Latest News
Confidence-boosting scheme for women entrepreneurs
A new scheme has been set up to help encourage more women to go into business by building their self-confidence.
BPF: Lower rent bad news for small firms
Experts are saying the recent drop in rent on shops is not good news for retail businesses as it will result in lesser availability of premises.
Graduates lack necessary skills
The majority of small businesses value school and college leavers above university graduates, according to a survey by the Forum of Private Business.
Don’t forget the new tax return deadline, warns HMRC
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is issuing a reminder to people filing paper self assessment tax returns of the new 31 October deadline. The penalty for missing the deadline is £100.
Family brand identity 'helps sales'
Marketing a firm as a family business can help increase sales, a new study finds.
BCC: Bank of England must cut rates
The longer the Bank of England takes to cut rates, the worse the economic situation will be, according to the British Chambers of Commerce's (BCC's) quarterly economic forecast.
SMEs working longer weeks
British entrepreneurs are clocking up 50 hours every week, according to a survey on the work-life balance culture of Britain's small business managers.
Smaller businesses have greener staff
Smaller companies are more than twice as likely to have environmentally aware staff than their larger counterparts, according to research by gas and electricity provider E.ON.
Increase marketing spend to survive
Small business owners intend to combat the economic slowdown by increasing marketing spend and taking pay cuts, according to a survey by the Open University Small Enterprise Research Team (SERT).
Do not rely on virtual offices, association warns
Although virtual offices can be useful for keeping a business going after a disaster, it can be difficult to rely on them for the long term, an industry expert warns.
CEBR says Bank of England has little power over inflation
The Bank of England cannot do much to fight inflation and policymakers are being forced to ‘sit on their hands’ rather than address the problem, the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) believes.
Victory for Dragons' Den duo
Dragons’ Den entrepreneurs Carolyn Jarvis and Charlotte Evans received a big spike in website hits and customer enquiries after receiving an investment of £80,000 from serial entrepreneur Deborah Meaden.
SME suppliers: Size matters
More than half of private sector businesses believe SME suppliers are less competitive than their larger counterparts, according to new research from BT Business and Cisco.
Fraud not our fault, say SMEs
Nearly all of the UK’s small online businesses believe that fraud is not their responsibility, a survey of 350 businesses reveals.
Wasteful printing is costing SMEs
More than half of office workers admit to wastefully printing documents, according to a survey of 2,000 office workers released by government-funded programme Envirowise.