Employers must approach maternity leave for premature newborns more sensitively if they want to retain staff October 25, 2016 Legislation around maternity leave has been put under the spotlight this week, as more than 105,000 people have signed a petition calling for the government to extend the length of time granted for parents who have premature babies. Current law stipulates that employers must grant up to 52 weeks maternity leave. An employee can choose [...]
Resurgent protectionism threatens both the US economy and share prices – and not just if Trump wins October 24, 2016 Protectionism – the practice of shielding a country’s industry from foreign competition – and the prospect of a descent into a beggar-thy-neighbour global trade war is one of the biggest risks to investment returns over the next decade. Indeed, politicians are already succumbing: according to the Global Trade Alert initiative, the number of protectionist measures enacted [...]
We’ll never have a better health system unless we’re brutally honest about the NHS’s failings October 24, 2016 It was heart-rending to witness. Back in January, sitting at my grandmother’s hospital bedside, a new patient entered the ward. Her name was Anita Richardson, a 42 year-old grandmother from Rochester. Visibly frail and frightened, Anita and her family explained how she’d been visiting her GP frequently over the previous 10 months, complaining of shoulder then back [...]
As Wallonia blocks the EU’s trade deal with Canada, should Britain be concerned about its own prospects in Brexit talks? October 24, 2016 Denis MacShane, the UK’s former minister of Europe, author of Brexit: How Britain Left Europe, and senior adviser at Avisa Partners, Brussels, says Yes. Europe (including the UK) has 7 per cent of the world’s population, but 30 per cent of its trade and 30 per cent of its foreign direct investment. In 1950, global trade amounted to [...]
Spooking investors: Why this earnings season is like Halloween October 24, 2016 Trick or treat! When you think about it, corporate earnings season is similar to that children’s favourite, Halloween. Expectations usually run high, but you never know if the door you are knocking on will yield a delicious surprise or be a complete let-down, as the sweets are either from last year or there’s none left. [...]
Theresa May’s government is failing to treat small businesses as partners October 24, 2016 Small businesses wait an average of 72 days to be paid, while a staggering £26 billion is owed in the private sector according to The Asset Based Finance Association and BACS respectively. And with cash flow being the main cause of business failure, it makes perfect sense for the British government to get serious about [...]
As a standalone product, the Lifetime ISA is of little use to Londoners October 24, 2016 If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, as the old adage goes. If someone offered you free money, the first thing you’d ask is: “what’s the catch?” So when the government says it’s willing to give you up to £1,000 a year, for up to 32 years, it’s certainly worth taking [...]
Brexit doesn’t mean the end of the City October 24, 2016 Thirty years ago this week, Canada underwent a transformation that would set it on a path to global dominance in financial services. The Big Bang, as it became known, was enabled by new technology, regulatory reform, political will and entrepreneurial endeavour. Over the ensuing three decades, the City came to represent the [...]
The broken windows of programmatic advertising October 24, 2016 If programmatic advertising were a place, it would be a divided town. Alongside the glitz of the industry is a dark web of villainy, where gangs roam through the buy and sell side, smuggling harmful software into ads and damaging perceptions of digital advertising. But it’s not a town, and there’s no police to shut the [...]
Saudi Arabia’s gormless cheerleaders have failed to spot the looming crisis October 24, 2016 “Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking.” – The Wizard of Oz Conventional political risk wisdom is falsely sanguine about yet another looming crisis. The House of Saud, bullish proponents blithely declaim without giving the matter too much thought beyond simplistic headlines, has proven surprisingly supple and enduring. Yet in reality, Saudi [...]