News

By Jonathan O'Brien, CEO of Red Sheet 1. Decide exactly what you need beforehand It sounds obvious, but knowing what you want to get out of a negotiation before you start is imperative. Sometimes it is very clear, sometimes there could be several possible but acceptable outcomes. Without a clear end goal, we risk putting ourselves in a ‘decide on the spot’ situation, finding we have been talked into things in the heat of the moment. 2. Do your homework...

By Nathan Lee, TLE Correspondent  A new survey has revealed almost a third of British workers receive nothing from their bosses when they retire. The study of 2,000 retirees found 31 per cent of people were not given a leaving gift, with a leaving card as good as it gets for a further seven per cent. The average retirement gift was calculated to be just £2.17 for every year of work. Gift vouchers and flowers are the most common retirement gifts – while...

By Nick Joelson, Marketing Manager at Liberis Every small business owner knows it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to keep yourself afloat and ahead of the competition. According to recent research by Simply Business, there has been a 110% increase in the number of independent retailers launched in the last five years, suggesting it’s a great time for retailers to do business. However, research from The British Independent Retailers Association states there are more than 220,000 independent...

By Ron Delnevo, ATMIA Executive Director Europe Earlier this year figures were published by the Payments Council purporting to show the demise of coins and notes and the rise of the ‘cashless society’. The figures concluded that 48 per cent of payments were made in cash, with the remaining 52 per cent made up of non-cash payments. A ‘cashless society’ is one where we would forgo all cash and instead use electronic payment systems, like the much-hyped Apple Pay, to...

By Steve Taggart A recent report released by Green Park has revealed that the number of FTSE 100 executive directors of ethnic minority has dropped from six to four in the past year. Researchers carrying out the study from Green Park have identified this extreme imbalance as a so-called ‘diversity deficit’, which may come to some as a dramatic revelation after Business Secretary Vince Cable cautioned that companies must drive to deliver a diverse boardroom by the end of 2015....

By Ahmed Al-Ansari, property consultant at Morgan Pryce, London commercial property experts As rents have soared on the wings of rising demand and been boosted by the lack of supply, many businesses have, over the last few years, taken certain strategic decisions when it came to their headquarters. So what makes businesses want to move? It can be combined factors including staffing issues, older buildings not necessarily designed for today’s workplace methods or layout, offices being turned into profitable residential...

By Dr Robin George Andrews @SquigglyVolcano & Dr Alfredo Carpineti  @DrCarpineti    The opposition to genetically modified food is irrational, and when governments who should know better ban it without cause, scientists must speak up. Scotland’s rural secretary has just announced that the growing of genetically modified crops will be banned in the fields of England’s feisty northern neighbour. Unfortunately, like many people on gluten-free diets who aren’t coeliacs, many who approve of this move simply do not understand what they’re eschewing even...

By Jack Peat, TLE Editor  When I first read that Cecil the Lion had been poached by US dentist Walter Palmer I wasn't immediately concerned about animal rights, cruel blood sports or even the protection of endangered species; I was concerned about freedoms. Individual liberty, after all, is what allowed Palmer to stand proud over his trophy catch with no thought about the aforementioned consequences. He had grabbed the very sustenance of life in a mockery to those choiceless beings...

By Eamon Jubbawy, COO and co-founder of Onfido An independent review into the UK sharing economy late last year found that 25 per cent of UK adults are sharing online in some way.  The sharing economy - already estimated by PwC to be worth £9 billion globally - has transformed how people interact and do business. It has made household names of the likes of Uber and Airbnb, upended service-based industries and changed how we think about employment and workers. The...