LSBF Blog - Global Matters
Closing gender pay gap will improve UK economy, says Government
A Government spokesperson has said that closing the gender pay gap is “essential” for improving the UK economy.
Industry leaders are now also calling for businesses to encourage women to take on more senior roles to tackle the problem of inequality in the workplace.
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KPMG to speed up recruitment process for graduates
Accountancy firm KPMG is moving on from its multistage interview process after research showed that graduates are frustrated by lengthy interview processes.
The company made the decision after collaborating with market research company High Fliers Research to survey over 400 people who have recently graduated from university.
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John Lewis partners with TrueStart to launch new initiative for retail start-ups
The John Lewis Partnership has teamed up with retail accelerator TrueStart to form a new initiative that will focus on locating and funding disruptive retail start-ups.
The programme, which is called The Eureka Initiative, will help to bring new products and technologies into the retail sector.
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Businesses have higher survival rates in remote areas, survey shows
Businesses that are set up outside London have a higher chance of survival than those in the city, according to research from eBay UK.
The research, which was based on figures from the Office of National Statistics, identified the areas in the UK with the highest survival rates for start-ups.
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Business attitudes to new technology revealed in research
Research from AXA has shown that small businesses are doubtful about next generation technology affecting their business in the future.
The study looked at how 898 companies feel about technology such as robots, driverless cars, and 3D printing, and whether they expect to use these new advances.
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Startup company to launch first banking service for freelancers
Monizo, a startup set up by former PwC staff Samuel O’Connor and Adam Goodall, will allow entrepreneurs to set up an account within a few minutes.
The new banking service will offer a wide range of services to freelancers for a monthly fee.
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Shortage of cyber security skills is damaging companies, report shows
A report from CSIS and Intel Security, entitled “Hacking the Skills Shortage”, found that there is a lack of cybersecurity talent in countries around the world, including the UK, the US, Australia, France, Germany, Japan, Israel, and Mexico.
The report says that this causes “direct damage” to companies, and warns that thousands of job vacancies in the industry could remain empty.
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Graduates want a good work-life balance, survey shows
Nearly half of young people aged 18 to 24 have said that having a good work-life balance is their main career goal.
Research from recruitment website Reed showed that 40 per cent of young people want an employer that will provide them with a career and help them to build up their own family.
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Work-life balance biggest motivator for entrepreneurs, study finds
More control over work-life balance is one of the main motivations for small business owners, according to a survey from AXA Business Insurance.
The research surveyed over 800 entrepreneurs in the UK to find out what motivates them to run their own business.
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London City Airport expansion scheme will boost economy, say ministers
A £344 million scheme to expand London City Airport has been approved by ministers, who say that the growth plans will help to boost the economy.
The plans, which include an extended terminal, aircraft taxiway and upgraded public transport links, were given the go ahead by Transport Secretary Chris Grayling and Communities and Local Government Secretary Sajid Javid.
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Cloud hosting company to launch digital workshops
UKFast will soon be launching a series of in-house digital workshops to combat the digital skills gap.
The company will use the workshops to help teachers and collaborators to gain industry skills and qualifications that can be passed on to the younger generation.
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Small business banking firm receives $2 million in seed funding
A company that enables small businesses to set up a bank account has received $2 million in seed funding to help it to grow.
Tide, which is based in the UK, offers a mobile banking tool for SMEs to enable them to quickly set up an account without any monthly or annual fees.
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London to get Europe’s largest tech innovation centre
London is to become home to Europe’s largest technology innovation centre. The Innovation Centre is a joint venture between property developer Delancey’s evergreen investment fund, DV4, and tech consultancy firm ENTIQ.
The facility will support start-ups from a wide range of industries, including fashion, health, design and the Internet of Things, promoting collaboration and helping them to grow.
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Google partners with Tinder Foundation to improve digital skills
Google has teamed up with the charity Tinder Foundation to help people across the UK improve their digital skills and increase their chances of finding a job or setting up their own business.
The scheme has been created as part of the Google Digital Garage programme, with funding helping to provide 100 centres for 5,000 community organisations.
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Britons are happy to be in work, research shows
The majority of British people would choose to be in work even if they did not need the money, according to the British Social Attitudes survey.
The survey found that many Britons are happy to be in work, with over 60 per cent saying that they would like to take on a job that they enjoyed doing rather than staying at home, despite being stressed as a result of working longer hours.
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SMEs should make cyber security a top priority, says expert
APMG International Lead Assessor Andy Taylor has said that SMEs should make cyber security one of their top priorities.
Taylor stated that hackers see small and medium-sized businesses as easier targets, as they believe that these businesses do less to protect their important data.
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Video: Great Minds series - LSBF interviews Chris Wakerley MBE, MD of KPMG Boxwood
As part of the LSBF Great Minds series, Chris Wakerley MBE, Managing Director and Co-Founder of KPMG Boxwood, discussed his experiences of business in an interview with Dr Steve Priddy, Head of Research at London School of Business and Finance (LSBF).
Mr Wakerley co-founded Boxwood in 2000. The company has worked across a range of sectors - including retail, infrastructure, private equity and life sciences – and was acquired by KPMG in 2015.
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UK to finalise new FinTech Bridge with South Korea
Last Friday, it was announced that the UK will soon finalise a new FinTech Bridge with South Korea to enable easier investment in fintech.
The FinTech Bridge will provide a number of benefits for financial technology businesses and investors from each country, allowing them to gain easier access to each other.
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British Business Bank invested £527 million into UK businesses
The British Business Bank invested £527 million into the UK’s small businesses from 2015 to 2016, according to its annual performance review.
The government-owned bank increased finance to small companies by 45 per cent in 2015 and now works with 90 finance partners to support over 48,000 businesses. The bank revealed that it took on nine new partners from 2015 to 2016.
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Social media critical to SMEs, survey shows
Social media is critical to SMEs, with 100 per cent of businesses turning to social channels to reach customers, according to a survey from enterprise application software company SAP Anywhere.
The survey showed that more SME retailers are using technology to help their business to develop, with over three quarters of businesses saying that it has enabled them to overcome ongoing challenges.
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Santander to invest £75 million in UK’s fintech businesses
Santander Group’s London-based fintech venture capital fund, Santander InnoVentures, is to invest £75 million in the UK’s fintech community.
Santander InnoVentures was first launched in 2014 and is part of Santander’s innovation agenda, which aims to support early-stage fintech companies and help them to grow.
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Apprenticeships help plug digital skills gap, survey shows
More companies are using apprenticeships to plug the digital skills gap, according to a survey from Tech Partnership.
Research from the cyber skills charity showed that there is a growing demand for digital skills, with companies struggling to fill tech and digital roles.
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SMEs need better access to broadband, according to government report
Small and medium-sized enterprises need access to better broadband services, according to a report from the cross-party Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee.
The report stated that the quality of the current level of broadband service is poor and that services need to be improved.
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UK employment rate reaches record high, according to ONS
The number of people in work in the UK reached a record high in the months leading up to May, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has shown.
The UK employment rate reached 74.4 per cent, with over 30 million people in work in the three months leading up to May, up by 176,000 on the previous quarter.
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More corporates want to work with start-ups, report shows
More corporates are interested in collaborating with start-up businesses, according to a report from accelerator programme MassChallenge.
The report, titled The State of Startup/Corporate Collaboration 2016, surveyed over 200 start-ups and over 100 corporates from across Europe. It found that there is a “fundamental mindset shift” in relationships between start-up businesses and corporations.
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