Category: News

The United States is the number one export destination for UK SMEs, according to new research, with over half of SMEs selling goods and services overseas targeting the US.

One of the UK’s longest running entrepreneurial competitions has selected 100 of Britain’s best small companies to attend intensive business boot camps and compete for the chance to win support worth thousands of pounds.

Nearly a quarter (24 per cent) of young people starting university this Autumn want to work for themselves when they graduate, according to research from HSBC.

The UK is the largest foreign investor in the US, supporting nearly one million jobs across the country, according to the CBI’s sixth annual Sterling assets report.

Pound has soared 13% against the US dollar and 10% against the euro so far this year, wreaking havoc at companies exposed to foreign markets

The Government’s goal of reaching £1 trillion in UK exports by 2020 has been boosted by exporting activity in sectors like clothing. UK clothing exports rose the fastest in 2013, by 16 per cent from the year before, and amounting to £5.2 billion.

A survey by the chartered accountancy firm, HW Fisher & Company, has found “worrying” levels of confusion and complacency among small business owners about their imminent requirement to start a workplace pension.

The Chancellor today announced a series of measures to support the growth of the country’s emerging FinTech sector and encourage innovation in finance, including supporting alternative finance providers and exploring the potential of virtual currencies and digital money.

Small and medium-sized manufacturers reported another strong quarter of orders and output growth in the three months to July, according to the CBI’s SME Trends Survey.

Karren Brady, 44, who is an aide to Lord Sugar on the hit BBC television programme The Apprentice, is set to be made a Conservative peer by the Prime Minister later this month.

With the CIPD’s Employee Outlook survey highlighting that 22% of employees are looking for a new job, and Penna’s Career Development research finding that ‘lack of opportunity’ was the main reason for individuals to leave organisations over the past twelve months, new research has found that mentoring could be a valuable tool in plugging the talent drain.

More than one in ten of Britain’s small and medium businesses have considered closing down in the last three months despite ongoing signs of economic recovery and a drop in concern about business risks.

A lack of structure around careers, succession planning and personal development is set to cause organisations the biggest talent headache this year, according to research from Penna Plc, the global HR Services Group.

Retail sales volumes grew solidly in the year to July, rebounding from a disappointing performance a month earlier, according to the latest CBI Monthly Distributive Trades Survey.

GDP dropped more than 7pc from a high of £392bn to less than £365bn in early 2009, and it has struggled to reach that level ever since.