Elevate - for business leaders
Thursday, August 26, 2010
| Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories:
Business
| Tags: innovation,
business,
survey,
business models,
comment,
retail,
analysis,
data,
report

Retailers desperately need to review or renew the way they do business in order to survive profound changes in the market and the economy – that was the finding of our recent survey of UK retail business models. But how? Here we’re republishing some of the advice from three retail experts and business analysts in the report.
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Friday, August 20, 2010
| Posted by: Gary Woods
Categories:
Business,
Protect your wealth
| Tags: business,
tax,
VAT,
reclaiming,
suppliers,
tax year,
expenditure,
rise,
admin,
Gary Woods,
increase,
timing

“In the bleak midwinter, the VAT rate increase made moan…” Not quite the first line of the Rossetti poem, but the planned 2.5% increase in VAT from the beginning of next year will still bring a chill to both consumers and businesses. So what can be done to make New Year a little happier for both?
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Thursday, August 12, 2010
| Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories:
Business
| Tags: innovation,
survey,
business models,
retail,
data,
report

…and suggests that it is time for retailers to move beyond cost-cutting as the main thrust in their business models. Read on for details of the full report.
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Thursday, July 29, 2010
| Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories:
Business,
Culture,
Finance
| Tags: links,
online,
sales,
advertising,
CEOs,
BP,
Elevate,
Zappos,
payouts,
Old Spice
Our monthly pick of the most popular web stories for business leaders and entrepreneurs.
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Tuesday, July 27, 2010
| Posted by: Grant Thornton
Categories:
Business,
Finance
| Tags: international,
economy,
retail,
M&A,
mid-market,
corporate finance,
Stephen Baker,
support services,
consolidation,
transactions,
Private Equity
.
Which sectors are experiencing an increase in deal activity? And what types of buyers are the most active? In an interview with M&A magazine, Grant Thornton’s Stephen Baker provided his thoughts on the current UK M&A market and also makes a few predictions
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Monday, July 26, 2010
| Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories:
Business,
Finance
| Tags: Francesca Lagerberg,
tax policy,
Tax Manifesto,
consultation,
tax reform,
Forum for Tax Professionals,
David Gauke,
UK, business

It’s great to see that Francesca Lagerberg has been appointed to the coalition Government’s newly launched Forum for Tax Professionals – not just because she’s our own Head of Tax, but because, ahead of the election, we were lobbying for just such a committee to give tax experts and businesses a voice on UK tax policy.
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Tuesday, July 20, 2010
| Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories:
Business,
Culture
| Tags: Alex Connock,
media,
entrepreneurs,
BBC,
Manchester,
Media City,
Pacific Quay,
Glasgow,
Monkey Tennis,
TV formats

Alex Connock, CEO, Ten Alps: There is a great game played by TV formats producers called Monkey Tennis. Look into it – the speed and creative invention, its similarity to the accelerated brutality of consumer demand – and you will see product development across any business in the shape-shifting 2010 economy.
Here’s how to play…
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Thursday, July 15, 2010
| Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories:
My big decision,
Business
| Tags: business,
entrepreneurs,
entrepreneur,
customers,
My Big Decision,
marketing,
Seth Godin,
clients,
crisis,
fired

Seth Godin has the top-ranked marketing blog in the world, is the author of 12 best-sellers and invented the concept of permission marketing. But in his days as a book packager, he was hated by his biggest-paying client and had to make the toughest of business calls, as he reveals in Grant Thornton’s new My Big Decision interview.
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Wednesday, July 14, 2010
| Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories:
Business,
Finance
| Tags: innovation,
entrepreneurs,
entrepreneur,
My Big Decision,
marketing,
purple cow,
Seth Godin,
action figure,
brand,
doll

We’re pleased to announce that our next My Big Decision interviewee will be the world-famous marketer and blogger, Seth Godin – coming shortly on Elevate.
Interspersed with him talking about a critical decision he has made, however, are glimpses of the Kewpie Doll and figures collection he keeps in his office - ending on shot of a Seth Godin ‘Mini-Me’. Yes, it seems the man has his own action figure! Here’s the story of the doll…
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Friday, July 09, 2010
| Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories:
Business,
Culture,
Finance
| Tags: recession,
economy,
survey,
data,
property,
British Chambers of Commerce,
construction,
BCC,
sector,
manufacturing,
interest rates,
export sales,
service,
interet rat
The British Chambers of Commerce’s latest Quarterly Economic Survey out this week (6 July 2010) saw the UK economy managing to keep out of recession in Q2 and build on the growth kickstarted in Q1. But, while predicting further growth, it seems the BCC is also seriously concerned about a relapse.
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Wednesday, July 07, 2010
| Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories:
Business,
Culture,
Finance
| Tags: survey,
competition,
compliance,
risk,
emerging markets,
governance,
report,
liability,
risk management,
hospitality,
Bribery Act,
corruption,
criminal,
bribery,
FCPA,
bribe,
ethics,
anti-corruption

