Business and Economics

By Tim Kellett – Director at Paydata > https://www.paydata.co.uk/   Since the publication of the governments draft regulations on mandatory gender pay gap reporting, it appears that few employers are taking the preparatory steps, avoiding the topic altogether and not taking the legislation seriously. Admittedly in the last year there has been much more interest from employers, but only from an educated few who have been pro-active enough to assess their gender pay gap. Considering the preceding ten years since...

Henry Mason, managing director of TrendWatching, talks to John Machin about how businesses can apply emerging trends to drive business insights We caught up with Henry Mason, managing director of TrendWatching and author of Trend-Driven Innovation, to find out how businesses can apply emerging trends to drive business insights and delight their customers. Let’s start with an obvious question: where do trends come from? We believe that trends emerge as innovators address people’s basic needs and wants in novel ways. The...

Sometimes things can get fraught in the workplace. Many workplaces are a strange melting pot of people from different backgrounds, forced together in a bid to meet the aims and ambitions of a company, and their own ambitions. It’s perhaps to be expected that people thrown together in this way might well disagree about things, especially if under pressure. A disagreement is fine, but if it festers and grows into a dispute then it can harm a business. In 2014-15...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor It is widely accepted there is a housing crisis across the country especially in the capital, with the chance for people to own their homes out of reach from even the professional class. So in an effort to alleviate some of the pressure on the housing market, a new programme is helping communities by assisting them to build their own homes. The scheme has been launched by Locality, using funding from the Nationwide Foundation. Locality...

Brits are more loyal to their brand of ketchup than to their boss, according to new research. We put our favourite washing powder, cereal and skincare products before our manager or employer, ranking them in lowly 40th place in a list of our top 50 loyalties. The study shows the average British adult is loyal to where they shop, the brands they use and the products they buy. Folk tend to stick to the same type of tea or coffee,...

Have you just been made redundant? Doubtless you’re contemplating how on earth you’re going to keep life functioning as usual: the mortgage needs paying, the kids need feeding and the car (somehow) needs keeping on the road. But don’t worry: you can keep on top of your outgoings and stay out of the red by following these tips aimed at helping you manage your finances after redundancy.   First, find out what you’re entitled to It’s not always easy to...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor In news that will shock the nation, it has emerged that there is not enough evidence to bring a criminal case against RBS bosses that lead the virtual collapse of the bank in 2008, and contributing to the worst recession since the great depression. Fred Goodwin, the chief of the bank at the time of the crisis, will also not see any possible conviction for his actions. After a five-year inquiry by Crown Office prosecutors...

London is home to a whopping 4,400 super rich people, more than any other city in the world. Data from the Wealth Insight report revealed the number of super rich people (net assets worth $30m or more, excluding the value of their main house) is up by 0.8 per cent over the previous year. London now has 25 per cent more multi-millionaires than its closest rival Tokyo, and 29 per cent more than in third place Singapore. UK multi-millionaires are most likely...

According to Google’s Consumer Barometer, the percentage of people in the UK who use a smartphone rose from 51% to 71% from 2012 to 2015. In 2016 that is set to rise to well over 80%. Google’s research shows that smartphones are for more than just keeping in touch – many people (especially young millennials) use them for just about everything: work, shopping, Facebook, watching videos, recording videos, the list goes on… Google estimates that 90% of millennials go online...