Tomorrow, Friday 31 July 2015 is the closing date for the Shell LiveWIRE Smarter Future Programme Award. By 2050, our planet could be home to more than 9 billion people with 75% living in cities. Ensuring sufficient supply of resources will pose considerable challenges and at the same time present opportunities for the next generation…
Figures released by the Office for National Statistics last week show that British online sales increased by 11.4 % in June 2015, compared to the same time last year. The value of sales made online in June 2015 increased by 1.4 % compared with May 2015 and accounted for 12.4 % of all retail sales.…
The Federation of Small Businesses has announced talks to assess the growth potential in the North of England. The FSB is calling for greater efforts to rebalance the economy to ensure the vision of a prosperous Northern Powerhouse becomes a reality. A series of policy events are being organised by the FSB to find out…
This week, Ofcom has called for joint action between the regulator, industry and government to improve broadband services for smaller businesses. Wile 85 per cent of UK SMEs feel their business needs are well catered for by the communications market, a significant number expressed concerns about speeds, availability, quality of service, and choosing between providers.…
The reaction to the latest UK Budget has been fairly muted from small business owners, with many feeling (as usual) that the changes will not go far enough to help drive the economy forward. There was however one announcement that seems to have escaped the notice of many, despite it potentially having a huge impact…
Chancellor George Osborne has today unveiled his latest annual Budget and small businesses in particular are concerned about what changes could be incoming and how they might help or hinder the fledgling economic recovery. The Forum of Private Business has already issued their response to the Budget with Chief Executive Phil Orford speaking on behalf…
The latest estimates from the British Chambers of Commerce suggest that the UK economy will exceed its 2008 peak from before the economic crisis very soon – as early as this Summer. Economic growth for the year has been upgraded to 2.8% from 2.7% by the BCC and economic analysts actually believe that the organisation…
In a few short weeks, UK Chancellor George Osborne will unveil his latest Budget and small business owners are waiting with baited breath. Concerned business owners in coastal areas will be particularly interested to see if there is a boost to flood defense spending to try and avoid further disasters. But what does the average…
In the results from their quarterly business confidence survey the ICAEW have revealed that UK businesses are feeling more confident about the economy than ever before. The accountancy body said that confidence had been growing steadily for six quarters in a row and this provides yet more proof that the economy is on the way…
Are you feeling confident about your business and what the future holds for it? If so, you are not alone in feeling this way because research shows that business confidence in the UK is at its highest point since the annual global measure of confidence for SMEs, the Sage Business Index, began in 2011. It’s…
