Friday, 6 March 2026

Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations Turns 250 — Why the Ideas Still Matter for Business

The 250th anniversary of Adam Smith’s landmark economic work The Wealth of Nations is being marked throughout 2026 by the University of Glasgow, with a programme of events designed to revisit the ideas that helped shape modern economic thinking.

First published in 1776, Smith’s book laid the foundations for how economists, policymakers and businesses understand markets, trade and prosperity. Smith developed many of the ideas behind the work while serving as a professor at the University of Glasgow, where his thinking on free markets, productivity and economic behaviour began to take shape.

To mark the anniversary, the university is hosting a series of events in Scotland and around the world aimed at exploring the continuing relevance of Smith’s work in the modern economy.

Revisiting the Foundations of Modern Economics

The 2026 programme will focus on three themes drawn from Smith’s work: the nature of wealth, the causes of wealth and the politics of wealth. Through conferences, exhibitions and public discussions, scholars and experts in business ethics, political economy and philosophy will examine how Smith’s ideas relate to contemporary economic challenges.

A key aim is to encourage discussion about how insights from the 18th century might still help address issues such as economic development, global trade and inequality.

Events will also examine the historical context in which Smith wrote, including the links between economics, empire, colonialism and slavery, and how these historical forces continue to shape societies today.

Alongside academic discussion, the programme includes several public-facing activities designed to bring Smith’s world to life. These include walking tours of Glasgow during Smith’s lifetime, an exhibition drawn from university archives and city collections, and an interactive online map game exploring the global landscape of 1776.

Global Conversations About Prosperity

One of the major highlights will be an international conference in October titled “Wealth of Nations at 250: Understanding Prosperity and Development in the Modern World.”

The event will explore why some nations prosper while others remain poor. Economists and policy experts will examine the factors that shape economic success, including geography, agriculture, institutions, culture and human behaviour.

The conference forms part of a wider academic project that includes a forthcoming book published by Cambridge University Press and edited by University of Glasgow economist Professor Alex Trew.

Inspiring Future Economists

The anniversary programme also aims to engage younger audiences. School outreach activities will introduce students to the study of economics and encourage them to consider university education, while a student competition will invite entrants to redesign the front cover of The Wealth of Nations.

For businesses and entrepreneurs, Smith’s ideas remain highly influential. Concepts such as market competition, productivity and the division of labour continue to underpin much of today’s economic thinking.

Two and a half centuries after its publication, The Wealth of Nations remains a reminder that many of the questions businesses and policymakers face today, about growth, fairness and prosperity, are far from new.

https://www.gla.ac.uk

6 million legitimate debts go uncollected annually, not because people don’t have a case, but because justice costs too much

A new AI platform, GotAClaim, helps UK consumers and small businesses generate a legally compliant Letter Before Action for £10, making it easier to pursue unpaid debts and disputes.

A new legal technology platform aims to make it easier and cheaper for people to pursue unpaid debts and disputes without needing immediate legal advice.

GotAClaim, founded by Tim Hegarty, helps individuals and small businesses generate a Letter Before Action (LBA), the formal notice typically required before legal proceedings can begin in the UK.

The idea for the platform came after Hegarty helped a friend draft an LBA using basic AI tools after the friend had been quoted a staggering £250 by a solicitor simply to explain the process.

Despite having no coding experience, Hegarty used AI tools to build the website himself. Five months later, the platform launched and now allows users to generate a compliant LBA for £10.

Users describe their situation in plain English and the system produces a structured legal letter ready to send.

The service is designed for common disputes including unpaid invoices, tenancy deposit disagreements, breached agreements and personal loans.

Hegarty says the aim isn't to replace solicitors but to help people overcome the initial barrier that prevents many legitimate claims from being pursued.

According to estimates cited by the company, around six million valid claims go unfiled in the UK each year because people are unsure how to start the legal process.

www.gotaclaim.com

"I think if you said 'airline captain', you're probably not visualising me" Manchester Airport Podcast Spotlights Women in Aviation Careers

Five women from across the aviation industry shared their career journeys with hundreds of young people during a special live recording of Manchester Airport’s official podcast.

The episode of Manchester: Your Airport, MAN was recorded in front of a live audience at the airport’s inaugural Aviation Careers Festival, attended by secondary school and college students keen to learn more about opportunities in the sector. The special episode is being released in both audio and video formats to mark International Women’s Day on 8 March.

Hosted by former BBC Radio 6 Music, Key 103 and Rock FM presenter Hywel Evans, the event featured a live Q&A session where pupils asked the panel about careers in aviation and what it takes to succeed in the industry.

