Features
Let’s start with the most important things – Jeremy Hunt really upped his social media game ahead of the Budget. We got a sneak peek of the chancellor working behind the scenes and even a video of him watching old speeches… But Hunt’s enthusiasm for the Budget was not necessarily matched by others, such as...
Retirement homes: The UK’s fastest growing non-tech sector?
Often filling the older population with dread, retirement homes and villages have had a seemingly bad reputation following previous years of poor management and ill conditions. However, changing opinions supported by increased awareness and education are aiding the popularity of retirement homes and villages in the UK. With some speculating that it has the potential...
The truth about software patents
I’ve been a patent attorney working in what’s often called “computer-implemented inventions” for around 20 years. Throughout that time, I’ve had many people tell me that you couldn’t get patents for software. Well, I’m able to tell you otherwise: it is possible to get patent protection for software inventions. The situation is a bit more...
A look inside vinyl’s resurgence
Last year, vinyl record sales hit their highest point since 1990. Vinyl’s resurgence also helped HMV more than double its profits. But will it last? The rise of vinyl According to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), the trade association for Britain’s recorded music industry, vinyl LP sales grew 11.7 per cent in 2023, marking the...
Menopause: Is your workplace leading or lagging?
Lauren Chiren, 55 from Bristol, suffered from debilitating anxiety, and extreme dizziness and couldn’t even remember the names of her colleagues while going through menopause. It drastically affected her work in a senior role in financial services. “In the end, I was absolutely terrified that I had early onset dementia,” she says. “At the age...
What can you expect from the 2024 Spring Budget?
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will announce his Spring Budget at 12:30 today with many expecting it to be the largest fiscal announcement before the next general election. Whilst speaking to the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Hunt ruled out borrowing to fund tax cuts. “This will be a prudent and responsible budget for long-term growth, tackling...
How to handle layoffs as the recession begins to bite
“The risk of losing trust is one of the biggest consequences for leaders conducting layoffs,” says Verity Creedy, vice-president of product management at global leadership consulting firm DDI. With the UK officially entering a recession, more businesses could soon be letting people go. However, it is possible to rebuild trust afterwards. “Trust plays a crucial...
Co-CEOs: Are more heads better than one?
Marks & Spencer announced that they would be adopting what Reuters called an “unconventional leadership structure” in 2022. Following the announcement that Steve Rowe was stepping down as the company’s CEO, Stuart Machin and Katie Bickerstaffe were confirmed as the new heads of the retail giant, as CEO and co-CEO respectively. Does this model actually...
The rise and fall of the Yellow Pages
The Yellow Pages used to make life easier for everyone. By sorting businesses alphabetically into categories, it streamlined finding products and services and changed how small businesses reached customers. But after being a permanent fixture in British households for more than 50 years, the final version of the print edition of Yellow Pages was delivered...
Introducing the new Business Leader
Hello and welcome to the new Business Leader. It is a pleasure to be able finally to write those words. What you are looking at today is the result of months of work, planning and research. All of that was aimed at one thing – to build a new agenda-setting, inspirational and aspirational business publication...
The top business pivots
“Adaptability is paramount in today’s dynamic business landscape,” says Chris Beer, professor of practice at Warwick Business School. “Organisations must be prepared to pivot their strategies swiftly, driven by factors such as market shifts, technological advances and changing customer expectations”. According to PwC’s 27th UK CEO Survey, one in five chief executives says their organisation...
Why failing also matters
In this extract from her award-winning book Right Kind of Wrong, Harvard professor Amy Edmondson explains why we should not miss out on the satisfying journey of learning to dance with failure. Every kind of failure brings opportunities for learning and improvement. To avoid squandering these opportunities, we need a mix of emotional, cognitive and...
Sunak and Starmer will pull no punches on a rollercoaster ride to the general election
Buckle up. The next seven months are likely to be one of the most expensive, most bitterly contested and longest election campaigns in British history. The state of the polls, with Labour consistently enjoying a 20-point lead, means that the prime minister Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives have little to lose. Vituperative personal attacks from...
Elite sport shows us how to reach the top and stay there
Like any seismic event, the pandemic has left a lasting legacy. When it comes to leadership, this has been particularly profound. Covid-19, and the chaos and upset that came with it, wreaked havoc on the wellbeing, health and sustained performance of many leaders and entrepreneurs across sectors. And it hasn’t been limited to just that...
Mastering the recipe for success: Jason Atherton’s entrepreneurial insights
Jason Atherton has built an international fine dining empire with a dozen restaurants around the world, including his Michelin-starred Pollen Street Social in Mayfair. After working with Pierre Koffmann, Nico Ladenis and Marco Pierre White, Atherton joined Gordon Ramsay working in Dubai and London, where Ramsay opened Maze. After striking out on his own in...
Process has its place but what adds real value is setting creativity free
If we could have bought shares in the concept of ‘process,’ we’d be rich today. Having leapt far beyond its sensible origins in the law – where ‘due process’ protects against hasty errors – process has invaded all aspects of life. Grief is framed as a process. Psychoanalysis insists people commit to the process. Recruitment...
Backing women-led businesses is the best idea you can have
In the five years I spent raising money for my tech start-up Gapsquare, I pitched to investors roughly 100 times. Venture capitalists, institutional investors, angels — you name it, I tried it. Despite this, I raised zero capital. Not a penny. Yet, we succeeded in commercialising our product and were ultimately acquired by a FTSE...
To be or not to B Corp
We are among the believers at Future Leap, a networking space and café on Gloucester Road, Bristol’s indie-shopping mecca. Forty or so people have gathered in the name of sustainability to learn about a better way of doing business. Paradoxically, the building was once home to that palace of consumer consumption Maplin Electronics. Signs of...
Getting ahead in the battle to attract and retain top talent
As a firm believer in the power of putting people first, I’m excited to write this monthly column for Business Leader, offering you a candid peek into the challenges and opportunities of recruitment strategies and robust talent planning. I didn’t grow up dreaming of workforce solutions, or of being a chief executive. It was one...
How political parties can win over business and triumph in the general election
As we embark on a general election year, I shall, as will many other entrepreneurs, be looking for the political party that has the most enterprise-friendly strategy. For the past 20 years, I have run Enterprise Nation as a growing business support resource for thousands of start-ups and early-stage businesses. It has given me a...
Welcome to the new Business Leader
Welcome to the new Business Leader. We’re excited to reintroduce ourselves to the dynamic business community in the UK, starting with our relaunched website and invigorated mission. At Business Leader we’ve identified a glaring need to support the trailblazers – the founders, CEOs, and entrepreneurs propelling mid-sized companies forward. Our commitment is clear: to inspire...
Welcome to the brave new world of bio-preneurs
It’s 5 AM and I’m aimlessly scrolling through Instagram as I battle my two-hour jet lag for the sixth night in a row since a trip to South Africa. My circadian rhythm is pathetic, and I don’t have enough self-control to charge my phone in another room. I’ve also broken my New Year’s resolution which...
Five laws that spell success and can put you on top in a crowded marketplace
There are hundreds of thousands of podcasts around the world. Many of them focus on the areas that we talk about – mindset, business, high achievement and finding your sense of purpose. A question I get asked all the time is, why has my High Performance podcast been so successful? I think the answer to...
The art of business wargaming
It’s 8.30 AM and a team of senior managers arrives in a City boardroom to be greeted by a table groaning with croissants, Danish pastries and Colombian coffee. The managers have no idea why they have been called in. The phone rings and a voice at the other end says, “You are now in a...