Fashion Week highlights: The global outlook of the fashion and textile industry February 4, 2020 Counting the cost of international payments in uncertain times The arrival of London Fashion Week sees buyers looking to define the trends for the coming season but the nature of the buying cycle means that these are particularly challenging times for importers and exporters of textiles and fashion. Uncertainty in global trade created by Brexit [...]
Why Legal & General is trying to slay the chair and CEO role February 4, 2020 Blackrock’s Larry Fink is a big fan of using shareholder muscle to influence corporate culture. From climate change to “profit with purpose” he’s vowed to exercise his fund’s substantial clout in pursuit of “sound corporate governance” and “an unwavering focus on long-term sustainability”. Fink’s eyebrows may have risen a little, then, upon discovering that fellow [...]
DEBATE: Will the coronavirus outbreak have a long-term impact on the Chinese economy? February 4, 2020 Will the coronavirus outbreak have a long-term impact on the Chinese economy? Emma Wall, head of investment analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, says YES. Gross domestic product is split into three sectors which drive growth: agricultural, industrial, and services. Agriculture, which makes up seven per cent of China’s GDP, has already taken a significant hit in [...]
Demystifying corporate social responsibility: It’s not just about ‘do-gooders’ February 4, 2020 When Nationwide Building Society asked us to maximise the impact of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) function, we were very excited. Nationwide already had a deeply embedded sense of social responsibility. The brand was born out of a social purpose, and since 2007 it has been committed to investing at least one percent of its [...]
BBC licence fee to increase by £3 from April February 3, 2020 The annual cost of the TV licence fee increase from £154.50 to £157.50 from 1 April, the BBC confirmed today. The fee is set by the government, which announced in 2016 that it would rise in line with inflation for five years from April 2017. The new charge equates to £3.02 per week or £13.13 [...]
Boris Johnson says Brexit deal must be ‘predictable’ for the City February 3, 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson has sought to reassure the City about a post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union, saying it should provide a “predictable, transparent and business-friendly” environment for financial services firms. In a written statement to parliament, the PM also said there should be “obligations on market access and fair competition”. The statement [...]
We need to talk about race February 3, 2020 We need to talk about race. Because it directly affects the bottom line—and then some. Look to the much-quoted McKinsey study on ‘Why diversity matters’ and firms in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are 35 percent more likely to outperform their median peers. Some estimate that we could add £24bn to the [...]
Forging closer ties with India is crucial, but let’s not lose sight of our neighbours February 3, 2020 Now that the UK has formally left the EU, our trading ties with partners across the world will be more in focus than ever before. This includes our relationship with India, a country I visited last week to promote ties in financial and professional services. The UK-India partnership is now worth some £20bn, with nearly [...]
Markets must wake up to the risks of the coronavirus February 3, 2020 It is still too early to be certain on the relative infectiousness or mortality rate of the new coronavirus. Nevertheless, there have been close to 10,000 confirmed cases, and 40m people in China are currently facing travel restrictions. The virus has now spread to 23 territories, including the UK, where two cases were confirmed last [...]
The ethical executive is coming to a boardroom near you February 3, 2020 We are undergoing a paradigm shift in our political, economic, and commercial worlds — and it’s truly stranger than fiction. Donald Trump, Brexit, Cambridge Analytica, the weaponisation of data, deep fakes, and artificial intelligence (AI) — phenomena that would have seemed inconceivable a decade ago are now our day-to-day reality. While some businesses are ahead of [...]