Winning design for 21st Century City Police Boxes unveiled June 29, 2021 Traditional police boxes in the Square Mile are set to be reimagined as new ‘Digital Service Points’ after the City of London Corporation announced the winning design today (29 June). The design competition winner, ‘The London Stones’ by architecture and design studio Unknown Works, includes space for digital information screens, essential communication technology and for [...]
‘Grave concerns’ over multi-million pound cuts to City of London Police June 28, 2021 The City of London Police Federation pushed 125 elected representatives to pressure the City of London Corporation to rethink £2.3m of cuts to the force. In a letter sent to 25 aldermen and 100 councillors in the City, chairman of the City of London Police Federation Mike Reed said the body had “grave concerns” over [...]
Carnival to sell $500m in shares as cruises restart June 28, 2021 Cruise giant Carnival today said that it would sell $500m (£359.6m) worth of shares as it seeks to raise yet more cash amid the coronavirus pandemic. Over the last year the firm has already raised $2.5bn in order to stay afloat while sailings were cancelled due to travel restrictions. As of last week, however, Carnival [...]
Why do our image-obsessed politicians dress so badly? June 28, 2021 I have spent much of my adult life obsessively following politics and clothes. It is, I suppose, inevitable that I sometimes allow my mind to play with the intersection between the two. The old cliché says that politics is showbusiness for ugly people; it often seems that it is for the badly dressed, too. Why [...]
“Some firms don’t get it” – Sir Nigel Knowles on innovation in the legal sector, staying ahead of global competitors & the UK’s competitive advantage June 28, 2021 What Sir Nigel Knowles doesn’t know about legal and business services probably isn’t worth knowing. After a glittering 38-year career at DLA Piper, he is now CEO at London-listed DWF Group. He took the job in May 2020, after three years as Chair. Since then, the firm’s share price has risen around 30 per cent, [...]
Billions could be added to regional economies by tackling skills gaps June 28, 2021 New research suggests that addressing skills gaps within the financial, professional and business services (FPBS) sector could boost its yearly output to levels 12% larger than those observed today, equivalent to £38bn annually by 2038, with much of these gains helping to support regional levelling-up across the UK. The report, ‘Skills for future success’, from [...]
London must become a world leader on climate change action June 28, 2021 It’s London Climate Action week and a chance to celebrate the work being done to tackle climate change in our capital city. It’s an opportunity to highlight and bring to the forefront the challenges we are facing and need to address to make a real difference. Climate change is a major global issue affecting everyone [...]
Directors, beware: Corporate governance overhauls could end with personal liability June 28, 2021 Corporate governance in the UK is about to undergo its biggest transformation in a generation. Next month, the Government consultation into the powers held by the new Audit Regulation and Governance Authority (ARGA), closes. Some of the proposals are seismic, driven by corporate scandals, and could mean directors of public companies, large AIM-listed and large [...]
Weekend Read: Fostering a company culture in a hybrid world June 26, 2021 After three lockdowns, more than a year of home working and an unprecedented vaccine rollout, firms of all sizes are slowly, cautiously, reopening and welcoming staff back to the office. But this mass return to the traditional workplace will be tough for managers and leaders on a number of levels. Motivation levels may be low, [...]
COP26: ESG needs a top-down approach to be truly effective June 26, 2021 Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) issues are fast becoming a key factor for investment decision making. The ethics and sustainability efforts of a business impact who invests and for how much. Despite ESG becoming a priority, many financial services professionals are still unclear about how organisations produce this data. In fact, a recent survey [...]