Housing crisis: Retired Brits twice as likely to fund their children’s home deposits May 12, 2016 RETIRED parents in Britain are twice as likely to fund their children’s home deposits than their counterparts in other English-speaking countries, with London pensioners even more likely to support their offspring. Putting the housing affordability gap into stark relief, research commissioned by payments provider UKForex showed that out of 1,135 British retirees surveyed, 27 per [...]
Do we really need Google’s working women emojis? May 12, 2016 What has the world come to? This week Google announced it’s pushing for more emojis of professional women, having submitted 13 new ideas that highlight the diversity of women’s careers to the Unicode Consortium. Frankly, the part that most caught my attention was not the emojis but the existence of a Unicode Consortium. That’s real [...]
Five signs it’s time to start seriously investing in digital skills May 12, 2016 As a manager or business owner, when should I take steps to improve the digital know how in my organisation? It’s a crucial question that has crossed the mind of nearly every business leader as they struggle to keep up with new technology, security concerns and employees’ desire to keep learning. What are the clues or [...]
Former pensions minister Steve Webb warns of “pensions time bomb” May 11, 2016 The former pensions minister warned workers who make the minimum contribution into their retirement funds are sitting on a "ticking time bomb". He said that the minimum contribution isn't enough to give retirees a decent pension, and savers must cream off more of their pay check to afford comfortable retirement. Steve Webb, now policy director at [...]
EU referendum: Gordon Brown joins the campaign arguing EU needs to root out tax havens May 11, 2016 Gordon Brown has become the latest former prime minister to back Britain’s membership of the European Union this morning, calling for Britain to take a leading role in working across the continent to combat the abuse of tax havens. Speaking weeks after the Panama Papers revelations and with just six weeks to go until the [...]
Northern Powerhouse: Businesses and government have a collective responsibility to end youth unemployment and close the skills gap May 11, 2016 With youth unemployment three times the national average, and businesses across all sectors citing the skills gap as one of the biggest barriers to growth, the talent pipeline is one of the most pressing issues facing England’s economy. It is for this reason that today’s announcement by the secretary of state for education, Nicky Morgan, of a new [...]
Airbnb books place among young savvy travellers May 11, 2016 The tourism industry has been shaken up in dramatic fashion in the past couple of years by the pioneering startup company Airbnb. The company operates in 34,000 cities in 191 countries and has a value of around $25bn (£17.3bn). It allows ordinary homeowners to rent out rooms to holidaymakers, and is popular among those looking [...]
New Holland Park restaurant Six Portland Road serves black-pudding to die for May 10, 2016 Remember Neil Webb? He was a roving midfielder who played for Manchester United and England, but in my mind he’ll always be synonymous with the generation of footballers who retired just before the unfathomable riches of the Premier League rolled in. Unlike today’s players, these guys had to carve out new careers in their mid-30s, [...]
Safe texts: Durex is pushing for a condom emoji May 10, 2016 Condom manufacturer Durex has issued a request to the group responsible for the emoji approval process, the Unicode Consortium, arguing the case for a new condom emoji. Durex, owned by London-listed Reckitt Benckiser, first called for a new condom emoji to be approved ahead of World AIDS Day last November, on the basis that it could help promote safe sex. Now [...]
One killed, others seriously injured after knifeman attacks rail passengers in Grafing, Munich May 10, 2016 One person has been killed and several others seriously injured after a man attacked passengers at a train station in Grafing, near Munich, local media is reporting. The knifeman is said to have wounded a number of people, at least three of whom are said to have been left with life-threatening injuries. One man has reportedly died from [...]