Engage Magazine

NEWS and EVENTS

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.

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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..

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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HARMAN: PARLIAMENT DETERMINED TO CHANGE

13th November 2008

Chronic under-representation of women, disabled, and minority ethnic people in the House of Commons

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GOVERNMENT 10 DAY PLEDGE TO SMALL BUSINESSES MAY PROVE IMPRACTICAL WARNS CREDIT AGENCY GRAYDON UK

13th November 2008

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.

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ETHNIC BUSINESS ADVANCES TO BE EXPLORED AT NATIONAL CONFERENCE

2 October 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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Black community responds to the call for positive role models

2 October 2008

There has been a fantastic response to the recruitment campaign to establish a national group of Black male role models, with over 200 applications from Black men across the length and breadth of the country, covering a wide range of careers and industries but all with one thing in common – the wish to make a difference.

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Businesses urged to get involved with Olympics

13th October 2008

Event for ethic minority entrepreneurs
If you're from a black or ethnic minority background and own a business in Luton, don't miss your chance to cash in on the 2012 Olympics in London.

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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.

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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

69% of UK consumers would be less likely to purchase after a negative call centre experience, rising to 75% amongst 16-44 year olds

Seven out of ten customers say they might or would definitely tell someone about a negative call centre experience

Almost half of 25-44 year olds have changed suppliers because of a negative call centre experience compared to 35% across whole population

UK businesses that operate a call centre could be sitting on a demographic time bomb that threatens their future.

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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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