The World Trade Organisation must halt its march into irrelevance September 11, 2020 Even the World Trade Organization’s strongest advocates cannot deny that it is an organisation with serious problems. It is a body that has deep technical skills and a relatively simple purpose, to ensure international trade flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible. A steady rise in protectionism, diminishing respect for its rules and an [...]
Q&A: Top tips to consolidate your pensions in a post-Covid world September 11, 2020 Zoe Bailey, a director at financial planning specialist Tilney, goes through the pros and cons of consolidating your pensions Keeping track of multiple pension pots can be challenging – especially in times of economic uncertainty. As a result, simplifying your retirement funds and transferring them into one place can be an attractive proposition. However, there [...]
In a remote-working future, young people have so much to lose September 11, 2020 Boris once again rolled up his sleeves for a fight last week as he put pressure on employers to bring their teams back to the office. It won’t be easy – the business world is at loggerheads. JP Morgan and Schroeders, the most corporate of employers, have committed to remote working on a permanent basis [...]
The office is a particularly important place for startups September 11, 2020 Remote working is liberating us from the shackles of outdated, 20th Century habits, goes the prevailing narrative. We are freed from the purgatory of the daily commute and are spared office gossip, time-wasting meetings or pointless rituals. Major corporations seem to have embraced this ethos too. Google has said that most employees can be home-based [...]
The UK needs a science-led cannabis industry to help people get prescriptions September 10, 2020 Cannabis has been legal medically since November 2018, but it is still not easy to get a prescription. It is sadly the reality in the UK that the vast majority of cannabis is still supplied by the black market, and not by doctors. When you consider that some estimates suggest that about 1.3m people in [...]
London Tech Week: Let’s call time on the capital’s tech ‘not spots’ September 10, 2020 Walking through east London this summer, the beating heart of the UK’s tech ecosystem had become a ghost city, with empty streets, co-working spaces and cafes. Like most industries, the Covid-19 pandemic has driven the sector behind closed doors. Yet, bubbling below the surface is a defiant community of tech entrepreneurs that will prove absolutely [...]
Spare a thought for line managers in the world of hybrid working conditions September 10, 2020 As I left my bustling neighbourhood in West London recently, to commute to my office in the empty streets of central London, it became clear that a widespread return to office-based work in the UK is tentative to say the least. Britain’s employees are returning to their workplaces at a snail’s pace (just 34 per [...]
London’s startup scene is under threat – here’s how we can safeguard our entrepreneurs September 10, 2020 Following one of the biggest economic upheavals in living memory, London is now resetting itself. But our capital’s startups have taken a bruising in the last few months and their recovery requires urgent action. The impact has not been uniform, as some investment is still flowing. But investors have been backing portfolio companies, or in [...]
Emotional intelligence can be just as important as intellect in the workplace September 9, 2020 Sometimes it is hard to step back and see yourself as others see you. Yet when you do, it can be a game changer. For me, that moment came during an internal review with a colleague. My perception of myself as a boss who is empathetic to the people around me was upturned with one [...]
The mutant algorithm: what actually went wrong with this year’s school exams September 9, 2020 The Prime Minister described it as a “mutant algorithm”. Social commentators were naturally outraged as it disproportionately upgraded the results of children from private schools, while downgrading those from state schools, especially in the poorest areas. Few people actually understood how it worked, as the technical report from the UK Office for Qualifications (Ofqual) purporting [...]