smallbusiness.co.uk: Helping your business think big

Trying to hire staff

There’s no getting round the fact that great ideas are...
Have your say »

Home >
News

RSS

More business focus needed at school

Aug 21 2008

Email a friend

The youngest member of the Forum of Small Business has hit out at the education system as it emerges only 11 per cent of young people intend to study science and technology related subjects.

Lewis Bankes-Hughes, founder of website design company Fluffy Duster, says: ‘There should be more focus on how to run a business during school, not after it. More NVQs and apprenticeship schemes would also help complement GCSEs and A levels.’

The 16-year-old adds: ‘A lot of young people have an idea of what they want to do but haven’t investigated it properly. Improved careers services could help them find more of a focus early on.’

In contrast to a lack of interest in business related courses, the survey commissioned by IT company Logicalis revealed that as many as 31 per cent of 13-17 year-olds plan to study media in higher education, while 23 per cent of the 1004 youngsters polled expressed interest in studying sports.

Comments

There are currently no comments on this article

Prize Draw

Free prize draw!

Smallbusiness.co.uk has teamed up with Avery® Quick&Clean™ Business Cards to offer five lucky readers the chance to win a copy of BBC Dragons' Den James Caan's new book The Real Deal and a pack of Avery® premium heavyweight business cards. To enter the prize draw, simply answer our question here

Polls

News

New start-up programme approved

Lord Peter Mandelson has given the go-ahead for a new £35 million scheme to create over 12,500 new businesses in the north-west.

Tax third-biggest expense for SMEs

Cash-strapped SMEs are spending a significant proportion of expenditure on taxation, research by debt protection group Creditsafe reveals.

Tax return scam warning

Just weeks before the deadline for filing tax returns, fraudsters are targeting individuals with scam emails.

Firms' gender pay gap figures to be revealed

Companies may be forced to publish figures on the pay difference between male and female employees, in changes to the government's equality bill.

Poor health and safety could see firms go under

Health and safety could make or break a company, as one expert warns firms which play at it will find it hard to survive the current climate.

Entrepreneurs adding a day to their working week

Entrepreneurs are adding eight hours to their working week in a bid to counter the effects of the recession, new research shows.

Lack of credit 'could lead to 1930's-level recession'

The lack of credit is the biggest concern facing businesses in 2009 and could lead to the recession reaching levels seen in the 1930s, one expert asserts.

Businesses should conduct health checks

Firms should conduct a company MOT to ensure they are maximising cashflow, marketing and business opportunities and are able to survive the current tough conditions.

Rate cut should be 1%

The monetary policy committee should cut rates to one per cent this Thursday but this alone will be inadequate and should be backed up with other, far-reaching policies, one organisation states.

Firms 'should consider long-term cost of redundancies'

Firms should consider the ultimate cost of redundancies and use them as a last resort to cut outgoings, after it was revealed it comes at a price of over £16,000 per employee.

No minimum wage increase, urges business group

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) is urging the Low Pay Commission (LPC) to recommend a zero per cent increase on the National Minimum Wage (NMW).

Guides & Tips

Tune into remote working

Forthcoming legislation is set to extend the rights of employees who wish to work from home. Here Ollie Chivers, head of business marketing at T-Mobile, and SmallBusiness.co.uK, show you how to get remote working right

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) can mean staff are being properly utilised

How to get more from your customers

No matter what your business, when it comes to sales the customer is king. Having a good Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system in place can help you increase turnover today as well as spot where tomorrow’s sales might come from.

Redundancy is not the only option

Many SMEs will have to control staffing costs over the coming months. Smallbusiness.co.uk has teamed up with Simon Kite, a partner at chartered accountants Saffery Champness, to offer some tips on how to cut costs and avoid the redundancy route

Store

FT Guide to Personal Tax

Formerly the Lloyds TSB Tax Guide, the FT Guide to Personal Tax is now published by Pearson Education. Written by Sara Williams, CEO of Vitesse Media Plc and Jonquil Lowe, this unique guide gives step-by-step advice to completing your tax return as well as 100 tax-saving tips.

FT Guide to Business Start Up

Formerly the Lloyds TSB Small Business Guide, the FT Guide to Business Start Up is now published by Pearson Education. Written by Sara Williams, CEO of Vitesse Media Plc, this unique guide has sold over two million copies. It offers practical advice about starting and running your own business.

Growth Company Investor

Growth Company Investor is widely recognised as the leading magazine for investors interested in AIM and smallcap companies. Published 10 times per year, and brought to you by an award-winning analyst team, it offers subscribers unrivalled insight into high-potential smaller companies. Subscribe today with a 50% discount in your first year.