Financial Services has always been a tricky subject for the Treasury Select Committee (TSC). While they exist to examine and scrutinise policies set by the Treasury and all of its associated bodies, the FCA, in particular, has proven elusive – largely by design. After facing months of criticism for rising regulatory costs, and being threatened … Read more

The global movement to take on the dominance of big tech companies is evolving at pace. We’ve seen this in the US with Congressional anti-trust hearings, the resulting report, and the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against Google. On the other side of the world, Australia’s Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is watching America’s progress, developing … Read more

There has been much-publicised doom and gloom around the face of our UK cities. While the pandemic is certainly creating hardship for almost all sectors that rely on people moving in and around bustling cities, it is also creating a huge amount of opportunity. H+K commissioned a OnePoll survey which asked around 1600 residents across … Read more

The man who led the nation through its last major crisis once said this: “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” After this tumultuous year, there may well be fewer passengers on board the good ship Optimism, but nonetheless, as an industry and as individuals, we … Read more

Yesterday was Rishi Sunak’s first Spending Review; a major milestone for any Chancellor, but this one came at a time like no other. This was a point not missed by the drafting team inside of the Treasury who had used the term “unprecedented” 18 times throughout the Blue Book which unpacks the detail of the … Read more

The light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel just shone a little brighter. Hot on the heels of early vaccine results from BioNTech and Pfizer, similarly early results from Moderna suggest their vaccine should also be highly effective in protecting against COVID-19. While we need to remain a little cautious until more data is … Read more

So, Dominic Cummings is to leave No 10 at Christmas and would have us believe that it was always the plan. I am not so sure. Having witnessed a few from very close quarters, I know a Downing Street power struggle when I see one. Boris Johnson has relied heavily on Cummings and, having gained … Read more

“This election is Scranton vs Park Avenue.” As someone who was also born in Scranton, Biden’s campaign mantra appealed to me. Having lived in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, as well as grown up in the more rural and later suburb parts of the state, I see Scranton as the emotional heart of the state and maybe … Read more

In the summer of last year, Boris Johnson finally became UK prime minister after a long-held aspiration – to say the least – to lead one of the world’s most powerful countries. Johnson knows more than most the power of effective communications – the shock EU referendum win, coined on the phrase “take back control”, … Read more