December 04, 2020 08:58 ET | Source: Research and Markets

Dublin, Dec. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Europe Antibacterial Personal Care Wipes Market Forecast to 2027 - COVID-19 Impact and Regional Analysis By Product Type; Distribution Channel; and Country" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The European Antibacterial Personal Care Wipes market was valued at $1,396.84 million in 2018 and is projected to reach $2,605.90 million by 2027; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.9% from 2019 to 2027.

Antibacterial Personal Care Wipes are mainly used to maintain skin health and personal hygiene. Apart from maintaining personal and household hygiene, wet tissues and wipes exhibit antibacterial, exfoliating, and moisturizing properties. This has propelled the demand for wipes among health-conscious consumers. To capitalize on the surging demand, manufacturers are introducing Antibacterial Personal Care Wipes for both male and female skin types. These factors boost the demand for wipes Europe. The rapid growth of the personal care industry provides opportunities for wipe manufacturers to innovate their product offerings and packaging. This has further led to the introduction of innovative and upgraded products in the market and has helped leading producers to build brand appeal and loyalty among consumers. For instance, Johnson and Johnson's under the brand name Clean and Clear, offers multipurpose wet facial wipes for purposes such as makeup removal, cleansing, miniaturization, and maintaining skin softness. This has led to an increase in the demand for multi-functional wet wipes, which would in turn drive the growth of the wipes market during the forecast period.

Various R&D activities are undertaken by the key players to develop innovative products that have the least impact on the environment. Leading companies are focused on offering gentle Antibacterial Personal Care Wipes biodegrade in 28 days and are made of 100% renewable plant fibers to ensure that no waste is generated that might pollute the environment. Therefore, the development of new and innovative biodegradable Antibacterial Personal Care Wipes is projected to provide a huge growth opportunity for the key players operating in the market during the forecast period. For instance, in February 2018, Procter & Gamble Co. expanded its footprint in the natural category by launching Pampers Aqua Pure wipes. Aqua Pure wipes include 99% pure water and a touch of premium cotton. Therefore, the demand for natural and chemical-free wipes has surged over the past few years with the growing awareness about the side effects of the chemicals on the skin.

Based on product types, the anti-bacterial personal wipes market is segmented into sanitizing, skincare, and wound cleaning. The sanitizing segment held the largest share of the market in 2019 and is estimated to register the highest CAGR in the market during the forecast period. Anti-bacterial personal wipes are used for cleaning and disinfecting purposes and often come folded and wrapped for convenience. They are made of tissue, paper, or nonwoven and contain anti-bacterial ingredients which are effective at killing 99.9% of harmful germs. Most anti-bacterial personal wipes offer protection from a broad range of bacteria and micro-organisms.

By country, Europe Antibacterial Personal Care Wipes market is segmented into Germany, the UK, Russia, France, Italy, and Rest of Europe. The UK is the major market for the anti-bacterial personal wipes in Europe, followed by Germany and Italy. The demand for anti-bacterial personal wipes is expanding in the UK, due to the rise in concerns related to health and hygiene. The increasing incidences of infectious diseases causing several health hazards are encouraging the customer to be more inclined toward personal hygiene. Additionally, the government is introducing common public health initiatives include the promotion of healthy living to improve the quality of life through the prevention of disease. All these factors have raised the use of anti-bacterial personal wipes among the consumers of this country. The demand for wipes such as baby wipes has grown considerably over the past few years due to increasing expenditure on baby wipes products.

COVID-19 from the outset started in Wuhan (China) in December 2019 and has spread across the globe at an energetic pace. China, Italy, Iran, Spain, the Republic of Korea, France, Germany, and the US are among the most affected nations, considering the degree of affirmed cases and pronounced passings as of May 2020.According to WHO, there are more than 6 million affirmed cases and nearly 3 lacks death cases across the world. COVID-19 has affected economies and undertakings due to lockdowns, travel bans, and business shutdowns. The consumer goods industry is one of the major business enduring genuine agitating impacts, for example, creation composes breaks, breaks in storing up because of lockdown and office shutdowns because of this emit. These segments have unimaginably affected the Antibacterial Personal Care Wipes market in Europe region.

Reasons to Buy:

Key Topics Covered:

1. Introduction 1.1 Scope of the Study 1.2 Research Report Guidance 1.3 Market Segmentation 1.3.1 Antibacterial Personal Care Wipes Market, by Product Type 1.3.2 Antibacterial Personal Care Wipes Market, by Distribution Channel 1.3.3 Antibacterial Personal Care Wipes Market, by Country

2. Key Takeaways

3. Research Methodology 3.1 Scope of the Study 3.2 Research Methodology 3.3 Coverage 3.4 Secondary Research 3.5 Primary Research

4. Europe Antibacterial Personal Care Wipes Market Landscape 4.1 Market Overview 4.2 PEST Analysis - Europe 4.3 Expert Opinions

5. Antibacterial Personal Care Wipes Market - Key Industry Dynamics 5.1 Market Drivers 5.1.1 Growth of Personal Care Industry 5.1.2 Growing Demand for Antibacterial Personal Care Wipes Due to COVID- 5.2 Market Restraints 5.2.1 Environment Issues Caused Due to Antibacterial Personal Care Wipes 5.3 Market Opportunities 5.3.1 Rising Adoption of Biodegradable Antibacterial Personal Care Wipes 5.4 Future Trends 5.4.1 Growing Demand for Natural and Chemical-Free Antibacterial Personal Care Wipes 5.5 Impact Analysis of Drivers and Restraints

6. Antibacterial Personal Care Wipes- Europe Market Analysis 6.1 Europe Antibacterial Personal Care Wipes Market Overview 6.1.1 Europe: Antibacterial Personal Care Wipes Market -Revenue and Forecast to 2027(US$ Mn)

7. Europe Antibacterial Personal Care Wipes Market Analysis - By Product Type 7.1 Overview 7.2 Anti-Bacterial Personal Wipes Market Share, by Product Types, 2019 and 2027 (%) 7.3 Sanitizing 7.3.1 Overview 7.3.2 Sanitizing: Anti-Bacterial Personal Wipes Market- Revenue and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Mn) 7.4 Skincare 7.4.1.1 Overview 7.4.1.2 Skincare-: Anti-Bacterial Personal Wipes Market- Revenue and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Mn) 7.5 Wound Cleaning 7.5.1.1 Overview 7.5.1.2 Wound Cleaning: Anti-Bacterial Personal Wipes Market- Revenue and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Mn)

8. Europe Anti-Bacterial Personal Wipes Market Analysis - By Distribution Channel 8.1 Overview 8.2 Anti-Bacterial Personal Wipes Market Share, by Distribution Channel, 2019 and 2027 (%) 8.3 Supermarket and Hypermarket 8.3.1 Overview 8.3.2 Supermarket and Hypermarket: Anti-Bacterial Personal Wipes Market- Revenue and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Mn) 8.4 Convenience Stores 8.4.1 Overview 8.4.2 Convenience Store: Anti-Bacterial Personal Wipes Market- Revenue and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Mn) 8.5 Online 8.5.1 Overview 8.5.2 Online: Anti-Bacterial Personal Wipes Market- Revenue and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Mn) 8.6 Others 8.6.1 Overview 8.6.2 Others: Anti-Bacterial Personal Wipes Market- Revenue and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Mn)

