Professional Manager

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• More than half of line managers hire unsuitable employees Most UK companies are struggling to find the right employees for their needs, leading at least 20% to hire personnel that completely fail to meet job specifications, according to a new survey commissioned by…
• Terminating management? Company hires algorithm to board role Hong Kong-based venture-capital firm Deep Knowledge Ventures has promoted an algorithm to its board of directors, allowing the software to help make important decisions on the firm’s future. By gathering and analysing data, the…
• Dixons boss: Carphone Warehouse merger makes sense Dixons’ chief executive Sebastian James says he is confident the chain’s planned £3.8 billion merger with Carphone Warehouse will be a success – despite shares in both companies falling upon announcement of the deal.…
• Directors’ bonuses plummet by 23% this year, CMI reveals Company director bonuses have dipped by an average of 23% over the past 12 months, according to a new study by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) in partnership with XpertHR. The findings defy the…
• UK SMEs use twice as much trade credit as rest of Europe Small-and medium-sized companies in Britain are almost twice as likely to access business-to-business loans than firms on the European continent, according to new research from auditor Mazars. Revealing a stark difference in attitudes towards…
• Bosses urged to promote workers who volunteer Managers should no longer treat their workers’ external volunteering as though it has nothing to do with their day jobs, according to think tank Demos. In a new report, the organisation urges bosses to…
• “World Cup flu” could kick off disciplinary penalties Keeping track of England’s latest quest to win a trophy that has eluded them for 48 years could earn staffers a sending off from their jobs if taken to extremes, according to a new…
• Lord Sainsbury calls for block on AstraZeneca sale Lord Sainsbury has asked the government to prevent AstraZeneca from being sold and “dismembered” by proposed buyer, US pharmaceutical company Pfizer. After failing in an initial takeover attempt, Pfizer is expected to return with…
• Retirement plans a major concern for workers and bosses alike, says survey Most UK employees are not saving enough for retirement, according to new research by professional services company, Towers Watson. Its Global Benefits Attitudes Survey, which took in responses from more than 2,000 British…
• FPB: late payment remains big concern for SME bosses A significant proportion of small- and medium-sized businesses have experienced a rise in late payments for their services, according to a new survey from the Forum of Private Business (FPB). Almost a quarter (23%)…
• Why Manchester United had to let Moyes go While arch-rivals Liverpool look set to raise the very title Sir Alex Ferguson paraded around Old Trafford almost 12 months ago, Manchester United’s current slump to seventh place in the Premier League has ultimately…
• How should bosses manage e-cigarettes in the workplace? Decisions by two big-brand companies to ban their staff from using electronic cigarettes around their colleagues have only added to the confusion regarding the ideal workplace status of these popular smoking devices. As debate…
• Are women falling behind in the networking league? Women over the age of 35 are forgoing networking, despite overwhelmingly agreeing that it is an important process in improving career prospects, according to new research. In a survey of 243 professionals – with…
• CMI Book of the Year asks managers to reach out to customers Managers have been urged to spend more time working out how to impress their customer bases. At this week’s Management Book of the Year Awards, hosted by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) in partnership…
• Skills minister hails growth surge for apprenticeships Apprenticeships are becoming more popular with both employers and young people, according to new research from the National Apprenticeship Service. In terms of vacancies, the number advertised on the government’s specialist site between August…
• CEOs driving efforts into internal development Senior executives are increasingly using their leadership skills to hone the abilities of internal workers, moving away from a reliance on external talent, according to a recent study produced with input from the Chartered…
• Mark Thompson admits wasting £100m on scrapped Beeb IT project Former BBC director general Mark Thompson has expressed regret to the British public over his role in a failed digital media project that cost licence fee-payers almost £100m. Thompson, who left the publicly funded…
• O’Leary to retreat from Ryanair limelight following losses Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary is set to fade away from being the airline’s public face, as the brand seeks to remarket and restructure along more corporate lines following financial losses for the final…
• Bosses urge corporate world to stand up for human rights Greater private-sector involvement in human-rights issues is essential for creating a better world, according to some of the world’s most prominent business leaders.
