EDITION 1035
2 SEPTEMBER 2024

On this day in 1666, the Great Fire of London swept through the city after starting in a Pudding Lane bakery in the early hours of Sunday morning. The fire would rage for five days, destroying more than half of London. A “controlled explosion” on a film set sparked a fire at the O2 over the weekend that was quickly brought under control by the London Fire Brigade. Experts say firefighting technology and modern building construction mean a blaze like the Great Fire is unlikely ever to occur again.

So, as another week slips by, here are 10 things which caught my attention and may have escaped yours. Please feel free to share on social media and forward to your colleagues and friends so they can also subscribe, learn and engage. I would be very grateful if you did.

Now that the final summer holidays are past, let’s work on improving our teams. September is the perfect time for team development and growth. So, before you dive in, remember our POTENTIAL workbook [see below] is on offer for only £99. This unique workbook will help guide your organisation to its highest potential. Contact us today to start your transformation.

William Montgomery
Editor and CEO of TEN

1. How to make the most of a bad job. Nearly everybody has suffered through a horrible job at some point. When we're unhappy at work, we tend to feel sorry for ourselves, and that's understandable - but there's a lot more we can do to relieve our misery than just dragging ourselves to work every day. If you're unhappy at work, you don't have to live with it, and you don't have to quit. READ MORE

2. Money supply tightens worldwide. Major central banks, including those in the US, UK, Europe and now Japan, are simultaneously reducing their bond holdings for the first time. The process, referred to as quantitative tightening (QT), is the reversal of the bond-buying programs used during times of economic strain. While necessary to combat inflation, QT presents a challenge for investors. However, central banks are now more prepared and willing to adjust their approaches if problems arise. The Bank of England has been particularly aggressive in selling bonds, while the Bank of Japan is just beginning its programme. Experts are watching closely for any signs of increased market volatility. Bloomberg

3.  Work stress and heart problems. Being under-appreciated by your boss is bad for morale - but it can harm your health, too. Office workers who feel overworked and undervalued are more likely to develop atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation causes the heart to beat irregularly, which can lead to dizziness, shortness of breath and tiredness, as well as increase the risk of a stroke. For the new study, conducted over nearly two decades, 5,926 white-collar staff with an average age of 45 answered questions about job strain (workload, deadlines and the like) and “effort-reward imbalance” – whether they were receiving enough recognition for their efforts. Over the course of 18 years, 186 developed atrial fibrillation. Analysis of the data showed employees who reported having a stressful job, while also being undervalued, were 97% more likely to be diagnosed with the condition than those with no such concerns. Journal of the American Heart Association

4. Airports are sticking with 100ml liquid rule. Air travellers who hoped the era of tiny toiletries was nearly over are facing fresh disappointment, as European airports re-introduce strict cabin bag rules. Some EU destinations had scrapped the 100ml limit for liquids being carried in hand luggage. But now, they must all bring it back due to a "temporary technical issue" with new security scanners. It follows a similar move by the UK earlier this summer. It means if you have been on holiday, you cannot buy a large bottle of suncream, perfume or a local tipple before you get to the airport and expect to carry it home in your hand luggage. So for the foreseeable future it's best for passengers to assume the old 100ml restrictions apply sand check the rules at both departure and return airports before travelling. BBC

5. The changing face of politics. Kemi Badenoch is the clear favourite among Tory party members to replace Rishi Sunak as leader, with 24% saying they’d vote for her. Tom Tugendhat is second, on 16%, followed by James Cleverly (14%), Robert Jenrick (12%), Priti Patel (11%), and Mel Stride (2%). Meanwhile, do you think it is acceptable or unacceptable for Kier Starmer to have the portrait of Margaret Thatcher removed from her former study in Downing Street? VOTE HERE

6. Winter fuel payments malaise. MPs return to Westminster on Monday from their month-long summer break. Starmer is promising a spate of flagship laws before Christmas relating to issues such as rail nationalisation and the establishment of a publicly owned energy company. Labour will also start deciding on the location of promised new towns. The party will hold its annual conference in Liverpool at the end of next month. Labour MPs have suggested they may vote against the means-testing of winter fuel payments if opposition parties succeed in forcing a debate. Some have suggested that it might be simpler, and fairer, to tax the payments rather than axe them. The Times

7. Learning German remains bleak. Interest in learning German as a foreign language has been in decline both in the EU and the UK, where languages aren't mandatory for ages over 14. Though the number of 14- to 16-year-old British students learning German slightly increased last year, it's lower than two years ago, and the number of 16- to 18-year-olds choosing German halved to less than 2,300 in 2024 compared to 10 years ago. A number of initiatives now aim to boost German language classes in the UK's public primary and secondary schools again, including a revived scholarship programme for prospective German teachers. With more than 95 million speakers, German is the EU's most widely spoken native language. It's the third-most spoken foreign language in the EU (10%) after English (47%) and French (11%), and before Spanish (7%). The Conversation

8. Perils of the ham sandwich. A ham sandwich a day could increase your risk of developing diabetes by 15%, a study has suggested. The analysis of the meat consumption of 1.97 million people who took part in 31 different research projects around the world revealed that for every 50g of processed meat eaten per day – two slices of ham or three rashers of bacon – the risk of developing type 2 diabetes over the next decade goes up by 15%, while 100g of red meat a day (the equivalent of a small steak) is associated with a 10% increase in risk. Poultry was also associated with higher risk, but to a smaller extent. The Lancet

9. The late Queen’s renowned sense of humour. The late Queen took part in thousands of engagements, and inevitably, some of the people she met slipped up on the protocol. A mayor of Wigan, for instance, was talking to Elizabeth II at an official lunch when he came to a halt and said: “I don’t know what to call you.” “You could call me Ma’am or you could call me Your Majesty,” she told him, “but it hardly matters as you’ve called me ‘love’ three times already.” The Times

10. The bottom line. The minimum amount that can be paid into a worker's pension should be raised from 8% to 12% over the coming years to plug the gender gap in the UK retirement funding. Currently, men will retire with an average pension savings of £205,000, but women will have an average of just £69,000. Reuters