Category: News

Hundreds of online retail start-ups are set to pop-up on one of Britain’s most iconic high streets.

The Ernst & Young ITEM Club expects lending to grow by 3% to £440bn this year, and by 8.5% to £447bn in 2014

As many as 200,000 manufacturing jobs will return to the UK over the next decade, cutting the trade deficit by a third, as outsourcing becomes increasingly “unattractive”, according to new research.

The latest late payment data from Experian, the global information services company, today revealed that the UK’s smallest businesses (those with less than two employees) saw a significant improvement in their payment performance during the first quarter of this year, paying their bills more than 4.5 days faster than the same period in 2012.

During an inquiry to investigate the effects of late payments by large businesses on SMEs – the panel were shocked to hear from one construction industry expert that many sub-contractors are so starved of cash that they are cutting corners in their work creating a legacy of ‘sick buildings’ that ‘will result in the deaths of people’.

The FSB Streamline Awards have been held to allow the Federation to recognise young entrepreneurs, quirky and innovative businesses and firms leading the way in creating jobs and fuelling the UK economy.

North America’s Leading Health and Fitness Company Seeks to Make an Impact in the World’s Third Ranked Obese Nation

As the UK’s second largest bookmakers, Ladbrokes enjoy status as a household name on high streets and at racecourses all over the UK, but it seems that after a difficult start to 2013, all is not quite as well as it could be. A profit warning was issued by the company to its shareholders for Q4 last week, and its share price subsequently fell by 8 per cent.

In a survey more than sixty per cent of business owners said their relationship with their bank had worsened over time. Many were scathing in their description of how their bank treats them, with 43 per cent saying they are “frustrated” by their bank’s seeming inability to help them.

Companies that operate online are thriving despite the current tough economic conditions, according to new research, with half of those questioned having produced double digit growth in the last three years.

SMEs are abandoning traditional marketing in favour of online and mobile channels. Recent research shows that just over a quarter of SMEs report that traditional offline marketing accounts for just a tenth of their total marketing activity.

George Osborne is set to boost lending to small businesses as he faces growing pressure over his austerity policies.

More than 3,000 budding entrepreneurs have won funding through the Government-backed start-up loan scheme, a rise of about 50 per cent in the total in a month.

Small, medium and large companies from across the UK are celebrating winning a Queen’s Award for Enterprise – the UK’s highest accolade for business success.

Lord Heseltine called for a ‘peasant’s revolt’ at Birmingham Chamber of Commerce Group’s 200th anniversary dinner.