Small businesses aren’t thinking global. Here’s how to change it October 11, 2016 From Theresa May promising to negotiate “maximum freedom” within the Single Market post-Brexit, to international trade secretary Liam Fox stating that the UK will “lead the charge” towards a world of open and fair business, international trade took centre stage at the Conservative party conference last week. This, of course, would have come as little [...]
Is £2bn enough to fix the housing market? October 11, 2016 Last week the government announced plans for a £2bn accelerated construction fund that will be used to guarantee housing schemes, including deals to purchase homes that do not sell. The guarantee, which will be achieved by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) directly selling any ‘government purchased homes’ on the market, to the private rented [...]
How your business can produce the next Ada Lovelace October 11, 2016 Ever wondered why you struggle to hire women? This is a question often thrown in our direction at GeekGirl Meetup UK. It’s still not good enough that, according to Deloitte, women make up 18 per cent of the UK’s tech industry. There are numerous reasons why you may struggle to hire women in tech and why [...]
Business rates that hit London need reform October 11, 2016 Business rates are a blunt instrument, one which is set to deliver a heavy blow to London’s retailers, offices and hotels. Rates are due to rise from next April after a revaluation of rateable values for England’s 1.85m commercial properties by the Valuation Office Agency. It is the first such revaluation since 2010. Analysis by [...]
Gatwick gets my vote for a new runway – but why can’t we let Heathrow expand too? October 10, 2016 As Britain begins the challenging process of navigating its way through uncertain times, one thing remains clear: the need for us to continue being a forward-looking trading nation. The latest predictions suggest that London’s airport system will be full in less than 10 years, which means additional airport capacity is more important than ever to show [...]
Theresa May should use Nobel-winning insights – not anecdote – to guide executive pay reform October 10, 2016 The 2016 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics was awarded yesterday to Harvard’s Oliver Hart and MIT’s Bengt Holmstrom for their ground-breaking work on contract theory. Their work has profound implications for contracts in many fields: financing contracts between investors and firms, business contracts between customers and suppliers, and – most topically – employment contracts between [...]
The Single Market battle is the Remainers’ last stand in the Brexit war October 10, 2016 It has all the hallmarks of a last stand. Having abandoned resistance to the referendum result itself, Remainers are rallying to the cause of staying in the Single Market. Re-using the referendum hymn sheet, the same politicians, businesses and pressure groups who predicted doom and gloom from the decision to vote Brexit are now forecasting postponed doom [...]
Should we be worried that politics is getting nastier? October 10, 2016 Rachel Cunliffe, deputy editor at Reaction, says Yes. There’s a chasm between the policies of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, but you wouldn’t know it. In between Trump calling Clinton the “devil”, accusing her of having “tremendous hate in her heart” and threatening to prosecute her, there was precious little time for analysing policy. That’s politics [...]
Trump follies should make Britain count its Brexit blessings October 10, 2016 Investors can breathe a sigh of relief that the biggest Black Swan is treading water. Thanks to one lewd recording – dating back a decade – Donald J Trump’s race to the White House could be in serious jeopardy. The diminishing chances of a Trump presidency have put Europe back in the market’s crosshairs, as [...]
Ire over immigration: Careless policy debates risk damaging Britain October 10, 2016 Sometimes great damage can be caused by a government policy idea that doesn't end up seeing the light of day. Think back to 2013, when the Tory-LibDem coalition announced plans to introduce a visa bond. The idea would have seen arrivals from countries such as India or Nigeria paying a £3,000 bond as part of the [...]