For SME business owners contemplating a sale, the recent Capital Gains Tax (CGT) increases announced in the Budget present new challenges. According to Ed Bartlett, CEO of leading compliance provider Hicomply, one of the most significant risks to business valuation during due diligence lies in cybersecurity and compliance standards. “Cybersecurity and compliance have become critical […]
Let me start by saying that I, like every self-respecting political junkie, have watched and adored The West Wing — all seven seasons, multiple times. So before you roll your eyes and think here we go again, another musings-on-Sorkin piece, let me declare it plainly: the show remains as close as modern television gets to […]
It wasn’t so long ago that having the option to work from your lounge in your slippers felt like a futuristic dream bordering on utopia. Yet here we are, practically on the doorstep of the full remote revolution, and I’m watching a queue of business leaders feverishly backpedal towards outdated notions of “bums on seats.” […]
Debbie Crosbie, chief executive of the Nationwide Building Society, has cautioned that women who regularly work from home could miss out on promotion opportunities due to lower in-person visibility. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Crosbie said that more women than men had opted for flexible working in the post-pandemic era—often because of childcare […]
Ah, Billy Joel. The piano man who once sang of an unstoppable blaze that’s been burning “since the world’s been turning.” Little did he know, decades later, we’d be taking frantic notes on how to handle the ever-growing conflagration. As we step cautiously into 2025, it seems the heat has been turned up several notches, […]
William Vereker, the chairman of Santander UK and a former business envoy under Theresa May, has attributed Britain’s soaring benefits bill and long-term worklessness to weak numeracy and a poor grasp of financial fundamentals. Speaking against the backdrop of a fast-rising sickness benefit budget, Vereker warned that many people overlook the long-term career gains of […]
Could Nigel Farage really be the next UK Prime Minister? It’s a question that, a mere five years ago, would have sounded rather like asking if we’d ever see Piers Morgan run the Ministry of Manners. And yet here we are, with Farage’s Reform UK party reportedly garnering a surge in new members—apparently outrunning the […]
In a world that is becoming progressively digitalised, it is important to have a clear understanding on how industries can work collaboratively with the likes of AI to ensure they are not left behind. Gaining this understanding early will help avoid scaremongering and allow businesses to use the development of technology in their favour as […]
2024 has been a year of navigating for a lot of businesses in the UK. Navigating an election year with the subsequent budget announcement, a later Black Friday and Christmas than usual, a recession, a cost-of-living crisis, and a multitude of internal issues that require consideration from a business owner. Navigation brings failure, but it […]
On Tuesday, I’ll be joining a Westminster protest for the first time in my life. Yes, me—a man more comfortable behind a laptop than in front of a megaphone, who once thought the height of rural activism was separating the recycling correctly. But something has stirred me into action: the plight of British farmers under […]