An organisation which represents the interests of SMEs has urged Chancellor Brown to invest in the UK’s school system ahead of what is likely to be his last budget.The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has presented its Budget Submission to the chancellor ahead of his budget, which will be published on March 21st. The FSB’s […]
Posted on 1st March 2007 .
A government regulator has revealed that it will be targeting financial SMEs in the coming months to make sure they comply with its enforcement regime for treating customers fairly.Talking to the New Model Adviser, the Financial Services Authority’s (FSA) head of retail enforcement, Jonathan Phelan, said that small businesses had a responsibility to make sure […]
Posted on 1st March 2007 .
British employees, including those working for many SMEs, obtain over £1 billion fraudulently from bosses by claiming false expenses, a new report says.According to the research carried out by Travelodge, 22 per cent of British workers admit to fiddling their expense accounts.On average, workers claim an additional £14.60 every time they claim expenses for a […]
Posted on 28th February 2007 .
The government has asked businesses, including SMEs, to tell it what constitutes ‘good work’.Launching the scheme, the government pointed out that studies have repeatedly said that "work is beneficial to physical and mental health", but for this to be true it must be ‘good work’.However, there are no accepted understandings of what ‘good work’ really […]
Posted on 28th February 2007 .
The government has announced that local authorities throughout the country will be given over £300 million pounds this year as a reward for helping local businesses, including SMEs.In total, 328 local authorities will be given £316 million as part of the Local Authority Business Growth Incentive Scheme (LABGI). The scheme gives councils who have successfully […]
Posted on 28th February 2007 .
Women are less likely to be appointed to the boards of SMEs compared to larger companies, according to new research.The data, gathered by Deloitte, found that only three per cent of board members of AIM companies were female. This compares to ten per cent of board members of FTSE 350 companies.While women are less well […]
Posted on 27th February 2007 .
The cost of government red tape for businesses, including SMEs, is set to reach record levels, according to new research.Figures published by the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) show that the cumulative cost of government regulation for all UK businesses has reached £55.6 billion since 1998.Equally, the data reveals that financial burden to businesses of […]
Posted on 27th February 2007 .
Many SMEs are not taking advantage of training which could be available to train their staff, according to a new report.Research carried out by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) suggests that 57 per cent of SMEs are not using free or low-cost training opportunities which are available at local further education (FE) institutes.Nearly half […]
Posted on 26th February 2007 .
Small businesses are more worried about lost income and customers not paying than global issues like terrorism or climate change, according to new research.A report by Barclays Business Insurance found that nearly one in four (39.6 per cent) of SMEs were worried about lost income. Similarly, over a third (36.4 per cent) were concerned about […]
Posted on 26th February 2007 .
Web-giant Google has launched a suite of software designed for SMEs to use, in a move that puts it in direct competition with Microsoft.Launched earlier this week, Google Apps offers SMEs a host of features, including email, instant messaging, website creation and a software which allows users to edit documents originally created on Microsoft Word […]
Posted on 24th February 2007 .
A new government campaign to try to encourage employees to report their bosses if they believe they are dodging tax will cause disgruntled employees to frame their employers, an industry body has said.HMRC has launched a new a series of print and radio adverts encouraging workers to ring the Tax Evasion Hotline if they believe […]
Posted on 23rd February 2007 .
The Conservative party has launched a new group to look at the impact of government policy on the country’s SMEs.Earlier this week, the Conservative Parliamentary Enterprise Group (CPEG) was announced by the party. It will be staffed by a mixture of MPs and peers.As well as closely scrutinising how new government policy will affect small […]
Posted on 23rd February 2007 .
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