Businesses of all stripes have stepped up to the Covid-19 challenge March 6, 2021 The private sector has already played a crucial role in the fight against Covid-19. Not only have some of the world’s largest companies developed crucial vaccines and life-saving treatments, but the private sector more broadly has also played a more indirect – yet still highly important – role in supporting the public sector as it [...]
Apple’s new privacy features may finally trigger a more transparent tech ecosystem March 6, 2021 A new feature in Apple’s operating system has received relatively little attention in the wider media recently, yet it is set to kick start a new era of transparency in the tech industry and hopefully instil more respect for consumer and enterprise privacy. With the launch of iOS 14, Apple introduced a privacy information section [...]
Fight for the high street: Sunak’s Budget will stop the bleeding, but we must look long-term March 5, 2021 For London’s struggling retailers and leisure operators, Rishi Sunak’s budget provided some welcome respite. The three month extension to the business rates holiday, the £5 billion Restart Grant scheme and the extension to the furlough initiative should enable some of the brands on the high street to survive, at least until they have the opportunity [...]
WeWork: Vaccine rollout must herald a phased return to offices before June March 5, 2021 Following the news the highly effective coronavirus vaccines would begin to be rolled out in Britain, the stock market surged on a wave of optimism and the hope a return to normal, and by extension, the workplace, was within our grasp. Alongside the roadmap out of lockdown, we can now see a light at the [...]
Screenshot: Will nightclubs really reopen in June? March 5, 2021 This week: **Media Moment of the Week: Telly’s still got welly **Will nightclubs really reopen on 21 June? **The BBC turns back time Media Moment of the Week: Telly’s still got welly In the age of Silicon Valley streaming giants and relentless references to “content” and “eyeballs”, it’s easy to forget that TV can, sometimes, [...]
Shadow Chancellor: For UK to succeed, London has to succeed March 5, 2021 More than 300,000 Londoners have lost their jobs since the pandemic began, and some of the sectors that most define our country’s capital – our theatres, galleries, restaurants, bars, hotels, museums and shops – have been particularly badly hit. The city missed out on £11 billion of tourist spending last year. We need a relentless [...]
Tech billionaires’ privacy brawl: Facebook’s defence of its darkest arts defies belief March 5, 2021 Facebook’s new advertisement – “Good Ideas Deserve To Be Found” – is a study in audacity, in which the company wraps its darkest arts in a cloak of moral purity. Facebook tracks its users’ behaviour, not only on its own apps but all across the web. What it learns about you in the process, it [...]
Freelance creatives could fall through cracks of Rishi budget March 4, 2021 This week Rishi Sunak announced his investment-led recovery budget, pledging an additional £408m stimulus package for the culture sector. This is fantastic news for a creative sector particularly vulnerable to the impact of the COVID pandemic. The government has divided this relief package into three parts: £300m for the Cultural Recovery Fund (supporting cultural organisations [...]
Digital Currencies: The money of tomorrow or today? March 4, 2021 Last week the Treasury-commissioned fintech Review published its agenda for the future of the UK intech sector. It recommended more government oversight, closer regulatory alignment, and perhaps most intriguingly, an embrace of digital currencies. But what would this actually look like in the UK – and why does it matter? To understand this, it helps to [...]
DEBATE: Is Universal Credit fit for purpose? March 4, 2021 Jonathan Reynolds, Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions says NO Universal Credit has failed on its own terms. It is not offering a route out of hardship instead it is perpetuating a cycle of debt and destitution that is hurting our economy. The system starts people off in debt through the five week-wait, [...]