Wednesday 29^th November 2017

This week we were delighted to welcome Ian King, Business Presenter and columnist for Sky News and The Times, for the latest in our series of #LutherNetwork events.

King began by discussing the major business news events of 2017, recognising that although an undercurrent of Brexit continues to overshadow everything, the big unreported story of the year is the strong economic growth across a number of different global markets. He went on to discuss his expectations for 2018, focusing on predictions for growth in a variety of markets from Germany to Japan.

He then moved the discussion from business to his other area of expertise – news. He spoke about the ongoing digital transition, and how this has already been experienced by papers and is now being navigated by broadcast channels as the importance of traditional broadcast operators diminishes. He highlighted the importance for broadcasters to be platform agnostic in today’s modern news cycle, and spoke about the work Sky has been doing to diversify in order to reach viewers in a variety of formats.

Guests at the event came from a range of backgrounds, including communications professionals from a variety of companies and professional organisations. They questioned King on his views on the current business landscape, including how investment from larger multi-national companies may cause a talent drought for SMEs and start-ups. Guests discussed the biggest issues facing business and consumers in the coming months, as well as the future challenges of energy supply and pensions. The session concluded with a discussion around retail spending in the lead up to Christmas and the challenges facing retailers in a rapidly changing market.

Our thanks go to Ian and our guests for joining us.

The #LutherNetwork breakfast roundtables will resume in January. Our next event will be Journalist Carols at St. Bride’s Church on Monday 18th December. The Carols are in support of the Journalists’ Charity and will feature guest readers Tom Bradby, Anchor, ITV News at Ten, Cathy Newman, Presenter, Channel 4 News, Iain Dey, Business Editor, The Sunday Times, Peter Oborne, Columnist, Daily Mail, and Jim Armitage, City Editor, London Evening Standard.

If you would like to find out more about Luther Network events, including information on how to attend, please email events@luther.co.uk