Half of UK bosses have had pay frozen
14 August 2009
In a new survey of over 1,300 UK bosses, nearly 50% said they have had their pay frozen or are on a ëpay holidayí. A further 40% had also reduced their bonuses.The Institute of Directors (IoD) says that these new figures highlight a ìsharp contrastî with what is going on in the public sector, where the latest data from the ONS, shows that average earnings, including bonuses, increased by 4.0% in June, compared with the previous year.
Recession to End in 2010?
10 August 2009
SME Invoice Finance has commissioned independent research into the views of professional financial advisers to identify when they predict the recession will end. The research shows that 56% of advisers considered that UK businesses will emerge from the downturn in 2010, 31% in 2011 and 9% after that period. Only 4% felt were so optimistic that they could see the end to the downturn this year.
MENTER sets up Task Force to break down the barriers to BME access to business and employment services
June 2009
Breaking down the barriers to BME access to skills, employment and enterprise services in the region is the focus of an innovative MENTER project funded by the East of England Development Agency (EEDA). Terry Harding, MENTERís Head of Policy and Enterprise has been implementing the work since the summer of 2008 and since April 2009 a task force has been set up to further the work. Terry has found it a very exciting and challenging area of work: ìThe main issue is the scale of the project and trying to ensure focus so that positive actions can be achieved. The incremental approach adopted by the Task Force will hopefully make it easier to both achieve and monitor progress. However, at the same time, it is important that action is seen to be taken locally. So, MENTER will continue to work with local providers where appropriate. By this time next year I hope to be able to report significant progress regarding the way that agencies both deliver services and work more effectively together to meet the needs of BME communitiesî.
Inquiry into public procurement for SMEs launched today
25 November 2008
The All Parliamentary Party Small Business Group (APPSBG) and ACCA today launch an inquiry into Small and Medium Sized Enterprises’ (SMEs) participation in public procurement.
Small Business lending up in the third quarter
21 November 2008
Lending to small businesses grew by just under £1bn in the third quarter of 2008 new figures out today reveal. This growth was
marginally lower than in the second quarter and in the corresponding quarter of 2007..
Beat The Credit Crunch Seminar on Friday 21st November 2008 between 9.00am and 4.30pm
1st November 2008
Achieving Visions are running a free business seminar for businesses that have been running for 18 months or more.
Free business support programme for BAMER led Social Enterprises in London
1st November 2008
This month sees the launch of a free capacity building and business support programme for Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Refugee (BAMER) led Social Enterprises in London.
Forthcoming Event for Equality & Diversity Practitioners
12th November 2008
The Institute of Equality and Diversity Practitioners is planning a launch event in January 2009. The launch event will invite practitioners to help shape how the Institute operates in future.
ONLINE TOOL TO CUT COSTS FOR SMEs DOING BUSINESS ABROAD
11 November 2008
Firms doing business abroad can now improve their profit margins using I-PAYFX, a new online service from Currencies Direct, the UK’s leading foreign exchange company.
Banks promise to help business through bad times
11 November 2008
The UK 's leading banks are committed to helping Britain 's businesses to weather the economic downturn, the British Bankers’ Association will tell the first meeting of the Government’s Small Business Forum today
HARMAN: PARLIAMENT DETERMINED TO CHANGE
Chronic under-representation of women, disabled, and
minority ethnic people in the House of Commons
GOVERNMENT 10 DAY PLEDGE TO SMALL BUSINESSES MAY PROVE IMPRACTICAL WARNS CREDIT AGENCY GRAYDON UK
The Government’s recent pledge to ease the cashflow problems being faced by small firms through paying trade invoices in 10 rather than the usual 30 days requires urgent action, warns commercial credit agency Graydon UK.
ETHNIC BUSINESS ADVANCES TO BE EXPLORED AT NATIONAL CONFERENCE
The UK’s benchmark conference on ethnic minority business development, led by experts at De Montfort University (DMU), takes place in Leicester this autumn.
Alan Duncan MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory reform, will open the 12th annual Ethnic Minority Business Conference.
Black community responds to the call for positive role models
Businesses urged to get involved with Olympics
Uk Bosses Ill equipped to Deal with DownTurn
October 15th 2008
81 per cent of business people believe that UK bosses have little or no experience of how to deal with a downturn.4 per cent think that many companies are reluctant to communicate the full extent of the financial downturn they are facing Yet 88 per cent agree that companies are more likely to recover confidence by disclosing bad news early and in full and 69 per cent think that some companies are using the current climate as an excuse to cover up problems caused by management’s mistakes.
Getting legal advice abroad
1st October 2008
South Coast law firm Lester Aldridge (LA) has teamed up with fellow MSI member law firms in Europe and North America to offer a co-ordinated legal team to clients contemplating
cross border deals or doing business overseas.
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Ethnic Business Advances
1st September 2008
The UK’s benchmark conference on ethnic minority business development, led by experts at De Montfort University (DMU), takes place in Leicester this autumn.
Alan Duncan MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory reform
will open the 12th annual Ethnic Minority Business Conference.
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Support for small businesses
11th September 2008
Banks are still lending to small businesses despite the credit crunch.BBA figures for the main high street banks providing small business services show that over the twelve months to June:
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UK Delivery Costs Set to Tumble by 75% with Launch of New Online Service
11th September 2008
This month sees the much anticipated launch of UK Backloads
(www.ukbackloads.com) an ingenious new online delivery website serving
both private and business customers which promises to deliver non-time
critical goods at just a fraction of the normal cost.
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Business takes action to cut costs and maintain cashflow as fear of recession takes hold
8th September 2008
84 per cent of businesses believe that there has been a
significant deterioration in the overall economic climate for business
in the last 12 months.
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EEDA Goes for Gold
22nd July 2008
The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) is the first regional development agency (RDA) to receive the prestigious Committed2Equality (C2E) standard, achieving the accreditation body’s Gold Award.
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Poor service from call centres threatens UK business
17th July 2008
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Businesses Say Diversity Is Key To Future Success
7th July 2008
The research with top executives at thirty leading London-based companies was announced to an audience of business leaders this morning. Diversity Works for London undertook the research to see how leaders of large businesses view diversity as a factor in the success of their organisations. The results present a compelling business case for diversity.
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EU to cut red tape for small firms
25th June 2008
Europe’s 23 million small businesses were today promised “less red tape and more red carpet” to help them thrive. Small and medium-sized firms are crucial to Europe’s development, said the European Commission, but they face “enormous” bureaucratic obstacles.
Now a new plan – the Small Business Act for Europe – is designed to cut the headaches and boost the benefits for entrepreneurs. SMEs – firms with fewer than 250 workers – make up 92% of all EU businesses. And their success is seen as central to the success of long-term EU jobs and growth plans.
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Alliance & Leicester: Small business owners should choose the right bank
24th June 2008
Overworked small businesses could ease their workload by choosing the right bank, which could benefit the 23 per cent of owners who spend over 50 hours in the office each week.
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Small businesses blame government inaction over rising costs
23rd June 2008
Small business owners say that the government is making it more difficult for them to handle rapidly rising costs. In a poll of over 9,000 business owners by the Federation of Small Businesses, nearly 90 percent said that government policy was making already crippling business costs, such as fuel, even worse.
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Credit crunch – what does it mean for SMEs?
23rd January 2008
In the current global economic climate, SMEs (Small and Medium Sized Enterprises) will probably be concerned about the consequences for their business. But ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) says that confident planning is necessary more now than ever, and recommends 20 ways for toughing it out.
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