The panel included Melanie Lawley, Head of Airfield Operations at Manchester Airport; Kate Wild, an Air Traffic Controller with NATS; Lauren Wigglesworth, a Captain at Virgin Atlantic; Laura Moskal-Beresford, a member of Virgin Atlantic’s cabin crew; and Abi Owen-Hodgson, an apprentice aircraft engineer with easyJet.

The speakers answered a wide range of questions, from how to enter aviation careers to what happens when air traffic controllers encounter unexpected situations in the skies. They also discussed their favourite destinations to fly into and the day-to-day realities of working in a busy international airport environment.

The discussion also highlighted the aviation industry’s ongoing efforts to address gender imbalance. Women currently account for only around five per cent of commercial pilots, although panellists said they are seeing steady progress.

Virgin Atlantic captain Lauren Wigglesworth emphasised the importance of representation in encouraging more women to pursue aviation careers.

“You can’t be what you can’t see,” she said. “If someone imagines an airline captain, they might not picture me, but I hope seeing women in these roles today shows young people what’s possible.”

The Manchester: Your Airport, MAN podcast launched in 2023 and has since produced four series, building an audience of more than 10,000 listeners. The International Women’s Day special is available on major podcast platforms, with a video version also available on YouTube.

https://www.manchesterairport.co.uk/blog/posts/ultimate-airport-guide/manchester-your-airport-man-podcast/

Performance in practice took centre stage at CIBSE Building Performance Awards 2026

CIBSE has announced the winners of the CIBSE Building Performance Awards 2026, which took place on 5 March 2026 at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge in London.

Hosted by comedian Maisie Adam, the annual flagship CIBSE event has once more brought together leaders from across the built environment to recognise projects, products and professionals delivering measurable building performance outcomes and advancing excellence in building services engineering.

The CIBSE Building Performance Awards celebrate evidence-based performance, rewarding those who demonstrate a commitment to closing the performance gap and delivering buildings that work in practice, for people and for the planet.

Dr Julie Godefroy, Chair of the Judges and Head of Net Zero at CIBSE, told That's Business: “The CIBSE Building Performance Awards have long promoted a focus on how buildings actually work, for people and for the environment. 

"I'm delighted that they have kept growing, with a record number of entries to the 2026 edition. This year saw the introduction of dedicated categories to reward Building Performance Evaluation, which attracted huge interest, reflecting the range of products and services now on offer in this field. 

"Across all categories we've seen a wide spread of entries, from individuals to large organisations, from small projects to portfolios, new builds to retrofits and FM projects, and from across the world. Thank you and well done to everyone for their continued work in driving engineering excellence.”

The awards ceremony concluded with a renewed call for the industry to continue prioritising building performance as a central pillar in achieving net zero and creating healthier, more resilient buildings.

For more details and the full list of winners visit https://www.cibse.org

UK Staffing Deficit? DataToBiz has the answer!

DataToBiz expands Power BI delivery bench with embedded specialists in the UK.

Execution remains the top push for every enterprise in the UK. Rigid delivery models and long hiring cycles are proving unsuited for modern data transformation initiatives. 

DataToBiz addresses Britain’s skills shortage by expanding its Power BI-focused delivery bench, deploying high-velocity teams to the company's technical backend.

The Staffing Deficit in the UK

Britain’s digital transformation ambitions are colliding with a widening analytics skills gap. According to the most recent Digital Leadership Report, over half UK tech leaders (52%) report a shortage in technology skills, the largest such tech shortfall in over 15 years, a shift that risks bottlenecking BI, analytics, and data programmes, industry-wide.

Ankush Sharma, Co-founder & CEO of DataToBiz, explained to That's Business: “UK enterprises are not short of ambition or strategy; they're short of execution bandwidth. That's precisely the reason behind extending the staffing bench to them, to deliver acceleration.”

A ‘Governed’ Bench for Modern BI

To reverse the shortfall, DataToBiz has expanded its Power BI delivery bench with embedded specialists and made them available for short and long-term project timelines.

With the extended staffing bench at DataToBiz, they introduced AI co-pilot integration experts, dashboard automation specialists, and platform engineering expertise as well. 

Ready-to-implement solutions, like the Fabric Spend Analyser fast-track deployment, are helping firms level up their analytics maturity at pace.

This extended bench functions as a governed, accountable extension of in-house teams rather than mere external contractors. 

With experience across 10+ Fortune 500 enterprises and partnerships spanning the UK and 20 other countries, supported by ISO and AICPA-aligned standards, DataToBiz positions its Power BI augmentation model as a trusted, scalable chance for UK organisations to correct the course.

Execution Is Where Shift Happens!

