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Thrive names Dr Daniel Fujiwara as Head of Economics

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KAREN JOY BACUDO

Finance Editor

Thrive has appointed Dr Daniel Fujiwara as Head of Economics, creating its first dedicated economics leadership role.

The appointment coincides with the launch of an in-house Economics Team, which will work on Thrive’s Impact Evaluation Standard, the framework it uses to measure social impact. The team will also support clients seeking a more detailed analysis of social value and well-being outcomes.

Dr Fujiwara is known for his work in social value economics and well-being valuation. He co-authored HM Treasury guidance on well-being and wrote valuation chapters for the Green Book, which the UK Government uses to appraise policies and projects.

He also founded Simetrica, a research consultancy focused on social value, which later became part of Simetrica-Jacobs. His experience will help guide the next stage of development for Thrive’s measurement framework.

The hire reflects growing pressure on companies and public bodies to produce social impact data that can withstand closer scrutiny. Boards, investors and contracting authorities are demanding measurements that more closely align with financial reporting standards, particularly as environmental, social and governance reporting evolves.

At Thrive, that demand is shaping both product and advisory work. The Economics Team will focus on well-being valuation, distributional impact analysis, and methods applicable across international markets.

According to Thrive, the Impact Evaluation Standard is already aligned with the Green Book and the UK Government’s Social Value Model. Future updates aim to expand its use beyond the UK while sharpening the assessment of social interventions’ effects on well-being.

That work also underpins a broader expansion of Thrive’s consultancy offering. Alongside the new team, the company is adding an economics advisory service covering valuation, methodology design and the evidence used to support social impact claims.

Thrive’s clients span construction, real estate, technology, professional services and the public sector. It positions its work around linking social impact data to decision-making, particularly where organisations need evidence that can withstand internal governance and assurance processes.

Neil MacDonald, Thrive’s Chief Executive Officer, linked the move to changing expectations in boardrooms and investment committees.

“Social impact is maturing. Boards and investors want the same rigour from social data that they expect from financial accounts. They need numbers that can support investment decisions, not just stories that read well in a report. The Impact Evaluation Standard already sets the methodological pace in this market, and Daniel’s appointment further deepens the economic expertise behind it. His role is to keep pushing that pace,” MacDonald said.

The Economics Team will support both consultancy and assurance work as organisations seek more defensible ways to measure social outcomes. In practice, that means closer attention to how outcomes are valued, how benefits are distributed and how evidence is tested.

Rising scrutiny

Social value has become a more prominent part of procurement, investment and reporting decisions in recent years, especially where organisations need to demonstrate broader public benefit. Yet methods for quantifying those outcomes remain contested, with debate over consistency, comparability and the quality of underlying assumptions.

Well-being valuation has emerged as one of the better-known approaches in that debate. It seeks to estimate the value of social outcomes by examining their relationship to life satisfaction and other measures of well-being, rather than relying solely on market prices or direct financial proxies.

Dr Fujiwara’s academic and policy work has been closely associated with that field, as well as with distributional weighting and econometric methods for assessing who benefits from interventions and by how much. Those questions are becoming more important as companies are asked not only to show impact but also to explain how that impact is shared across different groups.

For Thrive, bringing that expertise in-house marks a shift from operating mainly as a measurement platform to offering more direct economic analysis and technical advice. The team will contribute to successive updates of the Impact Evaluation Standard, which is overseen independently by a steering committee of academics, economists and sector specialists.

Dr Fujiwara said the sector needed to strengthen its methods and improve how outcomes are captured.

“Social value measurement is ready to raise the bar on rigour, and on how clearly it captures the wellbeing outcomes that interventions actually deliver. Building on the Green Book methodology and rigorous statistical analysis is where the discipline needs to go, and the Impact Evaluation Standard is the right vehicle to take that work to scale,” Fujiwara said.



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Rosa’s Thai is giving away 4000 free Pad Thais to students

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Celebrating both GCSE and A-Level Results Days, the chain will offer the popular dish to students who buy one of its bubble teas.

The free offer is available at all 42 Rosa’s Thai restaurants across England and Wales.

To avail of the free noodles, students need to register on Rosa’s Thai website for a unique code, which they should present at the restaurant together with a copy of their results.

