UK businesses could pay up to £250,000 of annual leave post-COVID-19

As employees return to work, UK businesses are likely to face a backlog of annual leave requests that could cost thousands of pounds. By collecting data and analysing the average monthly salary at a baseline at £2,214 and at least 50% of employee annual leave owed, Coworking Specialists Instant Offices have calculated how much it would cost for companies of different sizes to pay staff for a minimum of two weeks of annual leave.

Ramping up critical thinking and managerial decision-making skills

“The rapidly changing world brought about by COVID-19 means leaders face many challenges, opportunities and dilemmas – never has there been a greater need to develop critical thinking, personal agility and managerial decision-making skills to help organisations survive and thrive.”

VC fundraising in a pandemic

We are in a state of an unprecedented global health crisis. Coronavirus has spread with similar speed and impact to an earthquake – with confirmed cases surpassing 5.5 million people in under six months’ time. Economically, according to IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva, the world is facing the ‘deepest recession since the 1930s Great Depression’.  A shock to the system, which has transformed the way we work, communicate and live. And fundraise. Last week a research by Plexal and Beauhurst revealed investment in UK tech startups has dropped by 50% year-on year. What should companies fundraising know, how to prepare and how has the VC landscape changed?

Nobody puts leadership in the corner
This article is part 6 of 7 in the series Here's looking at your leadership

OK, we admit it. We’re nuts about leadership. We could talk about it till the cows come home and then we’d settle them in for the night and tell them a bedtime story about it.

Meet The Hustle House
This article is part 7 of 7 in the series Here's looking at your leadership

Like many good things in life, The Hustle House started out over a couple of G&T’s. Free ones at that. Maybe it was because Fiona had her laptop out in a restaurant on a Friday night, or maybe it was because the waiter felt bad for seating them late. Whatever the reason, the free G&T’s set the tone for a discussion on possibilities, on the notion of leaving behind the comfort blanket of corporate life and taking the plunge into the start-up world.

Maximising energy efficiency

ÜberEnergy develops artificial intelligence algorithms that predict energy requirements for residential and commercial buildings. The artificial intelligence engine uses information such as weather patterns and forecasts, current indoor and outside temperature, human building occupancy, electrical usage patterns, along with a myriad of other data points collected by the system to produce predictions of future energy consumption requirements.

OLIO: The world’s first food sharing app

Waste not, want not. OLIO is the world’s first and currently the only neighbour-to-neighbour food sharing app to help ensure no food goes to waste.

Major changes in UK’s online behaviour since lockdown

The UK’s online behaviour has changed dramatically since the country was put into lockdown on March 23rd, with the consumption of adult content notably spiking at a 292% increase when the changes came into effect.

How can SME’s ensure that they are COVID-19 safe?

British shopkeepers sighed a breath of relief on Monday night as the Government announced lockdown restrictions will be lifted as of 15th June 2020, allowing non-essential retailers to reopen.

The Hustle Awards – nominations are now open!

Are you looking for the latest on the 2022, Hustle Awards? We have a website with all the details right here. 

 

Every issue, every event, practically every day we come across so many amazing startups, founders, teams and general amazing people. And although we love to champion and expose them as much as we possibly can through our magazine, we decided we wanted to do more to celebrate these people.

Why insurers are doing better than banks during COVID-19

In recent weeks, we have seen that the coronavirus pandemic is a catalyst for digital solutions. One might think that digital banks and digital insurers will benefit equally from this.

Future Fund launched for high growth startups

The government’s £500m Future Fund is now open for applications with innovative and high growth British businesses able to secure investment to help them through the COVID-19 outbreak. UK-based startups can now apply for a convertible loan of between £125,000 and £5m, to support continued growth and innovation in sectors as diverse as technology, life sciences and the creative industries.

WHO Director-General will address Collision from Home on COVID-19

Collision from Home announced that Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization will be speaking at Collision from Home on 23rd-25th June. The Director-General will be asked about COVID-19 and the fight against this unprecedented global pandemic from the unique viewpoint of the World Health Organization’s overarching access to the frontline.

Will the next generation of British manufacturing happen in Outer Space?

Space Forge, the organisation leading the space manufacturing revolution, has secured a £600k of funding package from the Development Bank of Wales, alongside Bristol Private Equity Club and Innovate UK. This funding will help the company continue developing their reusable manufacturing satellite, ramp up their capability in Newport, Wales and Bristol and build upon UK and European partnership schemes.

New DGGF funding for Dutch-African tech company Tunga

The world economy might be stopped in its tracks because of the coronavirus, but Dutch-African tech company, Tunga, is not. The organisation with a network of over 400 African software developers, has received a Dutch Good Growth Fund (DGGF) loan to build further capacity.

Scandit raises $80m to digitally transform traditional industries

Technology platform for mobile computer vision and augmented reality (AR) solutions for enterprises, Scandit, has announced that it has raised $80m in Series C related funding led by G2VP, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm of former Kleiner Perkins partners. They were joined by Atomico, GV, Kreos, NGP Capital, Salesforce Ventures and Swisscom Ventures. Scandit has previously raised $43m.

“How do I make my business post lockdown ready?”
This article is part 21 of 26 in the series Overheard at a startup...

After nine long weeks of lockdown, businesses are starting to re-open or, at least, planning to reopen in the near future. For some of the luckier ones this might be possible without having to make too many, or too onerous, changes. For others, the planning will need to be much mere detailed and the implementation will be much more complex.

4 cashflow tips to help you keep ahead

For many businesses, cash in the bank is often a concern especially during periods of uncertainty. Making sure you know exactly what’s going in and out and when has never been so important.

Health and wellbeing: Why it’s good to talk during a pandemic

There is nothing better than being able to walk out of the house to exercise in the park, the countryside or even to stroll by the sea. Just the ability to go outside gives us a new sense of perspective, and enables us to maintain our health and wellbeing.

5 ways to secure finance and plan how to use it during COVID-19

Over £7.25bn has now been paid to more than 40,500 businesses under the UK government’s Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS). More than 130,000 applications were also received for the newer Bounce Bank Loan Scheme (BBLS) on the first day of launch alone, with SMEs able to apply for between £2,000-£50,000.