• UK businesses should be optimistic about growth in 2014 British companies have been urged to be upbeat about growth in 2014, as a new industry survey forecasted that the economy is set to improve in the next 12 months.
• Maria Miller tells bosses: do more for workplace equality Despite 40 years of legislation aimed at closing the gap between male and female earnings, disparities still exist – and Women and Equalities minister Maria Miller says it is now time for Britain’s biggest…
• Goldman Sachs chiefs pledge to shield junior staff from burnout Faced with intense competition from private equity firms and tech giants such as Google for the best graduate talent, Goldman Sachs wants to ensure that its junior bankers take weekends off during the gruelling…
• Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary goes on faltering Twitter charm offensive Less than a week after British Gas was humiliated during a Twitter Q&A on the day it unveiled huge price hikes, Michael O’Leary, the combative head of Ryanair, took to the site to spar…
• Transport secretary insists HS2 will benefit whole UK Patrick McLoughlin MP has stepped forward to proclaim the planned HS2 rail project potentially valuable to all parts of Britain, in the face of concerns that around 50 regional economies will be left worse…
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  How US shutdown has damaged political leadership While the US Congress has rushed through a hastily negotiated agreement between Democrat and Republican politicians to raise the country’s debt ceiling, ending a 16-day government shutdown, the deal has not been achieved without…
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  Invest more in mentoring, says ICAEW chief Employers must put a greater emphasis on providing support schemes required for giving staff the right skills, according to Michael Izza – chief executive at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales…
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  Burberry boss Angela Ahrendts’ move to Apple stuns investors Burberry’s shares plummeted by almost 5% yesterday after its chief executive Angela Ahrendts shocked investors and the public by quitting the firm, despite a successful, seven-year tenure. Ahrendts will leave her post next year…
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  Lloyds chief warns of Help to Buy housing bubble The government’s Help to Buy scheme will only be successful if more new houses are built across the UK to match increased demand, according to Lloyds chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio. The boss of the…
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  UK firms hit with 3,600 new EU laws under Cameron Despite frontbench Tories’ insistence that they want to reduce the power of Brussels bureaucracy on British society, new findings show that since David Cameron became prime minister, the European Union has issued a staggering…
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  Professions Week seeks young managers – plus: win a watch! Young people are to be encouraged into management as the UK’s leading professional bodies bid to inject new blood into the senior ranks of the national workforce.
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  FCA outlines plans to crack down on payday loans sector New UK business watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has proposed a series of tougher directives for payday loans companies, which will force industry leaders to work harder at compliance. The FCA – successor…
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  Miliband price-freeze plan “disastrous”, says Energy Advice Line boss Following Labour Party leader Ed Miliband’s decision to make spiralling energy costs an election issue, Julian Morgan – managing director of online price-comparison service Energy Advice Line – says that freezing energy prices…
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  Pressure on Bill Gates shows power of boards and investors Three of the Top 20 investors in Microsoft are lobbying the firm’s board to force billionaire co-founder Bill Gates to step down as chairman, revealing the power that investors can wield in even the…
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  Ballmer’s Microsoft exit highlights “emotional manager” quandary Avant-garde dramatist Friedrich Dürrenmatt once said: “Emotions have no place in business, unless you do business with them,” and it’s clear that Steve Ballmer chose to completely ignore those words as he made his…
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  More than third of managers lie to staff daily, CMI reveals Ambition in the workplace is something to be cherished, and is often most present in aspirational workers at the peak of their careers – during their late 20s and 30s. However, amid often intense…
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  Fawcett Society pushes for women’s employment strategy Despite new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showing a 14% rise in the number of women with jobs over the past 40 years, feminist group the Fawcett Society says that other…
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  One fifth of UK employees feel bullied or harassed at work Cognitive neuroscientist and business improvement strategist Dr Lynda Shaw is urging UK businesses to put in more effort to tackle workplace bullying – which she describes as one of the major challenges facing businesses…
• Communication key to upholding ethics, says IoIC Leaders who influence employees’ behaviour by communicating examples of sound conduct are key to creating sustainable ethical cultures in their organisations, according to new research from the Institute of Internal Communication (IoIC). All respondents…
