Strong Roots’ Sam Dennigan talks exporting and the environment October 10, 2019 Exporting is a major topic ahead of the Brexit deadline of 31 October. Hundreds of thousands of business across a range of sectors are understandably concerned about how to overcome the challenges associated with exports after leaving the EU. Sam Dennigan, founder and chief executive of Strong Roots, managed to crack this conundrum with a [...]
Despite the doom and gloom narrative, female entrepreneurship is on the rise October 10, 2019 The number of female entrepreneurs is on the rise, and their share of investment funding is increasing. It’s not a line you read very often, but it’s something we need to celebrate louder, because the perception can sometimes be anything but. Often, we hear about the challenges facing women, but little about their successes. In [...]
How to tackle stress like an Olympic athlete October 9, 2019 C-suite stress is the hidden ticking time bomb of business. With markets set to become even more volatile, the psychological impact on the leaders of Britain’s biggest firms cannot be underestimated. Just as we expect athletes to perform under stress, chief executives will be required to make critical decisions in the face of extreme pressure. [...]
Two chief executives – is that one too many? October 8, 2019 Martin Gilbert’s resignation last week from Aberdeen Standard Investments may well have struck a chord with anyone who considers the “two chief executive model” ineffective. When the merger between Standard Life and Aberdeen was announced back in 2017, some were dubious about whether the co-chief exec model would work in practice – though Gilbert and [...]
World Mental Health Day: How can an app boost your wellbeing? October 8, 2019 This Thursday is World Mental Health Day. Now before you roll your eyes at yet another article discussing the importance of our mental wellbeing, it is worth remembering the massive cost of mental ill-health to society. According to the OECD, the direct and indirect costs of it – such as absences from work and decreased [...]
BP and the Royal Shakespeare Company: A drama of misplaced corporate philanthropy October 8, 2019 Last week, the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) ended its eight-year sponsorship programme with BP. This was the result of a campaign led by Ella Mann, an ecology student from Oxford, who pleaded with the RSC to end the deal, saying it was clear that the arrangement was “putting a barrier” between young people and the [...]
Billionaire Michael Spencer buys stake in The Tote October 7, 2019 Billionaire Michael Spencer is set to buy a substantial minority stake in the soon-to-be parent company of The Tote bookmaker. The financial services entrepreneur will buy a 10 per cent stake in the recently formed Alizeti consortium, which is poised to buy The Tote from betting giant Betfred. Read more: City bigwig Michael Spencer blasts [...]
How to avoid friction when working in a small team October 7, 2019 Small businesses are often accompanied by an intense working environment, where space is at a premium and the day-to-day proximity between colleagues can inevitably cause friction. As a business owner, I’ve found that big issues often arise from seemingly little problems. But don’t write off small businesses just yet. With a little ingenuity, flexibility, and [...]
Meet the company helping to build trust in influencer marketing October 7, 2019 It’s not hard to find critics of influencer marketing. This is an industry that is not short of scandals. There have been instances of social media stars failing to label marketing content as ads, promoting things that turn out to be fraudulent – see the Fyre Festival debacle – or even creating fake content. In [...]
How we proved to the world that a woman’s place is in a FTSE 350 boardroom October 7, 2019 With Brexit dominating the news, you may have missed an even-longer-in-the-making development last week: women now make up 30 per cent of the boards of the average FTSE 350 company – a “first” after 450 years of listings on the London Stock Exchange. It took 350 years to reach 10 per cent women on UK [...]