Opinion-in-brief: The UK has a digital identity crisis, and banks can solve it January 10, 2022 Last year, digital identity hit the headlines with the UK introducing Covid-19 passports which raised concerns about data privacy. People already give up their data every day to websites and social media platforms. It is estimated everyone has 200 digital identities. People should be able to safely prove their identity online, while having complete control [...]
Turn diversity on its head: inclusion is an opportunity, not an obligation January 10, 2022 If you search for news stories on diversity and inclusion, you will see a theme running through the reporting. Look at the key words: “inequality”, “victimised”, “discrimination”. We see the issue through the lens of mending our ways, correcting bad practice and attempting to tackle the overarching and structural problems of prejudice—whether on grounds of [...]
Getting boosted is a small contribution to protect our dearest Square Mile January 10, 2022 During Christmas and New Year, the news has been dominated by Omicron – as we may all have expected. Yet there is much to be proud of in our fight against this virus. Thankfully, there are early signs that we may be passing the peak in London, and that the damage caused by Omicron in [...]
Reaching for net zero: why we need a super-deduction for green skills January 10, 2022 Last year, a raft of new policies began to provide an outline for a new kind of British economy – one for which the future is most definitely green. A big piece of the puzzle is still missing, however. There’s no clarity about where the people to fill the promised green jobs are. We’ve already [...]
Why the energy crisis is set to derail the UK economy in 2022 January 7, 2022 A wave of concern over the swelling cost of living is sweeping across Britain. While households are bracing for higher tax bills and are already being stung by food prices leaping, it is swelling energy costs that will hit hardest in 2022. The UK’s benchmark gas prices have quintupled since January 2021, leaping from £54 [...]
Opinion-in-brief: Politics more important than ever for deal-making January 7, 2022 This week the Government gained new powers to impose conditions on, block or reverse certain investments. No one could reasonably disagree with the intention behind the National Security and Investment Act, but its breadth and depth are striking – estimates suggest a fifty-fold increase in transactions scrutinised. More broadly, it illustrates a tension in current [...]
Better regulations, not more, are the answer to greenwashing controversies January 7, 2022 Last year, we talked a lot about climate action and what the financial industry could do to make a difference. At Cop26, the former governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney unveiled his brainchild for combating climate change: the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero. At the time, Carney boasted $130tn mobilised in pursuit [...]
Try, try and try again is the mantra when solving business and political dilemmas January 7, 2022 In 2003, start-up fever on the West Coast of the US was like a new Gold Rush. Investors chasing ideas were throwing money in the hope of magical returns. Part of this rush was based on faith and some of the investors believed tall tales when they should have dug harder to find gold. That [...]
Even a well-told story won’t save Big Tech from the cold hard stare of global attention January 7, 2022 On December 30th, the historian Timothy Snyder published a review of unimprovable snideness in the New York Times. His victim was an American academic, Jonathan Gottschall, whose new book, “The Story Paradox”, examines the role of stories in society. In his book, Gottschall argues that the “science” of storytelling has been understudied and its power [...]
Opinion-in-brief: Time to move to online learning to upskill our workforce January 6, 2022 January is considered one of the best months for job hunting. But with half of the UK workforce requiring upskilling by 2025, there is a need for accessible skills training at a huge scale. The traditional model of in-person learning is defined by long and costly courses with low completion rates. We need something different, [...]