9. Europe Antibacterial Personal Care Wipes Market - Country 9.1.1 Europe: Anti-Bacterial Personal Wipes Market, by Key Country 9.1.1.1 Germany: Anti-Bacterial Personal Wipes Market - Revenue, and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Mn) 9.1.1.1.1 Germany: Anti-Bacterial Personal Wipes Market, by Product Type 9.1.1.1.2 Germany: Anti-Bacterial Personal Wipes Market, by Distribution Channel 9.1.1.2 UK: Anti-Bacterial Personal Wipes Market - Revenue, and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Mn) 9.1.1.2.1 UK: Anti-Bacterial Personal Wipes Market, by Product Type 9.1.1.2.2 UK: Anti-Bacterial Personal Wipes Market, by Distribution Channel 9.1.1.3 Russia: Anti-Bacterial Personal Wipes Market - Revenue, and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Mn) 9.1.1.3.1 Russia: Anti-Bacterial Personal Wipes Market, by Product Type 9.1.1.3.2 Russia: Anti-Bacterial Personal Wipes Market, by Distribution Channel 9.1.1.4 France: Anti-Bacterial Personal Wipes Market - Revenue, and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Mn) 9.1.1.4.1 France: Anti-Bacterial Personal Wipes Market, by Product Type 9.1.1.4.2 France: Anti-Bacterial Personal Wipes Market, by Distribution Channel 9.1.1.5 Italy: Anti-Bacterial Personal Wipes Market - Revenue, and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Mn) 9.1.1.5.1 Italy: Anti-Bacterial Personal Wipes Market, by Product Type 9.1.1.5.2 Italy: Anti-Bacterial Personal Wipes Market, by Distribution Channel 9.1.1.6 Rest of Europe: Anti-Bacterial Personal Wipes Market - Revenue, and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Mn) 9.1.1.6.1 Rest of Europe: Anti-Bacterial Personal Wipes Market, by Product Type 9.1.1.6.2 Rest of Europe: Anti-Bacterial Personal Wipes Market, by Distribution Channel

10. Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Europe Antibacterial Personal Care Wipes Market 10.1 Overview 10.2 Europe: Impact Assessment of COVID-19 Pandemic

11. Company Profiles 11.1 ConvaTec 11.1.1 Key Facts 11.1.2 Business Description 11.1.3 Products and Services 11.1.4 Financial Overview 11.1.5 SWOT Analysis 11.1.6 Key Developments 11.2 Diamond Wipes International Inc. 11.2.1 Key Facts 11.2.2 Business Description 11.2.3 Financial Overview 11.2.4 SWOT Analysis 11.2.5 Key Developments 11.3 Edgewell Personal Care 11.3.1 Key Facts 11.3.2 Business Description 11.3.3 Products and Services 11.3.4 Financial Overview 11.3.5 SWOT Analysis 11.4 Guardpack 11.4.1 Key Facts 11.4.2 Business Description 11.4.3 Products and Services 11.4.4 Financial Overview 11.4.5 SWOT Analysis 11.5 Reckitt Benckiser 11.5.1 Key Facts 11.5.2 Business Description 11.5.3 Products 11.5.4 Financial Overview 11.5.5 SWOT Analysis 11.6 Rockline Industries 11.6.1 Key Facts 11.6.2 Business Description 11.6.3 Products 11.6.4 Financial Overview 11.6.5 SWOT Analysis 11.7 Uniwipe 11.7.1 Key Facts 11.7.2 Business Description 11.7.3 Products and Services 11.7.4 Financial Overview 11.7.5 SWOT Analysis 11.8 Glossary

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/5webqe

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European Antibacterial Personal Care Wipes Industry Forecast to 2027 - COVID-19 Impact and Regional Analysis - GlobeNewswire

A brand-new group of 30 leading professionals from across the UK sport industry have today been announced as the Sport Industry NextGen 2021 Leaders, as the industrys leading professional development programme returns for its sixth year.

After a year of change and innovation, the new 2021 cohort reflect those who have led in new waysand echo a more hopeful, inclusive and vibrant industry as it begins to move forward.

Together, they bring an unprecedented range of skillsets, including commercial partnerships and sales, diversity and inclusion, community engagement, content production, digital and data expertise, finance, sponsorship, talent management, and emerging technologies.

They represent a broad range of organisations, from multi-national brands to charities and foundations, but together are an amazing cross section of our world-leading sport industry. Among those featured are talented individuals from the likes of DAZN, ECB, EXCEL ESPORTS, IRONMAN, NFL, Octagon, PlayStation, Unicef UK and Unilever.

The full list of Leaders can be read HERE.

The group will now benefit from a year-long Leadership Package which includes unrivalled training, personal development and networking opportunities including an in-depth physical and mental experience with Spartan in addition to the powerful, lifelong friendships the Leaders form together.

Alex Coulson, Managing Director,Sport Industry Group said:

Amid the challenges, opportunities and evolution weve faced, leadership has emerged in unlikely places and many of those announced today have been thrust into making new decisions, leading from the front, or innovating beyond expectations. Now, were proud to recognise that and to celebrate their achievements.

This latest cohort really represents a special future for the sector. It is collectively innovative, curious, diverse and creative, and it was so refreshing to see the depth of talent within the sector it is a genuine honour to get to know them. They now join a special alumnus and embark on an exciting Leadership Package for the next year.

The programme, meanwhile, continues to go from strength to strength and it is increasingly proving to be of huge benefit to the Leaders, Coaches, partners and the wider industry.

Launched by Sport Industry Group in 2015, the Sport Industry NextGen Leaders network now boasts over 140 alumni all of whom are increasing in global influence, power and creativity each and every year as leaders and emerging talent within the industry.

Created for those aged 30 or under, this prestigious professional development programme provides the best emerging talent with a tailored year-long Leadership Package which includes extensive training, personal development and networking opportunities. The Leaders get direct access to some of the brightest minds and best organisations within sport and business for interactive best-practice, learning, and leadership sessions.

All of this, in addition to the powerful, lifelong network the Leaders form together, makes Sport Industry NextGen the number one professional development programme for our sector.

See the full listHERE.

Go here to read the rest:
Rising Stars of the Sport Industry Revealed - Sport Industry Group

Regulatory fees and levies never fail to spark a conversation with financial planners. Both are on the up, despite the tough economic environment. But we can add one more thing that is on the up too: adviser salaries.

A recent report by recruiters Paul Harper Search and Selection reveals that there has been another year of growth for financial planner pay, with the average basic salary up 9 per cent from 58,767 to 64,111 between 2019 and 2020

The average salary has soared since 2012, when it was just 34,471. Adding on bonuses, the total salary averaged 51,619; today, it is 89,696. A quarter of advisers now earn in excess of 100,000, more than twice as many as the year before.

The latest stats add to a wealth of other evidence suggesting a near-doubling of adviser remuneration since the RDR. How long can the boom go on?

Over the past eight years, the financial advice industry has rebounded from the initial shock of the RDR. Revenues have continued to increase, and are up 36 per cent since the pension freedoms, while adviser numbers are back on the up too, rising 3 per cent last year.

Well-rewarded advisers

While many financial advisers face headwinds from the Covid-19 pandemic, others have shown a resilient business model. Pay scales vary widely, and some firms may feel its time to review their packages, but there is no doubt good advisers are now rewarded well for their troubles.

Rennison Consulting owner Roderic Rennison says: I always find statistics about pay rather interesting because you hear quite wide variations, but that 50,000 a year as an average basic salary figure is not out of line with what I am hearing.

Typically, depending on where people are based, and if they are employed, their base is going to be something from 45,000 and can be as high as the late 80,000s or early 90,000s in London.

However, the Paul Harper figures also show that many new advisers are being brought in lower down the pay scale. Thanks to planner academies, the recruiter argues, there has been a four-fold increase in the number of advisers earning basic salaries under 40,000 to 8 per cent of the population.

Money Marketing asked some leading advice firms about the pay structures for their new joiners and academy recruits, as well as more experienced advisers, finding figures that line up well with the recruitment reports findings.

Quilter said it depended upon whether a firm had an employed or self-employed model. For those that are employed, base salaries fluctuate from 20,000 to 40,000. While different firms operate different incentive structures, the firm said its top pay packets for seasoned advisers would be more than 100,000.

Location matters

Tavistock Private Client managing director Mark Evans says: Weve got advisers in London, Portsmouth and Cambridge who start at around 75,000 to 80,000, but it is dependent on where they are in the country, as youve got a London weighting.

But if were talking about a chartered financial planner it could be about 80,000 to 85,000 plus bonuses. Having said that, they are worth their weight in gold and the biggest problem is making sure that youve got the advisers to service your client base.

St Jamess Place head of academy marketing and engagement Shaun Godfrey says the firm does not monitor individuals remuneration because each partner runs their own business and their remuneration is down to them.

Despite extensive mergers and acquisitions activity, there are still only 11 per cent of advice firms with more than five planners. According to the FCA Register, there are 27,557 financial advisers working in 5,236 financial advice firms. Of these, Evans argues approximately 5,000, if not more, likely work for banks and never go in front of a client.

