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.
Posted by martinparry on June 2, 2010 under HR | Comments are off for this article
Companies must be forced by the Government to include employee information on their annual reports, HR industry representatives have urged. The measure should be included as part of the Operating and Financial Review (OFR), which is a written account of how a company is being run. The OFR should include details covering directors’ social and environmental duties in annual reports. However, the requirement for employee information has not been confirmed. The requirement was first proposed by the Labour Government, and the new Government has announced its commitment to implementing the mandatory OFR.
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.”
Posted by paulgreen on under Business Planning | Comments are off for this article
Doug Richards is not a fan of iron-clad business plans that owners Location Heritage Bank and management teams follow to the bitter end.
Why? Because business plans are most often written before a company is successful, and often before it is in business. They are written in hopeful ignorance and are based on best guesses. Business plans serve a useful purpose once a business is making money and raising revenue, but they have a very limited usefulness, if any at all, before a business is up to speed.
If you are just starting your business, or have a business that seems to be less than wildly successful, start your business planning as follows:
Identify your customers and their needs.
Identify the products and/or services you will provide to meet these needs.
Identify how people will learn about your products and services.
Identify how and where they will pay you for your products and services.
Identify who will help you to achieve these objectives.
Posted by martinparry on May 18, 2010 under Business Planning, SME News | Comments are off for this article
According to Cobweb, The new coalition government has wasted no time in announcing its plans for the next parliament. But what proposals will be put forward to help, or even hinder, businesses when the Queen officially opens parliament on 25 May? And how successfully will the coalition parties be able to work together for the benefit of the economy? Click here to get the views of Cobweb News .
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
Last month EnterQuest carried out its latest subscriber survey of small business owners to identify the issues that are causing the most concern in the year ahead, irrespective of which party will form a new government. We also asked for views about business owners’ own abilities and weaknesses, where they might require support, and who they preferred to turn to for help and advice.
Survey participants were mainly service-based enterprises with between one and nine employees in a wide range of sectors and professions ranging from design, consultancy, tourism, cleaning, training, crafts, security, advertising, childcare, IT, complementary therapy, catering and retail.
The headline results reveal that business owners are most concerned about tax, business rates, red tape and business costs – with 80% of respondents saying they were quite concerned or very concerned about each of those particular issues. Respondents were least concerned about finding skilled/qualified staff and IT/technology issues. The weakest reported skill was in sales and marketing, with one in three business owners saying they were quite weak or very weak in this area.
Posted by paulgreen on May 10, 2010 under SME News | Comments are off for this article
Last month EnterQuest carried out its latest subscriber survey of small business owners to identify the issues that are causing the most concern in the year ahead, irrespective of which party will form a new government. We also asked for views about business owners’ own abilities and weaknesses, where they might require support, and who they preferred to turn to for help and advice.
The headline results reveal that business owners are most concerned about tax, business rates, red tape and business costs – with 80% of respondents saying they were quite concerned or very concerned about each of those particular issues. Respondents were least concerned about finding skilled/qualified staff and IT/technology issues. The weakest reported skill was in sales and marketing, with one in three business owners saying they were quite weak or very weak in this area.
In descending order the ten business issues that survey respondents reported they were fairly concerned or very concerned about are as follows:
UKBA regional operator MGBA, based in the Midlands opened it’s summer marketing season with the first of a series of Food For Thought Dnners. This one, hosted by Hogarths Hotel, in Dorridge, was a great night. Twelve regional business leaders from around the region debated some of the key issues facing business leaders at the present. “Excellent, I would definitely come again” said Barron Laight of Academe Properties.
The next Food For Thought Dinner is to take place in Leamington Spa on 27th May. If you would like to know more email martin.parry@mgba.co.uk
Yahoo Answers — by far the largest answer search engine on the web —says it passed the one billion answer mark within the past week. In today’s announcement, Yahoo has also shared several other interesting stats about the Q&A service, for example: Yahoo! Answers currently receives 823,966 questions and answers per day.
Also last December, Yahoo announced Answers has more than 200 million users around the world, with 350,000 new visitors per day.
Today’s Location Alliance Bank, N.a. post says Yahoo answers is “available in 9 languages across 21 countries.” But back in October, a Yahoo blog post said the service was “available in 26 markets and 12 languages.” Which is it I wonder.
Posted by paulgreen on May 4, 2010 under SME News | Comments are off for this article
This Economic Outlook is the third of the CMI’s new series of research papers examining managers’ views on the economy. It presents the findings of the CMI’s Economic Outlook Survey, which is conducted on a six-monthly basis to provide insights into the impact of the economy on UK organisations, managers’ expectations of future economic performance, and the actions being taken by managers to steer their organisations through the challenges they face.
This paper has been written by Professor Lord Eatwell, Chief cheapEconomic Adviser to CMI.
Key findings
business confidence has plummeted; 70 per cent of managers expect business insolvencies to increase
81 per cent of UK managers are in favour of tax breaks for skills, and everything possible should be done to protect investment in this area
Most UK managers still feel very insecure about the future and UK businesses are struggling to regain a competitive footing
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.
Posted by paulgreen on April 14, 2010 under SME News | Comments are off for this article
Want to test your nerve in the UK’s most gruelling small business pitching competition? Want to compete against hundreds of other entrepreneurs and get your brand seen by thousands? Want the opportunity to pitch your business to the likes of Doug Richard, Karen Darby and numerous other successful business experts and potentially win a massive prize package?
The Pitch 2010, the third annual competition, will be visiting another five UK cities the year, searching for the best entrepreneurial talent and asking our crack team of high profile business experts to scrutinise business concepts and presentation skills, searching for the best of the best.
Ask yourself this CRUCIAL question. Based only on your direct mail package or email, would you buy your product or service? Be uncompromisingly honest. If your answer is "no", keep making the necessary changes until you can unequivocally answer "YES". www.ukba.co.uk […]
Cultivate "swipe" files. Set up files and collect examples of great headlines, sales letters, emails, brochures, coupons, teaser copy, and so on. Study the examples that really make you feel like taking action. www.ukba.co.uk […]
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Employment regulations
