Here is this week’s news round-up for home business, micro business, sole-traders, freelancers, self-employed and any one who is interested in small business news from the United Kingdom and Ireland:
- ISME: Small business ‘being destroyed’ by late payments: The Irish Small & Medium Enterprises Association (ISME) has accused the Government of “dereliction of duty” in the struggle to ensure prompt payments for small and medium firms from big business and state bodies.
- Firms urged to check if they qualify for EU funds: Small businesses in Ireland are being urged to check if they qualify for funding from the European Union.
- 92% of Small businesses are Socially Responsible: A new FSB report entitled Social and Environmental Responsibility and the Small Business Owner reveals that a staggering 92% of small businesses are socially and environmentally responsible, with 83% already engaged in waste minimisation and recycling. 41 per cent of businesses bought products specifically because they were better for the environment.
- SMEs to Give Evidence on Availability of Finance: Small and medium sized businesses have been invited to give evidence in a review on the availability of finance.
- Small business group launches www.smallbusinesschannel.co.uk: Business owners are benefitting from the most comprehensive resource of recorded information and support available on the web, courtesy of the Forum of Private Business (FPB) and GuruOnline. From bank lending to business development, entrepreneurs are now able to view 2,000 short videos of experts offering essential advice to help them beat the downturn.
- Byte-Size Small Business Academy
- FSB subsidises member telephone costs: The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), the UK’s leading business organisation, is to provide its members with subsidised telephone costs which could save its members collectively over £10 million in a year.
- Small firm running costs ‘falling’: New research has suggested that the cost of running a small business continues to decrease.
- Small business running costs continue to fall: The costs of running a small company fell by 1.4% in the first quarter of 2009 due to deflation, according to the latest edition of the Business Inflation Guide.
As always this list is not exhaustive, but I hope it will give you a little overview. — ST.
Leave your writing (comments) on our wall.
