After grilling Mike Ashley about Sports Direct working practices, is it fair for MPs to demand business leaders account for themselves before Parliament? June 8, 2016 Ioannis Ioannou, associate professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at London Business School, says Yes. Yes, it is fair. To the extent that Parliament acts in good will to protect the long-term interests of society at large (as opposed to serving short-term political objectives), demanding transparency and accountability from companies that have a material impact on societal [...]
London’s rapid growth fuels our polarised job market June 7, 2016 Last year was another successful one for the capital’s job creation machine. Employment rose by 2.5 percent in 2015, beating the UK-wide rate of two percent, providing work to another 107,400 people. But these gains weren’t evenly shared. Since 2008 London has seen phenomenal growth of very high and very low skilled jobs, whilst those in the [...]
Women must have a crucial role in saving the high street – a retailer’s survival may depend on it June 7, 2016 Retailers will breathe a sigh of relief today as the joint British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG sales monitor for May shows a modest recovery on the high street. But the respite may be brief as customers remain cautious with their spending. The sector is facing many challenges. Too many retailers are disconnected from their [...]
Ignore Remain’s Brexit deceptions: EU backers are the real protectionists June 7, 2016 Following Michael Gove’s impressive performance in the Sky “debate” last week, the Stronger In campaign was always going to clutch at straws to find some supposed slip-up to exploit. This time it was Gove’s admission that “I cannot say that everybody in their current job will keep their job” following a Brexit. This, the Remain [...]
Euro 2016: Think like a fund manager to build a winning fantasy football team June 7, 2016 Fantasy Football has developed into one of the world’s most popular online sports games. Forbes estimates that 1.2bn hours are spent playing the US version every year. But although the game is light hearted fun for most people, its clear parallels with asset management show what a serious business it can be. In Fantasy Football, [...]
Banks face a storm of new regulation in the aftermath of the EU referendum – and they’re worryingly unprepared June 7, 2016 June 24. The Brexit referendum result is in the books. Everyone wakes up dazed and wonders “what next?” The City, in particular, will have work to do. Normal politics has taken a bit of a holiday but the bureaucratic processes steadily reshaping financial services regulation have not. To give just a few examples: tax rules [...]
As Brexit momentum sends sterling tumbling, is a weaker pound really such a bad thing for the UK economy? June 7, 2016 Vicky Pryce, board member of the Centre for Economics and Business Research, a former government adviser, and co-author of It’s the Economy, Stupid. Economics for Voters, says Yes. The external Monetary Policy Committee member Kristin Forbes recently pointed out that the burgeoning UK current account deficit has been more driven by a deterioration in the investment [...]
The war on cash is raging – should we welcome or fear the death of hard money? June 7, 2016 Cash is no longer king. Although the Bank of England unveiled a new, polymer-coated £5 note last week, the seemingly unstoppable march towards paper-free transactions continues. Electronic payments overtook notes and coins last year in the UK, according to the Payments Council, an industry body representing the banks and card machine industry. They now account for [...]
Carneiro v Mourinho: How damaging can a tribunal get? June 6, 2016 Today marks the beginning of the eagerly-awaited employment tribunal between Eva Carneiro, former first team doctor at Chelsea F.C., and the club’s then manager Jose Mourinho. Speculation is mounting as to how it might affect the career prospects of the parties involved; in particular Mourinho’s recent appointment as manager of rival club Manchester United. Although [...]
Are Sadiq Khan’s planning reforms viable? June 6, 2016 After just two weeks in office as the new mayor of London, Sadiq Khan revealed his plans to deal with the capital’s housing crisis and said the previous mayor had “left the cupboard bare” when it comes to delivering affordable housing. Khan says he will be working with the government to actively identify surplus public [...]