Rhys Taylor-Brown

After the government announced the extension of the its coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and other self-employed schemes until the end of March 2021, by and large business leaders from across the country welcomed the decision to provide firms and individuals with more assistance but expressed some concerns over its long-term effects.

There has always been an element of debate as to how good leaders are created. Some may hold the view that good leaders are simply born with certain qualities which make them effective at what they do, some believe that leadership is something which is learned and that one can develop into a good leader throughout life. Others may feel there is some combination of both in play. However, in the eyes of Olivier Tsemo, CEO of Sadacca Ltd [The Sheffield and District African Caribbean Community Association], leadership is something that can be learned not necessarily by teaching, but by observing influential leaders of past and present, understanding them and their attributes, and using their example to develop oneself into a leader.

In our latest series of leadership quotations, we hear from prime minister Boris Johnson on devolution and the importance of the union, SNP leader in Westminster Ian Blackford on Scottish independence, Sir Keir Starmer addresses the decision to reinstate Jeremy Corbyn as a member of the Labour Party, Marie Brown MBE discusses the impact of Covid-19 on domestic abuse services, and Stephen Hurst and Mark Nind challenge the logic of the ongoing autumn lockdown.

London based online market research agency FlyResearch has been issuing weekly polls to its research panel of over 3000 people throughout the coronavirus lockdown in the UK, in order to project how the outbreak and the implementing of social distancing has been impacting the daily life of UK citizens.

LEADERSHIP ROUND-UP: Nigel Attwood joins national campaign, Tadpoles Nursery launches 'Light Up Lockdown' and Headteacher Sam Strickland of The Duston School praises his colleagues across the country

Gill Denham wrote an open letter on the pressures of educating in the time of Covid-19. The pressures faced by headteachers as the balance childrens health and childrens education while trying to keep all stakeholders informed and up to date steps taken.

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought with it a whole host of changes for British industry, and while it may seem that sustainability has increased with our heightened awareness over the effects of reduced transportation, the return of wildlife and reduced air pollution that have come about during this time, there has been one other significant consequence of the situation that warrants attention: more waste.

The hair, beauty and fitness industries are among those to have suffered the greatest hardship during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the knock-on effect of the sector’s woes is being felt by training providers who specialise in upskilling individuals to work within these industries. One such provider in Greater Manchester’s Vita Skills, a leading specialist in delivering first class training courses for the beauty, children and youth work, and fitness industries.

Confederate general Albert S. Johnston once said that morale is “faith in the man at the top”. As much as Richard Dorney, founder and director of Strongmind Resiliency Training, may align with that viewpoint, he considers faith in the leader to be just one of four aspects of morale as a whole that can be applied at a national level.

Founded in 1996 from a small office in southwest London, Mercanta The Coffee Hunters has grown into a business that sources a huge variety of outstanding coffees from 20 different producing countries.

Kindred is an advocacy organisation based in Edinburgh which works with families of children with disabilities and other additional support leads. Being an operation that is run entirely by a voluntary board of trustees and a dedicated staff team of volunteers, CEO Sophie Pilgrim is no stranger to the value of providing expertise and services on a pro bono basis.

With environmental considerations very much a priority for the UK, many industries are keen to play their part, and Brown & Tawse, a steel stockholder and distributor based in Dundee and across other sites in Scotland and northern England, is one business that has gotten off to a head start and been reshuffling its operations in recent years with the environment and the future in mind.

The construction sector is a key industry in the UK which does not come without its challenges. A shortage of both skilled and unskilled labour is a longstanding issue within the sector, with a reduction in the amount of new labour coming from the EU already apparent with the impact of Covid-19 combined with the looming full enactment of Brexit at the end of 2020.

The Covid-19 pandemic has been a challenging and sensitive time. Worldwide, around 38.6 million people have at some point been infected, with roughly 1.09 million fatalities as of October 15. However, while many countries have been forced to adjust to living under various types of restrictions, there are some positives that have emerged.

Foodservice contractor BonCulina has announced plans to expand its UK operations with the intention of increasing its market share in the £10 billion UK foodservice contractor market.