Owner: Smebusinessnews URL:http://www.smebusinessnews.co.uk Join Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 11:57:16 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: Smebusinessnews a view on the latest business and financial news. Site statistics:Click here
League table of late paying PLCs 2008-03-06 13:20:45 The Institute of credit management have today unveiled a league table that charts how long it takes for every UK PLC to pay suppliers.
For SMEs, this is great news as late payment by large companies is often damaging to the smaller business that relies on regular cash flow. The government talked a lot of hot air [...] Read more:League
SMEs choose not to take Government’s Business Link advice 2008-03-04 07:17:07 The Government
backed business start up scheme, Business
Link, has come under fire in a report commissioned by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
The report which polled 10,000 small businesses, found that only 5% of new business starters chose to use Business Link for advice and assistance. 16% of those polled chose to [...] Read more:choose
SMEs face fines over illegal employment 2008-02-28 10:41:41 The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has hit out at the government over the complexity of the legislation on employing foreign workers in the UK.
Parts of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act, which come into force tomorrow (Friday February 29), will require small employers to understand and verify up to thirteen different forms of identification [...] Read more:fines
, illegal
, employment
SMEs unite against fuel duty 2008-02-27 05:04:10 Alistair Darling must be ruing the day he accepted the position as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Almost every proposal he has made, has been hit by criticism from all quarters. As he attempts to refinance the treasury after Gordon Brown’s terrible book keeping the Chancellor has become the Labour party scapegoat for their financial failings [...] Read more:unite
, against
Sussex small business to supply Waitrose curry sauces 2008-02-21 05:37:59 Small business owners Maria Hellyer, 51, and Patricia Forbes, 54, of Sussex based The British Curry Company have secured a £500,000 deal to supply the Waitrose supermarket chain with their range of curry sauces.
The partners started the business five years ago, when Maria was made redundant from her sales job in the food industry. Inspired [...]
Stagecoach buses to reduce fuel use 2008-02-19 07:15:45 Stagecoach Transport group, which operates 7,000 buses across the UK, is to adopt a fuel saving compound across its entire fleet after tests showed that it reduce
d usage by 4%.
The Perth based company first started using the diesel additive in 2004, but started a validation test last year, involving 550 vehicles. The results showed a [...]
Grocery sector tinkering ‘Will not help independents’ 2008-02-18 07:47:38 For many years in the UK, we have witnessed the massive growth of supermarket chains decimate the competition from small businesses. By being allowed to develop massive stores out of town, High Street trade in some towns is practically non existent. Not content at that the stores have in a short time turned grocery shopping [...] Read more:Grocery
, sector
, independents
Darling under pressure from SMEs 2008-02-15 05:27:54 The Professional Contractors Group (PCG) has urged Chancellor Alistair Darling, to pay as much attention to small business owners over his proposed outlawing of “income shifting”, as he has done to those that forced a u turn on his Non Dom policy towards wealthy foreign workers.
The call came after pressure from the City forced Darling [...]
Enterprise Europe Network for SMEs 2008-02-13 00:46:55 The Enterprise Europe
Network (EEN), Europe’s largest network of small business support organisations has been launched, the European Commission announced this week.
The EEN is designed to support and help small business owners and entrepreneurs, on a wide range of business issues, including expanding into other EU countries, launching new products and accessing funding.
The services of [...]
FSB calls for integrity over Camden Market re-development 2008-02-12 00:43:56 The Federation of Small Businesses has called for “integrity and loyalty” in the re-development of Camden
Lock Market
, following the catastrophic fire in London over the weekend.
The Federation says that the market has long been an important resource, offering an eclectic mix of stalls and shops. It has played an important role in getting people to [...] Read more:calls
National Enterprise Academy Launched By Peter Jones 2008-03-11 09:11:36 Peter Jones, businessman and tv Dragons Den judge, has teamed up with the government to launch a network of ‘enterprise academies’ across the UK.
The purpose of the academies will be to identify the next generation of entrepreneurs. The first of the institutions will be launched in September 2009, and will be in the South East [...] Read more:National
, Academy
, Launched
, Peter
SMEs show reduced confidence in government 2008-03-10 08:19:07 Last week I posted a report that suggested that new business owners were choosing to take advice from banks and accountants rather than use the Governments Business Link scheme.
In a report today from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) it appears that most small business owners have lost any confidence that they had in the [...] Read more:reduced
The Budget And Its Effect On SMEs 2008-03-13 07:59:55 The first Budget speech presented by new Chancellor Alistair Darling, was generally received pretty well by the small business community.
There were no real shocks to be had, after a bevy of blunders earlier in the year by the Chancellor over various tax reforms.
Some of the things that were particularly welcoming news for small businesses are [...]
Local Council’s Could Save Post Offices 2008-03-17 09:03:18 Post Office owners in some parts of the country have received a shot in the arm from local County Council
s. Portsmouth councillors have become the latest local authority to throw a potential lifeline to local Post Offices
, faced with the threat of closure.
Gerald Vernon-Jackson, leader of Portsmouth council has backed ideas put forward by Essex [...] Read more:Local
INSPIRE: Insurance for SMEs 2008-03-22 07:24:44 Specialist insurers Hiscox, and brokers Allison & Partners, have this week launched a partnership aimed specifically at offering insurance to small businesses and SMEs.
The partnership will go under the banner of INSPIRE and will specialise in professional insurances for UK and European small and medium size businesses.
The company will offer a range of business and [...]
SMEs Embrace The Internet, Good Or Bad? 2008-03-25 08:28:05 A report earlier this year by Cranfield School of Management, analysing SMEs attitude to the internet, showed encouraging results with 84% of small business owners having a website and 97% having an e mail account.
