, 2016 More businesses are justifying price rises by blaming the fall in the pound post-Brexit. Whatever their commercial reasons, this is an extremely dangerous game. Commenting in these ways means entering the political arena at a sensitive time. These firms should be ready for serious scrutiny and hostile comment – now, but more importantly in the [...]