Commuters set for 27 days of misery as South Western Railway strikes start December 2, 2019 Workers on South Western Railway (SWR) have today begun a 27-day strike after talks between the RMT union and the train operator came to nothing. Commuters are set for extensive disruption throughout the Christmas period due to the action, which is the result of a long-running dispute about the role of guards on trains. Read [...]
How Thriva is putting its customers’ health to the test December 2, 2019 Standing in the middle of a street in Farringdon, it’s hard to know if I’m in the right place. After scanning the list of businesses by the side of the door, I finally spot the name Thriva, and enter a reception-less building where I’m meeting co-founder and chief executive Hamish Grierson. Thriva specialises in blood [...]
The Xmas endgame: Why retailers are wasting their money on Christmas TV adverts December 2, 2019 An estimated £6.8bn has been spent on creating and buying airtime for this year’s crop of Christmas commercials — up nearly five per cent on last year’s spend. Certainly, the ads boast high production values, but was this money well spent, or would these brands have been better off holding onto the cash and hoping [...]
Social media lessons from TikTok, Tencent and Weibo December 2, 2019 The average consumer would be forgiven for not knowing their Tencent from their Sina Weibo. In fact, it’s unlikely that they have heard of either platform. Yet these are two of the biggest social media companies in the world, bringing in billions in revenue each year. From transferring money, playing games, and even booking doctors [...]
No, your CEO can’t come paint our office: The 4 golden rules for CSR December 2, 2019 Two years ago, I launched Beam, a tech-for-good startup that crowdfunds employment training for homeless people and supports them into stable, paid work. Ever since we started to gain visibility, a number of brands have approached us with different propositions for demonstrating their corporate social responsibility (CSR) agendas. To paint a picture of what these approaches [...]
Farewell to a decade of seismic change and existential anxiety December 2, 2019 You’d be forgiven for not having a moment to notice, but this is a decade that is fast running out of time. The 2010s began with the unease of the consequences of the financial crash. They end with another dose of unease, this time both political and economic. Theresa May tried to win an election [...]
DEBATE: Does the UK need to address the fact that it reportedly has a ‘particularly extreme form of capitalism’? December 2, 2019 A new British Academy report argues that the UK has a ‘particularly extreme form of capitalism’ — is that something we need to address? Professor Christopher McKenna, co-director of the Global History of Capitalism Project at Oxford University, says YES. The proliferation of environmentally damaging industrial practices, the social divisions arising from monopoly power, and [...]
The gig economy needs a creative touch to regulation, not a knee-jerk ban December 2, 2019 The gig economy is a central part of what makes London the vibrant, world-class city it is. From Deliveroo to TaskRabbit to Uber, technological innovation is enabling people to work in ways they never could before and serve the needs of customers. It should be no surprise that more than one in five of London’s [...]
People from all backgrounds deserve the opportunity to succeed in our capital December 2, 2019 As we draw closer to the end of another momentous year in politics, it’s a time to reflect and look forward to the future. With all the Brexit noise, social mobility is one of the many issues that just hasn’t had enough airtime recently. Too often, people from less financially advantaged families lack opportunities, and [...]
CBI: UK economy set to slow despite Brexit deal December 2, 2019 The economy will slow next year even if Britain leaves the European Union with a Brexit deal, a new report has predicted, as business investment fails to significantly pick up. The CBI’s economic forecast is the latest report to suggest that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal will do little to help the economy in [...]