The office is changing – and that means a shift in the real estate market, too May 15, 2020 When businesses emerge from lockdown, many will seek ways to reduce their operating costs to maintain margins in a post-COVID-19 world, when revenue generation is likely to be appreciably more challenging. Real estate often represents the second largest operating cost of most businesses, after staff salaries. It’s regrettably very likely, then, that headcount and office [...]
Video-by-default and a silver surfer generation: Predicting a post-pandemic tech world May 15, 2020 Everybody is in the business of prediction these days. The path of the pandemic, and its impact on health services. The shape of the impending recession, the stock market or the oil price. Unemployment figures or the size of the national debt. As a venture investor, I can’t predict the future better than anyone else. [...]
Forget FOMO: Businesses need to fight Brits’ FOGO May 14, 2020 “Remember pubs?” my friends and I joke over Zoom. We’ve all dreamt about ‘getting back to normal’ after COVID-19; bars, screen-free meetups, a cup of tea somewhere other than our living rooms. But as lockdown lifts, the reality of this freedom – this closeness to others – can feel frightening. The University of Cambridge actually [...]
Is learning the new battle armour in the fight for equality post-pandemic? May 14, 2020 In the current climate, it has become abundantly clear that there is a need to address the conversation around women and equality, at home and at work. As part of my day-to-day running of all-female members club AllBright, we’ve worked hard to create spaces – physical and digital – which help all women better connect [...]
Scrapping the furlough scheme would have been a disaster May 13, 2020 Businesses can breathe a little easier today. Fears that the Chancellor would cut back on the furlough scheme that is subsidising wages for a million businesses were put to rest as he confirmed that it would run into the Autumn. After days of mixed messages, Rishi Sunak’s reassurances that the withdrawal of support would not [...]
Shakespeare: B&Q rollercoaster points to Covid confusion May 13, 2020 Our chart today looks like a rollercoaster and that’s what it must feel like for high street retailers negotiating government advice and public opinion. After initial confusion as to which businesses were “essential” following Boris Johnson’s initial COVID-19 lockdown announcement, Government clarified that hardware stores could remain open. But B&Q reacted to criticism from employees [...]
Advice: Staying alive with a bounce back loan May 13, 2020 Business owners watched the Prime Minister’s broadcast with bated breath on Sunday. Hope of clarity for when and how companies will get back to some form of normality were soon extinguished. The vague roadmap to recovery leaves the majority in limbo, reliant on diminishing cash reserves and government support. One bright spot on the long [...]
Numeracy skills remain the key to a better life May 13, 2020 As a parent under lockdown, I count myself among the many thousands of people who have added ‘home schooling’ to their list of responsibilities at home, at least temporarily. I take my hat off to teachers who do this normally. Reflecting on the way we educate children and engage them in a subject like numeracy, [...]
The unions stand on the precipice May 13, 2020 Len McCluskey, the leader of the trade union Unite, probably did as much as anybody to ensure Boris Johnson’s massive electoral victory last December. A fervent supporter of Jeremy Corbyn, his grip on the Labour Party machine compelled Labour to fight the election with its most unpopular and inept leader in history. McCluskey is up [...]
Banking mustn’t just put up with tech, but embrace it May 12, 2020 The COVID-19 pandemic has brought new challenges to the world of business. Arguably, the most pressing being how organisations, unable to operate in their usual capacity, can access funds to remain afloat. To put the scale of this issue into context, it is predicted that if not supported correctly, a fifth of all UK SMEs [...]