UK on track for record year of company creations
Plus, right-to-switch off policy under the microscope, how to end the American chokehold on British tech, the UK skills crisis holding back growth and management consultancies under fire
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Business Agenda
A summary of the most important business news
1. Autonomy founder Mike Lynch is missing after a luxury yacht sank in a tornado off the coast of Italy yesterday morning. His 18-year-old daughter Hannah, Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer and Chris Morvillo, a lawyer at major firm Clifford Chance, are also among the missing. This comes a few days after Lynch’s co-defendant in the fraud trial died after being hit by a car while out running in Cambridgeshire. You can read more here and the story of the rise, fall and acquittal of Mike Lynch here.
2. The UK is on track for a record year of new company creations, new data suggests, in a positive sign for the country’s economic prospects. There were a record 468,000 new business incorporations at Companies House in the first half of 2024, up more than 6 per cent from either half of last year, according to a report from Beauhurst and NatWest. You can read more here.
3. The UK government is exploring a “right to switch off” policy to help maintain a clear boundary between work and home life, potentially boosting productivity and economic growth. Labour has promised to include this right in its “New Deal for Working People,” allowing employees to disconnect from work communications outside of hours. The proposal, inspired by similar laws in countries like Ireland and Belgium, is not yet legally binding but could be used in employment rights cases. You can read more here.
4. Drafting in any of the “big three” management consultancy firms to help companies with certain projects has no positive effect and sometimes even makes things worse, a survey of their former clients has found. The study, which polled 702 bosses and project managers, found that 84 per cent of those who worked with McKinsey, Bain and Boston Consulting Group found them to have been “no help at all”, while 3 per cent believe they hindered a project. You can read more here.
5. London City Airport’s annual passenger cap will increase from 6.5 million to 9 million under plans approved by the government. Another proposal to extend the airport’s Saturday cut-off time for flights from 12:30 to 18:30 was rejected following an appeal decision published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. You can read more here.
Business Question
Guess the year
- The National Westminster Bank begins trading following the merger of National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank
- Louis Theroux, Kelly Holmes, Simon Pegg and Succession creator Jesse Armstrong were born
- Richard Branson starts the Virgin Group with discounted mail-order sales of popular records
- The Morris Minor is discontinued
- Saatchi & Saatchi, supermarket Iceland and RPS Group were founded
The answer can be found at the bottom of the page.
Business Thinker
Deep dives on business and leadership
By Sarah Vizard
🔨 The UK skills crisis holding back growth
Having a well-trained workforce is essential to increasing productivity and boosting economic growth. But this deep dive by the Financial Times shows how the UK is lagging in terms of basic qualifications and education options beyond university. Business needs reform, but that requires money.
🧑💻 How to end the American chokehold on British tech? Stop ‘acting like an incubator’
Tech companies are increasingly moving their primary listings from London to New York in search of higher valuations and more lucrative funding options. The serial entrepreneur William Reeve, who led businesses including Lovefilm and Zoopla, believes the issue comes from the way the City assesses value. In this interview with City AM he says, “Investors here tend to prioritise immediate returns over growth, missing out on the potential of scaling innovative companies. The UK risks becoming merely an incubator for US giants if it doesn’t shift focus from short-term profits to supporting long-term growth.”
🤝 What high achievers need from their mentors
Mentorship is important for even the best leaders, ensuring they avoid complacency, keep learning and focus on growth. In this piece, the authors look at the key benefits: cultivating a growth mindset, developing emotional intelligence and expanding influence.
Business Quote
Inspiration from leaders
“Real leadership is. inviting people on a mission to do something extraordinary together.”
– Brett Culp
Business Leader
The best of our content
How the Oglesby family built one of the biggest and most important businesses in northern England
In this week’s episode of the Business Leader podcast, we speak to Chris Oglesby. He succeeded his father Michael as chief executive of Bruntwood in 1999.
Since then he has grown Bruntwood into one of the biggest and most important businesses in northern England. Bruntwood is responsible for much of the regeneration work in Manchester in recent years and is working on property developments across northern England.
The company thinks there is an opportunity to transform the economy in northern England. But the Oglesby family has recently been hit by tragedy…
You can listen to the episode here or wherever you get your podcasts.
Other popular pieces
❌ Virgin Group’s CEO on why it’s important to be prepared to fail
🪖 The art of business wargaming
🎯 Redefining high performance in life and business
And finally…
Give us this day our daily bread – at a price of our own choosing?
That’s the strategy of one social enterprise in Edinburgh called the Granton Garden Bakery. It is based in Pilton, a socially deprived part of Scotland’s capital.
We all know that we are still living through a cost-of-living crisis and there are many struggling to make ends meet. The idea of this scheme is to help families on the breadline avoid the trauma of food insecurity.
As the bakery says: “There’s delicious healthy fresh bread available no questions asked. Those who can pay a little more, we encourage you to do so.”
The bakery is not designed to make a profit, but it supports itself. It’s also designed to be a hyper-local production system, with all loaves made from grain grown and milled within 2.5 miles.
The enterprise started in 2019 when locals started making bread from wheat grown in a local community garden.
You can learn more about the bakery and see some of its mouth-watering creations here.
The answer to today’s Business Question is 1970.