• Why Barclays chiefs have cause to fear new bank-switch rules With more than 12 million UK current-account holders, Barclays’ ranking as the worst-behaved bank in a survey of more than 2,000 customers couldn’t have come at a worse time, as new rules introduced this…
• Gym bosses revise customer contracts in wake of OFT probe Customers looking to join the gym this winter at either LA Fitness, Dave Whelan Sports or the Harlands Group will now be given fairer and cheaper cancellation rights if they decide the arrangements aren’t…
• UK jobs market to end 2013 in best position for six years The UK jobs market could finish 2013 at its strongest level since the start of the downturn, according to a new survey of more than 2,000 employers by recruitment giant Manpower. The firm’s Employment…
• Third of NHS nurses “bullied” by managers to meet guidelines A quarter of doctors and a third of nurses working for the NHS are under overwhelming pressure each day from managers to behave in ways that undermine patient care, according to new research from…
• 80% of SME managers have not planned for auto-enrolment A survey of 160 small-business owners has shown that only 18% of them have started planning towards automatic pension enrolment – with more than one third (35%) having no intention of addressing the issue…
• Funding for Lending scheme inspires net loans increase for Q2 The net lending of banks taking part in the Bank of England’s Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) to households and businesses totalled £1.6 billion during Q2 – an improvement on the previous quarter. According…
• Fury over FCA crowdfunding “smears” Barry E James, founder of collaborative capitalism think tank the Social Foundation, and Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman have written to George Osborne asking him to repudiate suggestions from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) that…
• Farage vows to turn professional manager for UKIP UKIP leader Nigel Farage has pledged to take a step back from the limelight and spend more time “professionalising” the party, with less than two years left until the next general election. The announcement…
• Office workers suffer “desk rage” at least twice a day More than half of Britain’s office-based workforce experience anger and frustration at work, with many suffering at least two episodes of full-blown “desk rage” per day. Perhaps unsurprisingly, arguments among colleagues over who is…
• Ask.fm chiefs bring in safety measures after week of complacency Managers at Ask.fm have announced the introduction of safety measures following public alarm over online bullying on the social network, which enables users to quiz each other about their lives. On 2 August, 14-year-old…
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  Facebook exec Sheryl Sandberg under fire for unpaid intern ad Many non-profit organisations hire volunteers who offer their time and expertise for zero financial compensation, a generally understandable position given the meagre funds that many charities have to run on. But the Lean In…
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  Employee engagement is key to keeping talent, report shows Faced with tough selection conditions within a young, tech-savvy and degree-level qualified workforce, the UK’s biggest leaders are constantly battling with their competitors from around the world to find the best employees to push…
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  More than two-thirds of US CEOs have no social media presence While almost one in four people across the globe regularly use social media, just 32% of the CEOs of America’s 500 biggest companies have set up their own accounts, despite having a plethora of…
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  AOL boss Tim Armstrong apologises to staff for public firing AOL boss Tim Armstrong has been forced to apologise to staff in a blanket email, following his decision to fire an executive on a conference call with 1,000 employees listening in.
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  Yahoo rebrand shows leadership role of marketing campaigns With a new logo set for launch at the end of the month, Yahoo is treating its visitors to a range of variations in the 30 days leading up to the final version’s big…
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  Fury as Bank boss Carney links interest rate to jobs There will be no rise in the UK interest rate until unemployment drops to 7%, Mark Carney has announced in his first Inflation Report as governor of the Bank of England. His move marks…
• Managers warned of “payoff culture” in new tribunals regime Cost burdens on employers could rise following the introduction of a new tribunals regime from Monday 29 July, an employment law expert has warned. In a bid to deter staffers from launching bogus tribunal…
• Sports Direct bosses gift 2,000 employees with massive shares jackpot Staffers at Sports Direct are soon to be rolling in shares following a 40% increase in pre-tax profits during FY2012 to 2013. Founded by Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley, the chain has had a…
• Archbishop in divine intervention over payday loans In a surprise move, the Church of England has stepped up as a direct competitor against major payday-loans firms such as Wonga. In an interview with Total Politics magazine, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby…
• John Lewis takes charge in patriotic push for more UK product lines John Lewis has stepped up its backing for products made in UK in a bid to entrench the “Buy British” mantra more deeply in the national psyche.
