Kwasi Kwarteng shouldn’t be ashamed of his free market principles January 22, 2021 New business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng MP is on paper one of the most pro-free enterprise ministers to run the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) in years. He takes over the role at a time when businesses, of all shapes and sizes, are struggling. Many risk closure and collapse. So, he must use [...]
Brand Britain is stronger than you think – so let’s give it some welly on the global stage January 22, 2021 Let’s start with a couple of caveats. Firstly, I’m a resolute optimist – something I share in common with many adfolk. Advertising is not a great career choice for pessimists. Hope is more of a till ringer than gloom. Secondly, I’m proud to be British. Not in the jingoistic sense of the word, but in [...]
Meet the Roarers: the new demographic that will power the leisure revival January 21, 2021 There’s a new demographic in town. Us Brits are famous for our resilience and ‘keep calm and carry on’ attitude, but as vaccinations are being rolled out, we can see the rapid emergence of a new group all set to live their lives like never before. Meet the Roarers, who are set to make more [...]
Insurers need to capture the Covid-19 zeitgeist and go beyond expectations January 21, 2021 As a communications professional, you rarely want your client and the words “the Supreme Court” to appear in the same sentence. However, last week, the justices issued a 112-page judgement on the Financial Conduct Authority’s appeal asking for “clarification” on whether insurance companies were required to pay business interruption claims for companies which had been [...]
What does the WhatsApp saga tell us about privacy in 2021? January 21, 2021 Public trust is steadily declining in the tech sector; WhatsApp’s latest ordeal is a perfect example. The company recently announced it would start sharing sensitive user data with Facebook, including information such as IP address, browser information and phone numbers. Cue a swarm of users deleting the app and fleeing to competitors such as Telegram [...]
The UK has conceptualised 21st century tech – now it’s time for us to make it, too January 21, 2021 Few people would argue that the lithium ion batteries which power our smartphones, or the flat-screen televisions sitting in millions of living rooms across the world, were not game-changing scientific innovations. Fewer still would be aware that the research and conceptualisation behind these innovations was conducted here in the UK. So too, in fact, was [...]
A 21st century Big Bang 2.0 won’t look like the eighties – but it’s worth pursuing January 20, 2021 UK financial services can unlock a new phase of growth by taking a lead on sustainability, digital innovation and governance, and redefining ‘Big Bang’ to be far more than simply deregulating markets. Chancellor Rishi Sunak spoke of the City’s “perfect platform” for a post-Brexit “Big Bang” last week but remained equivocal on how the new [...]
Decentralising the NHS could be a game-changer for the UK’s future health January 20, 2021 The NHS is a highly centralised organisation. During the Covid crisis, policy decisions have been made at the top and then passed down. There has been little scope for showing initiative at a local level. This dates back to when the NHS was set up in the late 1940s. Central planning was very fashionable at the time. [...]
One restaurateur’s plea: How am I doing? How the f*** do you think I’m doing? January 20, 2021 How am I doing? How the f*** do you think I’m doing? At every turn I politely say “struggling on” or another platitude: “smiling on the outside, crying on the inside.” But let’s put this into perspective. Pied à Terre has been on Charlotte Street for almost 30 years, 28 of those with a Michelin star. Other [...]
Perception is everything: Why this decade is all about reputation January 20, 2021 The last decade has been all about data. As our digital lives have become inseparable with our offline selves, the power and value of the data that underpins the digital world has exploded. It is easy to forget that it is only 14 years this month since the launch of the iPhone, and even harder [...]