fb-pixel
Skip to content

Uncategorized

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

Yellow Pages on fire

The rise and fall of the Yellow Pages

The Yellow Pages used to make life easier for everyone. By sorting businesses alphabetically into categories, it streamlined finding products and services and changed how small businesses reached customers. But after being a permanent fixture in British households for more than 50 years, the final version of the print edition of Yellow Pages was delivered...

Patricia Cullen

A man between two animals

Introducing the new Business Leader

Hello and welcome to the new Business Leader. It is a pleasure to be able finally to write those words. What you are looking at today is the result of months of work, planning and research. All of that was aimed at one thing – to build a new agenda-setting, inspirational and aspirational business publication...

Graham Ruddick

Guards in the Netflix show Squid Game

The top business pivots

“Adaptability is paramount in today’s dynamic business landscape,” says Chris Beer, professor of practice at Warwick Business School. “Organisations must be prepared to pivot their strategies swiftly, driven by factors such as market shifts, technological advances and changing customer expectations”.  According to PwC’s 27th UK CEO Survey, one in five chief executives says their organisation...

Alice Cumming, James Cook

Right kind of wrong book on a table with a stack of books and two lights

Why failing also matters

In this extract from her award-winning book Right Kind of Wrong, Harvard professor Amy Edmondson explains why we should not miss out on the satisfying journey of learning to dance with failure. Every kind of failure brings opportunities for learning and improvement. To avoid squandering these opportunities, we need a mix of emotional, cognitive and...

Andrew Lynch

Illustration of Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak

Sunak and Starmer will pull no punches on a rollercoaster ride to the general election

Buckle up. The next seven months are likely to be one of the most expensive, most bitterly contested and longest election campaigns in British history. The state of the polls, with Labour consistently enjoying a 20-point lead, means that the prime minister Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives have little to lose. Vituperative personal attacks from...

Steven Swinford

Illustration featuring a facemask, arms with binoculars and a book

Elite sport shows us how to reach the top and stay there

Like any seismic event, the pandemic has left a lasting legacy. When it comes to leadership, this has been particularly profound. Covid-19, and the chaos and upset that came with it, wreaked havoc on the wellbeing, health and sustained performance of many leaders and entrepreneurs across sectors. And it hasn’t been limited to just that...

Catherine Baker

Jason Atherton with Dubai in the background

Mastering the recipe for success: Jason Atherton’s entrepreneurial insights

Jason Atherton has built an international fine dining empire with a dozen restaurants around the world, including his Michelin-starred Pollen Street Social in Mayfair. After working with Pierre Koffmann, Nico Ladenis and Marco Pierre White, Atherton joined Gordon Ramsay working in Dubai and London, where Ramsay opened Maze. After striking out on his own in...

Andrew Lynch

Illustration featuring the England cricket team winning the 2019 Cricket World Cup

Process has its place but what adds real value is setting creativity free

Process has invaded all aspects of life, including decision-making, but it needs to be only one aspect of problem solving to be effective

Ed Smith

Illustration of a woman, clock, money and female symbol

Backing women-led businesses is the best idea you can have

In the five years I spent raising money for my tech start-up Gapsquare, I pitched to investors roughly 100 times. Venture capitalists, institutional investors, angels — you name it, I tried it. Despite this, I raised zero capital. Not a penny. Yet, we succeeded in commercialising our product and were ultimately acquired by a FTSE...

Zara Nanu

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

St Pauls' Catherdral, London cityscape, tube

Getting ahead in the battle to attract and retain top talent

As a firm believer in the power of putting people first, I’m excited to write this monthly column for Business Leader, offering you a candid peek into the challenges and opportunities of recruitment strategies and robust talent planning. I didn’t grow up dreaming of workforce solutions, or of being a chief executive. It was one...

Niki Turner-Harding

Finger pointing a block with other hands holding items

How political parties can win over business and triumph in the general election

As we embark on a general election year, I shall, as will many other entrepreneurs, be looking for the political party that has the most enterprise-friendly strategy. For the past 20 years, I have run Enterprise Nation as a growing business support resource for thousands of start-ups and early-stage businesses. It has given me a...

Emma Jones

Andrew Mclaughlan leaning against a door

Welcome to the new Business Leader

Welcome to the new Business Leader. We’re excited to reintroduce ourselves to the dynamic business community in the UK, starting with our relaunched website and invigorated mission.  At Business Leader we’ve identified a glaring need to support the trailblazers – the founders, CEOs, and entrepreneurs propelling mid-sized companies forward. Our commitment is clear: to inspire...

Andrew McLaughlan

Illustration of someone falling, Madonna and a phone v2

Welcome to the brave new world of bio-preneurs

It’s 5 AM and I’m aimlessly scrolling through Instagram as I battle my two-hour jet lag for the sixth night in a row since a trip to South Africa. My circadian rhythm is pathetic, and I don’t have enough self-control to charge my phone in another room. I’ve also broken my New Year’s resolution which...

Caspar Lee

Finger pointing and people running up stairs canvas

Five laws that spell success and can put you on top in a crowded marketplace

There are hundreds of thousands of podcasts around the world. Many of them focus on the areas that we talk about – mindset, business, high achievement and finding your sense of purpose. A question I get asked all the time is, why has my High Performance podcast been so successful? I think the answer to...

Jake Humphrey

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

Magnifying glass looking over employees

How employee ownership is shaping long-term business strategy

The number of employee-owned businesses in the UK increased by 37% between June 2022 and June 2023, according to the Employee Ownership Association (EOA). With the figure standing at 1,418 and looking set to grow further, we investigated the conduciveness of this ownership model to a successful long-term business strategy. Its rise in UK popularity...

James Cook

Two hands on a desk about to interlock two puzzle pieces

Entrepreneurship through acquisition: On the rise but no cause for concern

“Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA) is a fast-growing trend in M&A and we’re beginning to see the pipeline of work building in this area considerably,” says David Baverstock, corporate partner at law firm Marriott Harrison. With ETA on the rise, we investigated how it could affect the wider M&A market. ETA emerged from Stanford Business School...

James Cook

Two hands with male and female symbols

How close are we to gender parity in 2024?

Imagine Sarah and John, both nearing retirement. Sarah faces a daunting 19-year extension to her career just to reach the same pension savings John has amassed. The Pensions Policy Institute’s recent findings underscore the significant gender gap in pension wealth. Fear not though, the gender gap is on course to close… in 52 years. Analysis...

Patricia Cullen