The UK Bribery Act became law in April 2010 and will come into force later this year, creating a host of fresh risks to business and commercial organisations, and presenting a complex ethical conundrum. And yet, our survey suggests senior management frequently turn a blind eye to business conducted abroad at local or ground level in order to grease the wheels of industry.
So, exactly what are the risks – and more importantly how can you mitigate them?
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Wednesday, July 07, 2010
| Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories:
Entrepreneur's Diary,
Business
| Tags: business,
entrepreneurs,
links,
CEO,
list,
chief executive,
Enterprise 2.0,
blogging,
blog

Bosses who blog are few and far between, but do it well and it can reap the rewards for your business. So for the toe-dippers out there, we’ll be looking at 10 chief executives who blog and look at their different approaches …
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Wednesday, July 07, 2010
| Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories:
Entrepreneur's Diary,
Business
| Tags: business,
entrepreneurs,
CEO,
leadership,
risks,
chief executive,
marketing,
blogging,
David Cameron,
blog,
Enterprise 2.0,

With entrepreneurship firmly back on the agenda, according to Prime Minister David Cameron, and Enterprise 2.0 seeing companies turning to social software to boost business, we ask: is it time to revisit the CEO blog?
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Tuesday, July 06, 2010
| Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories:
Entrepreneur's Diary,
Business,
Culture,
Environment,
Finance
| Tags: business,
links,
social media,
India,
property,
emerging markets,
non-executive director,
China,
magazine,
yachts,
fund management,
Elevate,
rethink

Hot off the press and with a theme of The Big Rethink is Elevate Issue 3. We’ll be picking out some of the features here on the Elevate blog, but why wait – you can download a virtual copy of the new issue and get inspired now. Here’s a preview of what’s inside…
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Monday, June 28, 2010
| Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories:
Business,
Finance
| Tags: media,
technology,
CGT,
reaction,
capital gains tax,
VAT,
George Osborne,
property,
Budget,
public sector,
construction,
capital investment,
IR35,
bank levy,
local government,
Budget2010
Pain today, profit tomorrow? That seemed to be the overall aim of George Osborne’s first Budget. But find out what Grant Thornton’s experts really thought as we round up the partners’ responses on Budget changes and how they affect the construction, technology, property, media and other sectors…
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Thursday, June 17, 2010
| Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories:
Business,
Finance,
Protect your wealth
| Tags: Francesca Lagerberg,
analysis,
George Osborne,
Stephen Gifford,
Budget,
Rebecca Pritchard,
Clive Fathers,
webinar,
Emergency Budget,
advice

We’re inviting you to a special live and interactive Budget webinar on Thursday 24 June at 4pm to find out what the new Government’s first Budget means for you. Register here or read on to find out more…
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Wednesday, June 16, 2010
| Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories:
Business,
Culture
| Tags: business,
Alex Connock,
media,
recession,
entrepreneurs,
economy,
BBC,
future,
funding,
George Osborne,
trends,
public sector,
creative industries,
gigonomics,
profit analysis,
freelance,
Tina Brown
In a recession, everyone, and every company, has to become a freelance hustler, says Alex Connock, chief executive of Ten Alps PLC. Here he explains why…
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Wednesday, June 16, 2010
| Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories:
Infographic,
Business,
Finance
| Tags: business,
recession,
infographic,
research,
success,
strategy,
business models,
competition,
finance,
Economist,
benchmark,
new business models

Want to benchmark your likely business success post-recession? Grant Thornton’s latest infographic is a complacency-busting chart of the six different types of business model behaviour shown by UK companies in the past 18 months.
See which are positive and negative behaviours, and discover if your company is stuck in a recession rut or positioning itself well for the upturn.
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Wednesday, June 16, 2010
| Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories:
Business,
Finance
| Tags: CGT,
NIC,
capital gains tax,
pensions,
VAT,
National Insurance Contribution,
budget,
tax planning,
corporation tax,
tax avoidance
Should companies be preparing for the worst this Tuesday (22 June 2010)? Here’s what Francesca Lagerberg, Grant Thornton’s Head of Tax, thinks Chancellor George Osborne has in store in the emergency Budget…
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Wednesday, June 02, 2010
| Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories:
Business,
Finance
| Tags: business,
strategy,
video,
finance
Watch our interviews with seven UK business leaders and finance specialists sharing their views on how the new government can help midmarket businesses finance their growth strategies. You can find out more about Grant Thornton’s viewpoint on our Finance Your Strategy site.
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