When we weren’t partying like it’s 2012 at Notting Hill Carnival this weekend, the Startups team was kicking back, enjoying the bank holiday, and gorging itself on weekend papers and their associated supplements.
It’s a confusing world, the weekend glossies – and particularly the advice dispensed in the ‘hot or not’ columns. Our particular favourites came from The Guardian, which recommended a very un-Guardianesque £2,550 Tiffany peace sign pendant, while The Sunday Times Style’s recommendations were even more perplexing. “Perfect-looking vegetables just scream supermarket,” it advised. “Pimp your dinner table with gnarly home-grown roots instead.” So there you go.
Anyway, Startups has realised hot/not trend barometers must be going up, and wants in on the action. Behold, then, our first Biz-o-meter: omniscient knowledge dispenser of everything hot (and not) in business:
GOING UP
Salary discussions
Oh no! The imminent arrival of glassdoor.com in the UK means your employees could be about to find out exactly what their peers at your competitor earn. Get set for mass employee disgruntlement.
Workforce ages
By 2030, half the population will be over 50, according to The Times – and with the Material Girl herself about to hit the big five-oh, it’s time to embrace the knowledge and skills prevalent in the ageing workforce
The Man
Office workers across the nation are in mourning as the Solitaire of the noughties has finally been ousted in the UK by Scrabble owner Hasbro. Has consumer power finally petered out?
Reggae reggae
Congratulations to Mr. Roots, aka the UK’s loveliest entrepreneur, who has just launched a special Reggae Reggae sandwich at Subway. Plus, we ran into his son, Zeon, at Notting Hill, who promised us free chicken in return for help pushing his broken down van…
GOING DOWN
Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme
Dubbed ‘window dressing’ by The Telegraph, because of its low take-up from the business community. Come on, chaps – Brown has promised you an extra £5bn, you know.
Data Protection
Another week, another headline about data protection slip-ups – this time by RBS. According to a survey by Fortify Software, 81% of small businesses are vulnerable to hackers. There’s no excuse: make sure you're protected.
Dragon fodder
Off-camera relationships with entrepreneurs are not going as well as had been hoped, according to Dragons’ Den entrepreneurs. “Deborah was a real dragon. She was very pedantic and demanding,” one peeved entrepreneur moaned at The Sunday Times. Did they really think it would be easy?
Energy companies
Hurrah! With the average household energy bill set to top £1,300 this winter, energy companies accused of ‘profiteering’ look like they could meet their match when 80 Labour MPs demand a windfall tax on record profits at the Labour Party Conference next month.
