Gordon Brown has called the General Election for May 6 and launched his campaign by calling for a ‘mandate’ to restore the trust between voters and the politicians elected to represent them.
Category: News
The latest news affecting small and medium sized (SME) businesses in the UK
Labour party
Your source for all the latest news, comment and analysis that might affect your business from the Labour Party and leader Gordon Brown in this year’s general election.
RBS fined for sharing information with Barclays
Royal Bank of Scotland has been fined £28.6m for breaching competition law after sharing confidential details about the pricing of its commercial loans with rival staff at Barclays.
The Apprentice might be postponed
There are reports in today’s edition of The Sun that, in the increasingly likely event of a hung parliament, the next series of The Apprentice may have to be postponed until 2011.
Detailed analysis of The Budget
We have looked at all of the key points related to business in yesterday’s budget – the last one before the election- and spoken to leading commentators and business owners to get their opinion on what Darling’s Budget really means to business.
The Budget in full
For anyone who missed the last Budget that Chancellor Alistair Darling delivered before the General Election, you can read the full transcript here.
Small businesses back tax breaks worth £40bln to the economy
As businesses round the country prepare themselves for the coming budget, research has found that small business decision makers are calling for a range of innovative tax breaks to help the unemployed back to work and give the UKs economy a much-needed boost.
Game On! New jobs to open up for young people
The National Skills Academy for Sport and Active Leisure has announced the creation of almost 2,500 new employment opportunities for young, long-term unemployed people in the sport and active leisure sector.
Cameron in pledge to back black entrepreneurs
Tory leader David Cameron has announced that he has drawn up proposals for a national mentoring programme to help thousands of aspiring black business people get into business. The Conservative leader claims that currently, “racial barriers” mean that black entrepreneurs are four times more likely to be denied bank loans.
The brand in front is a Toyota, oh, and there goes a £20M Pepsi…
Social media has been with us for a while now, but until recently it seemed that many in the business world had failed to grasp the true power of the social medium and were largely confused as to how best to embrace the phenomenon in any meaningful or useful fashion.
Europe agrees to cut business red tape
Members of the European Parliament are calling for small businesses to be freed from the bureaucratic burden of having to produce annual accounts.
The Business GP Appointment One
Thank you for stepping in to this, my first surgery with Business Matters. Each week I will answer questions either, from those posted you, the reader, or from my own surgery sessions.
VAT returns going online only is no April fools
From 1 April 2010, businesses with an annual turnover of £100,000 or more and all newly VAT registered businesses, must submit their VAT Returns online and pay VAT electronically.
Green Shoots of Recovery and REAL Thought Leadership
There has been a lot of talk over the past few months about ‘the green shots of recovery’ that are emerging, as the recession apparently begins to ease. This doesn’t just have to be limited to the housing market and the commercial side of business – it can also apply to REAL Thought Leadership.
REAL thought leadership is based upon the idea that Reach, Engagement, Authority and Longevity are the key to being the best in your field.
Make your mark with a tenner students challenged a million in a month
30,000 students have today taken up Peter Jones’ challenge of turning £10 into a projected £1.2 Million in just one month with their own community-minded, enterprising ideas, as part of Enterprise UK’s Make Your Mark with a Tenner campaign.
