Pointless meetings? There’s no such thing – the peacock explains why November 2, 2018 IT’S A good rule of thumb that you can learn more by looking at what people do than listening to what they say. Everyone in the corporate world, for example, likes to talk about how much they hate meetings. But for something they profess to despise, they seem to have an awful lot of them. [...]
Kamikaze Brexiteers may end up in a hell of their own making February 8, 2019 Hell hath no fury like a Brexiteer scorned. From the backlash this week, you would have thought that European Council president Donald Tusk had suggested that the EU get custody of the Queen in the Brexit divorce. “I’ve been wondering what that special place in hell looks like, for those who promoted Brexit, without even a [...]
The sugar tax is failing – let’s empower people to make their own choices instead September 6, 2018 It’s been five months since the so-called “sugar tax” was introduced, charging manufacturers a levy according to the amount of sugar in their drinks products. Ostensibly its aim was to combat obesity. But recent Nielsen data shows that the tax has had little impact on consumer behaviour. Around two thirds (62 per cent) of consumers [...]
Five reasons why Game of Thrones satisfies our (narrative) needs January 30, 2019 Game of Thrones has become something of a TV event over the past six years – the last season attracted more than 5m viewers per episode. On the face of it, the attractions are obvious: large helpings of sex and violence, bolstered by a serpentine storyline said to be inspired by the War of the [...]
Fitness challenge: four years on – The new fitness techniques that helped turn our Life&Style editor into a gym bro August 8, 2018 Four years ago I wrote an article about getting fit. For 10 weeks I went to the gym a lot, gave up booze, ate well, and got a hearty spray tan. I looked pretty good, in a ‘didn’t-quite-make-it-to-the-final-round-of-applicants-for-Love-Island’ kind of way. People still ask about it. For a while the story would appear on the [...]
Barbie on a bull run: Resurgent sales in the All-American figurine have proved a saving grace for toy making giant Mattel October 16, 2018 When it happened three years ago, it may have passed you by: after all, Donald Trump had just announced he was running for President, and the EU referendum campaign was getting under way. So you’d be forgiven for not noticing, in 2015, that Barbie dolls had just been given adjustable ankles. And yet the fact [...]
Trimley Lodge review: Spend a long weekend at this beautifully restored farmhouse on the Suffolk coast September 24, 2018 Unless you’re a particular fan of maritime trade logistics, the town of Felixstowe is unlikely to be high up on your list of places to visit before you die. It is, to the unending pride of locals, the UK’s largest shipping container port, and boasts waters deep enough to accommodate the latest generation of [...]
Guest notes: Boatman’s analysis on Babcock should be treated with scepticism November 23, 2018 All the noise around Babcock and its financial woes have left me feeling distinctly uncomfortable. It’s not the fact that the company has issues, as do most outsourcers. My problem is with the source of the recent vicious bear raid on the business – the so-called Boatman Capital. It is a month since Boatman and [...]
Dutch private equity firm Waterland establishes a UK office to give British businesses access to its €2bn fund October 26, 2017 Netherlands-rooted Waterland Private Equity Investments has established its first UK office and dedicated team, based in Wilmslow. The new office will give lower mid-market businesses, which generate earnings of £3m to £10m, access to Waterland’s €2bn seventh fund which was raised last month. Headed by Andy Scaife, who was Quantum Pharma’s chief executive throughout the [...]
We risk losing our minds over this unhealthy data obsession October 9, 2018 After two listeners complained about a radio advert that compared avocados unfavourably to bacon butties as a breakfast choice, Costa coffee was forced to withdraw the ad. The Advertising Standards Authority upheld the complaint that the advert “discouraged the selection of avocados” and therefore broke the UK Code of Broadcast Advertising by discriminating against vegetables. [...]