Enterprises rarely lack vision; they never do! But to align the strategies, or the out-of-the-box idea, with execution is what requires support. By extending its Power BI delivery bench, DataToBiz is hoping to work beyond intent but implementation for Britain’s data-first businesses.

https://www.datatobiz.com

Thursday, 5 March 2026

Why Your Press Release Isn’t Getting Noticed (And How to Fix It)

Every day thousands of press releases land in journalists’ inboxes through services like Pressat, PR Newswire and Business Wire.

Most of them never become stories.

Not because journalists are lazy or uninterested, but because many press releases fail to answer one simple question quickly enough:

“What is the actual news here?”

After decades of newsroom experience, many journalists admit they spend the first few seconds of a release trying to work out its point. If the story isn’t obvious immediately, they move on.

For businesses hoping to gain coverage, understanding how journalists read press releases can make the difference between being ignored and being published.

The Problem With Most Press Releases

Many companies write press releases like marketing brochures. They begin with branding, mission statements, and corporate language before getting to the actual announcement.

A typical opening might read something like:

“XYZ Ltd today reaffirmed its commitment to innovation and customer excellence…”

At this point a journalist still has no idea what has actually happened.

Editors are looking for a clear news event, a launch, partnership, report, trend, price change, or major milestone

If the release buries that information halfway down the page, or even worse, in the last paragraph, the chances of it being read drop dramatically.

The 5-Second News Test

A good press release should pass a simple test.

If a journalist reads only the first two sentences, they should immediately know:

what happened

who did it

why it matters

If that information isn’t clear straight away, rewrite the opening.

For example:

Weak opening:

“ABC Technologies continues its mission to transform the digital landscape.”

Stronger opening:

“ABC Technologies has launched a new AI tool that helps small businesses cut customer service costs.”

The second version tells a journalist instantly whether the story is relevant.

Tricks to Make Your Release Stand Out

Lead with the news.

Your first sentence should contain the announcement.

Give a reason it matters now.

Tie your story to a trend, price change, new regulation, or current issue.

And don't use First Person in your press release. Because a press release that says "I" or "we" do something would, when seen by a reader of the publication as something the publication is doing. Instead, use a third person perspective, such as "The company will do..." instead.

Use one strong quote.

Journalists rarely use long quotes. One clear sentence is far more valuable.

Cut the feature list.

Three key points are better than ten minor details.

Keep it short.

Most newsroom rewrites end up around 350–450 words.

Think Like a Journalist

The most effective press releases read less like advertising and more like a short news article.

When companies focus on the story rather than the promotion, journalists can see the value instantly, and that dramatically increases the chances of coverage.

There are several companies who can help you submit your press releases to news outlets. These are some of them:-

Pressat:

https://pressat.co.uk

PR Newswire:

https://www.einpresswire.com

Responsesource:

https://www.responsesource.com

Upleashed Launches PulseAI: A Strategic Catalyst for Human Capability in the AI-Accelerated Skills Economy

Known chiefly for having the world's oldest continuous parliament, the Isle of Man TT Races and being the birthplace of The BGs, the Isle of Man is now becoming known for the next generation of business and commercial AI.

Upleashed today announced the wider availability of PulseAI, an AI-augmented skills matrix platform designed to transform how modern organisations map, measure, and mobilise their workforce capability.  

By moving beyond static spreadsheets and subjective reviews, PulseAI provides a real-time, data-driven view of team readiness, enabling leaders to spot vulnerabilities early and prioritise development with surgical precision.

Disrupting traditional HR tech pricing models, PulseAI is available at a transparent rate of £199 per organisation per year.₁  This includes unlimited Team / Project Leads and Team Members, a move specifically designed to democratise skills tracking and ensure every person in an organisation, from the C-suite to the newest apprentice, has a visible roadmap for growth.

AI as the Accelerator of the Skills Gap The global workforce is currently navigating an unprecedented shift.  Artificial Intelligence is no longer a future prospect; it is an active accelerator of change that is rapidly devaluing traditional skill sets while simultaneously creating a demand for new, complex competencies.  

Recognising this shift and understanding exactly where to change and upskill is more important than ever.   Businesses that fail to map their human capital against this accelerating curve risk obsolescence.  PulseAI serves as the essential navigator for this transition, helping leaders identify which human skills remain competitive and which require urgent evolution.

Putting the "Personal" back into Personal Development PulseAI is fundamentally putting the "personal" back into personal development.   By engaging directly in the self-assessment process, team members contribute actively to their own growth using a research-backed capability framework that ensures every evaluation is objective.  The platform moves beyond the "opinion-led" trap, grounding assessments in doctoral-level research to remove subjectivity.