Rosa’s Thai has a new range of bubble tea flavours, including Ube-Taro, Matcha-Coconut, Mango Sticky Rice, and Milo Chocolate Milk, as well as favourites like Home-brewed Thai Tea with Tapioca, and Lychee Mango with mango boba.

Students can sign up for their free Pad Thai at rosasthai.com/result-day-free-pad-thai and find their nearest restaurant at rosasthai.com/locations.





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Historic coin company enters administration after 20 years

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The London Mint Office, which distributes commemorative coins and medals, appointed administrators on July 31 after 20 years in business.

The company’s website now displays a message confirming the appointment of Michael Magnay and Jonny Marston of Alvarez & Marsal Europe LLP as joint administrators.

A spokesman for Alvarez and Marsal said: “On July 31 2026, Michael Magnay and Jonny Marston of Alvarez & Marsal Europe LLP were appointed as Joint Administrators of The London Mint Office Limited in administration (the “Company”).

“Regrettably, the Company’s liquidity challenges have led to a number of immediate redundancies. We are supporting the affected employees through the redundancy process.


What Happens When a Company Goes Into Administration?


“The affairs, business and property of the Company are being managed by the Joint Administrators who act as agents of the Company and without personal liability.”

The announcement confirms that it is no longer possible to purchase coins or medals through the company’s website.

The London Mint Office operates a distribution centre in Tonypandy, Rhondda Cynon Taf, where it employs a significant number of people.

Administration is a formal insolvency process triggered when a business cannot meet its financial obligations.

An insolvency practitioner is appointed to manage the company’s affairs and may attempt to restructure the business or sell off assets to repay creditors.


What happens when a company goes into Liquidation?


Founded in 2006, The London Mint Office describes itself as “one of the UK’s most trusted suppliers of historic, commemorative, and collector coins.”

It is part of Samlerhuset AS, a Norwegian company based near Oslo and one of Europe’s largest distributors of commemorative coins and medals.

Samlerhuset’s website states that it offers “provide a wide range of coins from ancient to modern, originating from virtually every country in the world.”

The London Mint Office has advised anyone with an interest in the company’s assets to contact the administrators at INS_THLMOL@alvarezandmarsal.com.





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Warning of new rules for Aldi and Lidl after watchdog review

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The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has provisionally decided that both discounters should be added to the Groceries Market Investigation (Controlled Land) Order 2010, which currently applies to Asda, Co-op, Marks and Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and Waitrose.

This order is designed to prevent large grocery retailers from using land agreements to block competitors from opening nearby stores, often through restrictive covenants or exclusivity terms.

Juliette Enser, executive director of competition enforcement and markets at the CMA, said: “We want everyone to have the best choice of supermarket and range of prices when buying their groceries.

“To ensure this happens, we put rules in place to prevent big supermarket chains blocking rival stores from opening nearby – and now we propose applying those rules to Aldi and Lidl too.

“This is about allowing shoppers to choose where they spend their money and levelling the playing field for all major supermarkets.

“Today’s proposals are provisional and we welcome views before deciding the best way forward.”

The CMA’s review found that Aldi, Lidl GB, and Lidl NI now meet the criteria of ‘Large Grocery Retailers’ (LGRs) due to their store footprint, nationwide presence, procurement model, and the breadth of their grocery range.

Aldi and Lidl were originally excluded from the 2010 order as ‘limited assortment discounters’, offering a smaller selection of products compared to traditional supermarkets.

However, the CMA’s provisional findings indicate that this is no longer the case.

All three now operate large grocery stores, each with more than 1,000 square metres of shop floor space, and offer a full range of products, though with less category choice than some competitors.

They also purchase goods directly from suppliers through integrated wholesaling.

With the UK grocery market estimated to be worth £215 billion, Aldi and Lidl are now ranked among the top five retailers by market share.

The CMA is seeking feedback from stakeholders before reaching a final decision.

Aldi and Lidl could join the other supermarket chains later this year.

The CMA is inviting views until 5pm on Monday, September 7, 2026, and will issue its final decision in the autumn after reviewing responses.

If the discounters are included under the order, they will be prevented from using land agreements to limit competition from other supermarket chains.

The CMA aims to ensure competition across the grocery sector to give shoppers more choice and competitive pricing by removing obstacles to new store openings.





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