Letters: Sunak, stand up for the little guy March 15, 2022 [Re: Sunak urged to ‘turn wise words into action’ by FSB chair after small retailers feel ‘abandoned’, March 11] While “levelling up” has become the government’s phrase of the year, for the vast majority of small and medium-sized businesses this is a slogan without substance. Although schemes like Help to Grow are a step in [...]
Letters: A much-needed shakeup for education March 14, 2022 [Re: Covid fuels deepening education inequalities in UK, March 11] The Education Select Committee’s findings that the pandemic has fuelled education equalities in England brings to light the serious impact of learning loss for young people. Findings also show that Yorkshire and the Humber and the North-East are the worst affected areas with the average [...]
Letters: Time to bank on it with Solvency II March 9, 2022 [Re: Insurers and analysts temper enthusiasm on Solvency II reforms, March 2] They say good things come to those who wait. The governments proposed post-Brexit reforms to the EU’s Solvency II requirements finally incentivises UK insurers to put their excess cash to better use with lower capital charges. Solvency II has proved to be overkill [...]
Letters: Keeping a hold of our young talent March 8, 2022 [Re: UK’s leading fintech bosses call on government to ramp up efforts to overhaul regulation, Feb 21] Industry body Innovate Finance is right, we absolutely need to see more institutional investors and pension funds being braver in supporting high-growth, growth-stage fintechs. That being said, the consequences of this lack of available capital are far more [...]
Letters: Just Eat just working hard March 7, 2022 [RE: Just Eat revenue jumps a third as it mulls pulling out of Portugal and Norway, March 2] This week’s results from Just Eat were by no means the result of trend or chance; Just Eat worked to fill an important gap in the delivery market for consumers: experience. Their business model delivers on high [...]
Letters: A clear vision for a better future March 4, 2022 [Re: The EU’s plans for a ‘social sustainability’ taxonomy are a dangerous intervention, Feb 16] How will a taxonomy support a better future as we address the global challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and rising inequality? Making positive social change happen requires clarity of what is considered positive impact according to a recent study [...]
Letters: Bitcoin and other irrational fears March 3, 2022 [Re: Half of Brits not sold on cryptocurrency, Feb 16] British scepticism towards digital assets is unlikely to come from a place of rationality, with consumers overly-influenced by relentless coverage of cryptocurrencies as investments. But this distracts from their original purpose as a safe, traceable, spendable tender. Therefore, attitudes towards crypto have been clouded by [...]
Letters: A priceless ofgem? Don’t scrap us, says CEO March 1, 2022 [Re: Is it time for Ofgem to head to the scrapheap? Feb 24] This article underplays both the history and the current circumstances affecting the energy market. In 2010, the market was dominated by a small number of large vertically integrated players without pricing regulation. For customers, this meant systemically high prices and poor service [...]
Behind the story: the cost of living crisis and war in Ukraine February 25, 2022 Britain is more sheltered than other countries from the massive spike in energy prices that could unfold as a result of Europe’s overreliance on Russian gas. Customers in the UK will at least in the short term be protected from higher prices by the energy price cap. But if the cost of energy continues to spiral [...]
Letters: Back to the history books on the energy crisis February 21, 2022 [Re: We must end our dependency on Russia’s gas and embrace renewable, Feb 18] For an escalation to have a large and lasting impact on markets beyond Russia and Ukraine, it would probably have to result in a significant hit to energy supply (something which did not happen after the annexation of Crimea). In fact, [...]
