Friday High Five – what’s been in the news this week

The circus rolled into town this week.

While the General Election campaign has dominated the domestic news agenda this week, it was actually parts of the business world that have been reduced to a series of undignified sideshows.

Politics and running the country is a serious business that has been reduced to a clown show by the antics of liars and charlatans of recent years.

The contortions of politicians to describe their personal histories has triggered a few laughs this week. Though the Sky TV studio audience chuckled when Sir Keir Starmer mentioned that his Dad was a toolmaker and his mum was a nurse, I bet there were people watching who didn’t know that.

He also emphasised his commitment to public service in answer to a cheeky prompt for an anecdote about himself.

Labour’s cautious manifesto launch at the Co-operative HQ in Manchester was broadly welcomed by the business leaders who we were in touch with this week. Hopefully it’s the start of a new seriousness and that the country can have grown ups in charge again.

However, this was also the week where private equity became a meme, after Rishi Sunak’s hasty and ill-judged departure from the D-Day commemorations, where someone posted a graphic with Sunak’s face on a film poster with the caption – Saving Private Equity.

It shows that the private equity sector still has some way to go to change perceptions of its positive contributions to the economy, despite huge lobbying efforts, which we’ve covered on our Rainmakers platform.

Any football supporter who has sat at the sidelines as their club goes through a takeover will know that all kinds of chancers emerge from the ether. Neil Hodgson has been doing a great job of casting a critical and forensic eye on Everton’s suitors, and the source of their supposed wealth.

Finally, Matthew Moulding of THG couldn’t help himself this week with a swipe at his rebellious shareholders saying his dogs have more shares than them.

He might be about to find out at the forthcoming AGM whether they bark or bite.

Have a great weekend. 

 

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