EDITION 1017
29 APRIL 2024

Good morning

From communication and conflict management to adaptability and strategic thinking, soft skills are sought after by employers as the building blocks of effective teamwork and organisational success. In last week's poll, most of our readers agreed, citing positive attitude, adaptability and communication as the top three soft skills to have. Organisation was considered the least important soft skill from the list of options presented. You can view the poll result below. With the government considering a ban on selling smartphones to the under 16s, this week we ask if this is a good idea. Please vote and share your views in item six below.

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.

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 deal with difficult people. Sometimes, difficult people are not so easy to recognise. A situation can make a person difficult. Someone who refuses to budge an inch from their stance or opinion can create a miserable workplace atmosphere. READ MORE

2. UK stocks soar but with caveats. The FTSE 100 index of the UK's largest publicly-listed companies hit a record high, surpassing its previous peak in February 2023. The index has gained about 4% this year, lagging behind other European indices, but optimism surrounding Britain's economic recovery has fuelled the recent rally. However, the FTSE 100's record high doesn't hold up when viewed in dollar terms, euro terms, market cap terms, equal-weighted terms, daily volume terms or real terms. Just five stocks have contributed 90% to the performance of the FTSE 100 year-to-date, including Shell, AstraZeneca, HSBC, BP and Rolls-Royce. Financial Times

3. New defence spending plans for Britain. Rishi Sunak has promised to put Britain's defence industry "on a war footing" as he promised to boost defence spending. The plan to ramp up defence spending will be the biggest boost in a generation. Speaking during a visit to Poland, the prime minister unveiled £75 billion in new funding that will take the defence budget to 2.5% of the UK's GDP - £87 billion a year - by 2030. Sunak said the plan would make Britain "by far the largest defence power in Europe" and would serve to "show our enemies that we are resolute and determined".  Sunak's defence spending plans have been welcomed by NATO. Government officials said the defence boost would partly be funded by plans to reduce the size of the civil service, saving some £2.9 billion. Bloomberg

4. Tax the wealthy to solve global problems. Germany, Spain, Brazil and South Africa have called for a minimum 2% tax on the wealth of the world's 3,000 billionaires, in a bid to help fight poverty, inequality and climate change. The four G20 countries say such a tax would boost public funds by around €290bn (£250bn), enough to cover damage caused by all the extreme weather events of 2023. The income gap between the top 10% of society and the bottom 50% has nearly doubled in the past 20 years, the finance ministers of the four countries said in an opinion piece in the Guardian. A key instrument at governments' disposal for promoting equality is tax policy, they wrote. The 2% levy would only apply to billionaires who currently contribute a "fair share in income taxes", the ministers said. The suggestion will be discussed at G20 meetings in June and July. France has shown support for such a tax and the US has not opposed it. The Guardian

5. Two million Britons suffer long COVID symptoms. Two million people across England and Scotland are still suffering from long COVID symptoms. Of those, 381,000 have had their day-to-day activities limited a lot, according to an official study published on Thursday. Britain's Office for National Statistics said 3.3% of people surveyed between Feb. 6 and March 7 reported having COVID symptoms that had lasted more than four weeks since an initial infection and were not explained by another medical condition. This was up slightly from the 2.9% of people who reported long COVID in a similar ONS survey in March 2023 which covered the whole United Kingdom, although the ONS said the two surveys' methods were not exactly comparable. Reuters

6. Almost a quarter of 5-7 year-olds have a smartphone. Nearly a quarter of UK five-to-seven-year-olds now have their own smartphone, Ofcom research suggests. Social media use also rose in the age group over last year with nearly two in five using messaging service WhatsApp, despite its minimum age of 13. The communications regulator warned parental enforcement of rules "appeared to be diminishing." It also said the figures should be a "wake up call" for the industry to do more to protect children. In its annual study of children's relationship with the media and online worlds, Ofcom said the percentage of children aged between five and seven who used messaging services had risen from 59% to 65%. With ministers considering a ban on selling smartphones to under 16s, do you think this is a good idea? Please share your thoughts in our latest poll. VOTE HERE

7. Grocery price rises in Great Britain slow. Grocery price inflation in Great Britain has slowed to 3.2%, the lowest since November 2021, as the cost of toilet rolls, butter and milk fell and people spent more on store promotions. The decline in the four weeks to 14 April marked the 14th monthly drop in a row and compares with an annual rate of 4.5% this time last month, according to the retail analysts Kantar. The slowdown in grocery inflation was aided by a big increase in promotional spending, with items bought on offer making up 29% of supermarket sales – the highest level outside Christmas since June 2021. Overall take-home grocery sales rose by about 3%. The Guardian

8. Young losing their IQ advantage over old. Research suggests the cognitive performance gap between young and old is shrinking, partly due to stalled IQ gains in each new generation. Traditionally, younger adults outperformed older ones in cognitive functions like short-term memory. The Flynn effect, where IQ scores rose with each generation due to education and health improvements, once widened the gap. But the results of research conducted by Nottingham Trent University suggest diminishing intellectual decline, meaning "the average older person today is cleverer than the average older person was in 1980”, said the study lead. The Telegraph

9.  Warmer weather at last. As a chilly April wraps up, the Met Office predicts a shift to warmer temperatures more typical of spring. This month's persistent rain and grey skies contributed to unusually cold conditions, but from Wednesday south-east England could see temperatures in the mid to high teens, possibly nearing 20C later in the week. While central and western England may experience the highest temperatures, regional variations are expected, with coastal areas slightly cooler. Daily Star

10. The bottom line. Britain's VAT rules have long triggered confusion and debate – not least about biscuits and cake – yet the tax is one of the top three money-makers for HMRC. First introduced in 1973, Value Added Tax (VAT) on goods and services brought in £168 billion to the Treasury last year. And while VAT rates have been described as "mysterious" and "absurd", the duty remains central to the government's tax-and-spend plans. BBC