Manchester United is a commercial phenomenon – and will remain so September 10, 2014 Manchester United FC is a commercial phenomenon in footballing terms. It has just reported annual revenues of £430m and increased commercial revenues by £135m since 2007 – a staggering achievement. It generates astonishing positive cashflow and, as a self-financing business model, remains almost untouchable in the football industry, certainly in the UK. Where the club has [...]
Life after redundancy: How to pick yourself up after losing your job September 10, 2014 Losing your job is hard. Picking yourself up is tougher. You may have been fired or been made redundant, but getting back into the job market with the right mind frame is essential. Too often people fall into a rut after they lose their job – it is essential to keep healthy, both mentally and [...]
Why Labour’s landlord plans will mean a better private rented sector September 10, 2014 Contrary to the views expressed by Ryan Bourne of the IEA, Labour’s reforms to the private rented sector are designed to address the chronic instability faced by families up and down the country. However, I agree wholeheartedly with his analysis that addressing the shortage of homes is paramount, and that’s why Labour has committed [...]
How Manchester United and Chelsea showed loaning is the new buying for Premier League clubs September 10, 2014 So the window has slammed shut on the latest football transfer extravaganza. Well perhaps not so much slamming, more flapping shut with the deals that seemed to conclude after the deadline had passed. How do we all feel? I think we’re left with a sense of shock, amazement and bewilderment at the sheer [...]
Apple Watch is the start of a whole new era of growth for Apple under Tim Cook September 9, 2014 Apple is truly a creature of habit. You could almost set a watch (no pun intended) to the regular tick tock of its annual product cycles. But every so often, Apple must change its pattern, breaking with tradition to launch a new product or set a new direction for the company. The first iMac in [...]
Forget bonus caps: Why real executive pay reform must tackle short-termism September 9, 2014 EXECUTIVE pay is a high-profile topic which almost everyone has an opinion about, and many believe the entire system is broken. But despite being well-intentioned, many suggested reforms may not be targeting the elements of pay that are most critical for shareholder value and society. Much of the debate is on what I call a [...]
How incompetent policymakers have kept the Eurozone in perpetual crisis September 9, 2014 THE EUROZONE lurches into yet another crisis, with fears of deflation and a further drop in output. There are several dominant explanations as to why Europe has been unable to recover from the crisis. Depending on their tastes, most commentators subscribe to them either on their own, or in various combinations. One puts the blame [...]
Better Together finally gets it: An appeal to reason isn’t enough to save the Union September 9, 2014 FINANCIAL markets seem to be doing a better job of making the case against Scottish independence than our politicians. Since polls were published showing the Yes campaign in the ascendancy, the slide in sterling has given everyone food for thought – and not just in Scotland. My email has fired up with colleagues in New [...]
As the Scottish referendum looms, would a Yes vote derail Britain’s economic recovery? September 9, 2014 Howard Archer, chief European and UK economist at IHS Global Insight, says Yes. A Yes vote would be unlikely to completely derail the UK recovery, given that it now looks pretty well established, but it could put a serious dent in growth prospects. The uncertainty (over what will happen with the currency and UK debt [...]
The unintended consequences of plain cigarette packaging September 9, 2014 If a single policy could reduce both the number of people who start smoking and increase the ability for smokers to quit, we would have to give it serious consideration. We are always looking for solutions to the health problems caused by smoking. To that end, at first glance, plain packaging for cigarettes seems like [...]