Rhys Taylor-Brown

After months of disruption, children are returning to the classroom this month as schools begin to reopen. This year’s ‘Back to School’ message is somewhat different to previous years, considering all the new procedures and advice on how children will need to adjust to the new normal.

For any aspiring leader, an effective strategy to improve one’s leadership skills is to actively listen to their team members and target audiences to encourage stronger communication and greater cohesion. For Zeenat Jeewa, the CEO of the Asian People’s Disability Alliance [APDA], listening to her workforce, staff, volunteers and those who benefit from her organisation’s services is an integral part of her own leadership style. Speaking on the Leaders Council podcast, Jeewa emphasises the need for leaders to positively engage with those around them, while prime minister Boris Johnson faces criticism for refusing to meet with campaigners representing families bereaved during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic coming as a challenging and sensitive time for so many people in the UK and wider world, a silver lining that has come about through the crisis in this country is a true sense of national unity, where all citizens have been pulling together in support of the NHS and many have contributed toward providing vital services to vulnerable people in their communities.

Alamo Group recently announced that its second quarter profits fell by 37 per cent compared to last year as the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic took hold, but the impact was offset by a $51.5 million reduction in debt and a 5.3 per cent backlog reduction compared to the second quarter of 2019.

For Joanne Tyler, owner and director of Essex-based legal firm Tyler Law, the Covid-19 pandemic has presented the most significant challenge of her career, putting her nigh twenty years of expertise in the legal sector to the ultimate test. Yet, from March to now, Tyler has shrugged off the initial fear of uncertainty and is now looking forward to a positive future for both her and the firm.

As schools in England and Wales brace themselves for the return of pupils on a full-time basis having worked hard to implement Covid-19 safety procedures, nursery schools, which adopt a much more hands-on approach with young children, are readying themselves for change.

The UKHospitality trade body has this week welcomed the launch of the Scottish government’s Hotel Support Scheme, while highlighting the need for further support for the industry from both Holyrood and Westminster.

Businessman and inventor Thomas Edison once said the greatest weakness of humans lies in giving up and that the “most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time”. It is the same idea of motivation and determination in one’s work that underpins the mentality of Ross Kennedy and QHi Group Ltd, the business he founded back in 1989.

It is often said that one learns more about themselves, their colleagues, and their business in times of adversity than when things are going smoothly. It is a view that is also shared by Melba Fisher, chairman and managing director of exclusive business club and network Business for Breakfast, who believes that leadership is often ignored when things are going well and then called into question in more testing times.

As has been the case for businesses all over the UK, Ye Olde Salutation Inn, a public house in Nottingham dating back to 1240 which lays claim to being the oldest in the city, has had to navigate the storm of the Covid-19 pandemic and chart its own course through troubled waters. Speaking on the Leaders Council podcast, director Jason Weston reflects on the business’ journey through the pandemic thus far, while prime minister Boris Johnson hinted at a future u-turn on guidelines over mask-wearing in England’s schools. Elsewhere, Ofqual chief Sally Collier has tendered her resignation following the exams controversy.

The latest models produced by racing-sportscar manufacturer Radical Sportscars will arrive in New Zealand before the end of August, with Auckland-based firm GB Motorsports announced as Radical’s first dealer in the country.

Rainham Industrial Services was recently awarded a gold medal award in the 2020 Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents [RoSPA] awards.

Beauty Kitchen UK Ltd has been shortlisted in two categories in Natural Health Magazine’s annual Natural Health International Beauty Awards.

The EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said that a post-Brexit trade deal between the bloc and the UK “seems unlikely” following the latest round of talks.

New Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross has said that he will not shy away from challenging Boris Johnson if he believes that the PM is not acting in the best interests of Scotland.