Perhaps most importantly, when a misalignment surfaces between a team member and their leader regarding specific skills or targets, PulseAI acts as a catalyst to accelerate meaningful dialogue.  This ability to spark honest, data-driven conversation is a powerful tool for aligning individual progress with strategic organisational goals.  It turns a potentially awkward review into a collaborative roadmap for success.

Eliminating Workforce Blind Spots: Too often, capability gaps only surface when a project fails, onboarding stalls, or training budgets are misallocated based on popularity rather than proven need.  PulseAI brings structure to this widespread problem.  By providing a framework where teams define essential skills and record proficiency against agreed target levels, the platform generates a "shared truth."  This allows organisations to move from administrative monitoring to visible capability signals that managers can act on immediately.

Strategic Resilience: Eliminating Key-Person Dependencies One of the most critical vulnerabilities in modern business is the "key-person dependency," which is the risk that essential knowledge or skills reside in a single individual. When these individuals leave or are unavailable, delivery stalls.   PulseAI’s heat map views allow leaders to identify these single points of failure in seconds.   By making skills visible across roles and projects, organisations can proactively manage cross-skilling and succession planning, building a more resilient, anti-fragile workforce.

Meeting the "In-Pocket" Demands of Gen Z and Millennials The modern workforce, particularly Gen Z and Millennials, expects transparency, instant feedback, and clear career progression.  Traditional annual reviews and "locked" spreadsheets no longer meet these expectations.  PulseAI meets this "on-demand" culture by delivering development roadmaps directly to the user’s mobile device.

When a team member can see their current proficiency versus their target level on their phone, development becomes a continuous, daily conversation rather than a once-a-year administrative burden.  This level of transparency is a significant driver for talent retention, as employees can clearly see the path to their next promotion or role.

Intelligent Efficiency: Solving the Population Pain Point PulseAI is research-informed and shaped by real-world data. Upleashed’s underlying dataset spans over 105.5 million skills assessments, combined with direct feedback from teams navigating the complexities of modern capability frameworks.  A primary barrier to skills mapping has historically been the administrative burden of initial data population, which often led to project abandonment.

PulseAI addresses this with a "light touch" AI implementation that automates the initial population of skills, removing the friction that once stalled progress.  Once the initial baseline is established, AI within the platform generates automated analytics summaries from the datasets.   These insights help to guide and inform leaders, providing instant clarity on team health without the need for manual report generation.  This enables teams to apply the Pareto principle, focusing on the 20% of skills that drive 80% of the value.

The Shift to a Skills-Based Organisational Model The global business landscape is shifting from traditional job-title-based structures to a skills-based organisational model.  In this new paradigm, work is deconstructed into specific tasks and the skills required to complete them.  PulseAI is built to be the engine for this transition.  By providing a dynamic inventory of workforce capabilities, it allows HR professionals and operational leaders to align their human capital with evolving strategic goals in real-time.

A Simple, Four-Step Workflow for Immediate Impact Unlike legacy ERP or HRIS systems that require months of configuration, PulseAI is built for rapid deployment:

Define: Leaders map the essential skills required for specific roles, teams, or upcoming high-priority projects.

Assess: Team members and leads record current proficiency levels against agreed benchmarks on a doctoral-backed 0 to 5 scale, reducing subjectivity.

Analyse: The platform generates visual, colour-coded capability matrices, highlighting strengths and exposing "red zones."

Act: Leaders deploy targeted training, mentoring, or recruitment initiatives based on objective data rather than guesswork.

Key Platform Highlights:

Eliminate key-person dependencies: Make skills visible across teams, roles, and projects using clear current-versus-target views to instantly spot vulnerabilities.

Spot capability gaps early: Proactively prioritise training spend and development actions with intuitive reporting that flags team readiness before it impacts delivery.

Reduce manual administration: Replace outdated spreadsheet tracking with structured, repeatable assessments and AI-automated data population.

Deliver "in-pocket" development: Share accessible capability roadmaps instantly on web and mobile to meet the expectations of modern talent.

Democratise skills tracking: Transparent pricing at £199 per organisation per year, with unlimited seats included to ensure high adoption.

Democratising Access to Growth By offering PulseAI at £199 per year for the entire organisation, Upleashed is removing the financial barrier to workforce development.  "We obsess over measuring revenue and output, yet we guess at capability," says Dr Alex J. Martin-Smith, Founder of Upleashed. "PulseAI ends that guesswork. We built this to move capability mapping out of closed-door reviews and into the hands of the people doing the work, driving growth for everyone."

To learn more about the platform or to start a baseline assessment, visit Upleashed online https://upleashed.com/PulseAI-PressAt/