Life-bites.com

23/11/2023

What a gorgeous sky this morning…

09/07/2023

Lana Del Rey - Hyde Park bit late on stage!!!

09/06/2023

I have worked with and known Hannah for over 20 years, which is amazing considering we are still in our twenties!!! 🤣 todays lunch topics, fish farming, biodiversity, life, kids and Death in Paradise!!

08/02/2023

Freezing fog in London…

07/02/2023

Bit foggy this morning!!!

29/01/2023

Celebrating with the besties…

27/01/2023

Busy day in the newsroom - UK Chancellor sets out plans for growth - no tax cuts on the way…

21/01/2023

So you get more work done from home because you have no one to chat to then you go into the newsroom and you get more work done because you have no one to chat to - productivity 1 - social life 0

05/05/2022

Such an amazing advancement of the technology!

11/11/2021

Surely if one country can marry up development and progress with a reduction in emissions it should be possible for all?

09/11/2021

Tom Greatrex on BBC World Business Report this morning discussing the importance of a mix of nuclear and renewable energy for the UK's future.
We are expecting to hear that the UK government has approved funding for a fleet of 16 mini nuclear reactors to be built. The Rolls-Royce-led consortium have already secured £210m in private backing, which Downing street is expected to match. The Prime Minister hopes the move will help the UK reach his target of zero-carbon electricity by 2035. The plan is to build 16 small modular reactors around the country, the first of which could be supplying power by 2031.
Currently around 21% of Britain's electricity supply is provided by nuclear power. Thanks to Iolo James for organising.

09/11/2021

Gender inequality is a major factor in climate change, which will be the focus of discussions at COP26 today. Great to have Sheri Lim from Care International on World Business Report this morning.
Women around the world are disproportionately impacted by climate change, from employment, education and housing to the lack of senior female leadership roles in climate negotiations. With fewer women in political positions— globally, only 21% of government ministers are women— it’s perhaps not surprising that climate decisions are mostly made by men.
Care International say that climate change is making gender inequality worse, especially for the world’s poorest women and girls as 80% of people displaced by climate change are women. Many thanks to Nathan Speller for organising :)

03/11/2021

I wonder how many of us would choose a green bank account - one that doesn't use our money to invest in fossil fuels?

01/11/2021

Everyone can make a little difference, but its interesting to see how industries are adopting new technologies to combat their own impact on climate change.

26/10/2021

We sometimes forget our planet has finite resources...

21/10/2021

13/10/2021

13/10/2021

Great to have Loizos Heracleous on World Business Report on BBC World television this morning discussing the alternative space race!

William Shatner, the actor who played Captain Kirk in Star Trek is the latest celebrity to fly into space on the Blue Origin New Shepard rocket later today. (postponed from yesterday due to high winds) Sending Captain Kirk (William Shatner) into space is great for headlines, but as more people see space travel as achievable and safe, the more opportunities there are to monetise the arena. Elon Musk said that if you were to launch rockets routinely and reliably enough then space travel becomes like a commercial airplane. The alternative space race is now seeing venture capitalists queuing up to invest in the commercialisation of space, from satellites and refuelling stations to mining asteroids. Data from Space Capital shows there were 30 venture capital deals in the first half of 2021, investing nearly $15 billion into the sector.

12/10/2021

On World Business Report this morning, we were looking at the Climate Consensus with Kate Norgrove Executive Director of Advocacy and Campaigns at the WWF. Really interesting discussion on the publics views. A tax on polluting manufacturers, universal access to electric vehicle charging points and increased air fares are just a few of the choices the UK population are urging the Government to put in place in order to tackle climate change. The wishes of the public go even further than the UK’s current 2030 emissions targets and say if the Prime Minister follows these policies it would avoid economic pressure on the lowest income families. The findings are delivered in the Climate Consensus, a joint report from The World Wildlife Fund for nature and Demos. The report says that if the UK Government enacted the policies within the report, the UK’s emissions in 2030 could be reduced by 42% compared to 2019 – higher than the UK government's current 39% target.

12/10/2021

Always great to have Sharmila Whelan, Deputy Chief Economist at Altheia Capital on World Business Report this morning to look ahead to the IMF global outlook report (out later this afternoon). ‘Hobbling with stones in our shoes’, that’s how the head of the IMF has described the global economy which has been hit by supply chain problems, rising inflation and vaccine inequality. The IMF is expected to revise down its outlook from 6% growth in 2021 when it releases its global growth report later today.

Concern amongst experts is that the global economy is much weaker than anticipated with rising inflation on the verge of forcing central banks to act now and reduce their pandemic stimulus measures.

