Apart from the ongoing tribulations with the good old British summer weather, things are starting to look up. We have seen some positive economic data from May, when the UK economy grew faster than expected at 0.4%. The election result has been given the seal of approval by the City, with UK markets and sterling both trading up. What’s more, impending uncertainly in the US & France could now make the UK more investable. If we thought our political landscape had been turbulent, it pales into insignificance compared to France, where they now have to try to form a coalition government between people who want everyone to retire at 60 and to tax income over €400k at 90%, and the other side which is openly hostile to both US and EU influence. Suddenly the UK seems to look like a beacon of stability in comparison.
And then, of course, there’s the football. Is it (finally) coming home? Well, we’ve certainly had the luck on our side this time round, which so often hasn’t been the case at major tournaments in the past. Last minute equalisers, questionable penalties, winning a penalty shoot-out…all hurdles we would arguably have failed to clear in years gone by. Spain will provide our sternest test yet (22 major finals contested by the national or Spanish teams since 2004, and they haven’t lost a single one), but the lift it would give the public mood can’t be underestimated. Although was it just me who was surprised to see Alipay sponsoring ITV’s World Cup coverage. Someone was recently bemoaning the fact that a visit to China these days is almost impossible without having Alipay on your phone, with all the attendant concerns over data mining and privacy that entails – and now they’re just advertising in plain sight to UK consumers as if it was beer or washing powder. The world sure is moving at one heck of a pace…
Although sometimes, things move a little too quickly, and a pause is needed. Such is the case at Asda, where the trial of a four-day working week at 20 stores has been kicked into the long grass. It turns out that working four consecutive eleven hour days was leaving staff so exhausted that the fifth day off became a day for simply crashing rather than enjoying. I am sure that many business owners and senior employees are only too aware of the dangers of continuously working extended hours – and it was never realistically feasible for most jobs to simply be done in four days rather than five, without working extra hours to compensate. Although the French left wing would probably disagree and are potentially adding it to their spreadsheet of demands (for the funniest ever take down of the French attitude to the working day, watch The Muppets Most Wanted movie… how they got away with it I will never know). Mind you, given how few calls and emails we receive on the average Friday, I think a lot of toy companies are working a de facto four day week already (in the summer at least).
Read the rest here.
