Ikea creating a happy home for workers too as firm embraces living wage July 28, 2015 One of the crucial aspects of the chancellor’s Budget was the commitment to raise the living wage for over 25s to £9 per hour by the year 2020, a rise from the current rate of £7.20. Our immediate post-Budget research showed the policy to be very popular – across supporters of all of the [...]
Ikea promises to adopt the living wage for its 9,000 UK employees July 19, 2015 Home furnishing giant Ikea yesterday pledged to adopt the living wage from 1 April next year – a move that will affect more than half its 9,000 UK staff. Describing the pay increase as “part of a holistic transformation of basic co-worker conditions”, Ikea said UK employees will receive a minimum of £7.85 per hour [...]
Ikea launches on the high street with smaller format stores June 24, 2015 Norwich residents will be able to pop into Ikea at the same time they visit their local convenience shop after the Swedish furniture giant begins trialling smaller format stores. The company said it will trial different “order and collection” points, starting with Norwich in the autumn, as it seeks to make shopping more convenient. “Our [...]
Want to talk to a random Swede? There’s an app for that April 8, 2016 Sweden has become the first country to launch its own phone number, allowing people from anywhere in the world to pick up the phone and be connected to a random Swede in a matter of seconds. In its latest PR stunt, the country’s tourism board has recruited thousands of Swedish volunteers to answer phones day [...]
Be careful what you wish for: Seven Brexit takeaways June 27, 2016 The result of the UK’s EU referendum came as a massive shock to the markets and was no fun for a large number of people. Unlike those in the Remain camp, who pointed to the market turmoil yelling “I told you so”, it gives me no sense of schadenfreude thinking of people seeing their pension [...]
Timeline: A blow-by-blow account of how BHS’ demise unfolded June 2, 2016 One of the biggest names on the UK's high street could be about to disappear, after its administrators began the process of winding it down. The news comes after a tumultuous few months for the retailer, which announced in April that it was entering administration – just over a year after it was sold for £1 by Arcadia [...]
Literally everything you need to know before you start filling in your online self-assessment tax return January 28, 2016 Congratulations, you survived Christmas and New Year: time to put your feet up while waiting for the Rio Olympics? Nope. The deadline for submitting your self-assessment tax return (SATR) online is 31 January. And there are penalties if you don’t make it, or if HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) takes the view you haven’t taken [...]
Mobile World Congress: Ikea’s new furniture range can charge your mobile wirelessly March 2, 2015 Ikea has launched a new range of furniture that can charge your phone wirelessly. It unveiled the new "Home Smart" range of coffee tables, bedside tables and lamps at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona today. (Source: Ikea) The system works using a chip inside your phone to charge it. Although there's been debate as to [...]
Why Brexit won’t be a disaster (and as former City minister, I should know) May 24, 2016 As someone who spent 25 years working in finance, four years scrutinising the Treasury as a backbencher, and then two years first as City minister, now as Energy Minister, I've seen at first hand the economic cycles, the disasters and triumphs. These experiences tell me that the UK has an outstanding future as a free trading global [...]
How the sports industry can help in the fight against climate change February 12, 2016 Last year’s Paris Climate Change Summit (COP21) signalled that real progress is being made in the world stage to tackle climate change. But it isn’t just politicians and businesses, such as Google and IKEA can lead the way in making “carbon neutral” pledges. The sporting industry, in particular, can lead by example and make a [...]