Thinking differently to build a better business July 14, 2020 As lockdown eases and business life begins to return to some kind of normality, the challenge for mid-market finance directors is to reflect on the new ways of working, introduced to help overcome the virus and cope with lockdown, and build on them to work differently in the future to enhance finance operations, manage costs [...]
Morgan Sindall lands £250m Lewisham Gateway development deal July 14, 2020 Construction firm Morgan Sindall has received £252m in funding from private landlord Get Living to complete the Lewisham Gateway redevelopment project. The development, which is expected to be completed in 2023, will 649 rentable properties, as well as a combined 50,000 square feet of shops, restaurants and office spaces. It will also contain Lewisham’s first [...]
Finding the best way to incentivise management July 14, 2020 With cash at a premium, businesses could be considering an award of shares to employees instead of bonuses. This could be a good way to incentivise key employees in the long term without utilising cash and perhaps a first step towards unlocking liquidity for owners through, for example, a management buy-out. However, with share values [...]
Fever-Tree shares fall as bar closures impact sales July 14, 2020 Fever-Tree’s share price fell more than five per cent this morning, as investors took stock of its trading update amid the coronavirus pandemic. While the first two months of this year were in line with the company’s expectations, the drinks maker said trading had been “dominated” by coronavirus from March onwards. Its so-called on-trade division [...]
Businesses must find their purpose, or risk becoming the next corporate scandal July 14, 2020 In the midst of a pandemic, the corporate scandals keep coming. The most recent is Boohoo, a previously admired brand in the fashion industry that has been accused of sourcing clothes from a Leicester factory where workers were paid as little as £3.50 an hour. For many in the fashion industry, the darker side of [...]
Consumer spending surges as lockdown restrictions end July 14, 2020 Brits rushed back to the shops in June after lockdown restrictions ended, prompting the biggest jump in sales since May 2018 as consumers indulged in some much-needed retail therapy. According to new data from the British Retail Consortium, total sales rose 3.4 per cent in June in the first month of growth since lockdown measures [...]
Strong, Mad, Credible. July 14, 2020 I was asked to write an article for City A.M.’s Crypto A.M. about blockchain, crypto and digital assets. I was honoured, the only people to ask me to write for them were my teachers! I asked how many words, 1000 words I was told. I was unsure if I could write that much about blockchain, [...]
Expectation drives price. Utility drives value. July 14, 2020 Digital asset prices are driven by two factors; value and expectation of future value. When expectation of value increases at a faster rate than real value, you get a bubble. If real value grows faster than expectations of value, you get an opportunity. Looking back on the 2017 super-cycle it is painstakingly obvious that it [...]
Voting and Blockchain July 14, 2020 In the days of COVID-19, there are new challenges in participating in democracy. There are unique challenges in how people vote. Traditional polling centres must be equipped to support social distancing. In the US, some cities and states are working to consolidate polling locations. And although there are no imminent elections here in the UK, [...]
