Duncan Weldon

Senior Economist, TUC

In most circumstances today's IMF report would be taken as a pretty damning indictment of the state of the economy and our prospects for recovery. However, because the IMF has stopped short of openly calling for a "plan B" the Chancellor's allies appear to be classifying this as a victory.

Martina Milburn

Chief Executive of The Prince’s Trust

Sadly, thousands of the young people we help at The Prince's Trust do not grow up surrounded by positive role models. Many have had difficult childhoods, or grown up in workless households, with no one to turn to for advice about how to apply for a job or do well in an interview. They may look up to successful people they see in the media, but without the right support, they feel that their own dreams are out of reach. At The Prince's Trust, however, we are determined to prove them wrong.

Robert DG Smith

Comment Editor of Impact Magazine

In an ideal world, Google should be paying more in tax, but don't hold your breath when international agreement is the only state-based solution. Instead, public pressure is the strongest force to persuade companies that it is in their interests to make a 'moral' contribution in tax.

Matt Clough

Writer and aspiring journalist

Recent statistics suggest that 82% of people think it's acceptable to watch pirated TV shows, and the growing piracy rates back this up: the season premiere of Game of Thrones was watched illegally over one million times, compared to just over four million legitimate views, with foreign interest in the series being a large cause.

Anne Somers

CEO of ATG Media, Europe's leading provider of live online auctions

Whilst there is, of course, no way to guarantee SME success, with the right investor, a niche of your own and real desire to integrate with the sector you serve, your chances will undoubtedly increase.

Andy Law

Chairman, Fearlessly Frank. Author. Innovator.

How did David Beckham become such a successful global icon? And why aren't more British brands as successful as he is? You have to look to France fo...

Natalie Bennett

Green Party leader

One in 10 British workers is working fewer hours than they'd like to. Forced casualisation is a reality for millions. The 'underemployment rate' for 16-24-year-olds is 30%. Retail workers are being offered 12-hour weeks, at a level that puts them below the national insurance payment threshold.

John Worne

Director of Strategy, the British Council

But in these austere times she also asked for better evidence of the value of culture. In short, her point was that if we want UK Government to continue investing in culture - as public spending gets the squeeze - we in the cultural industries need to demonstrate a return on that investment

Mark Wilkinson

Leading designer of fine British furniture

There's a case that students, who could be the next generation of leading scientists, architects, designers and mathematicians, could be slipping through the net through lack of awareness about visual/spatial thinking and the skills that those with a bias towards such thinking can bring to the table.

Seth Freedman

Whistleblower at the centre of the UK gas price-fixing story

The knives are out for the energy companies in the press and political spheres alike, with public outrage increasing with every new revelation aired. But their anger is not directed solely at the likes of BP and Shell, but also at the lax regulatory environment which has allowed such alleged abuses to flourish for years.

Anthony Eskinazi

Founder of ParktamyHouse

To try and attract shoppers with variety, it needs to be made easier and more accessible for new businesses to get space on the high street. While last year might have been terrible for the big retailers, it was a bumper year for startups.

Mike Foreman

Mike Foreman, General Manager, SMB at AVG Technologies

Cloud offers greater ease of deployment yes. But it also offers a more controllable and flexible means of buying exactly the right amount of software services at any one point in time -- and this "amount of cloud" can be reduced (or increased) and so tweaked to the exact needs of the business.

Hannah Lippitt

Journalist who works in digital media.

The groups that seem to be frequently ignored, are the growing amount of serious yet micro startups, which are quietly chipping away building profitable businesses by keeping keen and staying lean and focusing specifically on a niche in the market with no incentive to seek out investor cash.

John Bowman

Managing Director and Co-Lead, Education - CFA Institute

The public, and those who represent its interests, simply don't believe that financial organisations are willing to take the necessary steps to ensure that the industry's reputation is restored and that future crises are avoided.

simon baldwin

Retail Expert and Director at Mall-to-Mobile: DestinationCMS

Shoppers are brainwashed into thinking that the giant out-of-town retailers decision to sell all that they do is still giving us choice. The 'habit' has become an 'addiction' ... or has it?

Dessislava Bell

Founder, Chief Product Officer and CFO of Zaggora

The reality today is that women with career and family ambitions need to be as disciplined as or even more so than male counterparts.