Posted by martinparry on October 21, 2010 under Banks, Business Planning, Finance | Comments are off for this article
Natwest Bank have recently sent me an email inviting me to attend a webinar entitled, “How to access the funding you need for your business”. Now there’s ironic!
However there are some interesting speakers presenting. They include Alex White of BDO; Peter Ibbetsen, Chairman of Small Business, Natwest and Alan Burton of Tree of Knowledge.
So if you are interested in registering, here and I look forward to joining you on the day.
According to Cath Everett in MyCustomer.com RBS/NatWest is attempting to burnish its tarnished image in the wake of the government bail out by launching a 14-point Customer Charter guaranteeing minimum service levels.
The organisation is keen to transform itself into the UK’s ‘most helpful bank’ and devised the 14-point Charter based on feedback from more than 30,000 customers. It also plans to publish details of how it is measuring up against its own standards every six months in an independent audit undertaken by Deloitte.
Brian Hartzer, the bank’s chief executive, said: “We had a searing experience as a business and are thankful we were rescued. We have since taken stock of how we do things. There’s a lot we do well for customers, but we can do more and we want to change.”
Although such change would not happen overnight, the Customer Charter showed that the organisation was “on the case” and would be held to account for the progress it had made, he added.
New businesses set up by graduate entrepreneurs are giving the economy a significant boost, it has been claimed.
The statement came from the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship (NCGE) which has just published the results of a study into the impact of its graduate programmes.
The organisation, which was set up six years ago, currently supports 3,550 graduate businesses, works with 90 universities cialis on lineand has received £2.25m in funding from organisations such as Barclays, Microsoft and HSBC.
“Over 80% of new, growth companies are set up by graduates,” said Ian Robertson, chief executive of NCGE.
“At this critical time for our economy we need to improve the environment for wealth creation and build a closer, more productive relationship between business and universities.”
Jonathan Lloyd started Falling Pixel while studying at Portsmouth University in 2006 and has taken part in the NCGE’s Flying Start programme. His turnover has doubled year-on-year since launch and he’s predicting the same growth for the year ahead.
Lloyd received a £1,000 grant and visited the USA as part of a fellowship programme where he met with Google’s chief executive Eric Schmidt.
He said: “I first found out about NCGE’s Flying Start Programme when I went along to a rally they were organising in Reading. There I got some fantastic start-up advice and help on developing a business plan to help get me going.”
For more information on the NCGE visit www.ngce.com
A quarter of all small businesses are unhappy with the support offered by their high street bank, a new report suggests.
The research by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) found over a million small business owners have expressed dissatisfaction with their bank over the past year.
The level of unhappiness with bank service directly corresponds to the number of different bank managers business owners have to deal with, the report found.
Over a quarter of those who have dealt with two bank managers over the past year expressed dissatisfaction but the figure increased to 52% for those who had dealt with three bank managers and 70% for five.
Some 26% of respondents said a good relationship with their bank manager was one of the most important factors for choosing a bank. Other factors cited were the convenience of the branch location and the competitiveness of the account package, both cited by nearly a third of respondents.
The FSB is now calling for a Post Bank, which utilises the Post Office network, to be established. The lobby group believes this would provide a ‘local and trusted’ option for small business owners as well as increasing competition in the sector.
Posted by martinparry on June 14, 2010 under Business Planning, Finance | Comments are off for this article
manufacturing industries grew during May, according to the latest Markit/Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) Purchasing Managers’ Index. Employment in the construction sector grew for the first time in two years, as well as activity in the civil engineering sector. The manufacturing industry saw an increase in new UK and export orders. However, some experts warn that public sector spending cuts could jeopardise the growth.
The Government has hinted that it may be about to climb down over its proposed increase to Capital Gains Tax (CGT) from 18% to 40%. Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith told the BBC that no definite plan had been decided. He said Chancellor George Osborne had discussed exemptions so as not to “harm entrepreneurs”. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg added a few days later that homeowners may be protected by exempting Location Wayne Savings Community Bank financial gains made as a result of inflation. To read more on this story go to: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8713538.stm and: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1283427/Clegg-hints-capital-gains-tax-climbdown-insists-options-discussed.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
levy on banks may raise the cost of borrowing for some consumers. The levy on the banks may ultimately be paid for by the borrowers. There is also potential for an impact on inflation in the short term. On a global scale, the G20 want a blueprint for changes to global banking rules by the end of this year although implementation may be delayed. Rules surrounding capital and liquidity may be an alternative to a banking tax but plans for banks to have increased cash reserves by 2012 could lead to further bank lending cuts as the banks would need to raise fresh capital in a short amount of time. From our personal experience small businesses are currently finding it pretty tough to obtain the funds they need from banks. Hopefully a solution will be found that will avoid theneed for an additional tightening on lending and the consumer ultimately paying the price.
Posted by martinparry on June 4, 2010 under Banks, Finance, Grants, Loans | Comments are off for this article
The Welsh Assembly Government has announced a £3.5 million funding boost for small and medium-sized businesses in North Wales. The money will be used to develop the ‘Skills for the Workforce’ programme, which help employees acquire new skills.
