No, your CEO can’t come paint our office: The 4 golden rules for CSR December 2, 2019 Two years ago, I launched Beam, a tech-for-good startup that crowdfunds employment training for homeless people and supports them into stable, paid work. Ever since we started to gain visibility, a number of brands have approached us with different propositions for demonstrating their corporate social responsibility (CSR) agendas. To paint a picture of what these approaches [...]
Farewell to a decade of seismic change and existential anxiety December 2, 2019 You’d be forgiven for not having a moment to notice, but this is a decade that is fast running out of time. The 2010s began with the unease of the consequences of the financial crash. They end with another dose of unease, this time both political and economic. Theresa May tried to win an election [...]
DEBATE: Does the UK need to address the fact that it reportedly has a ‘particularly extreme form of capitalism’? December 2, 2019 A new British Academy report argues that the UK has a ‘particularly extreme form of capitalism’ — is that something we need to address? Professor Christopher McKenna, co-director of the Global History of Capitalism Project at Oxford University, says YES. The proliferation of environmentally damaging industrial practices, the social divisions arising from monopoly power, and [...]
The gig economy needs a creative touch to regulation, not a knee-jerk ban December 2, 2019 The gig economy is a central part of what makes London the vibrant, world-class city it is. From Deliveroo to TaskRabbit to Uber, technological innovation is enabling people to work in ways they never could before and serve the needs of customers. It should be no surprise that more than one in five of London’s [...]
People from all backgrounds deserve the opportunity to succeed in our capital December 2, 2019 As we draw closer to the end of another momentous year in politics, it’s a time to reflect and look forward to the future. With all the Brexit noise, social mobility is one of the many issues that just hasn’t had enough airtime recently. Too often, people from less financially advantaged families lack opportunities, and [...]
Labour’s manifesto could break the fabric of the UK economy November 29, 2019 Labour’s manifesto would completely break the fabric of Britain’s liberal and tolerant free market economy, replacing it with a command and control centralising experiment that would do untold damage to the very people Labour claim to support. Let’s be clear; this is not a normal Labour manifesto. This Labour manifesto would uproot society to the [...]
Safe as houses? Our electoral map is fuelling voter apathy November 29, 2019 With less than two weeks to go until the country heads to the polls, I have personally encountered precisely one attempt to garner my vote, in the form of a leaflet from my local Green candidate. While somewhat ironic given the party’s mission to protect the environment, this was immensely welcome. The other parties, it [...]
Capitalism must keep an eye on itself, too November 29, 2019 Appointments to top regulatory jobs do not necessarily set the pulse of the nation racing, but the installation of Samantha Barrass as head of the new Business Banking Resolution Service (BBRS) is one that the City should pay attention to. Not necessarily because we expect the BBRS to be busy — though in its early [...]
The election could redraw the country and reshape the Tories November 29, 2019 Opinion polls don’t just report the state of play, they can help fashion what comes next. The huge YouGov survey of 100,000 voters that translated into a Tory majority of 68 was unusual not just because of its scale but because it analysed every constituency. Most polls take a small national sample and use that [...]
Mother Nature means business: Why leaders need ‘feminine’ qualities November 29, 2019 The business world has come a long way in celebrating and enabling gender equality. But while there might be more women entering the boardroom, we’re still a long way from achieving truly equal representation in the workplace — especially at a senior level. The problem is that while we’re more comfortable with having women take [...]