Janina Conboye

Culture and engagement are key to healthier staff

Firms must increasingly think of rewards beyond pay to compete for the best employees

BT is responsible for installing superfast broadband in millions of UK homes and businesses. But when it came to its own offices, the technology was not up to scratch. Meetings at its old City of London headquarters were regularly thwarted by bad connections. The technology “just didn’t make the grade”, according to the team within BT charged with finding and developing a new office site. BT is one of many businesses that have moved their workforces to new, more appealing premises as they encou…

UK charitable foundations with collective assets of more than £12bn are giving away only a small fraction to good causes each year, according to a think-tank analysis. Hundreds of grant-making trusts and foundations (GMTFs), including the Eranda Rothschild and Mikhail Khodorkovsky foundations, were identified in the research by Pro Bono Economics shared exclusively with the Financial Times. The analysis showed that if GMTFs distributed 3 per cent or more of their assets, this would generate at…

The bloodshed between Israelis and Palestinians has long divided the world, bringing people on to the streets in protest and splitting the international community. The Hamas-led attack of October 7, and Israel’s six-week campaign of retaliation in Gaza, has further polarised views, with harrowing scenes from Israel and Gaza dominating news and social media around the world. Yet the evolution of public opinion since the war has been far from predictable, or straightforward. From the US to Europ…

Ali Hall and Julie Lavington set up Sosandar, a UK online retailer of women’s fashion, in 2016. Within a few years, annual sales had grown to £42mn. But their latest growth initiative is not a refreshed digital marketing campaign or the recruitment of new social media influencers. It is shops: the two founders said in December they plan to open up to eight stores later this year in affluent towns. The rationale is clear: despite a boom in internet shopping in what was already one of the world’…

The Conservatives are heading into the next general election defending scores of seats with some of the worst waiting times for routine hospital treatment in England, according to a Financial Times analysis. The seats include constituencies with slim Tory majorities that the opposition Labour party expects to sweep, such as Bury North and Lincoln, as well as deep-blue safe seats held by cabinet ministers. The analysis underscores the political liability the NHS could pose for Prime Minister Ri…

Gaming at work, getting ahead with kindness, and putting workers first

Studies claim that fewer sick days would have stopped the country’s economy shrinking last year

EU governments’ belt-tightening plans come at a time when more investment is needed and growth is weak