Standardisation, compliance and the simple ‘Get out of Jail Free card’ that could help your company avoid a £60,000 fine

With less than a month to go before the new code of practice for Right to Work comes into full legal effect, UK employers are being warned that a simple administrative slip-up could now cost a business up to £60,000 per illegal worker.

Speaking on the Recruitment Reimagined webinar series, hosted by Reach ATS, Right to Work (RTW) experts Paul Herring and James Marsden from Rightcheck discussed how businesses can protect themselves, and their employer brand, as fraudsters adopt increasingly sophisticated tactics.

As the Home Office moves to a ‘digital by default’ enforcement model, Marsden and Herring discussed the need for company-wide standardisation, and how the secret to staying safe lies in a simple ‘get out of jail free card’ known as the statutory excuse.

Herring warns against the dangers of ‘trusting’ rather than verifying, “your only protection is to have done the check correctly according to the Home Office rules in the first place, because then you have a statutory excuse. Without that statutory excuse you’re liable…”

“It’s not the company, it’s the government”

Perhaps one of the greatest challenges with RTW tests is ensuring that candidates aren’t alienated by what can feel like an overly intrusive process. Of course, it’s vital businesses look out for potential fraud, modern slavery or domestic abuse, but they also need to ensure that the candidate experience doesn’t start to feel like an interrogation, Herring says, “Don’t forget the candidates in all of this, their experience is very important… make it easy, acceptable, accessible”.

Marsden agrees, “robust checks and awareness throughout the hiring lifecycle [helps] to spot potential vulnerabilities as well, and protect both the business, and the individuals.”

This can also be a useful approach for internal communications, observed Herring, particularly when trying to impress the importance of standardised RTW checks on diverse hiring teams. “It’s quite important that the people that conduct the checks out there in the field, at the warehouse, at different sites understand that it’s not the company asking them to do this check. It’s actually the Government you’re conducting the check on behalf of.” This reframing shows colleagues, and candidates you’re not being difficult, you’re simply the one ensuring the candidate is protected and the business is compliant.

From deepfake to compliant proof

From entire departments made up of workers using fake identification to candidates using deepfake AI during interviews, Marsden and Herring made clear just how real the risk for businesses is. A webinar attendee mentioned they had also encountered a candidate using deepfake AI to impersonate someone else in an interview, showing just how widespread these issues are.

But alongside these concerning examples, the Rightcheck experts offered practical advice to help businesses spot fraud, tighten their hiring processes and protect their employer brand. Their most crucial takeaway was clear: “The main thing is to have a very standardised process,” says Herring. “If you have a process in place that is doing that check to a standard, that’s the most important thing for an organisation…even if it’s to a manual standard, that’s fine.”

He continues, “Every sector has its own risk profile… it’s more about understanding where pressure points lie within the business and putting the right controls in place.”

And the four main actions they would recommend all businesses do right now?

1. Standardise when RTW checks are done within the hiring process across your business

2. Follow the government frameworks to protect your businesses

3. Use digital tools where possible to verify identities

4. Use the three-point visual check: ensure the face on the documentation matches the candidate, that the age is consistent, and the documents are in date.

The Rightcheck experts again stressed how important a standardised process is, Herring says, “The whole recruitment process and conducting a Right to Work check is spread out amongst disparate stakeholders in the process… but, if you delegate that task to one person in your business that hasn’t a clue what they’re doing, you’ve got a single point of failure. 

"Because their errors could be that 60,000 fine or worse. So, control, and visibility of the checks, from the moment you ask for it, to the end, is really important.”

For more information on Right to Work compliance checks, and how businesses can use technology to combat fraud and support Right to Work, watch the full webinar: Recruitment Reimagined: Right to Work 2026 – What UK Employers Need to Know. https://reach-ats.com/articles/candidate-attraction/webinar-recap-right-to-work-2026-what-uk-employers-need-to-know

That's Business suggests that every business watches this webinar.

