Oil has been the single most important factor in human civilization’s meteoric rise over the last 150 years. Our modern way of life would simply not be possible without it, not just for transport and energy but also for great technological leaps forward, such as the development of plastics. Thus, it is no great surprise that nations have gone to war to secure and find this precious resource.
Insight
Number of Banking Merger and Acquisitions Deals Hit Over 1,300 in 2020, More than in 2018 and 2019 Combined
The year 2020 was a record year for the number of mergers and acquisitions in the global banking sector.
According to data presented by Finaria.it, the number of banking merger and acquisition deals hit over 1,300 last year, more than in 2018 and 2019 combined.
Vattenfall – Highest Score Possible For its Sustainability Performance
Vattenfall’s sustainability work is of highest quality, Platinum, according to a rating from EcoVadis, a leading source of corporate sustainability evaluation. This strengthens Vattenfall´s position as one of the most sustainability-oriented companies in the energy sector being ranked the top 1 percent among 75,000 companies.
Creating Autonomous Transport Systems
Creating autonomous transport systems is hard enough but proving that the system is safe to customers and legislators is proving as great a challenge, says Dr. Luca Delgrossi, Head of Technology at Volvo Autonomous Solutions.
“Developing vehicles that can travel anywhere on their own is the jackpot that many manufacturers are chasing. It’s the moonshot or nothing – and that dream is blinding people to just how difficult achieving that aim is. In 2012 some companies were announcing that by 2017 there would be autonomous cars on the road. Here we are in 2021 and these cars are nowhere to be seen. And the hype is still dominating the reality: as an industry we are making good progress, but the expectations are still too high.”
How UK Companies Have Prepared for Cross-Border Payments Post-Brexit
How UK Companies Have Prepared for Cross-Border Payments Post-Brexit
The transitional period that has kept the United Kingdom attached to the European Union expired on the 31st of December. Although both sides managed to negotiate the new trade deal, there is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding the agreement. Marius Galdikas, CEO at ConnectPay, has shared insights on a pre-exit strategy some of the UK’s market players’ executed beforehand seeking to remain in the EU regulatory framework.
ConnectPay, an online banking service provider, has been working closely with a few UK-based firms. Marius Galdikas, CEO at ConnectPay, has shared that even before the new trade deal was announced, their UK partners had started establishing out-of-country entities in order to remain inside the European Union’s regulatory framework. This, along with the following of new rules for the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) payments shows UK’s companies’ aim to retain a strong connection to the EU market.
Trade Up
We talk pandemics, Trade Finance and the potential Euro Exim bank can offer with Graham Bright
Head – Compliance and Operations
NEE: Trade finance is at the core of Euro Exim Banks (EEB) portfolio of products and services. Last year was full of possibilities, with speed, reliability and security at the core of the banks trade finance offering. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has had far reaching consequences, altering the goods consumers want, the goods they need and what defines luxuries and necessities. How has this impacted what your customers want and what solutions you can offer?
Graham Bright: Covid-19 has decimated some business, but has also presented many opportunities for companies, as international trade continues, even with difficulties obtaining finance and currency. At EEB, we are seeing an increase in the amount of proposed business in our target markets as many of the larger banks are not currently able to support smaller corporates. With a diverse team geographically, currently represented in 24 countries, we have seen an explosion of interest, traffic and proposals coming our way as we offer very competitive rates, a unique, trusted service with gearing for repeat business.
Where competitors are retracting, we have increased our headcount in our international offices. At the beginning of 2020 in Chennai, India, our affiliate office had 50 people. Now we employ 150 people there, at a time where Covid-19 uncertainty and cost cutting generally has meant major banks laying off significant number of staff.
The Anatomy Of A Great Strategic Leader, And How To Replicate It!
Narendra Laljani was a very good teacher. He taught strategic analysis to executives for many years. But at the back of his mind lay a nagging doubt: was he teaching the real ingredients of strategic success?
‘Despite all the positive feedback I received, I became increasingly uneasy about the relevance and effectiveness of the frameworks and models I was advocating, and I had a realisation that some of the great brands had not necessarily followed the pathways I was then promoting.’ Narendra recognised that he had to develop his own distinctive point of view, and undertook his doctorate, with a thesis based around the real experience of strategic thinkers who had proved themselves to be successful business leaders.
Published in 2008, Making Strategic Leaders surprised even Narendra by the number of copies it sold, and it quickly became clear that he was onto something.
However, Narendra never intended the thesis to be anything other than an academic study, describing it as ‘turgid and inaccessible’, so he set about distilling it down into the more user-friendly set of ideas that now forms the basis of the Executive Management Programme (EMP), the advanced senior executive leadership development programme at Henley Business School, of which he is the Programme Director.
Corona capacity calculation – New search tool helps planners create safe & socially-distanced events
Hamburg Convention Bureau, together with MICECLOUD Solutions, has launched a free tool that calculates the required room size in line with new Covid-19 regulations
Event planners and service providers now have a simple and free tool at their fingertips to discover the most suitable venues in Hamburg to enable a safe and socially distanced event.
Hamburg Convention Bureau’s has worked with MICECLOUD Solutions to add a new Coronavirus criteria to their venue search website, Micebooking.com. When searching for an event space, visitors to the site can click to apply the corona capacity calculation – this filters the venue options in line with current social distancing regulations, providing planners with a definitive list of spaces that will comfortably – and safely – host their chosen number of particpants. This new tool on Micebooking.com gives planners piece of mind that their chosen venue is the best fit – and safest option – for their meeting or event.
Kai Dieterich, interim head of the Hamburg Convention Bureau’s Conventions division, explains how the tool will provide important support for the events industry: “Conference rooms which previously hosted 1,000 people can now only hold a fraction of that amount due to current regulations. We introduced the corona capacity calculation to help planners make informed and safe choices for their event and also give location operators a valuable platform to showcase their venues. This is a tool which we’ll develop and update in line with guidelines – we can react quickly if distance regulations change, saving location operators and planners plenty of work”.
Stefanie Lemmermann from MICECLOUD Solutions GmbH, adds: “Together with the Hamburg Convention Bureau, we hope that the new service on our platform Micebooking.com will help make an important contribution to the city and its venues.”
In addition to this new search tool, the Hamburg Convention Bureau team is working intensively behind the scenes with key industry players to develop a business events re-launch timetable. The organisation is leading various working groups to deal with topics such as implementation recommendations for events, implementation of hygiene measures and hybrid event formats – all in order to prepare the city’s conference industry for the new business reality.