• Competition watchdog reads managers the riot act over auditors Accountants have come under much criticism in the past five years for failing to spot the massive liabilities on banks’ balance sheets, and there have been suggestions that the Big Four – PwC, Ernst…
• “Phone rage” league reveals flaws of hands-free management For those more used to hearing hold music than speaking to customer-service staff about a problem, the Phone Rage Index has been a long time coming. Launched this week on consumer website PleasePress1, the…
• Marissa Mayer leads Yahoo to 46% earnings surge Web corporation Yahoo has posted profits of $331 million for the three months ending 30 June – a 46% increase from the $226.6m recorded for the same period last year. The figures have come…
• Morrisons boss calls for tax on online retailers Morrisons supermarket CEO Dalton Philips has joined a host of high-street retailers, including Sainsbury’s boss Justin King, to lobby the government for a tax on online vendors. The rise of digital shopping giants such…
• CharityGiving mismangement casts doubt on donation sites A Charity Commission move to block further donations to CharityGiving.co.uk has raised questions about the safety and security of donation sites. In its investigation, the regulator found that at least £250,000 that had passed…
• Think tank: Heathrow expansion is the only option for economy Centre-right think tank the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) has stated unequivocally that a bigger Heathrow is essential for growth, and furthermore, would be the cheapest and most effective way to increase Britain’s air…
• City leaders panic as LIBOR transfers to New York Stock Exchange British banking bosses and MPs have reacted with dismay to news that responsibility for setting the LIBOR inter-banking rate has been handed to the owner of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Future control…
• Outlook for UK employment continues to improve The light at the end of the economic tunnel has become even brighter for the UK jobs market, with the publication of recruitment firm Robert Half’s latest Professional Hiring Index. The main finding…
• Shaw calls for capability based hiring to halt ageist brain drain UK businesses are failing to utilise the skills of older workers as a result of image-conscious hiring habits, according to the latest findings from leading specialist on ageing, Dr Lynda Shaw. The expert argues…
• Sir Philip Green gets tough in business rates attack Entrepreneur and retail boss Sir Philip Green has called for an overhaul of UK business rates, following a government decision to delay a revaluation of the fees from 2015 to 2017 – two years…
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  Olive oil fiasco highlights power of the outcry UKIP supporters claimed the high ground for their anti-European stance with yesterday’s scrapping of a bizarre EU food directive. An obscure set of agricultural management rulings had included a ban on the use of…
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  Are Apple and Google making their own rules on tax? It has fallen to the most successful company of modern times to show how powerless our political leaders are to control large corporations. With ruthless cunning, Apple boss Tim Cook flexed the technology firm’s…
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  How Buckles and Nicholson succumbed to the inevitable Two beleaguered heads of large organisations have finally bitten the dust, with NHS chief Sir David Nicholson announcing his retirement from March next year, and Nick Buckles quitting the security outsourcing giant G4S. Both…
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  Business leaders no more objective than MPs on Europe Several, high-profile UK business leaders have waded into the ongoing political row about Britain’s place in Europe, with the issue showing no signs of leaving the front pages any time soon. An open letter…
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  Yahoo faces challenge to make Tumblr buyout work Another day in the life of the internet, and yet another enormous purchase of a web startup by an established giant: this time, it has been announced that Yahoo is snapping up the blogging…
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  Staffers to be stretched in wake of unemployment rise, says KPMG Workers are set to face increasingly stretched working conditions as firms strive to maintain their existing output amid tight constraints on recruitment. That is the assessment of KPMG partner and head of business services…
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  Chelsea victory: can management instability actually help? Almost a year to the day since they triumphed in the Champions League with a temporary manager, Chelsea did it again – beating Benfica 2-1 to win sister tournament, the Europa League. The victory…
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  Has Nadine Dorries become unmanageable? David Cameron is probably hoping that Nadine Dorries will get a return trip to the jungle, following her latest remarks this week. The Tory MP, who only recently had the whip restored following her…
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  Employers overlooking talent in applicants glut, says CIPD Employment growth is expected to continue in the second quarter of 2013 – but will present job seekers with a “battleground”, according to a survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).…
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  Why your company should have an age mix Discrimination against older workers is on the rise, presenting the nation with a dilemma as their numbers are set to swell in the coming years. According to a survey carried out by cognitive neuroscientist…
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  Lord Young is right about low wages – but there are dangers Just 18 months on from resigning his advisory role to the government, Lord Young is in trouble again after appearing to support the proliferation of low wages.
