Business (Page 33)

Obesity is one of the biggest health problems in the UK with an estimated 25% of adults and 23% of children in the UK being classed as obese. This places a huge financial burden on the NHS, costing them about £6.5 billion a year. (GOV.UK) It’s one of the leading causes of mortality globally, surpassing smoking in the UK. Although it may not be a direct cause of death, it increases the likelihood of developing severe health conditions such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular diseases. Obesity was a factor in around 1 million hospital admissions in the UK in 2019/2020, and in some of these cases, the cause could have been prevented. To tackle obesity, theContinue Reading

The European Union has formally announced it suspects X, previously known as Twitter, of breaching its rules in areas including countering illegal content and disinformation. Digital commissioner Thierry Breton set out the alleged infringements in a post on the social media platform. He said X, which is owned by Elon Musk, was also suspected of breaching its obligations on transparency. X said it was “co-operating with the regulatory process”. In a statement the firm said it was “important that this process remains free of political influence and follows the law”. “X is focused on creating a safe and inclusive environment for all users on our platform, while protecting freedom of expression, and we will continue to work tirelessly towards thisContinue Reading

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency (ECCT) Act was passed in late October after years of public consultation on tackling economic crime, spurred on by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Act contains measures to stop criminals forming companies in the UK and using them for illegal purposes. It also gives new powers to Companies House in the fight against money laundering and fraud. The ECCT Act represents a major shift in Companies House’s role. It changes it from a passive curator of the public Companies Register to an active watchman. It now has powers to police the Register to prevent inaccurate information from entering it and force those who control companies to formally identify themselves. How effective the new lawsContinue Reading

The boss of Ryanair, Michael O’Leary, is inching towards a potential €100m (£86m) bonus that would be among the largest in European corporate history, after the no-frills airline’s shares reached a record high. Ryanair’s stock price rose to €18.99 by the end of last week, taking O’Leary closer to a threshold that could trigger the enormous payout. Shares in the airline must either reach €21 and stay there for 28 days, or the company must report annual post-tax profit of €2.2bn, for O’Leary to collect the bonus, which was agreed in 2019. If the stock hits the watermark, O’Leary would be given share options, the right to buy equity at a discounted price, according to the Financial Times, which firstContinue Reading

The number of entrepreneurs under the age of 40 selling their businesses has increased by 23% in the last year, rising from 4,719 in 2019/20 to 5,803 in 2020/21, new research shows. Recent years have seen significant success stories for young UK tech company entrepreneurs selling their businesses to PE/VC funds, alongside consolidation across various other sectors, including veterinary, healthcare and financial services. These deals formed part of a strong period of private equity-led dealmaking in the UK from late 2020 to mid-2022. The year ending April 5 2021 saw under-40 entrepreneurs sell businesses worth £1.03bn. Andy Hogarth, financial planning partner at Hazlewoods, the chartered financial planning and business advisers who commissioned the research, says: “In the last few years,Continue Reading

Forget feasting on turkey and kicking back on the sofa scoffing Quality Street, over half of small business owners expect to be working on Christmas Day as they battle to stay afloat during the cost of living crisis. Rather than spending precious time off with family or friends, 59% of SME owners say they will be working on 25 December. More than half expect this to entail answering emails, and a third will be performing general business admin tasks like paying wages or checking invoices. Beyond the typical tasks, business owners listed varied responsibilities to be carried out on Christmas Day including caring for livestock, welcoming guests to hospitality venues, responding to medical emergencies, car and boiler breakdowns, and evenContinue Reading

The pay gap at the UK’s largest companies, which measures the difference in earnings between pay packets for chief executives and average employees, rose last year despite upward pressure on wages across the economy. Data from the High Pay Centre, a think tank focused on pay and employment rights, found that the average pay differential at a FTSE 350 firm between chief executive and median employee was 57 to 1 in 2022, up from the 56 to 1 recorded in 2021. The pay differential at the largest FTSE 100 companies was 80 to 1, according to the figures compiled by the think tank, which is funded by the asset manager Abrdn’s Financial Fairness Trust. The figures show little progress inContinue Reading

The number of job openings in the UK has dipped below 1 million for the first time since May 2021, signalling that the labour market is cooling off as higher interest rates take their toll on the economy. Vacancies dropped to 998,562 last month, down 2.7 per cent from the 1.02 million job postings in October, according to Adzuna, the job search engine. On an annual basis, open roles were down by 8.6 per cent. The survey underscores that demand for workers has fallen in response to pessimism about the health of the UK economy and tighter financial conditions. Depressed consumer spending has reduced the need for companies to expand staffing levels, prompting them to rein in hiring activity. GrowthContinue Reading

A defibrillator, particularly an automated external defibrillator (AED), is a life-saving device used in emergencies involving cardiac arrest. When the heart suddenly stops beating, swift action with an AED can make the difference between life and death. These devices are designed to be user-friendly, enabling both trained and untrained bystanders to provide immediate assistance. The AED works by analysing the heart’s rhythm and, if necessary, delivering an electrical shock, or ‘defibrillation’, to help the heart resume an effective rhythm. The widespread availability of AEDs in public places such as schools, gyms, and airports increases the chances of survival after cardiac arrest. When deploying an AED, the operator is guided through the process by clear, step-by-step audio and visual cues providedContinue Reading

Do you have employees who call in sick often or never show up on time for their shifts? You’re not the only one. Research has shown that most companies in the UK have at least one “problematic” employee, costing them more than the employee yields in revenue. What most companies don’t realise is that there are often underlying reasons why employees show this kind of behaviour. In this article, we’ll explore why employees call in sick often and how to address and solve the situation. Reasons Why Employees Call in Sick Often As mentioned in the introduction, there are often underlying reasons why an employee calls in sick. Besides the obvious reason of actually being sick a lot, it couldContinue Reading