Faking positivity at work is causing leaders to burn out

Being forced to fake their emotions in the workplace is causing leaders to burn out, according to new research by emlyon business school.

The researchers say that this ‘surface acting’ creates a scientifically proven exhaustion loop that drains the very resources necessary to function well in interpersonal environments. 

As a result, cognitive capacity declines, authenticity erodes, and team trust suffers in ways that makes engaging in leadership more difficult in the future.

The study, conducted by Gordon Sayre, Professor of Management at emlyon business school, alongside colleagues from Pennsylvania State University, and National Sun Yat-Sen University, explored a common behaviour known as surface acting - where individuals present emotions they do not genuinely feel to meet professional expectations.

While often seen as part of being “professional,” the research shows that this emotional masking depletes leaders’ energy, increases exhaustion, and creates a self-reinforcing cycle that becomes harder to escape the longer it continues.

Participants took part in two intensive studies, with 55 employees in the first and 87 in the second, reporting on their emotional energy, emotion regulation, and recovery activities several times per day across multiple working days.

According to the findings, employees who begin the day feeling emotionally drained are more likely to engage in surface acting, and this behaviour further intensifies fatigue by the end of the day. Over time, this traps individuals in a spiral of maladaptive surface acting that can be difficult to break free from. It also reduces leaders’ capacity to remain present, authentic, and effective in their roles, affecting the quality of their interactions with colleagues and teams.

Professor Gordon Sayre explained to That's Business that “employees may surface act not out of their own volition but rather because they are ‘stuck’ in a loss spiral.” 

This means employees continue to put on a positive front not because it is effective or healthy, but because depleted energy and emotional resources leave them without the capacity to engage in more genuine, adaptive forms of emotional regulation.

Importantly, the research also highlights how leaders can break this cycle. Recovery, involves replenishing depleted emotional energy by reducing demands and creating distance from work.

Professor Sayre went on to say that “recovery after work effectively breaks the loss spiral of surface acting. By building in moments of emotional recovery, leaders are better equipped to shift from surface acting to more authentic emotional engagement, reducing strain, strengthening trust, and preventing exhaustion from taking hold.”

The researchers state that it is not about eliminating emotion, but about engaging with it more honestly. By doing so, leaders can preserve their energy, improve decision-making, and foster more resilient and authentic workplace relationships.

The researchers suggest organisations need to move beyond resilience rhetoric and address the conditions that create emotional strain in the first place. Allowing time for genuine recovery, setting clearer boundaries around emotional demands, and reducing customer mistreatment can help prevent leaders and employees from becoming locked into cycles of exhaustion.

Supporting more authentic emotional engagement not only alleviates stress but also strengthens trust, decision-making and long-term performance.

https://em-lyon.com/en

Feedr Data Suggests the Working Week Is Rebalancing as Office Attendance Spreads Beyond Midweek

Office attendance patterns are starting to shift beyond the typical post-Covid midweek peak, according to new data from corporate food platform Feedr.

Analysis of workplace catering and employee lunch benefit data from 2025 shows that while Tuesday to Thursday remain the most popular days for office attendance, the start and end of the week are experiencing a steady rise in engagement, supported by more deliberate investment in food and workplace experiences.

Midweek Remains Strong, While the Week Rebalances

Tuesday to Thursday continue to anchor office life, accounting for the clear majority of weekday catering activity and reinforcing their role as the core days for collaboration, meetings and in-person connection.

However, Feedr’s data indicates office engagement is becoming more evenly distributed across the working week.

Renewed Engagement at the Edges of the Working Week

Alongside sustained midweek demand, Feedr observed renewed activity on Mondays and Fridays in 2025.

- Friday orders increased year-on-year, reversing the typical end-of-week drop-off.

- Monday and Friday saw the strongest growth in total daily spend, signalling increased employer investment on traditionally quieter days.

