Winter is coming, let the chill of change work to your advantage November 5, 2018 Winter is coming, to borrow the oft-quoted phrase from Game of Thrones. We all know what it feels like: shorter days, darkness abounds, chilled to your bones. Pull up the duvet and prepare for hibernation. But awake, Britain – throw open the doors of your toasty warm Hobbit-holes and allow the chilly gusts of reality [...]
DEBATE: Will Ikea’s new small store format in urban centres help save the high street? November 5, 2018 Will Ikea’s new small store format in urban centres help save the high street? Adrian Moorhouse, managing director of Lane4, says YES. Ikea’s experiment with smaller city centre stores is a great example of a brand evolving to stay connected to its customers, by accommodating the changing ways in which people both live and shop. As a lot [...]
Our once-in-a-generation opportunity to ensure that the City is fit for the future November 5, 2018 Firms across the Square Mile have had to spend a disproportionate amount of time recently planning for the short term. With less than five months to go before the UK leaves the European Union, it is right that businesses urgently prepare for all possible outcomes, including a possible no-deal scenario. There are many pressing issues [...]
Governmental failure has left millions of Nigerians in the dark November 5, 2018 Government is, as former President Barack Obama pointed out, just that name for what we do together. Unfortunately, in some of the poorer parts of the world, it’s really the name for what does not get done at all. Nigeria is a prime example. It is a large oil producer with plentiful resources. It is [...]
Let’s make sure British sport can compete with the best beyond Brexit November 4, 2018 It is often said the UK is a nation obsessed with sport. But for once sport’s hold on top spot in the public consciousness has been usurped by another national obsession: Brexit. However, the link between Brexit and sport is far more than just a competition for public attention – Brexit poses some fundamental challenges [...]
Opinion: This Budget showed that Phillip Hammond, and by extension the Conservatives, have given up on the housing crisis November 2, 2018 Housing is arguably the second biggest political hot potato for this Government after Brexit. Getting it as wrong as they currently are will surely lead to defeat at the next election. This will be a defeat fuelled by an angry generation of resentful aspirants, whose home-owning dreams have been shattered by an administration’s failings to [...]
Solving the shipping industry’s technological problems is a huge opportunity for the UK November 2, 2018 For decades, the business of moving goods across national borders has been hidden from the headlines. In ordinary times it is a rather dry subject, but Brexit has brought trade into sharp focus. One thing has become crystal clear: if goods cannot move freely through ports as a result of political agreement, a much greater [...]
Irresponsible gambling is a big risk, but the industry is changing those odds November 2, 2018 Yesterday, we launched the biggest ever campaign to promote responsible gambling. More than 127,000 staff in over 11,000 gambling venues in the UK and Ireland – encompassing bookmakers, casinos, arcades, bingo clubs and online gambling websites – are currently taking part in Responsible Gambling Week. The aim is to spark a national dialogue about what [...]
Waitrose’s vegan row shows that we’ve all forgotten how to laugh November 2, 2018 I’ve heard it said – often by advocates of social justice campaigns like the #MeToo movement – that we should have little sympathy for people who don’t know what behaviour is on the right or wrong side of the line. Men, for example, have no need to be fearful in a #MeToo world as long [...]
DEBATE: Channel 4 has chosen to relocate its headquarters to Leeds, but is this a sensible decision? November 2, 2018 Channel 4 has chosen to relocate its headquarters to Leeds, but is this a sensible decision? YES, says Olivia Utley, deputy editor at TheArticle. It is common knowledge that British regions are suffering from a brain drain to London. The latest analysis suggests that 30 per cent of all students will head to the capital upon [...]