How an 85 year-old coffee roaster perked up a business September 22, 2016 A coffee roaster looks like a washing machine on top of a barbecue,” says Joe O’Hara, owner of premium coffee importer, roaster and retailer Alchemy. “You put the beans in the drum on top while the burners underneath heat the drum as it turns.” And O’Hara has just acquired a rather special one. “It’s from a [...]
One-year MBA programmes grew in popularity this year – but are they better? September 22, 2016 In many ways, an MBA is a serious investment. Even if your employer has agreed to sponsor you, or you have managed to secure a scholarship, you’ll still need to decide how much of your time you are willing to put in – and whether the benefits of a less frantic pace of learning and more [...]
Should a pay rise be enough to keep you in a job you don’t enjoy? September 22, 2016 With summer over and work beginning in earnest once again, you may have begun to reflect on whether you’re truly happy in your current role. Perhaps you’re not finding the work meaningful anymore. Perhaps you feel at odds with your company’s strategic direction. Or maybe you just don’t feel like you fit with the culture. [...]
It’s official: Saving for a house is more important than saving for a pension (to under-35s, anyway) September 21, 2016 Remember back in August, when Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane was branded "irresponsible" after he suggested he'd rather invest in property than put money into a pension scheme? Well, it seems the nation's millennials agree with him, after a study found saving for a home is three times more important to them than putting [...]
City A.M. Unregulated podcast: Manners maketh man? Debrett’s expert solves your business etiquette dilemmas September 21, 2016 Handshake or double kiss? Brown shoes or black? We've all been faced with an etiquette dilemma in our careers. Renée Kuo, co-managing director of Debrett's, joins us to answer those burning questions – and explains why it's still vital to observe manners when you're trying to make an impression. You can subscribe to City A.M. Unregulated on [...]
The office of the future? More traditional than you might think September 21, 2016 Remote working isn’t a new concept by any means, but in 2016 it’s far easier than in the past – there’s no need to run to phone box to touch base with updates, or carry a week’s worth of work in a stuffed briefcase. For the modern business the constraints of location hardly matter. Technology allows [...]
The Lifetime Isa: New clarifications are good news for first-time buyers, but do nothing to solve its conflict with pensions September 21, 2016 The Treasury released final details last week on the Lifetime Isa (Lisa) which launches in spring 2017. Aimed at two very different types of savers – first-time buyers and retirees – the updates mostly concern the first group, and will do little to silence critics who say that the Lisa will lure away people who could [...]
Financial advice and the rise of gamification: Robo-advice may improve access but augmented reality could boost engagement September 21, 2016 The Pokemon Go craze may have subsided, but the mobile game has cemented augmented reality in the public’s consciousness. With the UK release of Oculus Rift yesterday, the more immersive virtual reality is also set to grip the nation. With these new states of reality engaging us, it begs the question: how long it will take [...]
This consulting firm has created an “editable” blockchain and people are puzzled September 20, 2016 Blockchain, heralded in part for keeping an immutable record of transactions, could soon become editable. Accenture has patented a prototype for making changes to it in "exceptional circumstances" to take into account errors recorded such as so-called fat finger moments, or, human error. “As we focus on new uses for blockchain technology beyond the realm of cryptocurrency, absolute immutability will become both [...]
Bank of England’s Andrew Hauser: Don’t expect blockchain to revolutionise finance any time soon September 20, 2016 Much heralded blockchain technology will not create a revolutionary shake up in the financial sector anytime soon, a top Bank of England official has declared. The distributed ledger technology has a way to go to become to be as revolutionary as some are predicting, according to Andrew Hauser, the executive director of banking, payments and financial resilience [...]
