Don’t give in to the Twitter mob: Social media is too often just an echo chamber May 18, 2016 Greater Manchester Police staged a simulated terror attack in the Trafford Centre last week. As with many real life atrocities, the carnage began with the mock-bomber crying “Allahu Akbar!” Following a storm of protest on Twitter, the police felt forced to apologise. Almost at the same time, a frenzied chorus rose up demanding the resignation [...]
Southern Railway strike: The RMT is ignoring the interests of commuters and its members May 18, 2016 For the second time in four weeks, the RMT union is striking on the Southern Railway network today, causing havoc for the 300,000 people we carry on their commute every day. This pointless and unnecessary dispute will doubtless infuriate every one of our customers. And I don’t blame them one bit. I share their frustration. People [...]
Has the Competition and Markets Authority missed a golden opportunity to overhaul the banking sector? May 18, 2016 Rishi Khosla, chief executive and co-founder of OakNorth, says Yes. While the CMA’s proposals will make it easier for individuals and businesses to compare and switch current accounts, and should help improve awareness and shopping around in the market, SMEs have once again been overlooked. The CMA has simply passed the buck to the Treasury, which [...]
The CMA is right to place its faith in tech, not gimmicks May 17, 2016 The CMA has made a bold call in its retail banking market investigation, ignoring continued cries to break up banks and ban the prevalent free-if-in-credit current account model, and instead putting its faith in innovation. It correctly identified that the problems in the current account market start with customers’ difficulties navigating the market. But, perhaps [...]
What to Expect at Google I/O: Beyond mobile… and reality May 17, 2016 This week the eyes of the technology industry are all on Google’s annual developer conference – Google I/O occurring from 18-20 May. The first conference since the creation of Alphabet has a brand new outdoor home – Shoreline Amphitheatre in San Francisco. While tech blogs are already awash with rumours, I’d like to share some areas to look [...]
Central banks aren’t out of antidotes, but beware the dangerous tonic of helicopter money May 17, 2016 After years of unconventional monetary policy but stubbornly low inflation, investors are asking whether central banks are out of ammunition. But central banks are not soldiers fighting a war; they are doctors trying to cure a disease. As traditional medicines fail, they try ever more experimental cures. After the standard dose of rate cuts proved [...]
Five challenges Amazon faces plotting its own-brand products May 17, 2016 Reports that Amazon is branching out into private-label groceries make sense for the retail giant. In a sluggish market own label is one of the few healthy areas, growing by 1.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2016. Retailers aren’t seen as credible without an own label range, but developing a strong offer takes time and Amazon will [...]
Christine Lagarde is wrong: Here are four economic positives from Brexit May 17, 2016 IMF chief Christine Lagarde said last week she has “not seen anything positive” about Brexit in terms of economics. Even for the head of a global body which we might expect would dislike major political disruption to the international order, and a good friend of the chancellor, this shows a remarkable lack of imagination. Suffering [...]
The Prince’s Trust’s 40th anniversary: How business is helping deprived young people flourish May 17, 2016 Today Buckingham Palace hosts a garden party to mark the fortieth anniversary of The Prince’s Trust, the Prince of Wales’ oldest and largest charity. It will be attended by some of the thousands of young people whose lives have been turned around by this amazing organisation, along with volunteers, supporters and staff. As chairman of [...]
Lessons from New York: Bigger is no longer better in the new world of ambitious scaleups May 17, 2016 Every business is a hypothesis based on a bet. And if you want to bet big, grow small. That’s the lesson I learned on a recent visit to New York to meet the scaleup businesses aiming to become tomorrow’s titans. Of course, think New York and you think big. The Big Apple, big business and [...]