- Friday saw a 44.89% increase in total spend, while Monday rose by 28.31% - significantly higher than Tuesday (20.08%), Thursday (19.16%) and Wednesday (11.41%).

Together, these shifts suggest that employees are increasingly choosing to attend the office on Mondays and Fridays, as employers make these days more attractive through improved workplace experiences, such as high quality catering, helping to smooth activity across the working week without forcing a return to pre-pandemic patterns.

More Consistent Investment in Workplace Food

Feedr also analysed data from Cloud Canteen, its individual meal plan service where employers provide daily lunch credits that can only be used for meals ordered to the workplace. By increasing the value of these credits, employers are making in-office lunches more appealing to employees, signalling a deliberate investment in improving the office experience to encourage attendance.

In 2025, Feedr recorded a 6.26% year-on-year increase in typical employer-provided credit spend across Cloud Canteen main meals, rising from approximately £10.70 in 2024 to £11.37 in 2025. This points to a consistent increase in employer investment on in-office days, rather than short term or one-off changes.

At the same time, broader ad hoc catering behaviour remained stable year-on-year, with nearly 65% of orders placed more than a week in advance, indicating that companies continue to plan office food deliberately as part of wider workplace and attendance strategies.

Workplace Food Reflects Evolving Employee Expectations

Beyond timing and spend, Feedr’s data highlights a shift towards more thoughtful, experience-led workplace food.

- Pop-up food activations increased by 22.2%, reflecting growing appetite for variety and moments of engagement at work.

- Seasonal and cultural moments continue to drive the highest demand for corporate catering with Christmas, Black History Month, Pancake Day and Summer Parties leading the way.

This suggests food is increasingly being used to create shared moments and reinforce workplace culture, rather than serving a purely functional role.

“What stood out in 2025 wasn’t how often people came into the office, but how thoughtfully employers invested when they did,” Katie Fenton, Managing Director of Feedr told That's Food and Drink.

“Food has become a strategic tool for connection and culture, helping organisations encourage attendance without losing the flexibility employees value.”

Looking Ahead to 2026

Feedr expects this gradual rebalancing of the working week to continue throughout 2026, as organisations focus on maintaining strong midweek collaboration while encouraging more consistent attendance across the full week through flexible incentives.

Feedr is a leading corporate catering platform helping businesses deliver flexible catering and employee lunch benefits for modern, hybrid teams. Feedr works with hundreds of UK workplaces, connecting them to high-quality, diverse food suppliers while giving employers full control over spend and employee experience.

For more information about Feedr visit: Feedr Website https://feedr.co

UK manufacturers sleepwalking into DPP crisis, new research reveals

New research from European software provider Forterro reveals many UK manufacturers and wholesalers are completely unprepared for the introduction of the EU’s Digital Product Passport (DPP), with less than half (47%) even aware of it and what it entails.

Even fewer (43%) say they are actually ready for DPP, a major new regulatory initiative set to begin in 2027 and transform product traceability and lifecycle transparency across Europe. It applies to any business exporting to the EU. 

The findings are part of Forterro’s 2025 research - The Digital Future of the European Industrial Midmarket – which also revealed that around one in five (19%) were unsure whether their business would be affected at all.

The main barriers to DPP readiness identified by UK industrial midmarket companies include the complexity of requirements (47%), a lack of suitable technology to manage compliance, and insufficient internal compliance resources. On average, UK firms expect to spend £28,000 on managing their DPP obligations over the next few years.

“The Digital Product Passport will be to product manufacturing what GDPR was to data — it is that impactful,” Claudia Schmidhäuser, Senior Principal, Product Management, Forterro, said to That's Business.

 “But it’s much more than a compliance issue; it’s an opportunity for greater transparency, sustainability and customer trust. We saw what happened when companies weren’t ready for GDPR, and too many UK midmarket firms are still unaware or underprepared. DPP requirements are approaching fast, so companies must act now to ensure their systems and data are ready.”