That leaves 20,000 advisers that are client facing and, if we take into account the Mifid rules that have been brought in and I asked my advisers how many people they could look after doing proper servicing and everything else, were now talking about 150-200 clients.

Basically, what has happened is that, because we have got rid of all these people, youve got a diminishing resource. That is the reason why advisers are going for the higher-net-worth clients, because they can only look after 150 clients.

Bonus culture: How far is too far?

Supply and demand

This mismatch of supply and demand of advice is an issue that continues to rear its head, and could well be behind a large part of the rise in adviser remuneration in recent years.

The law of supply and demand is most definitely there, SJPs Godfrey says. The population is growing and around 6trn of wealth is being transferred through generations over the next 30 years in the UK, both in terms of property and investments. Investable wealth is around 2.5trn to 3trn, and the need for financial planning will become greater.

While the number of advisers did tick up last year, planners could soon be in shorter supply, driving up offer prices even more.

Harpers report suggests that significant increases in professional indemnity costs, regulatory fees and Financial Services Compensation Scheme failures were already accelerating the desire for many business owners to seek an exit.

Evans echoes this while speaking to Money Marketing.

Everybody goes on about the cost of a financial adviser, but to me its the cost of running the company with PI insurance, FSCS levies and everything else. They are the things pushing the cost up.

Independent consultant Malcom Kerr says that IFAs biggest concern is capacity.

My sense is that most IFAs have as many clients as they can deal with, so I think winning new clients for mature IFA businesses is not really a problem, he says. Their problem is having the capacity to give the right service to the existing clients.

Many are finding it very difficult to recruit new advisers and are attempting to recruit from university or have interns, but my understanding is there is a much greater supply of paraplanners that want to come into this market than people who want to be financial advisers.

Expert view: Its imperative to promote financial advice as a rewarding career

Financial advisers have been in greater demand than ever in recent years, showing growing recognition among the public of the impact that receiving financial advice can have on your future wellbeing.

Before the RDR, financial advisers were remunerated differently, and often via commission with a lower base salary and incentive to earn higher on a target earnings expectation. Post-RDR, financial advisers have offered more holistic financial planning propositions with higher service levels for which they charge fees.

Amid the current crisis, financial advice is more important than ever. The sad fact of 2020 is there are too few financial advisers able to serve the growing number of people who would benefit from financial advice. The first Financial Advice Market Review found the level of Financial Services Compensation Scheme funding for advice firms, the unpredictable nature of this funding, plus a lack of availability of professional indemnity insurance were restricting consumer access to advice.

We want to see long-term reform of the FSCS levy and the PI insurance market, and we have proposed a workable alternative for funding consumer protection.

We are keen to promote financial advice as a rewarding career, where you can help individuals achieve their life goals. We will continue to work with financial advice firms and academies to help them develop the next generation of financial advisers technical knowledge through the qualification framework and continuous professional development.

We support apprenticeships, which is why we launched the PFS Aspire initiative that involves a structured training programme lasting 18 months.

In the first week after launching PFS Aspire, more than 300 advice firms signed up, demonstrating both the demand for professional financial planning and the focus on succession planning.

Apprenticeships are a great way to attract new talent to the profession at a time when many are being made unemployed in other professions and may be wondering what career they should embark on next.

We will continue to engage with government to improve access to funding for financial advice firms of all sizes and so that people can re-skill to join our much-needed profession.

Keith Richards is chief executive of the Personal Finance Society

Sourcing clients

Despite the advice gap and shortage of good financial advisers, many also argue that it is impossible for a newly qualified financial adviser to build a client bank from scratch, something made easier by the ability to charge commissions in the past.

But MFP Wealth Management chartered financial planner Justin King argues that advisers need to know how to build their own network of clients.

I have reflected on the challenges of building a client base in 2020 and I appreciate the difficulties. The inability to meet with people face to face creates a lot of challenges when expanding your network.

Harper believes that another one of the hardships for an adviser is taking a client bank from one employer to another.

The shortage in the supply of advisers could become acute. Harpers report reveals that 62 per cent of financial planners plan to retire in the next 10 years, and 60 per cent also turned away clients in the past 12 months.

People have got to find out how to use their advisers more cleverly. A lot of them are going to be retiring, so that is going to be an issue about what we do for the next generation, he says.

Everyone knows there is a shortage of advisers, so there is definitely a need to train our own. Even a young or newly qualified adviser is going to earn quite well if they get an employed role, but as an employer you have to make sure youve got enough income coming in to sustain that for the newly qualified adviser.

SJP defers Academy entrants due to Covid-19

Opportunity to recruit

Likewise, Godfrey says that, without firms taking action to do something positive, the industry will see more and more of the existing population of financial advisers move towards retirement.

It is going to get worse, he says. Some will say it is a good worse, as if you are still there then you can start demanding better pay and rations because you have become a scarce commodity.

But we see it as a brilliant opportunity to bring people into the profession over the next 25 to 30 years, because the backdrop is that more and more people are looking for financial advice, and as an industry were in a really good space to be able to grow the profession.

The difficulty is making the profession look attractive and interesting to people, says Godfrey.

Given the clear shortage of advisers and the professions great earning potential, why does it still not look attractive enough to draw in more new blood?

Many argue that increasing regulation is acting as a deterrent for advisers who are becoming more aware of the paperwork they would have to do if they entered the profession.

King says: There is a regulatory moat around the financial planning world. PI, FSCS, regulatory fees and qualifications throw a disruptor into the financial planning worlds huge challenges.

While this barrier to entry is high, the service will continue to be a premium service.

However, Kerr argues that the shortage of advisers is down to the fact that it is not an easy job and requires a unique combination of skills.

He explains: On the one hand, advisers are able to build relationships, network and tell stories that help clients understand what their options are so they can build strong relationships and have a great deal of empathy. Now that in itself is not unique.

What is unique is that, on the other side of their brain, they must be sufficiently analytical, numerate and attentive to detail, focusing on entirely logical spreadsheets that they bring to life with the other side of their brain. These people are not in great supply.

Its not an easy thing to do. And experience is important, so for people without experience its quite difficult to get into this world. Hence the shortage of people joining it.

Adviser view

Martin Bamford, client education director, Informed Choice

Economic theory tells us that, in a market with declining supply and rising demand, prices will go up. It is not surprising to see the average salaries for financial planners rise against a backdrop of more retiring advisers and a growing number of prospective clients.

The work that a financial planner does is incredibly valuable and the role deserves to be rewarded. Of course, employed financial planners need to justify their salaries, generating fees equivalent to at least three times their salary to be considered profitable for their employers.

Salaries will continue to rise if financial planners take responsibility for higher levels of fee income. The next 10-15 years looks set to continue the trend of rising client demand for quality financial planning, with a significant intergenerational wealth transfer taking place, with complex financial planning needs driving demand for advice.

Any financial planner who is disappointed not to receive client leads should take the initiative and generate their own enquiries. Alongside technical ability, a new financial planner needs to develop a range of skills, including being self-sufficient when it comes to lead generation. Employed financial planners are far more valuable when they can engage new clients, without being spoon-fed by marketing departments.

Tackling the advice gap is a perennial issue. Recruiting more financial planners will require a concerted effort on behalf of the profession and its professional bodies to make the career sufficiently attractive to both graduates and second-career candidates.

Passing the parcel

Some larger vertically integrated advice firms have started allocating larger client books than they have in the past to each financial planner in order to drive efficiency and profitability by encouraging their most experienced advisers to focus on fewer, larger clients, according to Harper.

This enables them to generate more client revenue, thus making the company more profitable while, of course, justifying a higher salary package for the financial planner, he says.

Quilter Private Client Advisers head Andy Moore says: We are starting to see clear segmentation in the advice market as firms focus on specific parts of the wealth market. For some firms they will focus on the higher net worth, who generally have more complex needs and other firms will focus on mass affluent clients who very much need advice but are often more straightforward.

Originally, we looked to serve the majority of those who required financial advice. However, through acquisitions and organic development, our advice proposition has become more focused on higher-net-worth clients. As a result, the average assets per adviser have increased, while the number of advisers per client has remained as originally projected.

