From intern to CEO: former Nike exec returns
Plus, UK consumer confidence drop, public sector debt hits new high, the spreadsheet artist and more
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Business Agenda
A summary of the most important business news
1. Nike’s share price spiked yesterday following the announcement that former senior executive Elliott Hill would rejoin the company to succeed John Donahoe as president and CEO. Hill’s story is a great one. He started working as an intern at the sportswear giant in 1988 – when it had a valuation of $1bn. He worked his way up the company to the role of president of consumer and marketplace. You can read more about his appointment here.
2. GfK’s closely-watched consumer confidence index has dropped to its lowest level since the start of the year amid warnings that the forthcoming Budget from the Labour government will be filled with tough decisions. Consumers are concerned about the pessimistic forecasts for personal finances and the broader economy. You can read more here.
3. The UK’s public sector debt has hit 100 per cent of the value of the country’s annual economic output for the first time since the 1960s. UK public sector net borrowing surged to £13.7bn in August, exceeding projections. Higher spending on benefits and government costs drove the increase. Despite a slight fall in debt servicing costs and a boost from the Bank of England’s reduced bond sales, the government’s borrowing remains £7bn above forecasts, highlighting the fiscal hurdles facing the new administration. You can read more here.
4. Retail sales volumes in the UK rose by 1 per cent month-on-month in August, which was better than expected. Boosted by spending on food, summer clothing, and end-of-season discounts, the uptick could lift GDP estimates for the third quarter. You can read more here.
5. Retail giant Next has warned that it may be forced to close stores following a landmark legal defeat over equal pay. An employment tribunal ruled that thousands of predominantly female store staff had been unfairly paid less than their predominantly male warehouse counterparts. It could cost the company £30m. While Next plans to appeal the decision, the case has set a precedent and may lead to further claims against other major retailers. You can read more here.
Business Question
Guess the year
- The Ford Fiesta car goes on sale in the UK
- The 3rd G7 summit is held in London
- A new, smaller, £1 note is introduced
- Inflation has fallen slightly this year to 15.8 per cent
- Star Wars is screened in British cinemas for the first time
- Nisa, Harvey Jones Kitchens and Morgan Sindall were founded
The answer can be found at the bottom of the page.
Business Thinker
Deep dives on business and leadership
By Dougal Shaw
😎 UK CEO confidence and economic growth
We see a regular diet of business surveys. Taken together, they are often a good barometer of business sentiment. One recent trend seems to be a creeping sense of confidence about economic growth prospects amongst senior business leaders. This is against the backdrop, of course, of a Budget where the outlook for the public finances could hardly be more gloomy. The latest EY CEO Outlook Pulse survey spoke to 100 leaders. When considering their own company, 73% of respondents said they feel very or somewhat confident about their company’s profitability over the next 12 months. (67% were optimistic about the UK’s overall economic outlook). Almost half identified AI as the top reason for disruption in their industry, which brings us on to our next topic…
It’s one of the biggest companies in the world, so it’s no surprise Amazon has invested heavily in AI. A recent blog post from the company explains what it’s rolling out and it’s worth a read, even if some of the updates are only available in the US for now. The features make sense on Amazon’s platform but are of interest to any e-commerce business.
Some innovations are around personally tailored product descriptions that can appear dynamically. So the website or app can now highlight that a product is gluten-free in a short description from a search, for example, if it knows you have searched for gluten-free products in the past.
Amazon has also just launched Project Amelia, using AI to help sellers. Amelia is an AI chatbot assistant that can generate product descriptions at scale and search analytics like sales metrics and stock.
As a video journalist, I was interested in their new ‘Video Generator’ tool. It uses AI to help sellers by “using a single product image to instantly create custom, AI-generated videos that showcase a product’s features.” Is that possible? I will be on the lookout.
Business Quote
Inspiration from leaders
“A leader is one who sees more than others see, who sees farther than others see and who sees before others see.”
– Leroy Eimes
Business Leader
The best of our content
Business Leader South West Awards 2024 winners revealed
Having come through a rigorous judging process featuring judges such as Gallagher’s managing director Andy Ferguson, Heat Recruitment CEO Steve Preston, Ovo’s Alison Jaap and Strike Communications MD Catherine Frankpitt, these businesses show off the best of the best in the South West region.
The Business Leader Awards have been one of the most prestigious and highly anticipated business events of the year in the South West for the past decade. They recognise the best the South West has to offer in categories including customer excellence, community and social impact champion, export and international business, and inclusion and diversity.
Richard Harpin, Business Leader’s owner, says: “Congratulations to all this year’s winners. It was a hotly contested award and every one of this impressive cohort should be considered the pride of the South West region. Thank you to all this year’s judges and to our sponsors – Gallagher, DeskLodge, Renishaw, Shaw & Co, Bevan Brittan and Clockwise – for their support.
You can see the winners here.
Other popular pieces
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✈️ Why AI is a co-pilot, not a decision-maker
And finally…
When you think of spreadsheets, does it conjure up an emotion? If so, perhaps frustration – or boredom?
However, for one artist, spreadsheets have become a way to map a full range of human emotions and a compelling art exhibition.
Joseph Awuah-Darko used a spreadsheet to track the fluctuating moods of his bipolar disorder. This then became the inspiration for his abstract pictures.
The artist is displaying his first solo show in London at the Ed Cross Fine Art Gallery, all based on the idea.
We mentioned a few months back in this newsletter that there was an event in Las Vegas that was an Olympics for Excel spreadsheet users where they competed in challenges. It just shows, there is more to spreadsheets than meets the eye.
You can read more about it here.
The answer to today’s Business Question is 1977.
