Net zero must be at the heart of Britain’s taxation system if we want to meet our carbon commitments August 17, 2021 If there was any doubt about the urgency of the climate crisis, this summer of extreme weather events – from “heat domes” in the US, to devastating forest fires across Europe and flash flooding closer to home – has surely put paid to it. The latest stark assessment from the IPCC leaves no room for [...]
Can you really afford a puppy? Britain is facing a petcare crisis after a lockdown boom in demand for dogs July 24, 2021 Even the Chancellor of the Exchequer has succumbed to the lockdown-induced rush for puppies. It’s easy to do when one of those furry little faces is staring up at you, especially after the dreary year we’ve had shut up in our homes. While Rishi Sunak can probably afford to look after his new pup, there [...]
Universal Credit uplift end may hit 660,000 low-paid key workers July 24, 2021 More than 660,000 low-paid key workers, including nurses, supermarket staff and social carers, will be among the millions of people affected when the Universal Credit uplift ends in the autumn, new figures suggest. The Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) said its research shows that London, the South East and the North West [...]
London needs to overhaul its transport system to meet Sadiq Khan’s net zero ambitions July 18, 2021 We have less than a decade to become a zero-carbon city if we’re to meet the Mayor of London’s ambitions. Sadiq Khan has committed to using his second term as Mayor to tackle the climate emergency by setting a target for London to be carbon-neutral by 2030. City Hall is not alone. Twenty-eight of London’s [...]
Britain is running out of new ideas and it’s killing productivity July 16, 2021 It is no secret that Britain is in a productivity slump. The statistics should be familiar. In the decade before the pandemic, productivity grew at just 0.3 per cent per year. Before the financial crisis, it grew at 2 per cent. That might sound like an abstract or wonkish concern, but it is the difference [...]
So we’re going back to the office – now we need to fix childcare July 14, 2021 As July 19th draws nearer, so too does the end of the official guidance to work from home if you can. The predicted move back to offices (for a few days a week at least) is much anticipated by central London’s shops and restaurants, desperate for footfall to increase. But for London’s working parents it [...]
What Amazon is doing with French football rights and the clues it offers to its plans for the Premier League July 14, 2021 Amazon is yet to make its widely anticipated big move for Premier League football rights, being content so far to buy up handfuls of live games and bundle them with its Prime Video subscription. But it is a different story in France, where the e-commerce behemoth is embarking on its first season as the main [...]
McDonald’s to offer childcare and tuition amid hiring push July 14, 2021 McDonald’s will be offering tuition payments and higher hourly wages as well as childcare support in an attempt to attract workers due to many of its restaurants struggling to employ staff in the US. Since the pandemic, the fast food giant has let staff members go in order to save running costs, but is now [...]
Euro 2020 fuels surge in consumer spending July 13, 2021 Euro 2020, warmer weather and the lifting of Covid restrictions drove consumer spending up sharply in the UK in June, according to new figures released today. Data from Barclaycard shows spending was 11.1 per cent higher last month compared to June 2019, before the arrival of Covid, the sharpest rise since the start of the [...]
How to build an ethical business July 12, 2021 The demand for businesses to be ethical is rising. But how can companies ensure that sustainability does not come at the cost of financial stability? Christian Koch investigates. This article was written before the coronavirus pandemic had escalated in the UK, Europe and the USA and first appears in the April 2020 issue of CA magazine. [...]