Firms with over 50 advisers tend to make less revenue per adviser 160,000 compared to smaller firms 190,000 but revenue across the board dipped slightly in 2019, begging the question as to whether weve finally reached the end of the road for salary hikes.

Kerr believes earnings will continue to increase.

Markets set salaries, he says. A premier division football player earns 500,000 a week. Is that too much or too little?

The bottom line is that it is a market. At the moment, the demand for financial advisers exceeds the supply and that is fact. Therefore, why wouldnt you expect their incomes to be going up not down?

On top of high salaries, many nationals have productivity and revenue targets for financial advisers.

For firms within Quilter Financial Plannings network that have been hired from its financial adviser school, the majority have some form of quality or productivity target.

Schroders Personal Wealth says it uses a balanced scorecard because it believes this approach supports the personal development of our advisers and the business ability to provide exceptional client service.

Tavistock advisers receive a bonus for every exam passed and move up grades within the firm.

Productivity targets

Rennison says: Whether they say they do or do not, most firms have productivity targets. There are some that are still purely quantitative, but there are many now that measure using other metrics: file quality, complaints and adhering to systems and controls.

Harper adds: Most of the consolidators, private client businesses or wealth managers will be incentivising people to grow their book. Not in a bad way they are just making sure people are most productive.

Will future stars be attracted to this kind of culture? While there has definitely been an increase in new adviser academies as the industry looks to close the advice gap, approximately 67 per cent of financial planners experience difficulties finding talent, according to the Harper report.

With chancellor Rishi Sunaks recent announcement of 3bn to deliver a new three-year restart programme for jobs, it could present an opportunity for advice firms to try and attract new talent.

Some of the firms that currently run academies include Quilter, SJP and Schroders Personal Wealth, each with different financial incentives. Tavistock also runs an apprenticeship scheme

SJP advertises its academy as a two-year career change programme where everything is funded by the academy, such as the examinations and training, so there is no cost to the individual who will be paid an educational grant by SJP of 1,000 a month for six months.

Schroders had its first intake of 20 academy trainee advisers on 7 September. It offers a salary of 35,000 with an 18-month training programme as a trainee adviser.

Tavistock takes on one apprentice every year, who joins as an administrator, working with advisers to learn how the firm operates. The firm pays for the apprentices to take their CII exams and helps them in their journey from an administrator at the age of 16 to an adviser in around five years.

Money Marketing understands that most of these firms buy client banks for those coming out of the academy. However, Harper says his team often receives feedback that financial adviser academies have not been a universal success, as many of the newly qualified financial planners have been disappointed not to inherit sufficient clients to make their efforts worthwhile.

This is just one more reason young planners may help push salaries up even further.

As Kerr says: IFAs are a business just like the private doctor or dentist; they are not a charity.

Read more here:
Adviser salaries: When will we reach the top? - Money Marketing

A few words of

enlightenment

Again, I would enjoy shining a few words of enlightenment with the priest, pastor, Apostles and the Sunday school teachers.

As we know, our world is all about history and truth. Do you know about the following dates on church history? In the first century, the first Christians in 33 AD on Pentecost, descent of the Holy Spirit up on the disciples preaching of St. Peter in Jerusalem conversions, baptism and aggregation of some 3,000 persons to be the 10 Commandments.

Also, St. Stephen was stoned to death. St. Paul was converted and baptized and beheaded between 64-67 AD. In 42 AD, St. James the Great was the first apostle to die and beheaded in 44 AD.

Story continues below video

At Antioch, the followers of Christ were called Christians for the first time. In 107 AD, St. Ignatius of Antioch was martyred and was the first to use the expression, The Catholic Church. In 165 AD, St. Justin, an importantworker was martyred at Rome. In 382 AD, the Canon of Scared Scripture, the first of the inspired book of the Bible. In 382 AD, St. Jerome translated the Old Testament and New Testament inot Latin. His work is called theVulgate version of the Bible.

There wasnt a Protestant religion until the 15th and 16th centuries. Now, we have 435 different ones.

Peter Panella

New Castle

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A few words of enlightenment | Letters To The Editor | ncnewsonline.com - New Castle News

On the list of things you can do to spark joy (to use a phrase that has infiltrated the zeitgeist), few people would think to include writing a book.

From conception to writing and revisions, right through to publication, when the final product ends up on a shelf (virtual or real), its a lengthy and often lonely journey thats riddled with a full spectrum of emotions. A way to spark frustration, more like.

Finding the Heart Sutra, by Alex Kerr 304 pages ALLEN LANE

But against those odds, author Alex Kerr thoroughly enjoyed the process of writing his new book, Finding the Heart Sutra. Thats probably because the book is dedicated to exploring an age-old Buddhist sutra that muses on wisdom and enlightenment, and its been a project in progress for the better part of 40 years.

I had such fun with this book Kerr tells me from his home in Bangkok. Hes been in the Thai capital since late March, and most likely will be there until March 2021. Its the longest stretch of time hes been away from Japan in decades, and hes itching to be on the road again. Particularly the one back to Japan, where he has lived more or less full-time since 1977.

Writing while having fun is a new experience for Kerr. Readers of his books on Japan, including Lost Japan and Dogs and Demons, would have found heavy doses of anger and finger-wagging from his iconoclastic takes on Japans destructive path over the past 50 years.

But, Finding the Heart Sutra is different for many reasons. For one, Kerr found humor in his subject.

You can see it as a poem, as a great philosophy, as a Zen meditation, as a mystical path, as a spiritualist power, but you could also see it as a joke, Kerr says.

Take, for example, one of the sutras most famous stanzas:

The material world does not differ from emptiness.

Emptiness does not differ from the material world.

The material world is itself emptiness.

Emptiness is itself the material world.

The first reading is gobbledygook, youll never get anything out of it, Kerr says with his trademark forthrightness. Its this tendency to call a spade a spade that makes Kerr a compelling writer and well-suited to write an ode to a Zen masterpiece. While there are likely many scholars of the sutra that would take exception to describing the sacred text as comical, Kerr is insistent:

Kerr the calligrapher: Sprinkled throughout Finding the Heart Sutra are Alex Kerrs brush strokes of Chinese characters from the ancient Buddhist text. | COURTESY OF ALEX KERR

Its ridiculous, he says. Its humorous and outrageous, and so on top of everything else, I treated it as a joke with punch lines.

Key to Kerrs approach is that he writes for the reader who is not steeped in Buddhist knowledge. In essence, what hes done with Finding the Heart Sutra is taken a wide-angle lens to an ancient verse, zoomed in on the significance of each character and deployed anecdotes and liner notes to unpack the gibberish.

What Im trying to do is, one by one, phrase by phrase, and sometimes kanji by kanji, get deep into (the sutra). What does this thing really mean and what have they said over 1,000 years about it? Kerr says.

One way he gets at the heart of the sutra was to highlight its relationship with calligraphy. Sprinkled throughout Kerrs book are brush strokes of Chinese characters, all of which are taken from the Buddhist text.

Thats critical, Kerr says. Its the essence of the Heart Sutra, because its been involved with calligraphy from day one.

It also provides readers with a new view of the author: Kerr the calligrapher.

A few years ago, while interviewing Kerr in his home in Kameoka, Kyoto Prefecture, I noticed beautiful hand-drawn characters on display and later found out much of it was written by Kerr.

The original plan was for it to be a visual book, Kerr says. He was meant to be the calligrapher while French novelist Marguerite Yourcenar would write about the sutra. That plan, hatched in the 1980s, never panned out; Yourcenar died in 1987, but Kerr never stopped thinking about and re-reading the Heart Sutra.

Finding the Heart Sutra: Guided by a Magician, an Art Collector and Buddhist Sages from Tibet to Japan by Alex Kerr

The sutra is short, which magnifies the significance of each character. Kerr reproduces it in English, Japanese and Chinese. It comes in at under 60 lines, many of which are just two characters long.

Kerr says the brevity of the sutra is why it has survived for so long and influenced so many. As he writes in the book: The Heart Sutra is so short you can recite the whole thing in about a minute. Its a haiku of wisdom, wisdom you can carry in your back pocket.

