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THE HUB’S WEEKLY NEWS SNIPPETS

At The Hub, we always like a feel good story as well as informative ones that are relevant to our industry and to business more widely. Here’s our top stories this week that made us smile, frown, or pause.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DOG MAKES: A very special part of our business is Jack The Office Dog. The benefits of having a dog at work are immeasurable, but it’s still not a widespread practice. Australia is catching on with an initiative of helping people de-stress at work by cuddling a puppy. Read more about it below – but perhaps we’ll see more dogs at work this side of the equator.

Jack

http://www.employeebenefits.co.uk/puppies-help-de-stress-australian-workplaces/?cmpid=ebupdate_2065470

900,000 RETAIL JOBS TO GO: One of Monday’s big stories builds on the news we reported a couple of weeks ago – that huge job cuts are likely in the industry over the next few years. The British Retail Consortium’s report on this huge issue says that it’s not just digitalisation and the move to on-line shopping that will cause this, but also because of the national living wage, and shop rental rises. Sir Charlie Mayfield, chairman of John Lewis, gives an interview on these issues in the third link, including his view that the industry is being complacent about this very real and serious issue.

http://www.brc.org.uk/downloads/BRC_Press_Statement_Retail_2020_v.3.pdf

http://www.brc.org.uk/downloads/Retail_2020_(final).pdf

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-35683726

BUY YOUR WEEKLY SHOP FROM MORRISON’S – VIA AMAZON!: So Amazon is diversifying into food – and has signed a deal with Morrison’s to be its supplier, giving the supermarket a 6% lift in its shares. The deal has an adverse knock on effect for Ocado, whose share price tumbled by 8% as a consequence. This is a helpful article that explains the ins and outs.

http://www.theguardian.com/business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2016/feb/29/morrisons-pragmatic-deal-with-amazon-hard-to-argue-with

COLLABORATIVE RECRUITMENT – IT MEANS YOU’RE INVOLVED: You might be watching the new BBC2 programme Who’s The Boss. It’s a 3-part series that builds on a practice Steve Jobs really believed in, and which Pret for instance use extensively. It’s about getting people involved in recruiting their manager. And with vacancies on the rise, and poor recruitment decisions costing companies hugely in time and money, it’s bound to be a trend that’s growing. Here’s a link about it in more detail – and do watch the programme on BBC2 the next one is on Tuesday, but you can catch up on episodes 1 and 2 on iPlayer.

http://www.cipd.co.uk/pm/peoplemanagement/b/weblog/archive/2016/02/23/opinion-collaborative-hiring-worked-for-steve-jobs-and-it-could-work-for-you.aspx?utm_medium=email&utm_source=cipd&utm_campaign=cipdupdate&utm_term=68296&utm_content=020316-5093-6239–20160302085110-Opinion%3A%20Collaborative%20hiring%20worked%20for%20Steve%20Jobs%20-%20and%20it%20could%20work%20for%20you

At The Hub we hope you found these stories of interest. Do let us know what you think, and if there are any areas of interest you’d like to see included. Look out for our next Weekly Snippet on Wednesday 9th March.

 

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THE HUB’S WEEKLY NEWS SNIPPETS

Here are The Hub’s weekly snippets – some headlines that amuse; surprise; or apply to us all.

THE EU REFERENDUM: This is of course the big news of the week, and will roll on for the next few months. We now know the referendum will take place on the 23rd June. What we’ll all be trying to work out is what’s the best thing to do – should we stay or should we go? And it’s a difficult one because no country has done it before. As the economic arguments develop over the coming weeks here’s a link to a plain English overview:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-32810887

Lord Rose certainly thinks we should stay. The former M & S boss is chairing a cross-party group called ‘Britain Stronger in Europe’ and believes that “common sense will prevail”. Read a report here

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-35498467

Interestingly, some of the supermarkets are refusing to get drawn into the debate. Tesco’s, Sainsbury’s, and Morrison’s have refused to sign a letter from businesses supporting the ‘stay’ vote, believing that it is for the British public to decide. Here’s an article on this interesting development.

