Archive

Year: 2019

  • The Queen’s Speech, Take Two

    December 19, 2019

    Truly, we are spoiled. After the longest Parliamentary session since the civil war ended in October, today the Queen returned to Parliament for the second time this year to give us a speech. In a sign of the times – the inconvenience to Her Majesty, perhaps, and a desire not to hold up Christmas shoppers – the horse-drawn carriage was left out, and the crown and robe eschewed for a fetching blue dress and hat...

  • What does the 2019 UK General Election result mean for the food & drink industry?

    December 16, 2019

    With a Conservative Parliamentary majority not seen since the 1980s and a pledge that a Boris Johnson administration would govern in the interests of an entire nation, what does the UK General Election result indicate for the food and drink sector: Delivering Brexit – the industry will be relieved that the spectre of ‘No Deal’ Brexit on the 31st January 2020 is banished and the supply chain can organise itself accordingly. However, many in the...

  • 2019 General Election Analysis

    December 13, 2019

    Let’s be clear, this is a momentous election result that will, for good or ill, define the future of this country and our politics. To win a landslide after nine years in power, is a remarkable achievement for the Conservatives. It shows how successful Boris Johnson has been in repositioning his Party, achieving cut through to voters who have never previously dreamed of voting Tory. The result is arguably a slightly perverse vindication of Cameron’s...

  • Guiding principles for scaling culture during hypergrowth

    November 26, 2019

    Last week we hosted a private roundtable with some of the leading lights of the fintech world where we discussed the importance of culture in an organisation and the challenges of scaling culture during hypergrowth. A lively discussion ensued with the unwrapping of the pain points and some of the solves that have been deployed. While the event was under Chatham House rules we've compiled five guiding principles from our discussion to guide those interested...

  • When You Wish Upon a Star, Watch Out! The Fall of Star Fund Managers?

    November 14, 2019

    Consistent performance and better value top consumer expectations of the investment industry. Innovation ties with better value as the second highest expectation as consumers seek innovative investment opportunities and new tools to easily access their accounts. The implosion of stock picker Neil Woodford’s fund empire dominated the financial media in 2019 and has since raised significant questions for the UK’s fund management industry. But what does it tell us about the future for star fund...

  • Data-driven creative is not the ideal, it is the norm

    November 7, 2019

    Raise your hand if you’ve ever asked, or been asked, the following to your team or your agency: “hey we need some stats / research that supports our creative.” Don’t worry, no one is watching. You can admit that this has happened. When you’ve worked in PR and comms for as long as I have, you can understand, to a certain degree, why this happens. PR and comms professionals are under immense pressure and are, rightly or...

  • What can brands learn from H&M’s eco-fashion fallout?

    November 1, 2019

    This week H&M CEO Karl-Johan Persson drew widespread reaction and criticism when he spoke with Bloomberg warning of the rise of "consumer shaming" to thwart climate change and said these ‘stop consuming, stop buying movements are a threat to the fashion industry and will have “terrible social consequences” - in reference to the widespread global protest action and socio commentary from the likes of Extinction Rebellion and Greta Thunberg. The thought behind Mr Persson’s comments...

  • ‘The impossible deal’: Can Boris Johnson get it through Parliament?

    October 18, 2019

    So here we are. After three years of tortuous negotiations and three previous unsuccessful attempts to get a Brexit deal through Parliament, on 17 October 2019, British and European negotiators once again reached a revised Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration. The deal was achieved just in time for a two-day summit (17-18 October) of EU leaders in Brussels, where they will sign off the Brexit agreement. So, what is the substance of the deal? Under...

  • Our analysis of The Queen’s Speech 2019

    October 14, 2019

    This was no conventional Queen’s Speech. In fact, it felt more like a pre-election manifesto launch, with a raft of policies designed to win-over large swathes of middle-England. Politically, the Queen’s Speech was carefully crafted to burnish the Conservative Party’s ‘One Nation’ credentials, and to convince those voters alienated by the Government’s Brexit stance that its domestic policy agenda is firmly rooted in the centre ground. A number of these key policy priorities announced as...

  • BoJo found his MoJo, but how long can he GoGo?

    October 4, 2019

    There are few politicians who are greeted with the adulation of a rock-star and who relish being the centre of attention. Boris Johnson is one such political beast. Time after time, he would rock up at party conferences to be greeted by the inevitable scrum of journalists which, much to their annoyance, would overshadow the keynote addresses of successive Conservative leaders. For a boy who aspired to be “World King” and who plotted most of...

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