07/10/2021

Interesting insight from Jonathan Robinson from Frost Sullivan on the current energy crisis and the rising price of natural gas.
Does Russia hold the key to the current energy crisis? Russian President Vladimir Putin has now agreed to boost gas supplies to Europe and says it will act to stabilise the market and rising prices. Russian gas sales to the EU are expected to hit a new record this year as a result.
The continuing rising prices are adding to the pressure on the energy sector, this winter looks set to be a very hard one. The natural gas supply from Russia has been much lower than this time last year as the country reduced the supply through the Ukraine. The gas flow from Norway is also at its lowest level in ten days. Russia has now started to fill its Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline which it says will help to alleviate the surge in energy prices across Europe when it comes online.

06/10/2021

Who wants to be a billionaire, in this current economic climate I am sure many people would say yes to that question. Kerry Dolan from Forbes explained who the current winners and losers are in the wealth game on BBC World's World Business Report programme.

Throughout the pandemic, we repeatedly heard stories of businesses struggling and workers put on furlough or losing their jobs. But there were undoubtedly some winners, not least Jeff Bezos, the former Amazon CEO saw his personal fortune rise to $201 billion dollars.

The elite members of The Forbes 400 are in fact doing better than ever and saw their bank balances rise to a record breaking collective sum of $4.5 trillion dollars.

(Forbes Releases 40th Annual Forbes 400 Ranking of the Richest Americans)

06/10/2021

Is the UK heading for a ‘high skill, high wage’ economy? The Prime Minister Boris Johnson has set out his vision for the UK saying that cheap labour from overseas has allowed businesses to avoid investing in their workforces. Great to have Suren Thiru, head of economics at the British Chambers of Commerce on World Business Report on BBC World television to discuss how businesses feel about the PM's views.

Speaking at the Conservative party conference in Manchester, Mr Johnson said the country is at a 'turning point' as businesses are weaned off cheap labour after Brexit, he said this moment is a 'giant waking up', which is not surprising for a global economy that is in recovery and 'sucking in demand'.

06/10/2021

Great to hear the views of Alison Capper from British Apples and Pears on World Business Report on BBC World television, discussing the current shortage of fruit pickers in the UK which is leading many growers to consider letting the produce rot in the fields. Even if businesses are able to pick the crops, the shortage of lorry drivers is adding to the problem of getting the fruit into stores. But British fruit growers are determined to protect their industry and get the public to buy British in order to cut down on ‘food miles’ and make the industry more sustainable. Many say the sector is facing a perfect storm this Autumn with problems in the supply chain, a lack of lorry drivers to transport the goods and a shortage of fruit pickers to get the crops from the orchards. British Apples and Pears (BAPL) has today announced the launch of its sustainability report to address the current crisis.

06/10/2021

Fiona Hathorn, CEO of Women on Boards UK, explained why gender pay gap reporting should be prioritised by businesses on World Business Report on BBC World television. Firms are being told they must prioritise addressing the gender pay gap issue within the workforce or face enforcement action from today. This includes all public, private and voluntary sector employers. The move was postponed through the pandemic, but with women more likely to work in sectors shut down by coronavirus or have been furloughed, the Equality and Human Rights commission says firms must act now or face the consequences. Latest UH figures show that just over 5,000 employers out of the 12,500 affected have reported their gender pay gap figures.

06/10/2021

Great insight from Ian Khan - The Futurist on World Business Report on BBC World television. As the popularity of crypto currency increases, governments and central banks around the world are keeping a watchful eye on its adoption. While the US refuses to accept it as legal tender, China has gone one step further and banned all crypto-related operations as “illicit financial activities” which could result in criminal charges. At the other end of the spectrum, El Salvador has made it their official currency. As part of the Global Financial stability report, the IMF is about to release it’s chapter on ‘The Crypto Ecosystem and Financial Stability Challenges’.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has criticised athe technology, stating that the cryptocurrency ecosystem is not without substantial risks.

01/09/2021

Yesterday, my work horse of a printer finally gave up the ghost. Throughout lockdown, it was relentlessly printing out home schooling documents, images for artwork masterpieces and timetables to make sure we didn't forget the series of zoom meetings and classes.

But while I was researching to find out the next best option to buy, it got me thinking if we really need a printer anymore? Everything is or can be stored in the cloud, so why devastate forests for reams of printing paper and buy coloured ink at exorbitant costs?

Certain situations do call out for a physical document, but when you think about it, more often than not sharing and collaborating online is a much more environmentally friendly option. Maybe I will banish my old printer to the loft - it will be a collectors item someday!

Yesterday, my work horse of a printer finally gave up the ghost. Throughout lockdown, it was relentlessly printing out home schooling documents, images for artwork masterpieces and timetables to make sure we didn't forget the series of zoom meetings and classes. But while I was researching to find o...

18/08/2021

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18/08/2021

Give yourself a fighting chance by putting the right fuel into your engine!!

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11/05/2021

There is such a thing as a ‘good’ fat. Fats get a bad rap, if you choose the right ones your body will thank you!! Sign up for our newsletter www.life-bites.com