Its also intense; it covers a lot of ground in what it surveys, especially emptiness, which the sutra arrives at almost immediately.

You have to be aware of the emptiness, Kerr says. One of the things I harp on a lot about in this book is equanimity so that you can rise above all the nonsense and the troubles. Because you have to realize these things are small, they are blips in the cosmic scheme of things, and so are we. Then you can find a bit of peace.

Someone asked me what they should do after finishing the book. I said they should read it again. This is a book you can read and read again.

Much like a poem you can ponder again and again. Each time it says something new or different. Or nothing at all. And thats OK, too.

Alex Kerr discusses sustainable tourism and Finding the Heart Sutra in episode 74 of The Japan Times Deep Dive podcast. Listen now at jtimes.jp/podcast.

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'Finding the Heart Sutra': Alex Kerr finds humor at the heart of wisdom and enlightenment - The Japan Times

New Delhi | Updated: November 30, 2020 10:03:46 am

Written by Harminder K., Sahapedia.org

Around the year 1485, a 16-year-old boy named Nanak moved to Sultanpur Lodhi in Punjab, where he lived for the next 14 years. Each day before sunrise, he would go for ablutions by the Kali Bein, a seasonal rivulet, accompanied by Mardana, the minstrel boy and his to-be lifelong companion. One day, to Mardanas surprise, Nanak plunged into the river but didnt surface. Mardana waited and waited and then rushed to the town to seek assistance. Everyone thought that either Nanak had drowned or had been washed away in the river, which was in spate.

Nanak was then working as a storekeeper for Nawab Daulat Khan, governor of Jalandhar Doab. When the Nawab learnt about the incident he rushed to the spot and asked the fishermen to throw their nets in the rivulet and find Nanak. All efforts failed. Then, suddenly on the fourth day, Nanak appeared in town. Khan heaved a sigh of relief and there was great rejoicing among his friends and relatives. But by now Nanak was a completely changed man. His face was radiant and there was divine light in his eyes. He was perpetually in deep reflective thought.

As word about Nanaks return spread, people started thronging the place. They asked him where he had been, but Nanak remained silent. People said he was in the water for many days so he was out of his mind. But Nanak did not respond. After a day passed, he said: Na koi Hindu, na koi Mussalman (There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim. Each time he spoke, he repeated these words. The Janamsakhi (literally, life story or biography) describes the incident as a communion with God, who gave him a cup of nectar to drink and charged him with the mission in the following words:

Nanak I am with thee. Through thee will my name be magnified. Whosoever follows thee, him will I save. Go into the world to pray and teach mankind how to pray. Be not sullied by the ways of the world. Let your life be one of praise of the Word (naam), charity (daan), ablution (isnaan), service (seva) and prayer (simran). Nanak I give thee my pledge. Let this be thy lifes mission.

ALSO READ |Happy Gurpurab 2020: Guru Nanak Jayanti Wishes Images, Status, Quotes, Wallpapers, Messages, Photos

The mysterious voice spoke again: Nanak he whom you bless will be blessed by Me; he to whom you are benevolent shall receive My benevolence. I am the Great God, the Supreme Creator. Thou art the Guru, The Supreme Guru of God. Nanak is said to have received the robe of honour from the hands of God Himself who revealed to him the Divine Reality.

It is significant to understand here that in medieval Hindustan, though the Muslims were the main persecutors of the Hindus and the Sikhs, Nanaks words, There is no Hindu, there is no Mussalman, was meant to disregard the conflict with them in the spirit of a spiritually aroused person, one who bears ill-feelings towards none. The Revelation, therefore, was the culmination of a spiritual direction his childhood and youth had taken. When he reappeared, he provided a new spiritual and humanistic message of oneness of humanity that would go out to millions in his lifetime and in the centuries to come. Guru Nanak saw God as One Reality, Ek Onkar.

His vision of the world was of an all-embracing, all-inclusive humanism. It was his divine calling that impelled Nanak to spread this message of God. Soon after his enlightenment in 1499 Guru Nanak set out on his journeyswhich were recorded as udasis by eminent Sikh saintsto spread his vision of the divine. He visited the equivalent of nine modern countries or more in todays global map comprising India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, China, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iranon foot, travelling for 21 years. Dressed in a loose, flowing shirt, armed with the light of truth and zeal of a missionary, he started his journeys first within Punjab in 1499 and then to the east in 1500, followed by travels to the south, north and west.

There are many stories from his travels that demonstrate how he stirred human consciousness so that people could connect with God and live life truthfully and honestly. The Guru first went to Saidpur (now Eminabad in Pakistan), then walked through jungles and wilderness and arrived at an inn run by a person called Sajjan, meaning gentleman. Ironically, though, Sajjan was a robber and a murderer. He had built a mosque and a temple for prayers of passing travellers and an inn for their stay. But that was only a cover. He beckoned travellers into his inn, waited for them to sleep and then robbed and killed them.

ALSO READ |Happy Guru Nanak Jayanti 2020: Gurpurab Wishes, Images, Status, Quotes, Messages, and Photos

When Nanak went to his inn, Sajjan looked at the glow on the Gurus face and thought he was a prosperous trader, travelling in the garb of a recluse to avoid being waylaid by robbers. He waited and waited for Nanak and Mardana to retire. Instead of going to bed, Nanak sang a hymn to the tune of Mardanas rabab (rebec).

Tinned copper so bright and lustrous, When rubbed, appears a surface inky black. Its impurity by washing shall not go, despite washing a hundred times. Those are true friends who are ones companions of the way; And when their reckoning is called for, instantly render it. (Sri Guru Granth Sahib, p. 729)

Sajjan understood the import of the Gurus hymn. He begged forgiveness, gave up his evil ways and became a true man of God. He converted his inn to a dharamsal, a place for religious worship. This became the first major centre the Guru set up for the congregation of his disciples. It is no mean achievement that during his lifetime, Guru Nanak was able to set up dharamsals from Assam in the east to Iraq in the west.

Nanaks travels are full of stories of how he endeared himself to people and made disciples. Most of these were recorded in Janamsakhis and are now oft-recounted. One among them was fakir Bahlol of Iraq, who sat at the foot of the platform where Guru Nanak sat for a discourse, and spent 60 years of his life remembering Nanak. The Guru is still remembered in the many places he visited with many names, each adopting him as their ownBaba Nanak, Wali HindNanak Qandhari, Nanak Pir and Lama Nanak Nnak. Such is the power and influence of this saint.

(This article is part of Saha Sutra on http://www.sahapedia.org, an online open resource for Indian arts, culture, heritage and history.)

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The enlightenment of Guru Nanak, and a glimpse into his global Udasis - The Indian Express

slowthai, punk prophet of Britains austerity generation, is on a strange trip to enlightenment By Camille Sojit Pejcha Share Facebook Instagram Facebook Shop POPULAR RESEARCH

Text by Camille Sojit Pejcha

Photography by Markn

Styled by Alice Lefons

Set design by Afra Zamara

Posted December 2, 2020

The rappers unlikely rise to fame provided a window into the British struggle for national identity. For Documents Fall/Winter 2020 issue, the Brexit Bandit explains why hes now looking inward for answers

Yeah, I have quite crazy dreams, slowthai laughs, flashing me his famous gap-toothed grin and flicking his cigarette. Hes not referring to dreams of stardom, but the kind of dreams that keep you up at night, where things arent quite what they seem and the symbols keep getting stranger. He describes dreams of being someone else, dreams of tsunamis, dreams he desperately tries to rejoin after waking to find out how they end, and one particularly strange interlude involving his father at a KFC in Thailand.

It doesnt surprise me that slowthai has a vivid fantasy life. Just before our Zoom interview, I took in his latest offering: the surreal music video for feel away, his single featuring James Blake and Mount Kimbie. It starts with slowthai proposing to his partner in the maternity ward; then the perspective switches, and he is revealed to be the one pregnant. His fiancee runs off with the doctor while he labors with their baby, and the video ends with his severed limbs being served as cake at their weddinga reference to the viral meme of people cutting into seemingly ordinary household objects, only to discover that they are in fact hyperrealistic cakes.

