Why is the mortgage market strangely resistant to technological change? May 16, 2019 Technology is so pervasive that it is easy to forget just how fundamentally it has impacted our lives. In fact, it is hard to think of an area of life that hasn’t been made more accessible, faster or cheaper. Personal finance is no exception. Price comparison websites, mobile banking, and other innovations have all transformed the [...]
Cyber security solutions that are only 95 per cent effective are just not good enough anymore May 16, 2019 The cyber security industry is failing businesses. Cyber criminals are constantly evolving and evading the market’s most sophisticated detection-based security solutions, with government figures showing that 32 per cent of UK businesses have faced a cyber attack or data breach in the past year. Most security solutions take a “best endeavour” approach to defending against [...]
The Brexit Party genie cannot be stuffed back into the bottle May 16, 2019 It was said of the French Bourbons during the Restoration following the Revolutionary and Napoleonic interregnum that “they had learned nothing, and forgotten nothing”. Utterly oblivious to how France had changed since Louis XVI had been driven from the throne, his relatives proceeded to attempt to roll back the clock and restore their vision of [...]
Gender agenda: Time for the finance world to up its game May 16, 2019 Next month will be one year since the Treasury Committee published its report on Women in Finance. But has anything happened over this period to provide a ripple of hope for change? To set the scene, back in 2015 the government appointed Jayne-Anne Gadhia to lead a review on women in financial services. In response [...]
DEBATE: As Julian Richer hands over company shares, are staff-owned firms better for the economy? May 16, 2019 As Julian Richer hands over company shares, are staff-owned firms are better for the economy? Scott Corfe, chief economist at the Social Market Foundation, says YES. Companies with significant employee ownership schemes tend to have higher productivity – which is exactly what the UK needs right now. Poor productivity performance is a key reason why, [...]
Let’s celebrate the British contrarians bold enough to challenge the status quo May 16, 2019 It is easy to spot the ruthless persecution of individuals who challenge the status quo in countries like Venezuela and Cambodia, where dissent is violently silenced by autocrats. Yet in modern Britain, we too are adept at suppressing it ourselves, with offence-taking used as tool to shut down discussion. However, there are a handful that eschew [...]
Chris Tremlett: With Bairstow and Buttler firing England have the best ODI batting line-up in the world May 15, 2019 If the last two games have shown us anything it’s that the sky is the limit for England’s batsmen. Twice in the past week they’ve scored over 350 in One-Day International victories against Pakistan. It’s happening so frequently now that it’s really no longer a surprise. England have the best 50-over batting line-up in the [...]
Business cards on the table – what does yours say about you? May 15, 2019 Regardless of industry or sector, the success of a business is often determined by one important moment: the first impression. Although it’s not something that we like to admit, it’s human nature to pass judgement on someone during an initial meeting – first impressions can linger for some time afterwards. For this reason, a good [...]
Business risks ‘Corbygeddon’ if it doesn’t learn to speak up May 15, 2019 The headline in the Sunday Times was stark: “Rich prepare to flee Corbyn’s Britain as Tories desert PM”. The country’s millionaires and billionaires were, according to the compilers of the paper’s annual rich list, preparing for “Corbygeddon” – the prospect of a hard-left Labour government making an irreparable dent in both their own finances and the [...]
While the US and China sneeze, London too risks catching a cold May 15, 2019 The trade dispute between China and the US has escalated. After Donald Trump tweeted that he was imposing higher tariffs on $200bn of Chinese imports to the US, China predictably retaliated, announcing on Monday that it would impose a further $60bn of tariffs on US goods coming into the country. Much attention has been paid [...]