Universities are failing us: they’re expensive, ill-equipped and entrench ‘left-behind’ towns in the UK July 21, 2021 A record number of students have applied for university, with just over 300,000 submitting applications, according to UCAS. This represents 44 per cent of the entire year group, up 10 per cent on what was then a new record total in 2020. One of the main drivers has been the uncertainty the pandemic has created [...]
British warships are traversing the world to the South China sea as the UK strengthens its foreign policy July 20, 2021 The expedition to the South China sea by the Royal Navy’s Carrier Strike Group (CSG) is the largest display of British maritime power in a generation. The group, led by the HMS Queen Elizabeth, is complete with combat jets, two destroyers, two frigates, two replenishment vessels and a nuclear attack submarine. They are supported by HNLMS [...]
Britain’s decarbonising its transport but it’s losing the race against time July 20, 2021 Dozens in Germany and Belgium have died in flooding. This month Canada recorded its three warmest days ever. The planet is warming, provoking more extreme weather, disrupting fragile ecosystems, threatening planetary catastrophe. We need action quickly to meet the targets the global community has set to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Mayor of London wants London [...]
Bridgepoint has taken the unusual step to plan an IPO – how does private equity go public? July 20, 2021 All eyes turned to Bridgepoint this month, after the private equity firm took the unusual step to plan an IPO on the London Stock Exchange. With over £23bn under management, the company hopes to raise over £300million as part of the initial public listing. It is the first-time in nearly three decades a UK-based private [...]
Credit disagreement: the future of the high street depends on how we handle retailers’ Covid debt July 19, 2021 It is a commonplace that the pandemic has devastated the economy. The prospects of recovery may be rosier than we had dared imagine, but businesses have suffered grievously, especially those for whom in-person custom, footfall, is vital. One sector which has been hit particularly hard is independent retail. The death of the high street has [...]
Facebook and Amazon are losing the antitrust argument but are gambling on America’s broken politics to save them July 19, 2021 In recent weeks, Amazon and then Facebook launched legal challenges against Lina Khan, the new Chair of America’s antitrust regulator, the Federal Trade Commission. Both argued that Khan should step aside in any future investigation into competitive practices and any possible pursuit of a Big Tech breakup. Rather than offering much criticism of the content of [...]
Work from home advice has finally been dropped and we need our staff back in offices for our economy to recover July 19, 2021 Today is truly a significant moment for businesses and households across the nation, as social and economic COVID-19 restrictions in England are finally eased. It’s been a long journey, but for the City, after many months of quiet we can now breathe a collective sigh of relief, as workers and visitors start to return to [...]
London needs to overhaul its transport system to meet Sadiq Khan’s net zero ambitions July 18, 2021 We have less than a decade to become a zero-carbon city if we’re to meet the Mayor of London’s ambitions. Sadiq Khan has committed to using his second term as Mayor to tackle the climate emergency by setting a target for London to be carbon-neutral by 2030. City Hall is not alone. Twenty-eight of London’s [...]
An ode to the pub, the nucleus of our social lives July 17, 2021 How will you be celebrating Freedom Day? With restrictions on socialising having gradually eased over recent months, next Monday feels to many of us like the grand finale – a cathartic moment which finally marks the much-anticipated “Return To Normal”. As we embrace this new dawn, pubs can begin their recovery as pub goers rekindle the joys of standing drinking, ordering at the bar and meeting [...]
Africa, an overlooked continent for global investment is becoming a burgeoning Fintech leader July 17, 2021 “But do people in Africa actually play video games?” That’s a question I am often asked when talking about my business, by bemused venture capitalists and startup founders alike, anywhere from London to Hong Kong, New York to Silicon Valley. That one question exposes a persistent attitude towards Africa; that the continent is decades behind [...]