Approximately 11.5 billion sandwiches are being eaten annually in the UK, according to the British Sandwich Association (BSA)....
Start crowdsourcing healthcare
It has been estimated that as many as one billion people around the world cannot afford adequate medical care. The vast majority of these people live in the developing world, meaning that mortality rates are highest among the global poor....
A great time to be flying
Despite 2017 delivering the busiest year for air travel since records began, research into commercial airline safety showed there were no passenger aircraft crashes anywhere in the world during 2017.
UKIP in chaos
The UK Independence Party, most recognisable for its anti-immigration and anti-EU stances, seems to be imploding as 12 people had resigned from top positions in the party by the time of publication, apparently in protest at their leader, Henry Bolton, who has refused to resign following a racism scandal....
Skip the queue with Amazon
After much speculation and a more than a few teething problems, Amazon has finally unveiled the world’s first checkout-less supermarket: Amazon Go....
The Age of Seaweed
Worrying about our collective addiction to plastics is a bit of a hobby at Global Property Scene. Plastic is ubiquitous in the modern world, acting as packaging for everything from water to toys, and it is not easily recycled unlike paper or metal. Consequently, we just bin it instead with barely a thought and we are on course for the sea to contain more plastic than fish by 2050....
Thinking outside the box
Hong Kong’s skyrocketing property prices have forced tens of thousands of residents into tiny apartments and urban developers are now exploring creative solutions which include converting shipping containers into temporary homes....
The impact of Lyft
Over the past few years it has felt a lot like the traditional taxi industry is being forced out into the wilderness. The industry might not yet be dying, but the irresistible modernising force of technology is certainly changing the game....
The amenities arms race
As the competition hots up between residential and commercial developers for business, so does the ‘amenities arms race’....
Commuting by air
Drones have been around for more than two decades but have only grown in popularity in the last few years. Many innovative businesses are now adopting drones to their services and this includes online retail giants, Amazon, who have brought them in to monitor homes and deliver goods....
The US embassy, peanuts and Africa: Donald Trump’s week
Despite our best efforts, it’s nearly impossible not to cover what Donald Trump has done at least once a month, if only to highlight the ludicrous situation that a country like the USA finds itself in....
Tulip mania, the first speculative bubble
There has been much debate in recent times about the appeal of cryptocurrencies. It appears everyone is getting in on what seems to be on the surface a wave of growth and profit. Yet there is this inescapable feeling overshadowing everything, that we’re waiting for the trap door to emerge followed by a torrent of loss and regret....
MUJI moves into hotels
MUJI is one of the most interesting companies in the world. Formed in Japan in the 1980s, Muji has a philosophy based on design minimalism, and emphasis on recycling and avoidance of waste, and a policy of not imposing a logo or brand on their products.
The latte levy
With the Environmental Audit Committee revealing that the UK throws away a deplorable 2.5 billion disposable coffee cups annually (enough to circle the planet five and a half times), it is no surprise that the coffee to go industry is coming under scrutiny.
$1 Trillion? The race is on
Given the news emerging this week with regards to Intel’s processor fiasco, which Apple admitted has affected all iPhones, iPads and Mac computers, it may be worth counting Apple out of the running for 2018’s hottest race: Becoming the world’s first company valued at $1 trillion....
Challenges ahead for the automotive industry
UK car sales fell in the past year for the first time since 2011 and some industry experts believe that the eventual diesel ban that was announced by the government in 2017 was one of the key factors in this....
Greenest year ever for UK
2017 was the very first year since the advent of industrialisation that the UK generated more than half of its total energy from low carbon sources. The big winner was wind power which supplied twice as much power as coal, and the big loser was coal which plummeted to new lows. In fact, the UK had its first totally coal free day since 1882, the year the first residential coal power plant was switched on....
Iceland makes it illegal to pay men more than women
As the world welcomes in the Near Year, Iceland heralds a new era for gender equality. The Nordic nation, which has been voted as the most gender equal country for nine years in a row, has just introduced a new law making it illegal to pay men more than women. ...
Gift a nest egg
By cutting down on the amount of presents we buy at Christmas time, we can instead invest money in the future of the next generation. As an alternative to buying young children expensive presents that are often only used for a token few winter mornings, some parents are instead ask for family to put money towards a growing nest egg.
Could a new Concorde be on the horizon?
Air travel is a mode of transport that continues to grow in popularity, with China expected to become the largest market by 2022. Yet in terms of technology it feels as though technology has stagnated following the demise of the iconic passenger plane known simply as Concorde....