The DPP - a structured digital record that holds key information on a product’s identity, composition, lifecycle, repairability, and more - is being rolled out in a phased approach, depending on product category. Battery products are expected to begin in 2027, followed by other product categories like textiles or iron and steel. DPP will require detailed digital records of a product’s lifecycle, covering everything from materials sourcing to repair and recycling.

When the regulation is in place, no product without a DPP will be able to be placed on the EU market. Member states will set the exact financial penalty for failure to comply, but it is expected to be up to 5% of annual EU turnover.

Environmental regulation was seen as the area of compliance posing the greatest challenge for UK industrial midmarket firms, while 45% of respondents said that compliance influences their operational and technology purchasing decisions, as businesses seek to stay competitive and avoid potential penalties. Almost half believe compliance gives them a competitive advantage rather than being an administrative burden.

The research also revealed some of the other challenges faced by the UK industrial midmarket. Adjusting to exports in the light of recent US tariffs was cited as the main challenge by around one-third of respondents, reflecting the ongoing trade tensions affecting key industrial goods such as steel, aluminium and vehicles. This was followed by ongoing global economic and political uncertainty and protecting the supply chain.

“It’s a complex world to navigate for midmarket firms that might lack the expertise enjoyed by some of their larger counterparts,” continued Claudia Schmidhäuser, Forterro. “But it’s true that compliance and competitiveness now go hand-in-hand. Whether it’s DPP, environmental reporting, data protection or staying on top of rapidly changing tariffs, the companies that modernise their systems first will gain an advantage in efficiency, visibility and customer confidence. It can take a while to be ready for any new legislation, especially during the preparatory phase, so UK companies should begin now.”

The full report - The Digital Future of the European Industrial Midmarket – can be downloaded here: https://www.forterro.com/en/resource/digital-future-research-report

Taxi Booking Platform, Cabbidder, Appoints James Sorolla as CTO

Cabbidder, the UK-wide taxi and private hire marketplace helping taxi drivers and operators reduce dead mileage through live quoting, has appointed James Sorolla as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Board Member.

James joins Cabbidder to further develop the existing system while leading the delivery of a new Cabbidder-owned platform, designed to accelerate the company’s technical roadmap, improve scalability, and support future dispatch integrations.

Thus making it easier for operators and drivers to access quote requests, share work within the trade, manage jobs, and grow revenue more efficiently.

Cabbidder enables customers to post their journey details once and receive multiple quotes from licensed taxi drivers and private hire operators — helping the trade fill empty return legs and maximise vehicle utilisation, while giving customers transparent choice and competitive pricing. The new platform will further enhance Cabbidder by enabling the trade to share and outsource jobs across the UK, helping operators meet customer expectations and service KPIs.

Matt Young, Founder of Cabbidder, told That's Business: “James joining us as CTO is a major step forward for Cabbidder. His experience and the platform technology we’re building will strengthen Cabbidder’s market position and significantly accelerate our development roadmap, including dispatch integrations and operator onboarding. 

"This is a key milestone as we scale nationally and continue building the infrastructure the trade needs to work smarter, not harder.”

James Sorolla, CTO of Cabbidder, added: “I’m excited to be joining Cabbidder at such an important stage. The vision is clear — reduce inefficiency across the industry, increase utilisation, and build technology that supports operators and drivers at scale. I’m looking forward to delivering the new work-sharing platform and helping accelerate integrations and ongoing development.”

FREZYA releases ‘FURTIVA’ as a clearance-ready, royalty-free music asset for gaming, film and online creators

Lokidio Lab has announced that the debut single from virtual vocalist FREZYA, the seven-minute cinematic track “FURTIVA”, is now available to global creators as a commercial, royalty-free audio asset with a clearly defined license.

