Sowing the seeds for the next stage of fintech success July 27, 2020 Fintech in the UK has grown at breakneck speed. In 2010 it accounted for just four per cent of venture capital investment in the UK. A decade later, this figure has risen to 28 per cent, with a record $4.9bn of capital investment landing in the UK in 2019 — a year-on-year increase of more [...]
Don’t believe the Scottish independence hype — I’d bet on Johnson’s tortoise to beat Sturgeon’s hare July 24, 2020 For his first significant political event outside the Westminster bubble, timed for his one-year anniversary of becoming Prime Minister, Boris Johnson chose to go to Scotland. The significance of that choice cannot be overestimated. Politics is as unpredictable as ever, and despite chancellor Rishi Sunak hosing Scotland with the billions confected by the Bank of [...]
Where is the no-deal planning we need to extract a deal from the EU? July 24, 2020 The UK ended its fifth round of negotiations this week, and still there has been no agreement on the principles of a future trading deal — let alone an actual deal. This was all too predictable. The EU is seeking a deal founded in ideology, and the UK simply wants to trade. Back in January, [...]
After a year in the job, Boris Johnson is a disappointment to even his biggest fans July 24, 2020 On the Institute of Economic Affairs’ Live With Littlewood show this week, I was asked to score Boris Johnson’s first year as Tory leader. I am accustomed to being the token left-winger (relatively speaking) on the IEA’s show, which tends to feature economists and journalists who identify firmly on the Conservative right. I was therefore [...]
DEBATE: Should Brits embrace the joys of the domestic staycation this summer? July 24, 2020 Should Brits embrace the joys of the domestic staycation this summer? Victoria Mackarness, senior account manager at CMS Strategic, says YES. The UK is lucky to boast an abundance of incredible holiday destinations with something to appeal to everyone. From the Highlands of Scotland to the beaches of St Ives, we are blessed with glorious [...]
We can’t tax our way out of the Covid-19 crisis — instead, the chancellor must drive growth July 24, 2020 There has never been a time to my knowledge when, in the run up to a Budget or other fiscal event, the Treasury has not highlighted the pressures on public finances which made the option for significant (or, indeed, any) net tax cuts unwise. Typically, projected shortfalls in the state’s annual budgets have been in [...]
Counting the human cost of Covid — and of leaving small business owners behind July 23, 2020 The daily lists of cases, tests and R numbers tell a tale of the scale of the Covid-19 crisis, but they don’t always explain the full story of the cost on people’s lives. ACCA and the Corporate Finance Network (CFN) are running a tracker poll among accountancy firms representing more than 22,000 small businesses to [...]
From Mad Men to micro-targeting: The internet has democratised advertising July 23, 2020 The coronavirus pandemic has shown that the internet is something we can no longer live without. It has helped us to connect with loved ones we have been unable to physically meet, build communities and groups online to provide help to those who needed it most, and crucially it has enabled small businesses to continue [...]
Social responsibility belongs in the boardroom, not the marketing suite July 23, 2020 The issues that concern young people the most today — from the climate crisis and global pandemic to new conversations on race and privilege — are ones that also belong in the boardroom. Our world is changing fast, and so too are society’s expectations of corporate Britain — not just when it comes to the [...]
Pompeo and Circumstance: The special relationship endures July 23, 2020 The visit of a US secretary of state to any country is always an eagerly anticipated affair. Short of a US presidential visit, there is little that can match the arrival of the global superpower’s leading diplomat onto any domestic stage, as can be testified by the extreme media and political interest these encounters provide. [...]