Every month we pick out the most popular and relevant entrepreneur-related stories from the web plus, from this month, we’ll also be including a story a month from the business sectors we work with. So, for those of you working in the health and/or technology sector, check out the video for our first story on the wireless future of medicine and how smartphones will soon be taking over from the doctor’s stethoscope…
Can you guess which country is the most economically optimistic in the world right now? Would China be top of your list? Or perhaps India? If so, then you’d be wrong on both counts. Grant Thornton’s latest infographic reveals which economies are smiling, which are po-faced and which are downright unhappy about their projected revenues. Here’s how we put it together…
Click here to view the infographic at a larger size.
Alex Connock, CEO, Ten Alps, reports on the media industry for the Grant Thornton blog. This month, he looks at how media power is being redistributed outside London with certain cities and regions reinventing themselves as the UK’s new media hubs…
George Davies is big in women’s clothing – so to speak. He launched Next, George at Asda and per una at Marks & Spencer. But, says Britain’s ‘King of the High Street’ – the latest subject in Grant Thornton’s My Big Decision series – knowing what it takes to launch a brand just made his recent decision even tougher…
Alex Connock, CEO, Ten Alps: Next Wednesday (27 January), Steve Jobs of Apple will stand up on stage in California and (we’re told) introduce the new Mac tablet computer. It’s easily the most anticipated electronic product event since the iPhone, which actually he launched, too.
Jobs will have no lectern, no notes or autocue, and a cinema-screen-sized presentation with barely one short phrase per slide. It will be as different as you can get from a boring man reading out a PowerPoint at a trade convention. It will be the CEO as orator.
We need your help. As part of our Tax Manifesto campaign, Grant Thornton is urging the Government to set up a specialist body of business and tax experts to help formulate UK tax policy.
Predicting when an economy will grow or shrink is an inexact science, but Grant Thornton’s latest infographic takes the pulse of 14 recession-hit economies around the world to assess their economic fitness. It looks at GDP figures between 1997-2009 to see how countries such as the UK, France, Germany and the USA have performed – and to see who’s winning the race back to economic growth…
A number of important changes to the European Union (EU) VAT system were introduced on 1 January 2010. If you are not already prepared for these changes, they should be moved to the top of your New Year’s resolutions!
As the proud headline sponsor of the Quoted Company Awards awards since 2005, Grant Thornton is pleased to announce that the 2010 awards have been re-titled as the Grant Thornton Quoted Company Awards. The ceremony will be held in London on 29 January and here are details of the shortlist…
What are the most popular stories in business this month? From the London entrepreneurs who are stripping for charity to a mission to find the UK’s next big business, here’s what the Elevate team has been reading about this month…
Alex Connock, CEO, Ten Alps reports on the media industry for the Grant Thornton blog. This month, he takes the pulse of the UK media sector and finds signs of life, but says the government is the key to unlocking more funds to help its development – through clever tax measures.
The Pre-Budget Report is one of the most important days in the financial year but especially this year with the Government facing rocky public finances and also a general election in 2010. So, on Wednesday 9 December, the PBR team at Grant Thornton put together analysis, video reports, comment and a breakdown of the issues arising from Alistair Darling’s speech…
The co-author of Freakonomics (and now SuperFreakonomics) reveals how he gave up a record deal and a career as a rock star to pursue a normal family life – only to become a famous author instead, thanks to his best-selling ‘rogue economics’ books. But as Stephen Dubner tells Grant Thornton’s My Big Decision podcast, his songwriting skills still infuse his work…
“Today we are going to cover some of the highlights or the lowlights from the Pre-Budget Report. There really was a lot of absence of real detail in this Pre-Budget Report. We were expecting some interesting announcements, some clarity and actually what we got were a lot more questions than answers” - Francesca Lagerberg
With daylight only being seen through the office window and the recession dragging its heels, the annual Christmas bash becomes a hopeful glimmer on the horizon. If you have been given the unenviable task of organising the Christmas party, or the scrooge like task of setting the budget this year, perhaps you should consider the tax consequences first.
Following public outcry over huge bank bonuses, George Osborne has called for urgent action to restrict cash bonuses to £2,000, with any excess being paid in shares. This is obviously a very sensitive issue, given that the taxpayer owns a significant stake in some of the major UK high street banks, and these discussions will no doubt rumble on for a good while longer. However, this got me thinking again about the benefits of share schemes generally. We all remember being told at sometime how we should share…but does this apply to a stake in our companies?
Alex Connock, CEO, Ten Alps: Franklin D Roosevelt knew enough about financial success to rescue the US economy from the Great Depression. But he also said: ‘Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.’
This summer, the Elevate blog followed two leading UK entrepreneurs to find out what CEO life is like, especially during a recession. For three months, Alex Connock, chief executive of Ten Alps PLC, and Ros Simmons, head of VIE at home, posted a weekly Entrepreneur’s Diary. Now the diary is full, we look back over the highlights of their time and get an update following their summer of blogging…
Is the modern business leader dogged or clever? What’s the best focus for making money in difficult economic times? Business management guru Tom Peters, author of In Search of Excellence, talks about what makes a successful business leader now – and why being clever may not be your smartest move…
Out now: the magazine for entrepreneurs
Welcome to Elevate, Grant Thornton’s magazine. Fresh writing and incisive thinking on everything from raising capital to the importance of hobbies.
