The recent Platinum Jubilee celebrations started me thinking about the connections between our Queen and other members of the royal family with another source of power, prestige, and stability in the UK – the Lloyd’s insurance market. Lloyd’s had humble origins as a coffee shop, before evolving over time into one of the most well-respected…

EC3 is not what it was And that is largely because Covid-19 Felt but not seen Wreaked havoc. Leadenhall Market held tight Joining us all in the fight But at what cost To this pandemic host? Now it struggles from darkness to light. Bishopsgate bears all the signs Of retail hit by decline Shops closed…

In the office, many of my colleagues have noticed several strange affectations of mine. I struggle with eye contact, frequently apologise, and perhaps most curiously, often cover my face with my tie in a paradoxically very noticeable effort to avoid being seen. Many of these qualities are things that I have done for years; at…

One of the most recent regulations the Government has introduced is ‘The Calorie Labelling (Out of Home Sector) (England) Regulations 2021.’ To you and me, that means putting calorie information on menus. This has been met with a resounding ‘no’ from the court of public opinion, in large part owing to the potential to reignite…

The slap was heard around the world, on 28 March 2022, as comedian Chris Rock was struck across the face by actor Will Smith during the Oscars awards ceremony after Rock insulted Smith’s wife’s alopecia. The open-handed strike sparked controversy across the internet, with many debating the efficacy of Smith’s decision. Was it assault? Was…

Until six months ago – quite probably until six weeks ago – it seems fair to say that very few people in the UK knew much about Ukraine. Those with relatives or friends would of course have known more about the country, a well-informed few might have visited, avid news followers might have been aware…

This weekend, Hugh Grant told Nigel Farage to ‘go **** yourself’. You may indeed be able to think of 100 reasons for this barb, but it was actually the actor’s response to a new political movement, Britain Means Business, established by Farage, which campaigns for a referendum on the Government’s planned ‘net zero’ policy to…

Today is World Book Day, a day dedicated to the love of books and shared reading. Its mission is to promote reading for pleasure, offering every child and young person the opportunity to have a book of their own. The UK has been recognising this day since 1997 and in recent years, children have been…

How are you commuting to the office these days – if you are?  When lockdown and other Covid19 restrictions eased last year and we started creeping back to the office, I began trying to cycle in once a week.  I’m not particularly fast but it gives me some exercise, time to think and opportunity to…

One of the biggest challenges for start-ups is to overcome a mindset which perceives that they don’t need to spend time and money on branding at the outset. Many new businesses understandably put all their effort in developing their offering but wait too long to think of themselves as a brand. They skip the most…

In 2017, a small group of public relations professionals in England launched the ‘Apology Clause’ campaign. They say that: “the law, lawyers and insurers should make it easier for businesses and organisations to apologise when they have made a mistake”. The logic is that when something goes wrong, most people just want to hear an…

As my first job since graduating, I had no idea what to expect when starting work at Haggie Partners. Due to COVID-19, I was interviewed, began work and completed my three-month probation all without physically meeting any of my new colleagues, let alone stepping foot inside an office. It was certainly surreal starting my first…

2021 has been something of a rotten year for the media baby boomers who have dominated coverage of UK news for the past few decades. We can look forward to a 2022 with considerably different media faces. We are able to boast such a huge range of talent in British newspapers and British news and…

“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” I trust it’s not too hyperbolic for me to state that everyone loves trees. They’re pretty special. A tree provides respite from overwhelming heat and, a more common sight in England, shelter from sustained downpours. Who doesn’t…

So, there we have it, it’s nearly November, we’ve been back to ‘normal’ for two months now, and everything’s back to how it was. Really? Nonsense. If normal means commuting, being in the office, going ‘out’ and wearing masks a little less often, then it is indeed normal. But for me, the changes have been…

London is a treasure trove of hidden historical oddities. However, the Spike, located at the south-eastern corner of London Bridge, is admittedly more hidden in plain sight than it is conventionally tucked away. You might have walked by it on the way to the City, or given it a cursory glance as you legged it…

September always sees me yearning to go out and buy a new pencil case, sharpen some shiny new pencils, have a haircut and invest in a new wardrobe. There is something about that feeling of it being a new start – a new “term” – that has stuck with me even (many) years after leaving…

Colour is everywhere. It’s such an intrinsic part of our day-to-day experiences. If you take the time to assess your emotional response to colour, you might discover that certain colours affect and influence your behaviour more than you think. Take a logo; it can be made up of several elements such as shapes, symbols, and…

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will go down in history as one of the most unusual and perhaps memorable Olympic Games of our time. Not only was it postponed for only the fourth time since 1896, the others being delayed because of World War I and II, but it saw a number of firsts and…

Over the next six months we’re likely to see a boom in M&A activity as the economy starts to recover post-pandemic. A lot of companies anticipated the financial fallout from the global coronavirus pandemic and have seen the size of their war chest increase. And with interest rates at a record low, we could see…

Rowena Nelson, Haggie Partners operations director, offers some words of wisdom on how to ensure your cover letter stands out. But not too much! We all know that applying for jobs is hard. CVs, application forms, aptitude tests, virtual interviews now making it harder than ever to judge the culture of an organisation – there…

The word ‘environment’ seems such a weighty one at the moment. By association, one might think of aspects of the natural world or the various ecological populations that span the earth, but for others it might spark a different feeling – perhaps one of controversy or negativity, a stigma, if you will. In recent years,…

Mobile phone contracts are relatively short compared to the actual lifespan of a smartphone. Next time you’re due an upgrade, might you simply consider replacing the battery? You’ll not only save money but also help save the planet. Like all objects your smartphone has a carbon footprint. That tiny device you hold between your hands…

It’s easy to see why people often misunderstand the word ‘rebrand’. Most people would consider a name change, a new logo or different design to be a rebrand, but a brand is so much more than these visual elements. When people talk about “brand,” they often mean “brand identity”. A company’s brand identity is different…