The latest news affecting small and medium sized (SME) businesses in the UK
Over the last few months, I have focused in my various blog entries on the benefits cloud computing can provide SMEs from cost savings to enhanced scalability to greater business agility. For today’s entry, I thought I would shift the perspective and introduce one of our customers, Chen Kotecha, managing director of scancom.co.uk, to discuss his experiences of cloud computing technology.
Government statistics show that the number of companies in the UK at the start of 2010 has increased by 48,000, with 99.9 per cent of them Small and medium sized businesses.
The latest figures on how much UK banks are lending to businesses will be published later today by the Bank of England and they are expected to show that the five biggest banks are not meeting the lending targets set under their Project Merlin agreement with the government.
Business Secretary Vince Cable will formally launch the Government’s flagship £2.5 billion business growth fund (BGF) today as part of efforts to stimulate lending to small and medium sized companies.
Mary Portas, one of the UKs leading retail experts and host of TV’s Queen of Shops, has been appointed to lead an independent review into the future of the High Street, The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister announced today.
North East small firms have chance to apply for funding: Small firms have been given the chance to claim a slice of £1m to boost their export sales. NEBusiness.co.uk is reporting that Market Accelerator, a UK Trade & Investment North East Service, is offering to make 100% investments of between £20,000 and £30,000 to SMEs […]
Making employment law more flexible so that it works in the interests of businesses as well as workers is a major component of our new Get Britain Trading campaign.
The drive to boost local economic growth was stepped up today with Business Minister Mark Prisk announcing a package of measures to help local enterprise partnerships get up and running.
The seventh series of The Apprentice (BBC One) began last night, and the main news to report is that the title is now completely meaningless. The winner of The Apprentice in 2011 will not be Lord Sugar’s apprentice at all. Instead, he or she will get £250,000 of his cash and start a business. Why […]
Business Secretary Vince Cable is set to chair the second meeting of his Entrepreneurs’ Forum, the group which provides informal and personal advice on new business and enterprise policies today.
High street banks have admitted they are incentivising staff to sell more expensive “alternative” credit products to small business customers as industry lending to these businesses fell 3pc in February.
Over 150 businesses are celebrating winning Queen’s Awards today, with 102 companies having won awards for international trade, 44 for innovation and 10 for sustainable development.
Small businesses are allegedly regaining confidence. However, it is claimed that this is not resulting in an increase in staff numbers.
The CBI is today calling on the Government to bolster the UK’s attractiveness to investors, warning that without action, investment and jobs will be lost to other countries.
The Skills Minister John Hayes has called on senior leaders in SMEs to take advantage of funding that will support leadership and management training to help them grow their businesses.
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