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For a small-town boy with a modest upbringing, the past year has been a whirlwind. Since the release of his first studio album Nothing Great About Britain in 2019, slowthai performed live on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, was nominated for the Mercury Prize, and headlined shows across the US and Europe. When the Bajan-British rapper wasnt onstage, he was courting controversy with a grin, dubbing himself the Brexit Bandit and going viral for holding up the fake severed head of Boris Johnson during his Mercury Prize performance. On tour, slowthai earned a reputation for delivering frenetic, politically charged shows that often ended with him stripped down to his boxers and thrown into the crowdwhen he wasnt spitting in mouths, that is (Yeah, I think I mightve started coronavirus, he chuckles when I bring up the fan request.)

Now, slowthai (real name: Tyron Frampton) is back at his family home in Northampton, a town in the East Midlands region of England. With a pandemic raging outside and touring on pause, he has spent the past months hanging out with his mom, playing video games, and smoking weedjust like any other 25-year-old. Of course its a bit boring by comparison, but I think being back and seeing my friends and family allowed me to come back down to earth, he tells me. I can just chill, eat good, have a laughand I can make more music than I would have if I was constantly flying everywhere or getting drunk all the time.

I ran out of money and I was sleeping on studio floors and just recording. Every second I got I was trying to make a song. I think when you have nothing, thats when you start to grow and get good, because youre out of your comfort zoneyou know this is either it, or it is nothing.

With his copious tattoos, grill, and bad-boy charm, slowthai is the latest in a long line of British musicians to question the status quoyet the rappers acerbic wit and bracing social commentary, paired with a mix of grime and hip hop beats, puts his sound in its own lane. In Nothing Great About Britain, he draws on his own experience growing up under austerity politics to render a searing portrait of Britains crisis of identity, springboarding from critique of economic inequality to lampooning political figures with sharp-tongued dexterity that keeps you on your toes. Even though the picture he paints is dark, slowthais anti-authoritarian sentiment and comedic edge evoke a battle cry rather than a lament: In one song, he derides the monarchy with gusto, taunting the Queen of England in a mock-bourgeoisie accent (I will treat you with the utmost respect only if you respect me a little bit Elizabeth, you cunt); in others, he references experiences with racial bias (Wont hire me, then they hire you / Fire me but dont fire you) and his career prospects as a working-class youth (Teacher said, What you gonna be when youre older? / Drug dealer, what else can I do?)

Before he started gaining traction as an artist, slowthai was a self-described little shit doing what we all do: making it work. He describes a mix of soul-crushing retail jobs, a brush with addiction, and a desire to go against the grain (Think to myself, somethings gotta change / Lower class, but my class is so fucking flames, he raps.) I was selling weed, trying to make money. Then I ran out of money and I was sleeping on studio floors and just recording. Every second I got I was trying to make a song. I think when you have nothing, thats when you start to grow and get good, because youre out of your comfort zoneyou know this is either it, or it is nothing, he tells me.

slowthais rise to stardom coincides with a broader shift in Britains music scene, with distinctly multicultural subgenres like grime, garage, and drill broadening the UK soundscape. Throughout our call, he is quick to acknowledge his good fortune, expressing gratitude for the support of his community and the people who believe in him.

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Its not just his own modest upbringing that earned him a reputation as a champion of the proletariat. In 2019, he earned loyalty across the UK with a budget tour, charging only 0.99 for tickets and asking his fans where to go. Though the 99pence tour originally focused on often-overlooked small towns like the one he himself grew up in, popular interest led to a 5 tour of larger venues. Community has always been pivotal for slowthai, who takes aim at the monarchy in Nothing Great About Britain in order to draw focus back to the working-class people at the countrys heart.

The music hes been working on over quarantine represents a pivot away from Brexit politics, but involves the same humanist outlook. People inspire me to be better, so I want to inspire them to be better, because were all in it together. This song, and this whole album, are about growth and self-development, he says. Do you want me to play you some stuff?

Sitting on the sofa in his family home, slowthai plays me his new music. He is alternately playful (Thats just me being a saucy little fellow!) and candid, walking me through the inspiration behind each track while chain-smoking cigarettes. I think, through isolation, weve realized how much we actually need each other. This one is about appreciating what youve got, he explains, referencing societys newfound respect for the national healthcare system. When COVID started, everyone was clapping for [the NHS]and I dont disagree with that, but considering theyve done generations of good work, I dont see why it takes a pandemic for us to congratulate or thank the people that are pushing for us.

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While slowthai still believes in the need for widespread political reform, his new music has more to do with creating positive change in himself. I wanted it to be about duality, so its split into A-Side and B-Sidethe first bit is chaotic and edgy, the things we put out to the world, or what people see us as because they dont know us on that personal level, he explains. I recorded it while I was going through tough times in my life, with my mental health. I wanted to ventso the A-Side is just me expressing myself, getting angry at everything thats making me feel down. And then, the B-Side is about me being like, Is this what I wanna do? and realizing that this stuff isnt helping me, its just holding me back. Its about searching for the answers in yourself. Youre either gonna sit there and cry about it or you are gonna go out and live life and do your best, and try to be better for yourself. You should improve because you want to improve, not because people expect it of you.

I cant help but sense hes referring to his own brush with cancel culture earlier this year: an infamous incident at the NME Awards that started as banter with comedian Katherine Ryan and culminated in an altercation between himself and a male audience member who shouted that slowthais lewd comments were misogynista sentiment shared by critics on the internet and social media. Ryan, who was presenting the award, took to Twitter to respond. He didnt make me uncomfortable. This is why we need women in positions of power. He opened his mouth like any heckler coming up against a COMICnot a womana COMIC, she wrote later that evening. Even so, the incident spurred some serious self-reflection for slowthai, who later requested that NME forward his Hero of the Year award to Ryan instead. In a public apology to Ryan, he wrote: You are a master at your craft and next time Ill take my seat and leave the comedy to you. To any woman or man who saw a reflection of situations theyve been in in those videos, I am sorry. I promise to do better. Lets talk here.

I believe a lot of people whore on Twittercaught up in the moment, saying negative shittheyre lost themselves, theyre just fighting because they feel like thats the one place they have a voice.

My whole thing with [cancel culture] is, why dont you do something positive and try to teach the person where theyre wrong, or how things could be presumed a certain way? he remarks, after sharing a track inspired by the experience. Strangers on the internet are so fast to push people into a corner and label someone they dont know. I believe a lot of people whore on Twittercaught up in the moment, saying negative shittheyre lost themselves, theyre just fighting because they feel like thats the one place they have a voice, he says. All you can do in life is learn from something. Anyone who knows me knows what Im about, knows what I stand for, knows who I am. You cant hate someone whos trying to do everything for their family and trying to push and be the best version of themselves.

slowthai tries to make himself accessible to fans, often responding to messages and encouraging people to reach out and vent to him about their problems. I try to treat people the way I want to be treated. If they took the time out of their day to message, who am I not to take time out of mine to message back, and speak to them, and make sure theyre okay, he says. Its a familythats what Im aiming to create. I actually just spoke to this girl, who told me she came to my show and posted it on her story; this guy whos a fan replied, and from that they started dating. Now theyve been together for a year and a half, and just moved into a house! If they decide to get married, Im getting ordainedIll be the one to do it, he jokes. Things like that make it ten times more worthwhile. Even taking the time out to mention that to methat this was a prominent memory they made togetherthats sick. After an hour or so of chatting, Im beginning to understand the depth of his conviction that its the people, not the government, that make Britain great.

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The conversation turns to his own family life and his relationship with his mother Gaynor, to whom he pays tribute in his song Northamptons Child (Youre the strongest person I know / Made us happy even when you felt down / Always other people first / But Im thinking for you right now.) One of his tattoos is similarly dedicated to her: Sorry Mum, spelled across his chest. As much as shes my mum, shes been a friend to me more than anything, slowthai says, a fact he attributes in part to their small age difference; Gaynor was only 16 when she had him. Even when she knew I was going through a phase, she just wanted to let me be who I wanted to be. She understood that I just gotta decide for myself. When I ask what she thinks of his newfound fame, he laughs. Shes funny. Out of everyone, she always knows things before I do. Even though shes not on the internet all the time, she makes it her mission to find out everything. And then whenever Im tweeting some mad shit shell be like, What does this mean? Not today Mum, relax.

