Category: News

According to a major new study, two out of every three SMEs are ignoring the current environmental debate.  With many larger companies making fundamental changes in how they do business, 67% of SME owner-managers admitted that environmental concerns were failing to have any impact on their company.

SMEs employ more than half of the UK workforce, so these small companies constitute a major segment of the UK’s business community. There is a huge opportunity for these companies to make a significant impact on environmental sustainability, but it seems few are taking up the challenge.

Small business complacency is harming future growth potential and increasing the chance of business failure across London according to information released today by Business Link in London.
With 29 out of 33 London boroughs experiencing a growth in the number of new businesses, only 67% of them are making it to their third birthday, whilst 91% are making it to their first.

A leading UK based accounting software company can today reveal that year on year; accountants are increasingly leaning towards the Conservatives, with nearly half of voters now backing the Tories, whilst Labour falls further behind.

The Forum of Private Business (FPB) is warning that freight transport firms, and businesses which provide their employees with company cars, are most at risk from prosecution under the Corporate Manslaughter Act, which comes into force on 6 April 2008.

New research carried out by the Small Business Research Trust (SBRT), in conjunction with the Forum of Private Business (FPB), shows that smaller firms are bearing the brunt of the credit crunch. The FPB believes that barriers to growth faced by small businesses, in particular the burden of tax, red tape and late payment, must be urgently addressed.

The director of an online site for business angels and budding entrepreneurs warns that the UK economy will suffer if business start-ups steer on the side of caution.
 
Echoing the thoughts of business angels signed up on the funding site, www.angelsden.co.uk, Director, Bill Morrows believes that higher interest rates and predictions of an economic downturn will prevent many potential start-up businesses from getting off the ground. 
 
Starting up a new business can be a huge risk, with 20,000 UK start-ups failing in their first year of business. Coupled with the initial outlay and the fragile state of the current economic climate, it is no wonder that many business ideas will never get further than an outlined plan.

The Forum of Private Business (FPB) is urging Prime Minister Gordon Brown to place a new small business working group at the heart of his enterprise policies. The group is to be created within the Business Council for Britain, which currently comprises representatives of big business and celebrities such as Sir Richard Branson and Sir Alan Sugar. The move follows criticism that smaller firms have been left out in the cold.

UK companies residing in China are set to have their tax bills increased following the introduction of corporate tax reforms by the Chinese Government.
The new regulations, aimed at levelling the playing field between domestic and overseas companies, also encourage hi-tech and environmentally friendly industries into China.
Stephen Weatherseed, Head of the Grant Thornton UK China Group, which advises UK companies conducting business in China, says that in most case a new 25% corporate tax rate now applies across the board for both international and domestic companies.

4 in 10 potential customers in London and South East are put off using firms that don’t use business email addresses
Image counts as research shows 95% of people check a company’s website before making a purchase, with over 40% admitting to avoiding a business if it doesn’t use business email
A professional business image is what counts when attracting customers, reveals new research by Loudhouse, commissioned by Microsoft UK. 81% of people think it is more important than ever that a local business appears professional with 84% believing a professional image conveys a good quality service, and 69% stating that it gives a sense of honesty and trustworthiness.

A Kingston student who started his own security business has won a place in the national final of a competition for entrepreneurs.

The White House recently made the headlines by banning flip-flops. 83 per cent of UK businesses agree, saying that these are not suitable work attire. 70 per cent of UK businesses would not allow shorts, and 88 per cent do not allow mini-skirts, so even in a more relaxed working environment there are still some boundaries.

More than five million people – 30 per cent of all employees who claim, or have claimed employee expenses in the past & admit to exaggerating their expenses reveals a new survey.

Gerald Ratner will top the bill at the Ideal Business Show next month, a business to business event which replaces B2B Thames Valley after the original organiser – like Mr Ratner – went out of business.
When i talked to Ratner, he explained his darker moments and how he clawed his way back.  Cycling, he said helped him stave off depression but eventually he decided that if he couldn’t beat ’em he would join ’em and now tells his story to business audiences.
It was in 1991 Mr Ratner told an IoD meeting his shops’ products were ‘total crap’. He was also on record as saying some Ratner earrings were “cheaper than an M&S prawn sandwich but probably wouldn’t last as long".