Winner of the CISI Educational Trust Award 2020

Capitalism is high on the political agenda. Like coffee it seems to come in a bewildering number of varieties. Some politicians like it "responsible" others "moral" and still others "popular". While some argue that it is time for shareholders to wield real power, others feel that that certain shareholders, notably hedge funds should sit on their hands, at least if they have bought shares after a takeover has been announced. Out on the streets the tents of the "occupy" protectors may be under threat but many are sympathetic to the view that bankers and board members have been rewarded for taking too many risks with other people's money.

For a brief moment on Tuesday 21st July, the online database of medieval soldiers (http://www.medievalsoldier.org/) hosted at the ICMA Centre, was the news! This database of soldiers serving the English crown between 1369-1454 and including the names of men-at-arms and archers who served at famous battles such as Agincourt in 1415, made the front page of the BBC website, was the most shared site on BBC news online, and interviews were given to BBC Radio Four and 5Live, local radio and even the national radio broadcaster in Canada. Some 250,000 service records are now available to freely search and the database recorded some 125,000 hits on Tuesday alone. The database has gone from strength to strength and this publicity has made the online database extremely popular, and it has now registered 3.5 million hits in just three months - demonstrating the interest of our research to the public at large.