Charlie Mullins

OP

Opinion 3 min read

Charlie Mullins: Business owners need to consider what the EU referendum will mean

While prime minister David Cameron may not have fired the official starter’s pistol for the EU referendum campaign in Switzerland, he did give businesses a 20-yard head start.

OP

Opinion 3 min read

Charlie Mullins: Sending Job Centre staff into classrooms would be brilliant

Iain Duncan Smith should be awarded a "common sense" gong for his completely logical, no-nonsense approach to getting good careers education to young people still in school before it's too late.

OP

Opinion 3 min read

“George Osborne’s apprentices” could return the UK to economic greatness

There is only one thing more certain than chancellor George Osborne’s assertion that we are now faced with a "cocktail" of threats from a tanking global economy; and it is that the best insurance policy against this sort of Armageddon in the future lies firmly with apprenticeships.

OP

Opinion 3 min read

Charlie Mullins: Prompt Payment Code needs to have power to fine offenders

Without doubt, one of the most frustrating things about running a business is dealing with late payments.

OP

Opinion 3 min read

Charlie Mullins: We are not machines and so deserve a little time out

Anyone who has passed Pimlico Plumbers’ HQ in London, or read my Twitter feed, will know I love Christmas. However, I’m the first to acknowledge the challenge the festive period has on business.

OP

Opinion 3 min read

Charlie Mullins: Apprenticeships work if your staff use a wrench or a keyboard

As regular Real Business readers will know, apprenticeships are at the top of my agenda. However, since the chancellor put the gloss on his Autumn Statement with the details of his apprenticeship levy, there is a real feeling that momentum is growing behind vocational training.

OP

Opinion 4 min read

Charlie Mullins: Apprenticeship levy is contribute and train, not tax and spend

I’m not sure if the chancellor is a British Bake Off fan, or can whip a mean carrot cake in the kitchen, but when it comes to the economy he used all the ingredients at his disposal to create an Autumn Statement cake that will taste incredibly sweet for so many people.

NE

News 3 min read

Charlie Mullins: Chancellor has a tightrope to walk with the Autumn Statement

Thanks to the efforts of those sitting in the House of Lords, the chancellor faces a tricky test when he steps up to the despatch box on Wednesday to deliver his Autumn Statement.

OP

Opinion 3 min read

Any firm with the opportunity to employ an older worker should grasp it with both hands

Albert Einstein famously once said, "the only source of knowledge is experience" and while I’d have a bit of trouble getting my head around some of Einstein’s mathematic equations, that’s a statement every Tom, Dick and Harry will understand and know it’s true.

OP

Opinion 3 min read

Charlie Mullins: Now ranked sixth best country for doing business, UK must tackle productivity

Being humiliated at major sporting events is nothing new to the England faithful, and you'd have thought we'd be immune to the inevitable disappointment by now, but watching the Kiwis lift the Webb Ellis Cup at Twickenham has to be a new low.