I’m a transgender partner in the City and am happy to be a role model July 6, 2016 Being transgender is not a lifestyle choice. You carry this around with you the whole time. You don’t decide – it decides for you. You get to a point where you lose the fight and have to succumb. I vaguely remember the moment I lost the battle – it just dawned on me while I [...]
The gig economy should matter to professionals: Here’s why July 6, 2016 For anyone living or working in London, it is almost impossible to have missed the rapid emergence of the gig economy in recent years. You can’t move for Uber taxis, Deliveroo scooter drivers and Airbnb accommodation, which have spawned a generation of independent workers servicing on-demand markets. But, for those working in professional services, the trend [...]
What will Brexit mean for the City? June 27, 2016 Online protest-petitions aside, the people have spoken and the UK is now facing an exit from the European Union. What might this mean for the City, and Britain’s businesses more broadly? The short term We are already in the midst of extreme political uncertainty, and thus it is unsurprising to see panic and volatility in the [...]
Leaving the EU is a walk into the unknown that would put our prosperity at risk June 14, 2016 As arguments on either side of the EU referendum debate are increasingly cast as products of fear or fantasy, an objective assessment is becoming, for the many in the undecided camp, increasingly difficult. I appreciate that there are emotional and political considerations in this important debate. But I prefer to see it in purely business [...]
French court orders Societe Generale to pay Jerome Kerviel €450,000 for unfair dismissal June 7, 2016 Societe Generale has today been ordered to pay €450,000 (£350,171) to former employee Jerome Kerviel on the grounds the ex-trader was unfairly dismissed, according to various reports. Kerviel has previously been found guilty for breach of trust and fraud, with his unauthorised trades losing the bank €4.9bn in 2008 in an incident that is one of the largest of its kind. The French [...]
EU referendum: Would a Brexit free the UK workplace from EU red tape? June 1, 2016 The Leave campaign has said that by 2020 it will impose visa requirements on all foreign workers seeking employment in the UK. The pre-24 June scenario of EU workers having “freedom of movement” (no visas, no additional costs of hiring) will no longer apply. An Australian-type points based system will be introduced. This means employers have to satisfy [...]
Here is how banks can better compete for, and profit from, SME business May 20, 2016 SMEs are the backbone of the UK economy, generating roughly half of all private sector turnover and employing around 60 per cent of the UK workforce, according to the Federation of Small Businesses. For banks, then, addressing the needs and expectations of this fast-growing and influential segment must be high on the agenda. The good news? [...]
The glass ceiling: women make up half the UK’s lawyers but only a quarter of partners in top firms May 17, 2016 Women make up around half of all lawyers in the UK, but only a quarter of partners in large law firms are female, indicating that the glass ceiling is still very much in place. A survey into diversity in the legal sector by the Solicitors Regulation Authority found that while 47 per cent of qualified [...]
Shining a light on pay disparity can be the harbinger of change May 3, 2016 With his recent £70m pay check, Sir Martin Sorrell has cast himself once again as either pantomime villain or Hero of New Capitalism. Whichever side you take, WPP’s employees and the wider world now know his salary, which colours the extent to which we agree with his L’Oréal worthy proclamation: “I’m worth it”. Changes for the good in pay [...]
The only way is up for Leap 100 companies April 20, 2016 THE Leap 100 is a list of 100 of the most exciting, fast-growing companies in the UK. But it’s more than a list: it is a cohort of founders whose fortunes we will follow and whose ambitions we will support over the next 12 months; founders with the talent to help secure Britain’s place as the best place [...]