Posted by martinparry on under Finance | Comments are off for this article
Interest rates before the end of the year, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has predicted. The think tank said that higher rates are inevitable because of higher inflation.
Posted by martinparry on June 3, 2010 under Finance, HR | Comments are off for this article
HMRC has published advisory fuel rates for company cars to apply from 1 June 2010. For one month from the date of the change, employers are permitted to use either the previous or new rates.
Two pieces of good news for business at last. Firstly, UK gross domestic product (GDP) has been revised upwards for the first quarter of 2010, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The economy grew by 0.3% compared to the previous quarter, which has been revised upwards from the original estimate of 0.2%. The growth in the economy has been driven by the manufacturing industry. High industrial output boosted the economic growth, but some economists warn that Government spending cuts and the eurozone debt crisis could affect sustained growth.
Secondly, the level of business investment in the UK rose by 6% during the first quarter of 2010 compared to the previous quarter, according to figures from ONS. However, the level of business investment is still 11% lower compared to the same period a year ago. The rise in business investment is due to increased capital spending by private sector, non-manufacturing industries.
According to an article in Regen.net The Treasury has announced that England’s regional development agencies will have to save £270 million in the current financial year through “ending lower value spending”.
Setting out how the coalition government intends to save £6.2 billion in 2010/11, chief secretary to the Treasury David Laws said that RDAs will “have to cut back on spending which has the lowest economic impact”.
A document published by the Treasury following the announcement said that the budget for the RDAs would have to provide £270 million of savings in 2010/11 “from ending lower value spending”.
Laws said: “Tough decisions are being made … Quangos across government will have to make major savings in their budgets.”
A spokeswoman for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said that no decisions had been made yet on how the cuts would be spread across England’s nine RDAs.
But speaking in Warrington last week, new business secretary Vince Cable picked out the South-East England Development Agency (Seeda) and the East of England Development Agency (Eeda) as examples of RDAs whose existence is hard to justify.
Cable was quoted by the Financial Times as saying: “It is very difficult to see the justification for RDAs in the South-East and East, prosperous regions with a large private sector.
“There are areas like the North-West, Yorkshire and the West Midlands, where there are really serious structural problems and there seems to be a broad agreement with local businesses that the RDAs are doing a good job.”
Do you or your clients need funding for their business? Business Link West Midlands “Finance for Business Consultancy” grants are now available to help with applications for the following activities (a) Work on grant applications such as GBI or GRD (b) Assistance with the development of a business plan as part of a fund raising project. (c) Charges levied by business finance consultancies in support of their work on fund raising projects. The average contribution to consultancy fees £2,500 ex vat (50% of project cost). If you would like to know more email martin.parry@mgba.co.uk
According to Midlands Business Insider, a key indicator of the strength of the regional economy has revealed that the number of businesses insolvencies in the Midlands has dropped. Nottingham-based research company Experian’s latest insolvency index shows a year-on-year fall in the number of businesses going under in April. The East Midlands was the UK region showing most improvement, with an insolvency rate of 0.11 per cent in April 2010 compared to 0.15 per cent in April 2009. Some 116 companies went under in the East Midlands in April compared to 166 the previous year. In the West Midlands there were 194 insolvencies in April compared to 253 12 months earlier. But Rolf Hickmann, managing director of pH, an Experian company, warned that it continues to be vital for businesses to understand the circumstances of those they are doing business with and the risks to which they could expose their company. “It is easier for the smallest businesses, with just one or two employees, to make adjustments to their operations and pull in the reins when times are challenging. For the largest business, there is the flexibility that comes with economies of scale. Mid-sized businesses do not typically have the luxury of either of these benefits,” he said.
Sc: Midlands Business Insider and http://www.ukba.co.uk
Posted by paulgreen on April 29, 2010 under Finance | Comments are off for this article
Dragons’ Den investor James Caan claims a scarcity of venture capital backing is stunting the growth of ambitious British businesses.
‘We still have no real venture capital community here,’ says Caan, who also heads up private equity firm Hamilton Bradshaw. ‘Today the $64 million question is where do you go if you have a great idea and want to start a business from scratch?’
Caan states that the US has a clear template for venture capital and an enviable track record of success. ‘Some of the biggest companies in the world were actually conceived in America. Look at Microsoft, Amazon, eBay, Google – they are all the brainchild of Silicon Valley.
The UKBA group in the Midlands(MGBA) are launching a season of
The Board Room
dinners for business leaders in the region. The events will offer an opportunity for entrepeneurs to get together in relaxed civilised surrounding and thrash out problems and issues that affect them all. The first dinner will take place at Hogarth’s Hotel and Restaurant on 27th April 2010.
Invitations are being sent out over the next few days and MGBA are looking forward to hosting a fascinating evening of debate, discussion and hopefully, some answers to the challenging questions and issues before the business community today.
Any business owners and leaders who would like to join MGBA on the night or would like details of future events email martin.parry@mgba.co.uk
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