When the new Business Minister Michael Fallon declared that the Government would make it easier to fire workers, I thought my birthday must have come early this year.
Category: Opinion
Some of the UKs leading business leaders and opinion formers share their insight and ideas for growth
Why it is essential in business that you adapt to survive
There is an old saying in business, as true today and it ever was; ‘There is no such thing as standing still; if you don’t adapt, innovate and change then you just go backwards.’ John Leigh investigates.
Banks should be a last resort for SMEs struggling with cash flow
Top business coach urges SMEs to turn to ‘above the board’ guerrilla cash flow tactics.
Britain would be great if politicians gave business some olympic style respect
Joblessness and youth unemployment are at record lows. Thriving exports are creating a massive balance of trade surplus. Entrepreneurship is booming, fuelled by the lowest personal and corporate tax rates on the planet. Britain sets the benchmark on innovation, growth and education, and our economy is admired the world over. Sound familiar? Perhaps not yet.
Employers find cost effective training alternatives for staff development
Our member panels are used to gauge small business owners’ opinions on a range of key topics – this time it is training and skills to coincide with the A–level results and, shortly, GCSEs.
Louise Mensch’s resignation makes us question if senior roles & family life mix
According to reports, the Tories face an almost certain defeat in the upcoming bi-election in Corby, following the recent departure of writer turned politician Louise Mensch. Chris Parke, CEO of Talking Talent looks at whether senior roles & family life are good bed fellows.
Virgin Trains: A contract off the rails?
Is the decision to switch rail provider for the West Coast mainline service a bridge too far in terms of risk versus reward asks Daniel Ball, director, Wax Digital.
Death of the salesman – Del Boy’s days are over
The time-honoured tradition of relying on good relationships to make sales is a losing strategy according to a study from CEB, the member-based advisory company.
How the Olympic legacy can bring businesses world class success
Simon Hartley is a sports psychologist, author and performance coach. After working with athletes such as double Olympian and Commonwealth champion swimmer, Chris Cook for 7 years between 2001 and 2008, he also helps businesses to implement the techniques of world class sportspeople.
Forget ‘Inspire a Generation’, it should be ‘Invest in a Generation’ to beat youth unemployment
If the Olympic motto was ‘inspire a generation’, the motto of the unemployment figures published today should be ‘invest in a generation.’
Running rings around us – lessons from the Olympics
Business is not like sport. The 100m race is over in just a few seconds and even a marathon only lasts a few hours, whereas business has to succeed year in year out. Because most athletes have never tried to run a business the links they make in their “motivational presentations” to business are tenuous and somewhat naïve. Quite frankly, they’re not much good.
Two financial wrongs don’t make a right when our economy is on the line
The Bank of England reckons the economy will be flat lining again with its growth forecast being cut to close to zero. It has fuelled debate for new measures to stimulate the economy, but what happened to all the cash that has already been thrown at the banks to get the country moving again?
Shell Live Wire has taught us that start-ups’ most valuable resource is other SMEs.
On Monday the office got a call to tell us that we’d won one of the four June Shell Live Wire Awards; a £1000 grant and business mentoring. In the excitement, we got thinking about how we had got so far in sixteen months.
Feeling overwhelmed? Five tips to get you past it.
Many small business owners feel overwhelmed by the amount of work they need to do. Here are my five tips to get motivated, energised & back on track
London 2012 demonstrates home/flexible working should have lasting legacy
David Sturges, CEO of WorkPlaceLive, believes that the flexible working hours introduced during the Olympics 2012 could have changed the attitudes of employers for good allowing employees more flexible working patterns.
