All we want for Christmas is a pay raise — or an office cat December 18, 2019 At this time of year, many of us will have fond memories of writing festive wish lists in the fervent hope that we’d been good enough to receive a visit from the big man in red. Fast-forward a couple of decades, and while we still have wishes for the festive season, a few of these [...]
DEBATE: Is the office Christmas party actually worth it? December 18, 2019 Is the office Christmas party actually worth it? Emma Long, commercial director of BizSpace, says YES. Primarily, the office Christmas party is a chance for employers to say thank you to staff, and for employees to reflect on and celebrate the successes of the year. They enable colleagues from different teams and at all levels [...]
After a decade of paralysis, at last the direction ahead for Britain is clear December 18, 2019 What a difference a decade makes. Ten years ago, as we prepared to ring out the noughties, Britain was in the grip of a financial crisis after an excess of good living had turned sour. Gordon Brown’s government was in its death throes, its desperate economic position highlighted the following year by the outgoing chief [...]
A lesson in cognitive dissonance for the Corbynites December 18, 2019 Behavioural economics — which extends the ability of economics to explain the world — has become very fashionable. Richard Thaler, Nobel Prize winner for his work in this area, observed that most of the time, the rational choice model of standard economics works well. People gather information on the various alternatives open to them, and [...]
A no-deal EU exit is still an unlikely outcome December 17, 2019 Well, that didn’t take long. Just a few days after Boris Johnson’s thumping majority sent sterling up to pre-referendum highs, his flirtation with a no-deal exit brought it back down to earth yesterday. Read more: CBI welcomes Prime Minister’s Brexit trade deal deadline But are the markets (heaven forbid) missing something? The government is embarking [...]
Why high street discounts are a dangerous drug December 17, 2019 Retailers love to brag about breaking records, but one they won’t be cheering this Christmas is the prediction that price cuts could potentially top 50 per cent for the first time ever. Amid a fierce fight to woo last-minute shoppers into their stores, high street chains are once again turning to a festive sales bonanza [...]
Dear Santa… please no more office politics? December 17, 2019 Christmas can be difficult for some, personally as well as professionally, but there is a lot that an organisation can do to ease pressure and show staff that it values their hard work. So how can you sweep away those cobwebs, “deck the halls”, and help mitigate the potential for office politics this festive season? [...]
How Boris Johnson became the heir to Blair December 17, 2019 Politics is the art of winning and keeping power. New Labour understood this. They were the greatest election-winning machine of modern times. But to the Corbynistas (Old Bennite Labour revived), New Labour are the enemy of true socialism. Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour want nothing to do with New Labour’s people, policies, or campaigning techniques. Unfortunately for [...]
Pension funds are putting more money into property debt December 17, 2019 When the Alternative Credit Council recently predicted that the global private debt market will be worth in excess of $1 trillion by the end of 2020, some might have called the claim a little audacious. Only seven years ago, less than £1 in every £10 lent in the UK came from an alternative lender. Today, [...]
DEBATE: Is it time for a review of the licence fee and how the BBC is structured? December 17, 2019 Is it time for a review of the licence fee and how the BBC is structured? Jamie Williams, managing partner at the advertising agency isobel, says YES. In a perfect world, the BBC licence fee structure could remain as it is, and the BBC would produce brilliantly entertaining content and unbiased news coverage at affordable [...]