Rachael McKelvey

• Generosity across the globe grows
• Putting people back behind the tills
• Stagnation nation
• Lights, camera, action (again)
• AmsterDAMN British tourists

Generosity across the globe grows
It’s not all doom and gloom, but I can understand why you might think that, but this week the Charities Aid Foundation released their World Giving Index for 2023 and the old finance business partner for 2 very different donations office dies hard, it was always interesting to see how the land was laying, especially in times of other factors of economic uncertainty and kind of reminds you people are good.

The key findings of the report are that the increased giving seen during the pandemic has endured, even as the cost-of-living crisis starts to bite, a whopping 72% of the worlds population supported others, which equates to 4.2 billion people putting their hand in their pockets, helping a stranger or giving their time.

For the sixth year in a row Indonesia ranks as the most generous nation, followed by Ukraine (yes, that one) and Kenya, the UK didn’t make the top ten most generous countries, we made 17th, but we did rank 3^rd for donating money from their pockets, 58^th for volunteering and 112^th for helping a stranger, which tracks)

The metrics on why people give are interesting, migrants give more than nationals, religion and life satisfaction also play significant roles in people’s desire to give. The policy change recommendations are really straightforward and would make a massive difference to giving in the UK, but alas, we do not live in those times.

Putting people back behind the tills
Never did I think I would get to have a self-indulgent moment about Booths on the blog, I am living for this. For those unfamiliar with Booths, it often gets hailed as ‘northern Waitrose’ but it’s so much better than Waitrose, it’s not full of southerners for a start and secondly the customer service is just beyond compare. I hate food shopping and check outs and am self-service till I die unless it’s a Booths.

Who as it turns out have accounted this week, they are axing almost all of the self-service checkouts in favour of returning to fully staffed tills at all bar two of their stores to enhance their customer service following customer feedback. The company stated “We believe colleagues serving customers delivers a better customer experience and therefore we have taken the decision to remove self-checkouts in the majority of our stores.

The family run business operates 28 stores across Lancashire, Yorkshire and Cheshire after opening their first store in Blackpool in 1847 with the philosophy to “sell the best goods available, in attractive stores, staffed with first class assistants”.

Stagnation nation
It’s no great surprise that off the back of 14 raises in interest rates by the Bank of England that the UK economy has failed to grow at all between July and September, despite the economy still doing better than expected. The figures from the Office for National Statistics said the latest growth figures showed a lacklustre picture across all sectors of the economy.

Higher interest rates are meant to reduce inflation, but it also means people reduce their spending because things are more expensive to borrow money and if you’re in a position to save that’s probably what you’re doing over spending right now, unless you to think existence is hard and you deserve a little treat for even the most basic of task. It’s me, hi, I’m the problem it’s me.

The Chancellor, the very safe hands of, Jeremy Hunt really wants to spin this into a positive and good on him, all eyes will be on his Autumn Statement in less than a fortnights time, where all eyes, specifically the those currently in his party looking for something to offer the electorate on the doorstep, will be on him to offer up some tax reduction somewhere. I suspect all will be disappointed as Hunt has made it clear that business tax cuts would take priority over personal tax reductions.

Lights, Camera, Action (again)
The writers strike is OVER! After 118 days of strikes a tentative agreement has been raised between SAG-AFTRA and Hollyood’s biggest studios and streamers meaning that as of Thursday this week just gone 160,000 members of the union can return to work with the three-year contract making “a long-term difference for the future of our members in this industry” said Sag-Aftras chief negotiation Duncan Crabtree-Ireland.

The deal approved with 86% of the unions vote is worth over a whopping $1 billion with an increase in basic pay for background workers, streaming bonuses for successful shows, more rights protection from AI, a greater requirement for makeup and hairstyling to include experts in diverse hair and skin types and for the first time the requirement to hire intimacy co-ordinators to support actors with nudity and sex scenes.

Actors are thrilled and with the Writers’s Guild of America strike that concluded in September it’s an exciting time to see what is going to be back with a bang with Deadpool, The Last of Us, Avatar and Mission Impossible all halted due to the strikes. But those are films and as such of no great interest to me, but it does mean The White Lotus can resume, which is brilliantly exciting with showrunner, Mike White, confirming that season three will likely take place in Thailand!
 

AmterDAMN British tourists
I cannot imagine why any country would not want brits abroad at all, said no one ever, Amsterdam appear to have successfully deterred British tourists with new figures showing that visitors from the UK were down 22% on prepandemic level of 2019. 

Amsterdam wished to reduced “overtourism” so stopped promoting the city and then actually launched a “digital discouragement campaign” called “Stay Away” that “focuses on nuisance tourists who want to come to Amsterdam to let loose, with all the consequences that entails.” Primarily aimed at the Brits between the ages of 18 and 35. The Red Light District is obviously a huge draw alongside the ability to drink beer and smoke weed. The adverts are brutal and well worth a watch. 

The campaign has also involved a cap on the flights into the city’s airport. This was implemented to improve the wellbeing of residents and the environment but also helps significantly reduce the amount of antisocial behaviour from brits aboard.

Current watch:  Fingernails – So apparently I watch films now, no one is more surprised than me on that one but someone says ‘Rachael, it’s a bit weird, I think you’ll really like it’. Well it was pretty weird and I did really like it, Jessie Buckley and Riz Ahmed are perfect for a slight sci fi romance. It’s not sickly sweet by any stretch of the imagination but it feels like love in an alternative present. The Love Institute tests to see if a couple is really in love by use of a fingernail bio sample, yes to determine true love the cost of admission is 1 fingernail, which probably seems a lot less low stakes than trying to work it out yourself. It’s clever and subtle and redeemed solely by the quality of acting.

Current read: How to deal with angry people – Dr Ryan Martin – Known on TikTok as ‘The Angry Professor’ this book provides 10 strategies for facing anger at home, at work and in the street. Rudeness has been on the rise so it’s no great surprise that anger and aggression are also on the rise, especially after the pandemic. The book is based on years of research and clinical practice and the book explores what impacts an angry personality and offers practical advice on how to deal with them, they can’t always be avoided. I found this book extremely interesting and likely very useful, probably for acknowledging the anger in others as well as probably myself. If there is anyone in your life that resonates with an angry personality, then this book really will help navigate those moments in your relationship.

Most Impactful Listen: The Bunker – Kicking and streaming: Can Spotify survive? – When you think about streaming services you probably think first about Spotify and you’d struggle to argue it doesn’t dominate in the music industry, but not only do artists struggle to make money from the platform so does the platform itself. Host Andrew Harrison is joined by music business and tech journalist Dr Eammon Forde to talk about the streaming platforms future. This was an interesting, almost forensic, analysis of the state of play of streaming services and the future, while Spotify is on track to meet its target of 1 billion users by 2027 is the model sustainable? Definitely worth a listen.