The latest news affecting small and medium sized (SME) businesses in the UK
David Cameron has announced that a Conservative government, should his party win the forthcoming election later this year, will be pro-business and pro-entrepreneurs.
Speaking, this morning on the Andrew Marr show on BBC1, he outlined a number of plans to ensure that British business overcomes the current global recession and ensures that it becomes one of the best places to start, run and grow, a business in the world.
The freezing weather conditions and snow have forced millions of people to stay at home, with road and school closures preventing them from working. With the bad weather set to continue for another three weeks, insurer RSA predicts that a day of severe snow could cost the UK economy as much as £690million a day as businesses lose out to the weather.
When booking training for your organisation, what is it you are looking for? Competitive pricing, fulfilling a real need to boost staff skills, post course follow up, filling in the training requirements for your company? There are various reasons I’ve heard over the years from clients booking courses but it’s time to establish the real deal.
I nearly choked on my tea when I read a twitter link to a Daily Mail article about 64% of workers booking holidays online do so from their desks. How dare they even think it let alone actually do it. Apparently it is down to Monday Blues and in particular the Monday when everyone returns after the Christmas break.
Surely I am not the only person who finds it truly astonishing to think that employees, whilst supposedly working to earn the money to pay for their holidays, think it’s their right to do this without any recourse what so ever.
It is being widely rumoured that Lord Mandelson is to announce an extra bank holiday in the UK in 2012 to mark the Queen’s diamond jubilee. Her Majesty will have her Diamond Jubilee in 2012 when the Queen will also be celebrating her 86th birthday.
New year, new decade and so double the incentive to start 2010 with a clear vision and set of objectives for the next 12 months.
It seems that the competition between major airline operators is intensifying, perhaps as a result of losses sustained in the recession, and standards of comfort and convenience for customers are improving as a result.
As a new trading year approaches, it is going to be more important than ever for you and your business to be remembered by your customers for as long as possible. If you want to survive the coming months, remember that the key to REAL thought leadership is about how long you stay in people’s minds.
In my last article we explored the ways in which possible sales are being lost due to salespeople accepting the usual call me back after Christmas line. In this article, I will explore this further with my second tip on ways to avoid the Christmas objections.
From 28th December 2009, a new regulation affecting almost every small service business in the country, from accountants to gardeners, will come into force, but many don’t even know about it yet…
Barclays has today released £150 million in new funding for UK SMEs through the European Investment Bank (EIB) Loan Support Scheme, which includes a 2.5% upfront cashback payment when the loan is drawn.
As businesses tighten their belt in a recession, the need for properly documented contracts is even more important than usual– it is well known that disputes increase when money is tight, and if you are doing business without proper contracts, you are at risk.
One reoccurring topic which always seems to crop up when speaking to business owners is ‘when is the right time to bite the bullet and take the business to the next level’? When do we stop the bootstrapping and say hello to investment? I am a firm believer that all businesses can (and in most cases, should be) boot-strapped from day one. This not only saves costs, it keeps your business lean and avoids the unnecessary ‘fat’ that one could be tempted to add if investment is gained early on.
Figures revealed today by Business Link, at an event attended leading entrepreneurs and Business Link ambassadors: Karen Darby (Call Britannia), John Bird (Big Issue), Imran Hakim (iTeddy), John Cowell (Cowell Co), and Claire Young (former Apprentice finalist) show that businesses believe they save time, increase their sales and raise profits as a direct result of using the Business Link service.
Small business owners are putting work before their health, according to new research published today. The figures reveal that one in four (26%) small business chiefs have missed, cancelled or put off a health appointment in the last year due to work commitments.