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  Has justice been done in Enron boss sentence deal? Disgraced former Enron boss Jeff Skilling could have his jail sentence reduced by up to 10 years, under a deal announced on Wednesday by the US Department of Justice. Skilling was originally convicted in…
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  “Management speak” survey exposes host of workplace irritants The Office was first broadcast almost 12 years ago – yet it seems that David Brent-style “management speak” still has a pervasive grip on the workplace.
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  Did Vince Cable step out of line over RBS directors case? Business secretary Vince Cable has received a public ticking off from the Crown Office, after asking Scotland’s top law officer when he would decide on whether or not to prosecute former RBS directors …
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  Councils must act to regain trust of local businesses Despite the excitable climate among our political parties over tomorrow’s local elections, a snap poll conducted by the Forum of Private Business (FPB) suggests that many managers of small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are…
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  Will Labour ban zero-hours contracts? Labour could move to ban the use of “zero-hours contracts” if they win the next election. Party leader Ed Miliband told the Guardian on Saturday of plans to introduce tax breaks to companies in…
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  HR analytics vital to boosting bottom line, says KPMG Constant demands for managers to collect and present financial data are preventing many of them from collating meaningful details about their people, argues Robert Bolton – partner at “Big Four” accounting and auditing firm…
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  Could alcohol testing at work benefit employees? Compulsory daily alcohol testing could become a routine part of office life if a new generation of sensors gets the go-ahead from private and public companies. The AlcoSense TruTouch scanning device takes just eight…
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  Walmart management bonuses send out wrong message While it would not normally be news to learn that US retail giant Walmart has paid additional bonuses to its board members, the precise circumstances behind the latest round of awards are quite extraordinary.…
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  Pub code of conduct a boost for landlords Government help for the pub industry has arrived in the form of proposals for a new code of conduct backed by an independent adjudicator. The new authority will have the power to settle disputes…
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  Church leads the way with action over bonus culture Church of England leaders are planning to use their considerable financial clout to try and bring an end to what they view as an “excessive” bonus culture still prevalent in many large companies. The…
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  How feminised management teams have survived the downturn “Feminised” management teams have performed considerably better during the financial crisis than those comprised mainly of males, according to a study from global institute SKEMA Business School. Led by Professor Michael Ferrary, the study…
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  M&S departures highlight career dangers of unstable firms Yet another high-profile manager has walked out on Marks & Spencer. Lingerie and Beauty chief Janie Shaffer’s departure comes after the firm announced a seventh consecutive fall in quarterly sales of general merchandise …
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  Tesco and JD Sports show dangers of unprepared expansion Two major UK retailers announced significant stumbles yesterday, with a series of parallels emerging between their poor performances. Tesco was the main headline grabber, with its profits dropping an astonishing £2.7bn to £120m after…
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  Retail boss Wolfson points way to lifting high street gloom A new scheme announced by Business in the Community (BITC) has been touted as a bold attempt to address the continuing decline of Britain’s town centres. In the organisation’s High Street Champions initiative, senior…
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  Bitcoins may yet fall foul of regulation The ‘virtual currency’ Bitcoin, has been receiving a raft of publicity in the last few weeks, being hailed variously as the future of money, or a glorified Ponzi scheme. The currency exists outside of…
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  How UK council bosses could learn from Obama on pay In these times of economic hardship and sweeping cuts – especially when the Coalition mantra “We’re all in this together” is still widely quoted – any hint of hypocrisy is sure to be swiftly…
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  Ann Francke: businesses must do more to prepare for bad weather Businesses and public-sector bodies must do more to keep themselves going during the current bout of bad weather, according to Chartered Management Institute (CMI) chief executive Ann Francke. Interviewed today on Sky News, Francke…
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  Why Greg Dyke has right attitude to tackle FA inertia Greg Dyke will take over as independent chairman of the Football Association (FA) on 13 July, replacing the outgoing David Bernstein. The former BBC director general – who resigned from that organisation in the…
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  Tory Twitter row highlights alcohol pricing double standards Party spin doctors like nothing less than rogue voices in their ranks, but Tory strategy chief Lynton Crosby has found one in Totnes MP Dr Sarah Wollaston. She – along with other MPs such…
