PwC: Young women put off finance jobs for fear of poor career chances June 8, 2015 Young women in financial services are just half as likely as men to feel they have a chance of rising to become senior managers, according to a study out today from PwC. Just 35 per cent believe they stand a good chance of substantial career progression with their current employer, compared with more than 70 [...]
Why a compulsory living wage is not the best way to help society’s poorest June 8, 2015 The Living Wage Foundation – which lobbies employers to pay £9.15 an hour in London and £7.85 elsewhere – has never called for statutory implementation of its cause. It considers itself to be a pragmatic civil society movement, encouraging firms to pay their low-paid workers enough to live comfortably. But the campaign has been hijacked [...]
If you’re late and can’t get on / Just wait – more trains will come along: The magnus opus that just won Transport for London’s poetry competition June 8, 2015 Transport for London (TfL) has announced the title of the winning poem for its etiquette poetry competition: "Avoid Unnecessary Delays. Don't Hold Open the Doors". Alright, so it's hardly Ode to a Grecian Urn – but it has a certain ring to it……. Back in February, London's transport authority requested poems for a special poster campaign, [...]
Young, rich and foreign: Why Mayfair’s typical resident means it’s one of London’s trendiest neighbourhoods June 8, 2015 Gone are the days when London's exclusive Mayfair postcode was reserved for retirees – now the west London zone has turned into a “resort” for 20- and 30-somethings, many of whom hail from overseas. Nearly 60 per cent of people who live in Mayfair are aged under 44, with more than half of residences [...]
Air passengers in UK face highest flight taxes across entire world June 7, 2015 Brits flying off on long haul holidays this summer will pay nearly £50 more tax than travellers from other G7 nations, a new ranking of air passenger levies has found. UK travellers will pay £71 each in tax for a long haul economy flight, compared to an average £23 levied in France, Germany, Italy, Japan [...]
Land Rover can be the driving force behind a memorable World Cup 2015 June 7, 2015 If it were possible for an inanimate sporting trophy to have a personality, then it’s probably safe to say that the Rugby World Cup itself, would currently be lying down in a darkened room screaming “not another selfie please.” The cup is meandering its way around Britain, going on display at more than 350 [...]
The Greek crisis will end in calamity: You can’t reconcile the irreconcilable June 7, 2015 Despite conventional wisdom almost constantly (and falsely) reassuring the public in literally thousands of columns that all would come right in the end, here we are, exactly as I said, on the edge of the abyss regarding the Greek crisis. The latest ‘final’ deadline for Greece to release the magical last €7.2bn of its current [...]
The fast lane: Spencer Ogden co-founder David Spencer-Percival talks medevacs, detoxes, the youth of today and why banks get a hard time June 7, 2015 It is unlikely that David Spencer-Percival, co-founder of Spencer Ogden, will be reading this any time soon. On Saturday, he and his wife embarked on a caffeine, alcohol and tech detox in an Ibizan forest. “I feel frazzled. Our offices are end-to-end in terms of timezones, so I just never stop. You have to have [...]
Rome: The Eternal City that Hollywood can’t leave alone June 7, 2015 The Eternal City has managed what the Russians never could: knock out 007. Daniel Craig was shaken and stirred as he was carried unconscious by a wailing ambulance to hospital when the Aston Martin DB 10 he was driving in a high speed chase around the Tiber river hit pot holes while filming Spectre, the [...]
Theatre review: Kafka on the Shore June 5, 2015 Barbican | ★★★★★ Haruki Murakami’s novel Kafka on the Shore is an ever-shifting mirage where dream and reality, past and future, here and there all twist and collide. It’s a book about ideas, encompassing western philosophy, Greek tragedy, psychoanalysis and science fiction. It should translate horribly to the stage, but legendary Japanese theatre director [...]