With the World Cup now in full swing it is important for business managers and owners to be aware of how the tournament may affect their workforce in the coming weeks. Although excitement around the competition can have a positive impact on employees, research by office stationary supplier Viking indicates that an increased number of […]
Employee engagement has surfaced as a major concern in delivering improvements in customer experience (CX), with 86 percent of CX executives in a Gartner, Inc. survey ranking it as having an equal or greater impact than other factors such as project management and data skills. “CX is a people issue,” said Olive Huang, research vice president at Gartner. […]
A hands-free translator, Tragl, which is set to break down language barriers and revolutionise the way the world communicates, has launched, as the UK’s language skills deficiency cost the economy up to £17bn in the first quarter of 2018. Tragl enables people that speak different languages to communicate through tech that works through a patented […]
Games Workshop staff will share a £5m bonus after it announced it expects profits to almost double this year. About 1,700 employees at the fantasy games retailer will split the pay out “in recognition of their contribution”. The Nottingham-based group said on Friday it expects to report an annual pre-tax profit of at least £74m, […]
Legal action is being taken against three delivery firms used by Amazon in another challenge to what has been called “bogus” self-employment. The GMB union wants its drivers to be given guaranteed hours and the minimum wage as well as sick and holiday pay. The union said drivers should be classed as full-time employees rather […]
The number of strikes in the UK last year was the lowest recorded to date, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). There were 79 stoppages in 2017, the lowest figures since records began in 1891. The number of workers involved in labour disputes also fell to an all-time low of 33,000. And there […]
HSBC saw pre-tax profits fall 4% in the first three months of 2018, as higher costs more than eroded increased revenue. Europe’s biggest bank reported making $4.8bn (£3.5bn) compared with the $5bn posted in the the same period a year earlier – missing analysts’ estimates. But shareholders will be cheered by plans for a $2bn […]
Royal Bank of Scotland has reported a profit of £792m for the first three months of the year, up from £259m for the same quarter last year. The rise is partly thanks to a fall in restructuring costs, and a drop in conduct and litigation costs. Running costs at the bank, which is 72% state-owned, […]
Lloyds Bank profits jumped by 23% to £1.6bn. It made pre-tax profits of £1.6bn, 23% higher than the same time last year. But it said it had put aside another £90m in costs for payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling claims, taking its total bill to £18.8bn. The government sold its last shares in Lloyds in […]
Sometimes it seems there’s nothing but doom and gloom on the UK’s High Streets. This week we heard profits were down at Debenhams and a big deal between shopping centre owners Hammerson, which owns Birmingham’s Bullring, and Intu fell through. New store openings are at their lowest level for seven years. And mid-range restaurants are closing branches left, right […]
