Kevin Hart, the Oscars, and social media – don’t leave any skeletons in your online closet February 21, 2019 The Academy Awards and drama go hand in hand, but this year’s choice of host dominated the news for all the wrong reasons. In December, homophobic tweets made by the chosen host, American comedian Kevin Hart, resurfaced from the late 2000s. The Academy offered him an ultimatum: apologise or step down. He went for the [...]
Investors afraid German economic slowdown will hit recruiter Hays Group February 21, 2019 Recruitment firm Hays Group shares fell 6.9 per cent this morning amid fears of a German slowdown, despite announcing rising profits and revenues. The company also admitted it was battling “economic uncertainties” in the UK, but that other global markets were strong in its interim results The figures Operating profit for the six months to [...]
If you’re so successful, why are you still working 70 hours a week? February 21, 2019 | City Talk Professor Empson’s book argues that the people leading the world’s most influential professional firms, including major accounting and consulting firms, law firms and investment banks, are constantly working to maintain an unstable equilibrium which can be thrown off balance at any time, losing them authority and potentially cause chaos. In one key chapter in her [...]
We need female tech trailblazers if the UK is to keep its unicorn crown February 20, 2019 The UK has been crowned the “tech unicorn capital of Europe”, by virtue of the fact that we have more billion-dollar-valued tech companies than any other country in the EU. But the next generation of unicorns, which include the likes of Just Eat, Deliveroo, and Purplebricks, could well be under threat if the tech industry, [...]
Which Friends character are you when you’re at work? February 19, 2019 In the words of Janice: Oh. My. God. It’s official – Friends is the most streamed TV show of all time. Lasting for 10 series, the well-loved group went through the highs and lows of young adulthood together: several relationships, many different jobs, and a multitude of messy breakups. They came out the other side [...]
Why ‘Continual Learning’ is ready to disrupt investment February 19, 2019 | City Talk ‘The only source of knowledge is experience’ – this quote, attributed to Albert Einstein, could be used to frustrate ambitious young analysts. The lesson? Grey hair will prevail. There simply is no substitute for experience in the investment business. Correct? Well, perhaps not any more. A new technology might be about to give grey hair [...]
Beyond the bottom line: UK asset managers aren’t ready for new stewardship rules – should we be worried? February 19, 2019 From questionable corporate incentives to excessive risk-taking, there were plenty of red flags that should have warned asset managers of the impending financial crisis in 2008. And yet, many turned a blind eye, ultimately choosing to risk people’s pension savings for the sake of short-term gains. Since then, codes of practice have been introduced around [...]
DEBATE: Have the Labour splitters helped the Conservative party? February 19, 2019 Have the Labour splitters helped the Conservative party? Lauren McEvatt, managing director at Morpeth Consulting, says YES. After the next election, the UK government will either be run by the Labour party or the Tory party. That’s the reality of the electoral system. The seven Labour splitters have denounced the modern Labour party as bullies, [...]
Want a more future-focused government? Climate action is just the start February 19, 2019 The reaction was predictable. Last week’s Climate Strike by schoolchildren was met with an inane debate about whether or not the pupils were right to “play truant”. This dialogue of the deaf was a missed opportunity. Politicians should take seriously the protesters’ demand that they “recognise that young people have the biggest stake in our [...]
The Labour splitters won’t redraw the political map, but they do raise awkward questions February 18, 2019 After years of infighting, threats, and a couple of failed coups, seven Labour MPs have taken the difficult and courageous decision to quit the party, sitting in the Commons as a new “Independent Group”. Their disillusionment with Labour has many sources, from a failure to confront antisemitism to the party’s muddled stance on Brexit, from [...]