Less silver spoons, more silver (and gold) medals: Team GB represents the best of Britain August 22, 2016 After Team GB’s exceptionally successful Olympic Games in London 2012, a report was published stating that over a third of its medal winners were privately educated. The research, published by the Sutton Trust, kicked off a round of that age-old and forever-popular British sport of moaning. Team GB’s success, while celebrated by the vast majority of [...]
A Global Free Trade Alliance should be Britain’s stunning post-Brexit future August 22, 2016 “You see things; and you say ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were; and I say ‘Why not?’” – George Bernard Shaw If the EU isn’t Britain’s future, then what is? Surely, part of the answer lies in the Drakean vision I have put forth in previous columns, forging far closer economic ties with the [...]
Businesses have a duty to help end the scourge of youth unemployment in London August 22, 2016 On Thursday, the tense wait will finally come to an end for thousands of students who will find out their GCSE results. Last week thousands more received their A-Level grades, and both sets of results could determine these young people’s futures. Whether it’s deciding to continue into higher education or take on additional training – [...]
We need less vision and more basic competence from our political and business leaders August 22, 2016 The things that people don’t know. Brexit, for example. “Brexit means Brexit”, I get it, but a bit more detail would be great. When will we leave the EU, for example? The date keeps shifting every time I check. Do we have a workable trade deal in mind? Boris Johnson apparently saw a “bright future” [...]
As members prepare to vote in its leadership contest, will Labour remain toxic for a generation? August 22, 2016 Chris Rumfitt, founder and chief executive of Field Consulting, says Yes. In politics, mud sticks. It took Labour 20 years to shake off the memory of the winter of discontent. And the Tories’ “nasty party” image still follows them like a bad smell long after Theresa May coined the phrase. Even if Jeremy Corbyn went tomorrow, [...]
As Pinterest announces a new video advert format, its success in mobile will hinge on bringing its communities together August 19, 2016 Pinterest announced the launch of a new promoted video format last week which is click-to-play and mobile only. It operates differently to the auto-play formats popularised by the likes of Facebook and Twitter, instead offering a glimpse of the video content and encouraging users to click to see the full content. Pinterest’s in-house creative team, The [...]
Don’t fire your coach too fast: What Olympians can teach business owners August 19, 2016 As an athlete turned business owner, I’ve twice experienced the thrilling, yet gruelling, journey of building something from the ground up. The challenge of achieving an Olympic gold medal win and starting a business aren’t dissimilar. Many of the lessons I learned through my years as an athlete have been invaluable to my entrepreneurial venture in [...]
From the gender pay gap to the minimum wage, the politicisation of pay threatens the UK’s business-friendly reputation August 19, 2016 Economic logic suggests that free determination of employment contracts, like free trade, normally benefits both parties and leads to high levels of employment and economic growth. But this view has never been popular. Fifty years ago, it was the accepted belief that governments should determine pay increases, leading to the dead end of incomes policies [...]
We’ve failed generations of young people by sidelining technical education August 18, 2016 "I hope that technical education will be given in the future a far higher status in educational circles than it has had in the past,” commented an MP during a debate on an education bill. That statement could have come any time in the past century. In fact, it was made by Edward Cobb MP [...]
Sharing economy firms must mobilise the public to fight regulation-hungry politicians August 18, 2016 An increasing number of politicians and commentators are starting to look at the sharing economy as an exploitative one. Once apparently loved by all, it is being portrayed as unregulated and unfair – undermining hard-working people, reducing crucial tax revenue and ignoring the concerns of ordinary people whenever it is necessary. The latest furore in the [...]