Even with the wholehearted support of his mother, his family life hasnt been without struggle; his little brother Michael John, who had muscular dystrophy, passed away just after his first birthday (something he alludes to in lyrics, and has spoken about on social media.) The aftershocks of this loss were deeply felt by his family, and in the years since he has publicly written about the impact his little brother had on his life. Im doing everything in my power to live for him and also make him proud, wrote slowthai in one Instagram post, revealing that feel away is dedicated to him.

I never want anyone to feel like Im up here and theyre down there. If someone is a fan of my work, that just means we appreciate the same things. It dont matter who you are or what you do, your color, your creed, sexual orientation; as long as you connect with it.

slowthai struggled with anger management after his brothers death (Youre lucky Im not as big as you / Ill punch you till my hands turn blue, he says on Northamptons Child, addressing his cheating stepdad.) Today, he is embracing music and writing not just as a way to express aggression, but as a site of vulnerability (Ive been writing poetry, he tells me when I ask how hes keeping entertained during quarantine.) The razor wit and raw, anarchic edge that launched him into the spotlight are still present, but this new album marks the beginning of a new era for slowthai: one defined by introspection, self-awareness, and personal growth. Im not religious, but I used to be. I asked for the Bible for my birthday, he explains, laughing at my astonished expression. The title of this next song is an anagram for Pray Until Something Happens. Its just something my family always said to me.

Over the course of our conversation, what surprises me most is slowthais genuine desire to connect: He reciprocates every question I ask him (Where am I from? What have I been up to during quarantine? What are my weird dreams like?) and when he falls silent, its not out of awkwardnessits because hes listening. I never want anyone to feel like Im up here and theyre down there, he says of his fans. If someone is a fan of my work, that just means we appreciate the same things. It dont matter who you are or what you do, your color, your creed, sexual orientation; as long as youre feeling it and you connect with it. Thats what lifes about, its about meeting people and helping each other, so the next generation learns from our mistakes, or things weve done, so then they push it, he says.

While slowthais anti-authoritarian spirit and dynamic stage presence invite comparison to the punk luminaries of decades past, its his unremitting drive to connect with the people and communities around him that strikes me as authentically subversive in todays individualistic landscape. In the fraught political climate of 2020, its easy to revert to tribalist arguments and moral policing that only sows division. slowthai knows what its like to be disenfranchised, but he also knows how to capture this frustration in a biting lyric and use it to rally people around a shared cause. His unlikely rise to fame provides a window into the British struggle for national identityyet as much as slowthais shows are a mosh pit of raw energy and anti-government sentiment, they are also a testament to the power of community and the peoples dedication to a better future.

slowthais forthcoming album TYRON will be released February 5th, 2021.

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Jacket and harness by 6 Moncler 1017 Alyx 9SM.

Jacket and pants by 6 Moncler 1017 Alyx 9SM. Sneakers Tyrons own.

Jacket by 6 Moncler 1017 Alyx 9SM. Pants Tyrons own.

T-shirt Tyrons own. Jacket and pants by 6 Moncler 1017 Alyx 9SM.

Jacket and harness by 6 Moncler 1017 Alyx 9SM.

Jacket and pants by 6 Moncler 1017 Alyx 9SM. Sneakers Tyrons own.

Jacket by 6 Moncler 1017 Alyx 9SM. Pants Tyrons own.

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slowthai, punk prophet of Britain's austerity generation, is on a strange trip to enlightenment - Document Journal

France, and indeed the whole world, were rightly shocked by the barbarous murder in October of schoolteacher Samuel Paty at the hands of an 18-year-old Muslim refugee from Chechnya.The alleged reason for the crime was that Paty, while teaching his students about free expression, showed infamous cartoons denigrating the Prophet Muhammad.

That horrendous crime was quickly followed by an even more brazen one: the murder of three people inside the Notre-Dame cathedral in Nice.

France, instead of taking targeted measures against the guilty parties and those who might have aided them, has instead gone down the now all-too-familiar path of blaming what it believes is an unreformed Islam and a backwards Muslim community. It stands on the cusp of adopting sweeping legislation that, while broadly threatening the civil rights of all of its citizens, will undoubtedly impact Muslims most negatively.

These responses come against the backdrop of President Emmanuel Macron declaring that Islam is in crisis all over the world, and that his government would launch an aggressive campaign to combat what he calls Islamist separatism. In justifying his muscular approach towards Islam (and not just towards Muslims who commit acts of violence), Macron sees himself as defending the ideals of the Enlightenment and sharing them with the benighted Muslims of France.

There is substantial evidence that an important number of prominent European intellectuals of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment were, if anything, Islamophiles

Contrasting the enlightenment of Europe with the barbarism of Islam is a central trope of Islamophobes, whether in Europe or North America. Yet, this dichotomy could not be further from the historical truth surrounding Europes Enlightenment, and even its Renaissance. Both were characterised by a repudiation of the fanatic hatred of Islam and Muslims that the church in the Middle Ages had preached, in favour of a much more balanced appreciation of Islam and the Prophet Muhammad.

Indeed, there is substantial evidence that an important number of prominent European intellectuals of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment were, if anything, Islamophiles.

Two recently published books confirm this point. The first is Faces of Muhammad, a book that narrates how European perceptions of the Prophet Muhammad evolved from the figure of the crude imposter propagated by the Catholic church during the Crusades to a religious reformer, glorious leader, and anti-clerical hero to many figures in the Reformation and the Enlightenment.

For Americans, the Enlightenment tradition of honouring the Prophet Muhammad manifested itself in his presence in a frieze at the Supreme Court honouring the great lawgivers of mankind.

The author of Faces of Muhammad, historian John Tolan, notes that the rise of humanism through the Renaissance and the Enlightenment allowed Europeans to begin to appreciate the Prophet Muhammad as a historical figure of immense significance, rather than simply as a threat to the church.

In addition, English historian Noel Malcolms recent book, Useful Enemies, chronicles the transformative effects that the Ottoman Empire and Islam had on European political imagination.

European travellers to Ottoman territories in the 15th and 16th centuries, despite the often crude anti-Ottoman and anti-Muslim propaganda that prevailed in Europe, were duly impressed by the empires religious tolerance; the orderliness and security of its cities; its highly disciplined military; the civic spirit of its well-to-do citizens; a reasonably effective, impartial and speedy judicial system; its reliance on merit as the metric for promotion; and the independence of the state from the religious class.

The increasing encounters of Europeans with the Ottomans and the Mamluks, at leastuntil the conquest of Egypt and Syria in the first quarter of the 16th century, left their traces among the most important European political thinkers of the Renaissance, including the celebrated Florentine political writer Niccolo Machiavelli and the French political theorist Jean Bodin. France played an especially important role as a site for resistance to crude depictions of Islam by virtue of the alliance between Ottoman Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent and French King Francis I.

These positive encounters with Islam and Muslims in turn inspired European thinkers to imagine ways in which they could transform their own societies. So great was the attraction of the Ottoman model to 16th-century European political writers that, according to Malcolm, it produced a backlash at the hands of Catholic intellectuals, who sought to shore up support for the Hapsburgs in their struggle against the Ottomans.

Their campaign led to the invention of the trope of Oriental despotism in an attempt to subvert the attractiveness of the Ottoman Empire in the eyes of Europeans.

The values of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment amounted to a repudiation of traditional Christian hostility towards Islam and its Prophet

What these two books unequivocally demonstrate is that the values of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment amounted to a repudiation of traditional Christian hostility towards Islam and its Prophet, and the adoption of a spirit of respect - and even admiration - in its place.

While certain conceptions of freedom of expression might compel a state to permit denigrating portrayals of the Prophet Muhammad to be circulated freely (although anyone with knowledge of French law knows that this is not true for France), in no way can such images be viewed as compatible with the ideals of the Enlightenment; rather, they represent an atavistic return to the crudest propaganda of the Middle Ages, and deserve to be so treated.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.

