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Business Agenda

A summary of the most important business news

1. The rate of inflation has increased for the first time this year, with prices rising by 2.2 per cent in the year to July, slightly above the Bank of England’s target of 2 per cent. The increase was widely expected and is mostly due to prices of gas and electricity falling by less than they did a year ago. Services inflation was 5.2 per cent, while inflation was at 1.5 per cent. You can read more here.

2. SMEs providing business services and professional advice have five days to claim up to £5,000 each in grants for AI skills training. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has set aside £6.4m to help companies with fewer than 250 staff train staff in a bid to boost productivity. Applications close on August 18. You can find out more here. 

3. The digital challenger bank Oaknorth is to award its first dividend after it posted a profit bump. Sky News reports that it will offer a $40m (£31.2m) payout to shareholders as pretax profits increased to £187.3m in 2023, up from £152.3m in 2022. The company, launched in 2015, has lent £11bn to businesses. You can read more here. 

4. More than a fifth of business leaders report that boards do not “fully trust” their executive teams to “get things done”. The survey of 3,000 chief executives and directors by the headhunter Heidrick & Struggles found that board members are increasingly getting involved in operations, leading to tensions. You can read more here. 

5. John Lewis is to cut more than 150 jobs – around 1 per cent of its workforce – amid a “simplification” in the working patterns of its staff. It hopes the reduction will be achieved through natural attrition and voluntary redundancies. It comes as the company says it will make a “multimillion-pound investment” in technology aimed at improving customer service. You can read more here. 

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Business Question

Who am I?

• I was born and brought up in Treherbert, Rhondda, Wales.
• I joined Axa in 2011 to lead its commercial division.
• I was the first women to chair the Association of British Insurers.
• I have been group CEO of Aviva since 2020.

The answer can be found at the bottom of the page.

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Business Thinker

Deep dives on business and leadership

😷 How Big Tech is quietly trying to reshape how pollution is reported

Amazon touts itself as a green leader, having reached its 100 per cent renewable energy goal ahead of schedule, but it still relies heavily on fossil fuels, especially in the US. This discrepancy arises from carbon accounting rules that allow companies to offset real-world emissions with investments in clean energy certificates, sparking debate over their true environmental impact. As Big Tech companies like Amazon, Meta and Google expand their power-hungry operations, they are influencing the ongoing rewrite of these carbon accounting rules, which could reshape how emissions are reported and perceived.

☕ Starbucks hopes new CEO will bring ingredients of Chipotle’s success

Brian Niccol, who led a remarkable turnaround at Chipotle, driving its stock price up nearly 800 per cent, has been appointed as the new CEO of Starbucks, a company also in need of revival. Investors are optimistic about his ability to replicate his success, as evidenced by a 25 per cent rise in Starbucks’ shares following the announcement. Niccol faces significant challenges, including simplifying Starbucks’ complex operations and navigating union negotiations, while his track record makes him a promising leader for the coffee giant.

🪙 Flush with cash, Tether has got Microsoft, Google and Amazon in its crosshairs

Paolo Ardoino, the new CEO of Tether, is steering the crypto giant into new ventures, leveraging its $5.2bn profit in the first half of 2024 to take on the big guns. Tether is expanding beyond its stablecoin business, investing in AI and other emerging technologies through its venture division, Tether Evo. Despite past controversies, Ardoino emphasises Tether’s commitment to decentralisation and innovation, aiming to challenge industry giants like Microsoft, Google and Amazon.

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Business Quote

Inspiration from leaders

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

– Thomas A. Edison

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Business Leader

The best of our content

Growth Engines: Carving out a real estate niche

“There are not enough poets who go into business,” began Clem Hobson, managing director of The Modern House. “That’s what appealed to me about taking up leadership of The Modern House. That, and the challenge of designing and building a business that grows, thrives and leads a niche in this highly fragmented industry.” And Hobson has a secret weapon that will help her achieve just that.

The UK residential real estate industry is highly competitive. More than 25,000 agencies facilitate about 1.2 million transactions worth over £300bn annually. The sector’s nature amplifies competitiveness, driving many approaches to securing mandates from sellers and deals from buyers. In this two-sided market of home sellers and buyers, the transaction puts food on the table of the 120,000 agents and brokers, engendering fierce competition and co-opetition to get deals done.

“We have differentiated ourselves through two acts,” began Hobson. “First, we only work with owners of architecturally significant homes that offer design at their core. This is found in the property’s design approach to space, light, nature and materials. These homes stand out; their owners care deeply about their living spaces and places. Next, our team of 65 across the country love and appreciate design. This love translates into our service approach in facilitating seller and buyer marriage.”

Read the full piece here.

Other popular pieces

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

💡 Adaptability over ideology: How Carlo Ancelotti has redefined leadership

👨‍🏫 Disrupting the disruptors: Lessons from 5 businesses that failed to adapt to change

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And finally…

“When our society talks about success, we tend to focus on individual success. We obsess about who is the ‘greatest of all time’, who is most responsible for a win, or what players or coaches a team might add next season to become even better.”

So writes Nitin Nohria in this piece for Harvard Business Review where she speaks to the legendary American footballer Tom Brady about leadership, teams and the role of informal leaders. It’s a fascinating insight into what it takes to motivate a team. And Brady and Nohria present a set of principles they believe can work in any setting – including business – to get people successfully working together towards a common goal.

You can read the full article here.

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The answer to today’s Business Question is Amanda Blanc