This is extremely good news on the face of it, more business is being done on the internet and SMEs should [...] Read more:Internet
SEO Tips For SMEs 2008-03-28 07:28:00 Choose good key words, it is worth spending time on this, as this is the main criteria used when others are searching the web. It is worth considering words or phrases that others would use to find your product, so ask friends or relatives what terms they would use, and try to incorporate them into [...] Read more:SEO
, SEO Tips
Growing Your Own Business Exhibition & Conference 2008-03-31 01:00:15 The chief executive of internet marketing company Bigmouthmedia, Steve Leach, will be the key speaker at the Growing
Your Own BusinessExhibition
and Conference, to be held at Olympia, London, on April 4th.
Leach was recently announced as the International Entrepreneur Of The Year at the European Business Awards in Paris, a title he added to his [...]
Late Payment, Headache For SMEs 2008-04-04 14:37:10 A Survey carried out by Barclays in Wales found that 48% of Welsh SMEs experience problems with late payment.
This isn’t really news to small business owners across the UK and I think it is fair to say that Barclays would find a similar result in any part of the country.
More disturbing for me, was to [...] Read more:Payment
, Headache
Group Petitions Delay In New Sexual Harrassment Law 2008-04-06 08:39:05 A Lobby group working on behalf of SMEs, has urged small business owners to sign a petition on the Downing Street website, to delay the implementation of the new sexual harassment laws, laid down by Parliament three weeks ago. The changes will come into force today.
The group argue that SMEs need more time to ensure [...] Read more:Group
, Petitions
, Delay
, Sexual
SMEs Call For No Regulation Without Consultation 2008-04-08 04:31:06 The campaign to delay the new Sexual Harassment Law coming into force on Sunday April 6th showed good signs of support from SMEs, although the new rules were implemented as planned by the Government.
The campaign was started by BusinessZone.co.uk and HRZone.co.uk, who on behalf of small business owners, viewed the plans as something that SMEs [...] Read more:Regulation
, Consultation
Time To Tackle Late Payment Epidemic 2008-04-09 06:37:09 Credit risk specialists Graydon have called on the Government to reassess regulations introduced ten years ago aimed at assisting small businesses in tackling the issues of late payment.
The 1998 regulations allow companies to impose interest on bad paying debtors, but research has shown that the vast majority of SMEs do not exercise that right. It [...] Read more:Payment
Dragons Den Deborah Meaden Joins FSB Campaign For New Entrepreneurs 2008-04-11 09:18:54 Dragons’ Den Panelist Deborah Meaden, has this week launched a campaign in conjunction with the Federation Of Small Businesses (FSB), to urge more people to start their own business in the UK.
The campaign is aimed particularly at getting women to follow their dream and set up in business. FSB research has shown that just 11% [...] Read more:Dragons
, Campaign
, Entrepreneurs
SME Gets Ministers Backing On Zero VAT For Health Drinks 2008-04-15 05:51:28 Simon Long and Philip Benson are two young university graduate entrepreneurs, who while spending a year in America as part of their degree, discovered the Juice Bar concept and decided to bring it to the UK.
After graduating, they pair formed a company called Xing Health
, and introduced the healthy smoothie to universities, schools and health clubs [...] Read more:Backing
, Drinks
SMEs In Queens Awards For Enterprise 2008 2008-04-21 08:50:27 4fx Healthcare, a Nottinghamshire business employing just three people, has been recognised alongside 150 businesses earning this years Queens
Award for Enterprise.
4fx was recognised for its innovative nasal aspirator which removes congestion from babies’ noses, and are the joint smallest business winner in 2008, alongside North Yorkshires British Horse Feeds.
Other SMEs picking up awards are [...] Read more:Awards
Key Management Skills Hold Back UK SMEs 2008-04-23 07:28:16 Government agency the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) has blamed ‘business conditions’ in the UK and the unwillingness to invest in ‘key management training’ as the stumbling blocks for small businesses attempting to turn their enterprise into world leaders such as Microsoft and Google.
While the report acknowledges that the UK is [...] Read more:Management
, Skills
FSB Wants Free Town Centre Parking 2008-04-25 07:35:28 Excessive parking fees and fines from town centre car parking facilities will kill High Street businesses, the Federation of Small Businesses FSB has warned local authorities.
Income from town centre parking in 2005 raised a staggering £1.6billion for local authorities, rising from just £628million in 1997.
The FSB has urged local government to re think the parking [...] Read more:Centre
, Parking
SME Groups Angry Over Competition Commission Outcome 2008-05-02 08:09:14 Small business groups FSB and ACS are among many expressing disappointment at the outcome of the Competition Commission
s inquiry into the grocery sector.
The two year inquiry resulted in the Commission concluding that consumers are enjoying the benefits of competition, while totally ignoring the impact on independent retailing.
Several business groups have lobbied on behalf of small [...] Read more:Groups
SMEs Encouraged To Register For Public Sector Contracts 2008-05-06 11:25:04 The government enterprise department will allow SMEs greater access to public contracts by registering their business with www.supply2.gov.uk
Under the latest scheme small businesses will have access to public contracts around the UK with a value of £100,000 or less.
The move is part of the Department for Business’ enterprise strategy outlined earlier this year, to help [...] Read more:Register
, Public
, Contracts
Adam Hart-Davis & FSB Campaign ‘To Keep Trade Local’ 2008-05-08 08:01:15 Adam Hart-Davis
is today launching a campaign with the Federation Of Small Businesses (FSB) to “Keep TradeLocal
” in a bid to save the local High Street from extinction.
Here is a promotional video:
Random PostsSMEs Encouraged To Register For Public Sector ContractsKey Management Skills Hold Back UK SMEsCashflow Problems? - Factoring is the answer Read more:Campaign
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