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How cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad mark a return to the propaganda of the Middle Ages - Middle East Eye

As a result of the extensive reach of online mass media, political movements and public awareness of diverse social issues are becoming more widespread in society. There are infinite possibilities for the public to inform themselves on eminent global topics. Not only is this a way for people to educate themselves, it also provides an opportunity for organizations to raise money and for political groups to advocate for legislative change. This however paves the way for brands to exploit this current spread of online political enlightenment by engaging in performative activism in their advertisements and marketing schemes in an effort to seem socially aware.

As people around the world learn more about the feminist movement and the multitude of issues women around the world face, brands and organization take this as an opportunity to market their products in this contemporary climate of wokeness. They aim to stand out from other brands with their political statements, filling their advertisements with feminist affirmations that are vague enough to still fit into their aesthetic, yet make the brand appear progressive and enlightened.

It felt like wearing that shirt was a political statement itself.

In the mid 2010s, H&M released a t-shirt with the print Feminism: the radical notion that women are people. I remember seeing many teenage girls wearing this t-shirt on the streets; it was cute, I wanted it too at age 13. At the time, it felt like wearing that shirt was a political statement itself, like wearing it to my 8th-grade class would be making a real impact on the feminist movement. However, in hindsight, the only real impact I wouldve made was fattening the wallets of the H&M corporate office.

The slogan on the shirt, women are people, shouldnt be a mind-blowing revelation either. Although the sarcasm is part of the perceived quirkiness of the shirt, looking back on it, H&M had simply used their knowledge on the rapid spread of feminist support online as a tool to sell their clothing. At the time the shirt was released, the HeForShe movement had just recently been formed by UNWomen, and Emma Watsons inspiring speech at the movements launch had gone viral. Furthermore, Malala Yousafzai was in the spotlight as she received the Nobel Peace Prize just a month after Emma Watsons speech. Therefore, there had been extensive media coverage about the feminist movement at that time. Google searches for the term feminism spiked between 2014 and 2016, the same time frame that this shirt was being sold in. However, none of H&Ms profits were donated to any feminist organizations and Im sure this t-shirt did little to progress the feminist movement.

What exactly was H&M doing?

Although H&M has a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) code of conduct that seems helpful in ensuring adequate social and environmental principles, they fail to properly acknowledge workplace harassment and violence towards women.

A report made to the International Labour Organization in 2018 showed that not only did H&M pay their garment workers less than a minimum wage, women also experienced workplace violence and unfair treatment at many of H&Ms factories. Women were reported to have been fired solely for being pregnant, forced to work overtime and were repeatedly yelled at or even physically assaulted by factory employers. The H&M garment workers are primarily women, over 80% of workers at factories in Bangladesh are female, for example. Although H&M has a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) code of conduct that seems helpful in ensuring adequate social and environmental principles, they fail to properly acknowledge workplace harassment and violence towards women, which is so prevalent for H&Ms female garment workers. This highlights the fact that the company chooses to capitalize on the feminist trend in order to sell their products, where their actual efforts to support feminist movements or even ensure safety and security for their female workers, are kept at a minimum.

Using simplified statements such as women are people in marketplace feminism creates the perception that feminism only aims to reach gender equality through achieving these ambiguous slogans. In reality, feminism deals with deep-rooted issues surrounding paradigms about women, laws regarding their autonomy or opportunities for receiving education. The actual goals of the political movement are overlooked as its easier to market a cool slogan on a shirt than it is to confront the efforts it takes to reach gender equality.

Audi preaches about equal pay

Another company that incorporated feminist messages into their advertisements was Audi in 2017. In the advertisement, they made a clear statement that America should aim to provide equal pay for men and women, displaying a young girl beating a group of boys in a soapbox race. This was of course accompanied by an emotional song and the voiceover of her father in the background contemplating whether he should explain to his daughter that in this world women are seen as less important than men. The controversy that arose over this advertisement was that Audi themselves were exposed for not having paid their male and female employees equally, and on top of that, had an executive board consisting of only men. Although Audi preaches about gender equality in their advertisement to promote their car, they dont actively make an effort to support women in the workplace themselves. This selective activism in their advertisement therefore seems to be performative in an effort to appear like a progressive company that supports gender equality.

The gravity of the issues faced by countless women is diminished by creating catchy, commercialised feminist slogans to sell instead of actively aiming to achieve gender equality in their workplace or aiding feminist organizations.

Brands continuing to take advantage of the current political climate as a marketing tactic does not result in women being edged closer to equality. The gravity of the issues faced by countless women is diminished by creating catchy, commercialised feminist slogans to sell instead of actively aiming to achieve gender equality in their workplace or aiding feminist organizations. Yes, in the broadest sense of its definition, women of course, as any other cohort, want to be seen as people; but this is not on the list of tangible goals that feminist movements aim to achieve. Ultimately, brands using the rhetoric of empowerment and women power to push their products do not contribute to the feminist movement but profit from the current politically conscious online climate instead.

Cover: Claudio Purzlbaum

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You Go Girl!: The Commercialisation of Feminism - Mediummagazine

Every man and every woman, it seems, knows Gilbert and Sullivans quipping lines from Iolanthe (1882): That every boy and every gal / Thats born into the world alive. / Is either a little Liberal / Or else a little Conservative. When the lines were first sung, the labels matched up with Britains political parties, but they obviously have a wider applicationeach calling to mind, then and now, a cultural outlook, an inclination, a temperament, even a philosophy. Over time, of course, even the firmest definition will shift, making easy summary difficult and historical circumstancecontext, that iscrucial to our understanding of what liberalism is and how conservatism differs from it. These days, we may also ask: What sets the two sides of democratic politics so far apart?

Edmund Fawcett, a former editor and correspondent at the Economist, grappled with one end of this polarity in Liberalism: The Life of an Idea, published in 2014 and revised four years later. He now explores its opposing force in Conservatism: The Fight for a Tradition. A self-described left-wing liberal, Mr. Fawcett believes that both categories of thought (and politics) are facing critical tests, making it all the more urgent that we grasp their genealogyhow they developed and what they have come to represent. He calls his explorations historical essays, and indeed they are written in a reflective mode, though at times in an impassioned style. Members of both thought-categories will find much to learn from both books, not least from the historical figures Mr. Fawcett brings into view.

Mr. Fawcett notes that, in the broadest terms, the modern era in advanced societies has been governed by a liberal outlook, one in which the liberty or freedom of the individual has been increasingly protected from the state or liberated from custom, hierarchy and the institutionsnotably, the churchthat once dictated social relations and guided mans understanding of himself. The origins of this outlook, he notes, can be traced to the Enlightenment, when reason was elevated to an exalted position and, it was believed, a rational scrutiny of both principles and institutions would lead humanity away from dark superstition and upward toward the light.

Enlightenment thinkers, Mr. Fawcett reminds us, encouraged the idea that society might be understood and thereby changed for the better. They also sought to sever moral codes from their traditional mooring, or at least to rethink them: As Mr. Fawcett puts it, David Hume and Immanuel Kant welcomed liberty from ethical tutelage so that men could determine their own standards of conduct. The German statesman Wilhelm von Humboldt saw education as a way to realize individual possibility rather than, as tradition would have it, train for an occupation or a social role. Benjamin Constant, in France, focused on the concept of liberty, which he defined as a condition of existence allowing people to turn away interference from either society or the state. Calling absolute power radically illegitimate, Franois Guizot insisted that human imperfection meant that no person, class, faith or interest should have the final say. Like other French liberals of his day, he sought a juste milieua place where interests and ideas could be balanced. Enlightenment philosophers on the Continent also challenged the assumptions of the ancien rgime, helping open careers to talent and remove restrictions on office-holding long governed by religion and class.

These currents of thought we associate with the 18th century, and for good reason, but after the shock of the American and French revolutions, they were dammed up by the Napoleonic Wars and an interlude of restoration. It was only in the 1830s that the dam broke. A period of rapid changebrought on by the dislocations of the Industrial Revolution, the railways remarkable shrinking of distance, and episodes of agricultural depression and financial crisisdemanded a re-assessment of established patterns of thought and governance. Enlightenment-driven liberalism was one mode of response; conservatism, one might say, was a response to the response.

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Conservatism and Liberalism: Two Books on the Great Divide - The Wall Street Journal