After Deliveroo’s car crash IPO, London needs a rebrand to fend off Europe’s financial centres May 3, 2021 Much like the carefully manufactured picture of a restaurant-quality dish displayed on the takeaway firm’s app, Deliveroo’s IPO promised so much, yet when it arrived, was a cold, undercooked imitation of the rich banquet investors had been promised. After a difficult period, one of London’s most high-profile IPOs in years turning into a car crash [...]
The value of vowels: Can Abrdn keep its legacy with its rebrand? May 2, 2021 With corporate and financial institutions, it is vital that all aspects of a brands’ communication evoke trust in that organisation, claim mind and market share, and lend gravitas and confidence to its product. The recent announcement that Standard Life Aberdeen is changing its name to Abrdn is a lesson for us all. Any serious, corporate [...]
We need mentorship at an executive level to achieve greater diversity May 2, 2021 Women have suffered disproportionately during the pandemic. A staggering 40 percent in the UK said they feel worse off than a year ago, according to February data from our monthly consumer sentiment survey, and more than 20 percent said their finances suffered. Efforts to help women recover and relaunch their careers must include mentoring. It’s well [...]
Post-pandemic, our education system needs a serious re-think May 1, 2021 The pandemic has thrown schools into a state of flux for over a year. Instead of rushing to return to a normal that was failing thousands of children, we should ask the most fundamental questions about what we want from our schools, and what a school actually should look like. We can begin to solve [...]
Covid Secure: we’ve spent too much time on hand sanitiser and not enough on fresh air April 30, 2021 The roll-out of the vaccine continues to be an unequivocal success story for this country, and long may it continue. Earlier this month, however, the Government made a crucial change in its communications strategy – “hands, face, space” became “hands, face, space, fresh air”. This is a subtle, yet significant amendment. It points to the [...]
Screenshot: Will GB News’ traditional TV bet pay off? April 30, 2021 This week **Media Moment of the Week: Blair’s hair mare **Will GB News’ traditional TV bet pay off? **BT puts sport on the sideline Media Moment of the Week: Blair’s hair mare With allegations of sleaze, rows over John Lewis and Kevin Keegan-esque outbursts, it’s fair to say that all the attention has been on [...]
The hippie economy: tree-huggers and capitalists are a match made in heaven April 30, 2021 If you work in the City you probably believe in free markets, capitalism and making money, right? Me too. Though I’m an ex hippie traveller, climate activist, tree hugging type, I see the power of money. Environmental work is always presented as a good thing to do. You know the pitch: the appeal to altruism, [...]
We shouldn’t be scared of the plague of activist investors April 30, 2021 Activist investors are the scourge of the corporate boardroom. Surreptitiously building sizeable stakes in public companies, they appear, uninvited and unannounced, bearing frightening demands. Often seeking the chief executive’s head on a platter, they are feared because they sometimes get it. In 2020, however, the activists went quiet. As businesses struggled to respond to the [...]
Boris Johnson’s nothing to see here attitude is more damning than the decor of Downing Street April 29, 2021 Who would want an entire flat decked out in wallpaper which makes it feel like you’ve fallen right down the rabbit hole and drunk the bottle which turns everything into a nightmarish land of geometric shapes? Who would want to be forced to pay for that themselves? Boris Johnson’s lavish spending is questionable on all [...]
Greensill, PPE and cronyism: Ministers need to be honest with each other about procurement contracts as well as the public April 29, 2021 Procurement normally only captures our attention when something has gone seriously wrong: the collapse of Carillion, who-you-know Covid contracts, unusual supply chain finance proposals, or jewellery designers and hedge-funds supplying PPE at extortionate prices. Although such blunders rarely escape the front pages, those who care to see taxpayers’ money well spent should also pay attention [...]