Weekend Interview: Weight Watchers UK boss on the fight against obesity post-lockdown December 12, 2020 During two lockdowns this year millions of us were stuck at home, moving less, eating more. According to recent data from diet giant Weight Watchers, one in two people ate more during lockdown, while one in three drank more alcohol. Meanwhile, nearly one in two have been less active since the pandemic began. To take [...]
JaxJox promises to revolutionise your home workout October 20, 2020 There couldn’t be a better time for a home fitness solution like JaxJox to hit the market. The unprecedented lockdown of society over the last seven months will have ripple effects that will be studied by scientists, psychologists and historians for decades to come. Among the most fascinating – if not alarming – will be [...]
The future of the construction industry is digital September 4, 2020 The double-whammy of a pandemic and a recession has made 2020 one of the most challenging and disrupted years in living memory. But the bright spot, in an otherwise battered economy, is construction, which forms a major part of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s ”Build Back Better” campaign. Britain’s construction industry grew at the fastest rate in almost [...]
DEBATE: Is there a future for tech hubs post-Covid? September 3, 2020 Is there a future for tech hubs after Covid-19? Gavin Poole, chief executive of Here East, says YES. For centuries, the success of London’s business landscape has been steeped in the clusters of industry across the city. Companies and entrepreneurs exist side by side, driven by a shared mission and passion, and an exchange of [...]
Science and tech has proved a damp squib in the fight against Covid-19 September 2, 2020 Few of us alive today have lived through a year so tumultuous, historic, and (yes, that word again) unprecedented as 2020. We are seeing the biggest health pandemic since 1918’s Spanish Flu; the biggest threat to the world economy since 1929’s Great Crash; and the biggest civil unrest in the US since 1967 — all [...]
Serena Williams-backed health startup Quit Genius raises $11m in funding round March 18, 2020 A health tech startup backed by tennis champion Serena Williams has raised $11m (£9.4m) to help bolster its digital therapy services. San Francisco-based Quit Genius, which provides stop smoking services to NHS trusts in the UK, secured the cash injection in a series A funding round led by Octopus Ventures. The latest financing follows a [...]
The sleep conundrum: The UK’s other health crisis March 16, 2020 The UK population is facing a new sort of crisis — and no, this is not Covid-19, but the sleep conundrum. With two thirds of the UK working population struggling with poor sleep, research from Rand reveals that UK employers are losing up to £40bn and over 200,000 working days per year. While this is no [...]
The importance of being positive: How to build a resilient business mindset February 21, 2020 From my experience, entrepreneurs are an optimistic bunch by nature. They see opportunity; they grasp it. Yet the not-so-simple journey from startup to growth requires relentless hard work and unshakable commitment. Of course, there will be high fives and heady moments of rapture in the bar. But the reality is that before we get to [...]
Art is food for the soul, so why not hang up a Picasso in the office? February 10, 2020 In recent years, we have seen businesses commit to new mental health initiatives, from training mental health first aiders to developing mindfulness apps, yoga classes at the office, plants, and bringing in pets. Employers of all sizes are looking for ways to keep their workforce happy and motivated. And rightly so — the global cost [...]
Wellbeing is the new health and safety January 28, 2020 A new decade focuses minds on the future and new strategies to encourage companies and individuals to thrive. And if there’s one commitment that the City should make in the 2020s, it’s to treat the mental health of staff as seriously as their physical health and safety. Everything from the harnesses used by window cleaners [...]