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Tom Phillips
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Rohini Bhattacharya

Remembering the basics in the 'New Normal' business landscape

Posted By Rohini Bhattacharya

26 April 2013

The latest blog from LEAD on the importance of the basics in the changing business landscape.

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Ian Brinkley

The UK’s productivity challenge

Posted By Ian Brinkley

19 September 2012

The new productivity statistics that came out this morning show the UK falling behind some other major economies. Between 2007 and 2011 there was no growth in productivity (measured by GDP per hour worked) in the UK. In contrast, productivity went up by 7 per cent in Japan, 6 per cent in the US, and 3 per cent in Canada.

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Professor Stephen  Bevan

Weeding out the 'Idlers' won't raise GDP

Posted By Stephen Bevan

14 September 2012

“The British are among the worst idlers in the world. We work among the lowest hours, we retire early and our productivity is poor”. This is one view of the UK labour market which is gaining ground among a growing number of politicians and think-tanks on the ‘de-regulating’ side of the debate on economic recovery. In their recent book, ‘Britannia Unchained’, the authors argue that employers are held back from creating wealth and new jobs by regulations which prevent them from sacking ‘coasting’ workers. In doing so they are echoing calls in the Beecroft Report that excessive employment regulation is strangling economic growth.

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David Child

Leadership issues in SMEs and social enterprise

Posted By David Child, Entrepreneur

15 August 2012

My first significant interest in leadership came about as a result of involvement in urban regeneration and Richard Rogers’ Urban Task Force. As a result, in March 2000 I gave a presentation at the Building Centre Trust Symposium entitled 'My Kind of Town'. I saw cities and towns as motors of growth and innovation. If we were serious about urban renaissance, a few thoughtful answers were needed to a few simple questions:

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David Cameron has today announced StartUp Loans, a £2,500 loan to help young people start their own business. Schemes like this aim to address economic problems (the double dip recession) and social ones (high youth unemployment) simultaneously.

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Charles  Levy

Tumbling Labour Market to Deliver 1.7m Private Sector Jobs?

Posted By Charles Levy

29 November 2011

Today Osborne was able to stand up the House of Commons and rely on the latest forecasts from the Office for Budgetary Responsibility. Things are bad, but with reliable numbers behind him we can have confidence that he is honestly telling us just how bad things are.

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Dr Neil Lee

Finance for high growth firms: EIS and beyond

Posted By Neil Lee

26 September 2011

Brussels has given the Treasury the go-ahead to expand the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS). By reducing the tax investors pay when backing high-risk companies, it’s designed to increase investments in them. The government argues the scheme will create more high growth firms: the seven per cent of firms who create half of all new jobs. It’s a big win for NESTA (sponsors of our Big Innovation Centre) who have been highlighting the importance of these firms for some time.

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The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) have just announced the new higher education innovation funding (HEIF) package.

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The Work Foundation’s latest report - ‘Ready, Steady, Grow? How the government can support the development of more high growth firms’ - was launched yesterday (21st March) at the Palace of Westminster....

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Andrew  Sissons

Why not turn the whole of the UK into an Enterprise Zone?

Posted By Andrew Sissons

21 March 2011

There’s a new twist in the Enterprise Zones saga - the Chancellor is reportedly increasing the number of zones from 10 to 20. With the £100 million in funding now apparently spread over four years and 20 zones, each Enterprise Zone will be funded to the tune of just £1.25 million per year. That might sound like a rather paltry sum in the context of the government’s austerity programme, but it’s actually the best thing that could happen to the Enterprise Zones policy, short of them being scrapped altogether.

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