Happy returns: Can employees refuse to go back to work? June 18, 2020 As London comes out of hibernation and employees begin to return to work, companies are being confronted with the true scale of the challenge of running a business in the middle of a pandemic. Employees, meanwhile, are feeling anxious that their workplace might remain unsafe. But is turning to the law the best way to [...]
Welcome to the blended office June 17, 2020 Since the scribes of ancient kings worked together under a sunshade, we have had offices. Offices survived the Black Death, the Red Death, Spanish Flu, and Ricky Gervais. Offices aren’t about to disappear — but they may now be changing more than ever before. We should be ready for change, but do not be surprised [...]
No more ‘Cinderella sector’ — we need to invest in further education for Londoners June 12, 2020 Like the rest of the UK, London’s economy has taken a body blow from Covid-19, with unemployment rising steeply and a widespread take up of the Job Retention Scheme (“furlough”). Some London industries have managed to stay active and engaged during lockdown, such as finance and business services, but a vast range — from accommodation [...]
Is a virtual world the new norm for SME Accounting? June 12, 2020 | City Talk It does seem hard to apply a history lesson to this in such a strange time that we have seen over the last 3 months. However, if you look back over the last 30 years in accounting the trend would suggest that we have already made a huge leap to a virtual position from an [...]
Eight tips for nailing the remote job interview June 11, 2020 The world of job hunting has changed dramatically in recent months. In May, nine out 10 UK job interviews were conducted over a video or phone call. So with competition for jobs intensifying, here are my top tips to ace your next Skype, Hangouts or Zoom interview this summer. 1. Prepare your environment in advance [...]
The Body Shop accused of ‘bullying’ JK Rowling after wading into trans rights debate June 11, 2020 The Body Shop has sparked controversy after weighing into a debate around transphobia by encouraging author JK Rowling to read up on trans rights in the bath. The Harry Potter writer, 54, had become embroiled in a heated online debate about transgender issues after criticising an article titled: “Opinion: Creating a more equal post-COVID-19 world [...]
What can the Covid-19 crisis teach us about tackling climate change? June 11, 2020 | City Talk We already know how devastating climate change could be for the planet, so let’s ensure we learn the lessons from the current crisis. Covid-19 caught most of the world’s institutions and governments by surprise, leading to a global health and economic crisis unprecedented in modern times. Few people would disagree with the notion that most [...]
APIs: the invisible wiring pivotal to digital transformation June 10, 2020 | City Talk Unless you work in a technology-focused business, or are particularly technology-minded, it’s unlikely that you will have heard of ‘Application Programming Interfaces’ – or APIs. But as companies, and daily life, become increasingly technology-based – a trend accelerated by coronavirus – and APIs themselves evolve, they are becoming more important to business success. For an [...]
How to use cultural heritage as a competitive advantage June 1, 2020 | Sponsored Internationalising can be difficult for small business, especially if their products are grounded in domestic cultural traditions and require the possession of some degree of cultural knowledge to be understood, used, and valued by foreign customers. Difficult, but not impossible. Three different ‘cultural strategies’ are available to them if they wish to succeed on an [...]
Q&A with Stefan Allesch-Taylor: How entrepreneurs can respond to coronavirus June 1, 2020 Professor Stefan Allesch-Taylor CBE is a broadcaster, philanthropist, Professor of the Practice of Entrepreneurship and Fellow at King’s College London. How do you think the pandemic will affect entrepreneurs? Is it a crisis or an opportunity? It’s tough to avoid the obvious here. For some a crisis, for others an opportunity. But unlike most economic [...]