City of London to spearhead taskforce to tackle lack of class diversity in finance November 24, 2020 The City of London and the government are today launching a joint taskforce to tackle the lack of class diversity in the UK’s financial services sector. The announcement comes as new research found that nine in ten senior roles in financial services are held by people from richer backgrounds. The report, by social equality advocates [...]
Mogul Mowgli review: Riz Ahmed shines in timely rap drama October 29, 2020 There’s something joyous about seeing a star let loose in a passion project after a long period in Hollywoodland. Mogul Mowgli’s co-writer, producer and star Riz Ahmed revels in the project, putting in a performance that stands as one of his best. He plays Zed, a British-Pakistani rapper living in New York where his music [...]
Women make up over half of new partners at UK law firms for first time October 21, 2020 The proportion of women becoming partners at British law firms has topped 50 per cent for the first time, according to an influential ranking of the UK’s legal industry. Almost 52 per cent of newly-ranked lawyers attaining partner level over the past year were female, according to legal ranking firm Chambers’ annual report on the [...]
Ada Ventures launches £250,000 angel investor programme October 13, 2020 Ada Ventures has launched a £250,000 angel investor programme to create a new generation of investors who may have otherwise been excluded from the industry. The London-based VC firm, named after the first computer programmer Ada Lovelace, has identified five candidates – “Ada’s Angels” – from its Scout programme. Co-founder Check Warner told City A.M. [...]
Childcare, chores, and stereotypes: Breaking down the barriers to female entrepreneurship October 12, 2020 The Covid-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on our economy. GDP has dropped by 20 per cent, and 7.5m people are out of work, with more job losses on the horizon. While business failure rates are currently low, as government support packages begin to be withdrawn we should expect to see more companies fold — and [...]
DEBATE: Will workplace diversity suffer from a new flexible working culture? October 1, 2020 Will workplace diversity suffer from a new flexible working culture? Jo Preston, director & head of people at Teamspirit, says YES One of the silver linings of the coronavirus pandemic has been the corporate pivot towards flexible working. The swiftness with which thousands of employees transitioned from office desks to kitchen tables demonstrated a huge [...]
MPs are refusing unconscious bias training. Perhaps there’s a real reason why September 29, 2020 When 40 Conservative MPs recently refused unconscious bias training — one anonymous dissenter even called it “Marxist, snake oil crap”, others “patronising” — it was clear that, as a population, we still don’t really know how to tackle unconscious bias. And that’s for two main reasons. The first is ignorance. Not as a pejorative, but [...]
Farms and our diets must embrace technological disruption August 14, 2020 Challengers, visionaries and entrepreneurs are turning their focus to the next great technology goal, and it’s one that could save the planet and transform the lives of millions: it’s the advancements in how we source our nutrition. At a time when there is fierce debate around how we build back better, one of the most [...]
We must do more to tackle racial inequality in the workplace July 9, 2020 | City Talk While I’m truly proud to take on the role of EY UK chair, having started at the firm 35 years ago, I’ve been profoundly struck by conversations with our Black colleagues following the killing of George Floyd, which have brought into sharp focus that the experience of everyone at EY isn’t the same. We, like other businesses, still have more to do. Race has been a core [...]
The City View: Race, diversity and leadership in business, with Julia Streets June 29, 2020 Subscribe to The City View Podcast: Apple / Google / Spotify / RSS In this episode Christian is joined by Julia Streets, founder of Streets consulting and host of the long-running DiverCity podcast for a wide-ranging conversation about corporate diversity and the importance of leadership at a time when businesses of all sizes are looking to their own track record in improving diversity in [...]