Category: Business News

Tata Steel closed its last blast furnace at Port Talbot in Wales at the end of September after more than 100 years of steelmaking. It’s estimated that 2,800 jobs will be lost as a result. The blast furnace is used to make what is called primary or virgin steelmaking because the molten iron is produced from its original source by splitting rocks containing iron ore. It requires intense heat and emits high levels of carbon into the atmosphere.

In another significant industrial move, the UK’s last coal power station at Ratcliffe-on-Soar in the Midlands finished its operations at the end of September. This is the first time in 142 years that coal-fired power hasn’t contributed to the national grid. The very first coal-fired power station was built in 1882 by Thomas Edison at Holburn Viaduct. From that point, and for many decades, coal-fired power became the main way of providing electricity to UK homes.

The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveal that the UK’s economy grew by 0.5% between April and June, a slight dip from the initial estimate of 0.6%. This adjustment, largely due to sharper-than-expected declines in the manufacturing and construction sectors, comes at a pivotal moment as the Labour government gears up to unveil its first Budget at the end of the month.

As of 1st October, new laws are in place to ensure that workers keep 100% of the tips, gratuities, and service charges they earn. This is a major development for employees in sectors such as hospitality, where tipping plays a significant role in take-home pay, and for employers, who will need to ensure they comply with the new rules.

If you’re a door supervisor or security guard, or you employ them, you’ll need to be aware of some important changes that may affect you as we approach 2025. From 1 April 2025, new training will be compulsory for anyone looking to renew their licence. This update, introduced by the Security Industry Authority (SIA), aims to refresh and improve the safety-critical skills needed to keep the public safe.

Being an effective leader involves recognising it’s impossible to be right all the time. Constructive conflict should be embraced in business. In fact, sometimes “no” is ultimately more useful than ‘yes”. The best managers and leaders in the business world, seek and accept critical feedback from trusted colleagues to maintain a balanced perspective.

What is it and how can it be harnessed by your firm? Neuromarketing is a field of marketing that combines neuroscience and psychology to understand consumers’ subconscious reactions to marketing stimuli. Neuromarketing uses knowledge about the way our brains are structured and how they interpret the world around us and make decisions in order to develop more effective marketing practices.

Any successful business has to balance two different time horizons -long and short-term. In the short term, a business needs to cover its costs, pay salaries and function on a day-to-day basis. However, if it focuses too much on the present, there is a risk that potential opportunities will be missed. Conversely, if a firm’s sole focus is on long-term opportunities, it could quickly become unprofitable. In the words of Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, “you can’t grow long-term, if you can’t eat short-term.”