Business News Articles

Retail sales rise in July
UK high street sales increased in July compared to the same month last year, according to the latest CBI Distributive Trades Survey. The survey revealed that 18% of retailers said that sales were lower than a year ago, 51% said they rose, giving a balance of +33%. This compares with an expected figure of +11% based on survey findings last month, and was the highest balance since April 2007 ... more

Interest rates to stay at 0.5% until 2014
The Bank of England will have to keep interest rates at their current record low of 0.5% until 2014, according to economic forecaster the Ernst & Young Item Club. The forecaster has said that the rates would need to be kept low to balance the coalition government's spending cuts. "A base rate of 0.5% will begin to look like the new normal," said Professor Peter Spencer from the Item Club. ... more

Cable: banks 'don't get it'
Business Secretary Vince Cable has once again pressurised the UK's banks to increase their lending to small and medium-sized businesses. In a Sunday Times interview, Mr Cable said: "We are very worried about the behaviour of the banks. The banks are not acting in the national interest. I don't think they get it." The Business Secretary is due to unveil a joint consultation paper with the Tre... more

Small firms feeling positive
Small businesses in the UK are increasingly confident about their prospects, according to a survey by Bibby Financial Services. Almost 75% of respondents feel positive regarding economic conditions in the last quarter, compared to 63% who felt this way at the start of the year. One in six small firms said that the recession had benefited their turnover athough 20% said they were only just ke... more

Car production rises 28%
UK car production has risen by 28% in June compared to the same month last year, according to figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). This is the eight successive month that car production has risen, but is a slower increase than the 54% rise seen in May. Continued investment in new products and technology is helping to sustain growth for the sector," said ... more

BA cabin reject latest offer
British Airways cabin crew have rejected the airline's ‘final' pay offer of a 2.9% rose next year and 3% the year after. Almost half the 11,000 affected Unite union members rejected the proposal by, 3419 votes to 1,686. The no vote increases the chances of more strike action. However, BA have said they are encouraged by the result as the number of votes cast - just over 5,000 - represented... more

SMEs benefiting from social networking
Small and medium-sized businesses are more successfully utilising social media to generate revenue than larger companies, according to research conducted by Regus. The data has revealed that 44% of SMEs have acquired new customers using networking sites compared with 28% of large firms. While some businesses were initially slow to fully embrace social media there are now 700,000 small busine... more

Tax laws to be ‘simplified’
Chancellor George Osborne has said that he will simply the "spaghetti bowl" of UK tax law to cut the burden on businesses and attract foreign investment. Osborne is setting up an Office for Tax Simplification to streamline the 11,000-page tax code and is calling for a permanent body to ease the complication of taxes and make life easier for firms. The new body will initially conduct two revi... more

Bannatyne ‘abandoned seaside project’
Dragons' Den star and serial entrepreneur Duncan Bannatyne has been accused of abandoning a television seaside regeneration project. The Scottish entrepreneur's show on Virgin 1, Duncan Bannatyne's Seaside Rescue, saw the Dragon attempt to revive struggling UK seaside resorts. However, one of the businesses featured in the show has called on Baanatyne to return to the town and prove that the... more

Business insolvencies decline 13%
UK business insolvencies declined 13% in June, according to the latest insolvency index from Experian. The number of companies that failed during June this year was fell to 1,771, down 13% from June 2009 when 2,044 firms became insolvent. As a result the year-on-year insolvency rate fell from 0.10% to 0.09% in June. At 0.14% the North East had the highest insolvency rate of the regions in Ju... more