When one unexpected cost tips the balance, and the system quietly keeps you there By Richard Kirtley I’ve been thinking about a number this week, not in any structured or analytical way, not trying to interrogate it or turn it into something neat and conclusive, but just letting it sit there in the background of […]
What a £4 pack of cards reveals about value, chance, and the stories markets choose to believe By Richard Kirtley I wasn’t trying to make a point about the economy when I bought a packet of Pokémon cards. It was £4, an almost forgettable purchase, the kind you make without really interrogating it. Nostalgia, more than anything […]
How a few thousand pounds can stand between someone and a livelihood by Richard Kirtley Somewhere in Britain this week, someone has just had a business idea that could change their life. It might be a hairdresser who has finally found a small unit she can afford to rent and just needs the money for […]
Why global conflict so often lands in the pockets of the financially vulnerable By Richard Kirtley In recent days the world has once again found itself watching events in the Middle East unfold with a familiar mixture of concern and helplessness. The language of international news can often feel strangely detached with talk of strategic strikes, deterrence, retaliation and […]
The UK Community Finance Partnership Taskforce and what it could mean on the ground. By Richard Kirtley There are policy announcements that make a ripple, and there are some that feel like they might shift the current. The launch of the UK Community Finance Partnership Taskforce and its roadmap to unlock £1 billion of additional SME lending through CDFIs has the […]
What Edmund Burke Can Teach Us About SRGs and Community Enterprise in 2025 by Richard Kirtley When Edmund Burke wrote in 1790 that society is held together not by governments or grand institutions but by “the little platoons” (small, voluntary groups where people learn responsibility, mutual care and a shared sense of life) he was […]