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/feb/22/top-supermarkets-refuse-sign-anti-brexit-letter-eu-referendum-sainsburys-morrisons-tesco

SELF PARKING CHAIRS: something a little lighter. You might be torn between amusement and incredulity when watching this. If you lean towards the latter, it’s probably worth reflecting that lots of innovations have been met with the same – but will this one really catch on…?

http://www.employeebenefits.co.uk/could-a-self-parking-chair-boost-staff-engagement-and-motivation/?cmpid=ebupdate_2045440

MORRISON’S PLOUGHS £Ms INTO IMPROVING THE WORKPLACE: Most businesses cut staff costs in whatever way possible when trying to improve its fortunes. Morrison’s is being far sighted and doing the opposite. It’s investing some £30m in improving its workplaces such as staff rooms and facilities. Asda, meanwhile, is taking the traditional route and cutting back non-essential benefits. Let’s watch and see which fortunes turn around the quickest.

http://www.employeebenefits.co.uk/morrisons-invests-30m-in-staff-rest-area-revamp/?cmpid=ebnews_2047756

We hope you found this first edition of The Hub’s Weekly News Snippets interesting – do let us know what you liked or didn’t like, or if you want to discuss anything further. We’ll be issuing our Snippets every Wednesday, so look out for next week’s edition.

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FEBRUARY NEWS ROUND FROM THE HUB

At this time of year, there’s lots of news relevant to our industry – business more generally, and retail specifically. Here’s a roundup of the headlines that caught our eye at The Hub.

ALDI: are set to open a further 100 UK stores this year, taking their B & M up to 700. They estimate this will create a further 5000 jobs. So that’s the good news. There is however some consternation over its advertising practices. Some experts allege that Aldi is misleading the consumer by making unfair comparisons with say, it’s minced beef against Tesco’s Finest minced beef; or its own orange juice against Tropicano. The Advertising Standards Agency says it hasn’t received any complaints. But it’s one to watch – no pun intended! Here’s a link to one report:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/12158484/Aldi-to-create-5000-new-jobs-as-its-adverts-are-branded-disingenuous.html

B & M FOOTFALL STATS: interestingly, footfall for B & M was up in January by 1.2% on a year ago – not only because of the sales, but also a cold snap has driven us out to look for some warm clothes. This was a welcome turnaround after a dismal December slump of -2.2%. As February sets to be chilly, it’ll be interesting to see if this upward trend continues. Here’s a link to a report to find out more:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/12156871/Cold-winds-blow-in-shoppers-to-the-high-street.html

2 MILLION RETAIL JOBS TO GO: according to a Deloitte report, 59% of retail jobs have a ‘high chance’ of disappearing over the next 20 years – because of automation and technological advances, particularly on-line. The report cites home delivery, self-service; and automation as the main reasons for this prediction. Read more here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/12156871/Cold-winds-blow-in-shoppers-to-the-high-street.html

UK EMPLOYMENT AT ITS HIGHEST SINCE RECORDS BEGAN: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reports that those in employment – that’s people between the ages of 16 and 64 – is at its highest since records began in 1971. It also says that average wages are rising a little slower than expected at 2% including bonuses. CPI (consumer price index) is at 0.3%, a mere 0.1% up on last month. PPI – producer price inflation – the price of goods bought and sold by UK manufacturers continues to fall. There’s lots on this, but here’s two links:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-35359689

and

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/february-2016/statistical-bulletin.html

MENTAL HEALTH WEEK: It’s a good time to consider whether, as employers, we’re watching closely enough the bottom line cost of absent staff. It’s estimated that the average is £554 per person per year. It’s also estimated that only 8% or UK businesses has a well-being strategy that supports the business’s wider organisational strategy. It’s no surprise then that 61% of businesses deal with health issues reactively, and that less than 40% of organisations know how much absence is costing. Here’s the CIPD’s executive summary of a full report on this issue:

http://www.cipd.co.uk/binaries/health-well-being-agenda_2016-first-steps-full-potential-exec-summary.pdf

And finally in this news roundup…

REPORTING THE GENDER PAY GAP: the Government has issued a consultation on its draft regulations for mandatory reporting of the pay gap between men and women in all private sector businesses with 250 staff or more. These regulations could come into force as early as October this year. This will be a statutory requirement, so any of us with 250 people or more, need to get up to speed with this issue. Here’s the Government’s consultation document – it is really quite short, so if this is going to apply to you, do have a read – and also have your say.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/500088/Mandatory_Gender_Pay_Gap_Reporting_Consultation.pdf

We hope you found these news items interesting – if you want to discuss them further, let us know. And do look out for THE HUB’S next issue of NEWSROUND – out in March.