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Guide on how to build an effective board

How to build an effective board

An effective board of directors plays a critical role in the success of a business, but knowing when and how to set one up is tricky

Sarah Vizard

Workers at Camden Collective

Is it better to build your start-up in-person or remotely? 

It’s the existential business question of the post-Covid age: are you remote, in-office, or hybrid? We speak to start-ups who have taken very different approaches 

Dougal Shaw

Why start-up founders are going back to primary school

We visit a former primary school in north London that has become the unlikely hub for a group of start-ups focused on sustainability 

Dougal Shaw

The CEO factory

The CEO factory: Why some companies can’t stop producing world-class leaders

Some companies have become as famous for training the next generation of leaders as the services they provide. We explore what makes a good C-level training facility and whether they are still relevant in today’s business landscape

Julia Finch

Duolingo's iconic cartoon character

5 insights language-learning companies can offer us 

Digital language learning platforms are big business these days and the data they harvest can yield interesting insights for everyone, including business leaders

Dougal Shaw

Flags of Nordic countries

5 Nordic ideas to boost entrepreneurship in the UK 

The UK government wants to boost entrepreneurship. To do so, it could take inspiration from initiatives in the Nordic countries

Dougal Shaw

Is UK venture capital working?

Amid economic turmoil, questions about the role of VC in the UK and whether it can ever work as well as it does in the US are being asked

Andrew Lynch

Large selection of pet food zoo store

Fur-ever love: Inside the booming pet care industry

As pet ownership soars, the pet care industry is growing fast. From innovative meat-free solutions to digital rewards apps, entrepreneurs are tapping into this lucrative market

Patricia Cullen

The businesses bucking the return-to-office trend

Almost three years on from the pandemic, the world seems to be back to normal, but not everyone is happy with the return to the office.

Alice Cumming

Positivity in the workplace demonstrated by a yellow smiling ball in the office interior

Do wellness programmes really work? 

Many businesses claim to have put a focus on wellbeing, but do such programmes really help tackle burnout and nurture a supportive workplace culture? 

Patricia Cullen

Friends standing together with arms linked

The friends and family funding phenomenon

Many entrepreneurs borrow from friends and family but there are things to consider before taking investment from loved ones

Patricia Cullen

Business leaders stand around a table

How to preserve tacit knowledge 

Companies are usually reasonably good at preserving knowledge around processes and operations but fare less well when it comes to tacit knowledge. With staff turnover still high and sickness on the up, that’s a problem

Patricia Cullen

Rassie Erasmus book cover mock up

Bookshelf: Rassie Erasmus – stories of life and rugby

We’ve scoured the autobiography of Rassie Erasmus for some of the lessons within it that you can apply to your organisation.

Josh Dornbrack

The outside of a The Body Shop store

What went wrong at The Body Shop – and what can we learn from it?

The Body Shop lost relevance with its core customers, while successive ownership and leadership changes confused the strategy

Patricia Cullen

External photo of the Audley Cooper's Hill, Englefield Green

Retirement homes: The UK’s fastest growing non-tech sector

Retirement homes are big business as an aging population increases demand, but regulatory reform is needed to ensure quality of care

Alice Cumming

Stack of vinyl records

A look inside vinyl’s resurgence

Vinyl sales have been rising fast and new technology, including on-demand manufacturing, suggest its growth still has some way to go

James Cook

A lady working at her computer with a fan

Menopause: Is your workplace leading or lagging?

Menopause is rising up the workplace agenda, but there is still much more for businesses to do to ensure women feel supported

Patricia Cullen

How to handle layoffs as the recession begins to bite

Redundancies are sometimes necessary but there are ways to conduct the process to make it easier for staff and managers

James Cook

Flat design of two businesswomen facing each others with ideas in their heads, team working or brainstorming illustration concept

Co-CEOs: Are more heads better than one?

After M&S revealed it would bring in co-CEOs, we take a look at whether two bosses can complement or just end up clashing

James Cook

Will Butler-Adams on a bike

To be or not to B Corp

With over 2,000 UK businesses now B Corps, its become an ethical status symbol known. However, some critics question its broader impact.

Andrew Lynch

A toy figure of a businessman with a briefcase, dressed in a smart suit, in the style of a little green army soldier

The art of business wargaming

Welcome to the world of business wargaming — a powerful tool used by companies to test strategies, foster innovative thinking, and reveal hidden threats

Josh Dornbrack

A pattern with illustration featuring Larry Ellison

Inside the rise of Larry Ellison’s tech empire

Sukhendu Pal spent a decade at the heart of the database giant in its early days. Here he looks back at how a brilliant leader made Oracle an unstoppable force.

Josh Dornbrack

Two pound symbols fight in a street

Price wars: Strategies in the battle against inflation

Fraser Smeaton, CEO at Morph Costumes, is in a pickle. With inflation easing and a cost-plus model in play, he’s facing a tricky balancing act. He’s not on his own as business leaders across Britain are tackling a pricing challenge, deciding between cutting prices to win customers or fattening their profit margins. “Our prices have...

Patricia Cullen

Businessman hand protect chess king figure

Takeover immunity: Can it ever be truly achieved?

For some company owners, an acquisition is the perfect exit strategy. But for the leaders who want to continue growing, a takeover is likely to be the last thing on their minds. With the BBC recently reporting that Danish pharmaceutical giant, Novo Nordisk is “virtually immune to a takeover bid”, we investigated whether it was...

James Cook