Category: Opinion

Crowdfunding is being promised as a wonderfully disruptive and democratic development in seed funding, however experts are warning that is poses the potential to become another financial misselling scandal.

Britain’s young generation must be given improved access to vocational training alongside academic studies says Will Davies – a long term campaigner for a return to traditional apprenticeship schemes.

According to Bank of England Governor Mervyn King, UK banks are currently overstating their capital by somewhere in the region of £52 billion. The country’s two part nationalised banks, RBS and Lloyds, possibly account for as much as half of that figure.

Most people will be familiar with the term: ‘where there’s blame there’s a claim’. This was the rather forthright catchphrase of a personal injury company, now no longer trading.

Charles Purdy, MD of Smart Currency Exchange talks about corporate structure and the processes key to success

I was horrified to hear the other day that schools and colleges were doing away with staff rooms. Not because I am a fan of what they represent in terms of the hierarchy of chair placement and a place for kids to fear, but rather the lack of space now available for ‘down time’ from the pressures and focus of a teacher’s workplace.

Whilst social & environmental responsibility and financial necessity are now aligned for many larger organisations, SMEs have been slower to recognise sustainability as a driver of bottom line business success, rather than a nice-to-have. Nathan Wimble, Commercial Director at The CarbonNeutral Company, argues that the imminent introduction of Mandatory Carbon Reporting (MCR) gives SME’s a chance to get on the front foot when it comes to managing their carbon footprint. For many companies it could be the start of a wider environmental sustainability programme that benefits their business as well as the environment.

“If the right measures are put in place to handle the situation carefully and to avoid any future misdemeanours the industry should be safe, but this scandal should be a stark reminder of the obligations companies owe to their customers” according to David Taylor, CEO of James Caan’s business advisory firm HB Prime Advantage.