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  Osborne austerity programme takes a hammering Some 58% of respondents to an Opinium/Observer poll on the economy said that George Osborne’s austerity programme is failing to achieve the desired results – as opposed to 20% who felt that it was…
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  Will Yahoo boss Marissa Mayer’s home-working ban work? Hot on the heels of this week’s report exposing sexual inequality within British public life – in the same week that a BBC tribunal probes claims of discrimination against a pregnant employee – comes…
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  Britain falling behind in top-level equality A worrying new report has exposed the huge disparity between women and men in the top roles in politics and public life, with figures showing that the situation has worsened over recent times. Sex…
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  Mary Portas high street project deemed management failure A government-backed project to devise a “rescue package” for the UK’s ailing high streets has “descended into farce”, according to the paper. Spearheaded by entrepreneur and Channel 4 face of shopping Mary Portas …
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  Osborne made to pay for needless prediction The financial markets reopened this morning with investors and the government awaiting the reaction to Friday’s announcement from ratings agency Moody’s that Britain had lost its Triple-A rating. A sterling trade-weighted index, tracking the…
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  HMV Twitter rant highlights management’s poor digital awareness HMV yesterday learned first-hand the dangers to a business of ignoring the importance of social media. As the company geared up to dismiss 60 staff, a “rogue” employee live-tweeted the unfolding bloodbath from HMV’s…
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  Bank of England governor pledges to boost economy New Bank of England chief Mark Carney – set to replace incumbent Mervyn King in the summer – has signalled intentions for a massive policy overhaul at the organisation. In a speech to the…
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  EXCLUSIVE: Boris Island airport needs £30bn from taxpayer, says parliamentary report A proposed super airport in the Thames Estuary would require £30bn in public subsidy and would not be commercially viable, an unpublished parliamentary report will say.
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  Lembit Opik bags new role in management training While the party he once served in grapples with the challenges of Coalition, Lembit Opik has announced that he has headed full-steam into the world of management, confirming plans he hinted at in an…
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  Employee outsources entire job to China An astonishing case came to light this week in which an employee of a US-critical infrastructure company managed to outsource his entire job to China for a period of at least six months. All…
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  Hilton alleges that Cameron relies on media for policy overview David Cameron finds out about government policy from the radio, his former strategy adviser has revealed. In a series of candid comments to a lecture theatre full of students at California’s Stanford University, where…
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  Half of UK companies hit by social media security scares Despite regular scare stories about Facebook’s prospects, it seems that social media is here to stay.
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  M&S sales leak raises questions over management reshuffle High street giant Marks & Spencer is in damage-control mode after poor sales figures for the festive period were leaked to Sky News on Wednesday evening. Sky’s scoop triggered a rush release of the…
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  Cable leads attack on pub chain bosses Pub companies who are allegedly “exploiting” their tenants are to face fines under new plans announced by Business Secretary Vince Cable and voted through the Commons yesterday. The relationships between pub companies and tenants…
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  UK can’t get the staff, suggests KPMG survey UK job vacancies grew at their fastest rate for 20 months in December, according to a survey sponsored by auditing firm KPMG. But public worries about the state of the economy and its potential…
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  Hunt sounds warning over UK health management, and military chiefs attack spending Happy New Year from Media Eye! Just a few days out of the starting gate, and 2013 has already produced a substantial cache of thought-provoking management news…
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  Differing fortunes in bread world There were drastically different fortunes in the bread world this week as sandwich chain EAT announced ambitious expansion plans and the creation of 1500 new jobs, whilst breadmakers Hovis revealed the loss of over…
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  Police commissioners face 10-week budget deadline England and Wales’s new police commissioners – elected last Thursday with the lowest turnout in any public ballot since World War II – are now knuckling down to work with the daunting prospect of…
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  Cameron faces fresh management questions over wind-farm MP Chris Heaton-Harris, the MP in charge of the Tory campaign for today’s by-election in Corby, has become the victim of an undercover Greenpeace sting that revealed his support for rival independent candidate, James Delingpole.
