Opinion

We are all now getting very used to being on video and video calls. In conversation this week the topic came up and discussion turned to how we used to see people on video calls on TV before but it never really took off (remember The Big Bang Theory)… this was of course before the pandemic… now it seems second nature…. it was a hidden trend waiting for the trigger. “The future has arrived —… Read more

There has been plenty of good news the last few weeks regarding progress with COVID vaccine development. Early signs are promising, with big pharma massively starting to scale production and countries readying for delivery of vaccines to their population. All in all the speed of vaccine development vs normal timeframes has been amazing. In an interesting article on the radio, it was explained this was driven by not only by the nearly unlimited funding nor… Read more

This week there was some debate about remote working and whether this is here to stay. There are after all huge benefits in being able to hire the best candidate without worrying about geographic restrictions, not to mention saving the real estate cost if they don’t need office space. However, the concern was whether this was coming at a cost. In not meeting do we miss relationship-building aspects, that have always worked well on a… Read more

Quite a busy week this week, what with lockdown restarting in England, and new tough restrictions in many other European countries, France, Italy and Belgium to mention a few. A second wave is really upon us now. The UK government responded quickly with more support for the economy, £150 billion from the Bank of England, and a re-extension of Furlough until March. Why this is March in order to cover a 4 week lockdown… it… Read more

This Saturday (Halloween of all days) it was announced that England would enter another lockdown for November… scary stuff… with cases rising and lockdown already in place elsewhere in the UK, for many this had felt inevitable, but here we are in lockdown again. The FCA was very quick with their announcement for mortgage holders. Everyone can still take advantage of a mortgage payment holiday up to 6 months.For those that have already used the… Read more

A few things caught my eye this week as we all wrestled with the fact that it is looking like lockdown will continue and we enter a second wave. First, was the changing nature of work, and how it seems we are moving towards a more blended style of working.A few days at home, a few in the office, seems increasingly common, with some people opting for long commutes from the countryside rather than permanent… Read more