Business and Economics

By Andy Irwin This week will be one of the most significant in British history. Three days out from the vote on Scottish independence, there is much to celebrate and admire from the process. An unprecedented number of Scots are expected to go to the polls on Thursday. Even those who don’t know how they are going to vote (and they are many) will be making their way to their local voting station. Sixteen year olds will vote in the...

By Steve Taggart It’s back to school and back to the boardroom. If you are organising a small or large meeting this autumn and don’t want to blow your budget before the Christmas party season kicks there’s no need to spend a fortune – here’s our pick of some of central London’s frill-free and functional meeting spots - a good place to start scaling back expenses without any detrimental effect on business. Here are the top eight affordable meeting spaces...

By Ayesha Vardag, President of London family law firm Vardags The label of divorce capital of the world has stuck definitively to the fashionable collars of our great city. London, of course, is celebrated for many things: its stunning historical architecture, the exquisite depth of its arts and culture scene, the indomitable pulse of its financial services industry. Yet, possibly contrary to first appearances, being the global centre of high-net-worth divorce is also an accolade that we should applaud. The...

By Samuel Hurley, Senior Marketing Executive at Kurve Digital Marketing “There is no time for cut-and-dried monotony. There is time for work. And time for love. That leaves no other time.” It may sound grand to kick off an article about 2014's best creative content tools with an inspirational quote from fashion revolutionary Coco Chanel but, if you're not feeling inspired by your content, you're taking the wrong approach. There's simply no more time for cookie-cutter, paint-by-number web content if...

By Valentina Magri It was mid-September when the two major economic events that have irreparably changed our lives occurred: the Northern Rock bank run in the UK (13th September 2007) and Chapter 11 for Lehman Brothers in the US (15th September 2008). In the Eurozone today Italy and France are sick and Germany does not feel very well. The UK is out of recession and the economy is in better shape than its European counterparts, even if some labour market issues have not...

By CEO of Mettl, Ketan Kapoor Even though hiring activity has improved in recent months many executives have reported how difficult it’s been to fill highly-skilled and upper-management positions. Employers who seek out stronger talent end up eliminating employees who bring little to the table, in exchange for new employees who require additional time and training. I believe we can fix this gap in skill level without always resorting to more hiring and firing, if we start by investing in the...

Britain is in the midst of an entrepreneurial boom with more individuals than ever looking to banish the chains of large corporations and go at it on their own. But starting your own business is a daunting task, which is why the people at Intuit  have devised this infographic to help you navigate through the mire of questions and make your dreams and reality.  

By Mark Somers, Technical Director at 4most Europe  The economic risks of a more fragmented banking system… Big banks are in decline. That’s what many politicians are trying to achieve and what some experts are predicting will happen in the near future; whether that speculation will ring true, only time will tell. But for the UK, a more fragmented banking system brings with it many implications both positive and negative in terms of the economy and of course, the consumer....

By Tim Furdui, Senior Research Analyst at Atomik Research Market research is a fundamental prerequisite of international expansion for business. Without it, businesses expanding into overseas markets risk marketing their products and services blindfolded and to an unresponsive audience. As global trade becomes more important, insight will become paramount. According to annual investment figures from UK Trade and Investment for 2013 to 2014 the UK is becoming a truly global economy attracting the most inward investment projects since records began...