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  BBC management meltdown special: resignations and recriminations There was only one game in town by way of management news from the weekend: the explosive and chaotic fallout of two, Newsnight -related crises at the BBC. One stemmed from a decision by…
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  Final countdown to US election sees Obama and Romney in scramble for votes By Sunday evening, an ABC/ Washington Post live-tracking poll had put Barack Obama on 49% and Mitt Romney on 48% in the final furlong of the presidential campaign. With the margin so tight, no…
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  Google boss in summit with French leader Hollande over online ad legislation Crunch talks will be held today between Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt and French president Francois Hollande, over legislative proposals that would force the search giant to pay media sites for the right to…
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  Welcome to Germ term! Caring for a sick child will never be any parent’s idea of fun or a day free from the office, but with the wealth of germs children come into contact daily, how can employers…
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  Trump bid to leverage Obama papers falls flat President Obama has enjoyed a bit of a rebound in the polls lately after commentators suggested he “won” the second and third debates in the run up to the US General Election. But the…
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  Clegg is worst-rated Liberal Democrat leader in history A whopping 68% of British people are dissatisfied with the way Nick Clegg is doing his job, according to the latest poll from Ipsos Mori. This is the worst rating ever recorded for any…
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  HMV bosses stand by tattoo ban in new staff appearance policy Entertainment retailer HMV has unveiled a new dress code for staff that bans long hair; “extreme body art” such as piercings; flip-flops, and the exposure of tattoos: the very style of self-expression, in fact…
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  Hunt forced to defend cost of NHS management redundancies At his first Commons question session since he was appointed Health secretary, Jeremy Hunt was instantly forced to defend the spiralling costs of the Coalition’s NHS reforms. Labour attacked the government’s plans, saying that…
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  Female workers win landmark ruling against Birmingham City Council Some 170 female ex-employees of Birmingham City Council have won a long legal battle to file compensation claims against their former workplace, on grounds that they were consistently underpaid because of their gender. Their…
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  European proposals for 40% female boardroom quota head for dilution Proposals for a 40% quota of female board members in listed firms across the European Union have stalled, it emerged this afternoon. Following an intense debate at the European Commission in Brussels, officials shelved…
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  Tebbit urges Cameron to embrace “managerial discipline” In an excoriating attack on the UK’s “dog of a Coalition government”, Lord Tebbit argued that the public perception of toffs at the top is largely a result of poor leadership by prime minister…
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  No end in sight for “Plebgate” as chief whip faces rough return to work The “Plebgate” row over last month’s utterances by Tory chief whip Andrew Mitchell rumbled on over the weekend, as Police Federation chiefs locked horns with MPs over a lack of resolution to the saga.…
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  Cameron under Hacked Off microscope over Leveson prejudice As the Tory Conference got underway in Birmingham, David Cameron was forced to stress that the Leveson Inquiry is not a busted flush. His reiteration of the probe’s importance was spurred by an open…
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  Actors lampoon RSC management over oil giant sponsorship Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) artistic director Gregory Doran has come under fire once more for his group’s association with much-maligned energy firm BP.
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  Mismanagement of West Coast rail deal to cost taxpayer £40m Government mistakes over the West Coast rail contract will cost the taxpayer £40 million in refunds to the firms that had bid for the franchise, it emerged this morning. In a midnight press release…
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  Ed Miliband sets out his leadership vision in keynote Labour conference speech Ed Miliband set out his stall this afternoon not with an eye to remaining the Labour Party’s leader, but to becoming its next prime minister.