Rather than being released as a conventional single only, FURTIVA is positioned as a classified audio asset: a long-form, Leonida-aesthetic–inspired “midnight heist” piece designed for use in interactive and narrative media. 

Musically, FURTIVA blends dark, Mariachi-inspired brass with phonk-weight 808s and an Amapiano-leaning rhythmic grid – a modern hybrid built for night-drive sequences, high-risk missions and extended set-piece storytelling.

In parallel with the track, Lokidio Lab is launching the LPSV-01 Open framework - a license standard that treats music as a technical asset rather than a subscription product. Under LPSV-01 Open, FURTIVA is released as a clearance-ready track with:

- full commercial, royalty-free usage rights for eligible creators (no subscription, no per-use fees, no revenue share for covered uses)

- a PDF certificate that can be presented to platforms, publishers or partners as proof of license

- protocol metadata designed to support verification and reduce Content ID / DMCA friction wherever reasonably possible

“Our goal is for music to function like a predictable, verifiable digital asset – something creators and studios can integrate without worrying that a single track will take their project down,” the Lokidio Lab team told That's Business.

“FURTIVA is the first iteration of that approach, particularly for gaming, streaming and story-driven environments that lean into the Leonida-style heist aesthetic.”

LPSV-01 Open is aimed at streamers and VTubers, RP communities, game developers, trailer and promo teams, and film, TV and streaming productions that require a clearly documented, verifiable source of music for long-term projects.

FURTIVA is available for listening, direct download (MP3/WAV) and certificate access via the dedicated FREZYA portal:

https://frezya.ai/

https://lokidiolab.com

Paris Haute Couture Week Spotlight: Supermodel Sofia Miagkikh Announces Women-Focused Empowerment Platform

In the midst of Haute Couture Week in Paris, where she walked for Yanina Couture by Yulia Yanina, international fashion model Sofia Miagkikh has announced the forthcoming launch of a landmark platform focused on women’s empowerment—beginning in the Gulf region.

Miagkikh says the initiative responds to what she believes is a growing challenge for young women today: visibility is rising, but relatable role models remain limited. 

In a recent interview, she noted: “A record number of women have become visible across business, media, and creative industries—and yet that has created an equally large number of young women seeking role models who reflect both ambition and their cultural identity.”

Through her social channels, Miagkikh has built a reputation for coaching and encouraging women with practical guidance on confidence, mindset, presentation, and self-discipline. Her content has resonated strongly with audiences in Qatar and Saudi Arabia who want access to modern opportunities while staying aligned with conservative values.

The platform is rooted in Miagkikh’s belief that empowerment is most sustainable when it is practical and culturally aware. Rather than adopting polarizing narratives, her approach emphasizes personal development, professional readiness, and positive representation.

Despite her young age, Miagkikh has built international fashion credentials through editorial milestones and global work, including features in Vogue Thailand, ELLE Greece, and France’s Gala, along with collaborations with luxury fashion and jewelry houses such as Armani and Bvlgari, and work associated with Ferragamo. She says those experiences shaped her worldview and deepened her commitment to supporting women—especially young women—in navigating public life, ambition, and identity with clarity and dignity.

“Fashion taught me that confidence is not something you perform—it’s something you build,” Miagkikh said. “I want young women in the Gulf to feel they can grow, be seen, and succeed without compromising who they are or what they value. 

"I have been working with an incredible group of both global and regional stakeholders that include some of the most influential women in their respective fields.  Through this initiative I hope to match the impact that visionairies such as Princess Reema Al Saud, Sheikha Al Mayassa Al Thani and others in their positions have been able to accomplish for women all over the world.”

As part of the platform’s launch, Miagkikh has begun media collaborations to help use her voice to catalyze a broader movement to bring together a network of thought leaders in the industry that will host events and international collaborations that bring women from all over the world exposure to positive role models that can can help them develop their skills and make an impact in their local communities and maintaining individual values and beliefs.

https://sofiamiagkikh.com