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  Hair-raising claims of Labour leadership chaos in Ed Miliband biography David Miliband was “psychologically scarred” by losing out to his brother in the Labour leadership race of 2010, according to claims in an updated biography of Ed Miliband. Penned by Mehdi Hasan of the…
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  MacKenzie in bid for police apology Kelvin MacKenzie has demonstrated once again what might charitably be described as his tenacious character, confirming that he wants South Yorkshire Police to apologise for misleading him about Liverpool fans’ conduct during the Hillsborough…
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  Is Tory leadership drowning out Lib Dem green policy? In an exclusive interview, UK Energy secretary Ed Davey – one of the few Lib Dem big hitters in the Cabinet – has slammed a “Tea Party tendency” in the Conservative Party for holding…
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  Bristol Pound director says scheme will drive cash to city’s independent firms A groundswell of alternative financial services that have sprung up in the wake of the banking crisis has gathered pace with this week’s launch of the Bristol Pound.
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  Donald Trump censured over wind turbines ad gaffe US magnate Donald Trump has received an embarrassing ticking off from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) after being found to have placed a misleading advert as part of his campaign against wind farms on…
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  Managers at war over Kate photos furore A variety of leaders from media groups and the world of politics have weighed in on the furore surrounding topless photographs of the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton. The photos, showing Kate on her…
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  Government reshuffle preparation and airport rumblings on “Boris Island” Ahead of an expected Cabinet reshuffle this week, David Cameron put pen to newspaper for an exclusive column on how he really is more ruler than rodent, and that the country is in safe…
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  Branson bares teeth in West Coast rail battle Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson has made good on his promise to fight the government’s recent award of the West Coast main line franchise to FirstGroup. With the contract due to be signed yesterday…
• NML Awards finalists announced The waiting’s almost over! Amid stiff competition from some superb entries, these are the brilliant candidates that have reached the final of the 2012 National Management & Leadership Awards, held in association with CMI.
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  Hugh Grant joins board of Hacked Off British actor Hugh Grant has moved from merely being the public face of the Hacked Off campaign for press reform, to become a director of a new company created by the group responsible. Hacked…
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  Nadir finally found guilty of Polly Peck theft Former head of Polly Peck International, Asil Nadir, has finally been found guilty of stealing almost £29m from the company, after avoiding justice for almost 20 years. The business was once a huge FTSE…
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  Thiel’s Facebook share sale adds to website’s worries It was yet more bad news for Facebook this week as one of its directors, Peter Thiel, sold most of his stake in the beleaguered company at the first chance he could. Whilst any…
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  Cameron fears for coalition as Clegg faces fury in his own ranks It’s ain’t easy being Nick Clegg. The coalition with the Conservatives has, barring a brief honeymoon, borne little but ill for his party. It now faces electoral oblivion due to a loss of much…
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  IDS attacks BBC “bias” over UK jobs policy while Cameron aims to harness wave power The ongoing recessional issue of employment has combined with party politics and the BBC’s alleged leanings to combustible effect, with Work and Pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith making a formal complaint to the broadcaster…
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  Standard Chartered honcho braced for $1bn fines Banking boss Peter Sands is battling to save his organisation Standard Chartered from further punishments in the US, following recent allegations that the bank engaged in numerous illegal transactions with the Iranian government. Standard…
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  BBC man Mark Thompson heads to New York Times Mark Thompson has jumped out of the cash-strapped frying pan, across the Atlantic, and into the budget-slashing fire, with the announcement that he has been named president and CEO of the New York Times…
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  Branson fury over loss of rail franchise Virgin Rail boss Richard Branson has reacted angrily to the government’s award of the West Coast Main Line contract to rival company FirstGroup, branding the bidding system “flawed”.
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  The curious incident of UK tax thresholds, and Olympic managerial legacies Children’s author Mark Haddon – whose The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time flew off bookshop shelves – has written to his MP to press for leadership on raising taxes for the…
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  ITV bosses under fire over Red or Black’s Wonga sponsorship Series Two of ITV’s much-maligned game show Red or Black has run into trouble before it has even started, as anger mounts over its sponsorship deal with payday-loans company Wonga. The show – in…
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  Olympic viewing figures, Twitter tactics and student-loan sniping BBC bosses can breathe a sigh of relief over the public’s wholehearted embrace of the corporation’s Olympics coverage. Nine days on from the Super Friday of the Opening Ceremony, when 27 million people tuned…
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  Olympics management news review special Managers involved in the various organising bodies behind the Games are already at each other’s throats, as the issue of empty seats at key events straddles the news agenda. LOCOG honcho Lord Coe waxed…