Business News Articles

RBS improves lending terms to SMEs
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has announced that it is to improve the borrowing terms for its 1.2m small business customers. The bank - 70% owned by the taxpayer - will cap overdraft charges at 1.5% for any business with a turnover of up to £25 million. RBS will also cap loan arrangement fees for small business customers at 1.5% and renew lending on the same or improved terms for at least 12... more

Service sector sees growth stall
Businesses in the UK's service sector saw fall in sales in the last quarter, according to the Confederation of British Industry's latest Service Sector Survey. Both professional and consumer service firms saw a drop in volumes and value in the three months to November. The survey revealed that only a net balance of 13% of service firms said profits had increased annually for the quarter. Res... more

House prices rise 0.6%
House prices in the UK rose by 0.6% in October, according to the latest survey from the Land Registry. This is the fifth month in a row that house prices have increased and means that the average house price in the UK is £159,546. "House prices are set to rise further in the coming months supported by an ongoing shortage of property listings relative to demand," said Oliver Gilmartin, econo... more

Property savings missed by SMEs
Small businesses are failing to see the opportunity for significant cost savings on their property portfolio and are instead focussed reducing the number of employees, according to research by Regus. The survey of over 1,000 SMEs found that for 28% of businesses with 11-50 employees, staff costs are the main focus of overhead reduction and only 5% are planning to make their biggest savings in r... more

Small firms still investing in innovation
Small and medium-sized businesses are continuing to invest in collaboration and innovation, despite the impact of the recession, according to the latest annual report from Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP). The report reveals that during 2008/09, a time in which the recession had firmly taken hold, 24% more new KTP projects were approved than during the previous year The findings also re... more

Retail sales rise fastest pace in 2 years
Retail sales grew at their fastest pace in two years in November, according to data released by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). The CBI's survey revealed that 40% of retailers said that their volume of sales in the year to November had risen, while 27% said they fell. The resulting balance of +13% reflects a second consecutive month of growth and is the highest balance since Novemb... more

SME finance knowledge is 'average'
Almost nine out of ten financial advisers have rated small businesses' understanding of the range of finance options available to them as 'average' or below, according to research from Bibby Financial Services. This is an increase of 14% from last year's survey, and an increase of 18% on 2007's, highlighting an alarming trend that understanding of financial options among small and medium busine... more

Sir Alan risks angering small firm owners
Sir Alan Sugar has risked angering small business owners again in his opening speech at the House of Lords. The enterprise tsar said that small firm owners should not expect a 'blank cheque' simply for 'coming up with a good idea'. Lord Sugar's comments come weeks after he was embroiled in a furious row with small-business leaders after he said a proportion of struggling firms turned down fo... more

Firms pay bills fastest rate for a year
Businesses have been paying bills in October in the quickest time since April 2008, according to Experian's Late Payment Index. On average, businesses took 20 days beyond their agreed terms to pay their bills during October, compared to 21 days in September and 23 days in October last year. The data also revealed that medium-sized firms were the fastest at paying their bills and were also th... more

Economy declines less than estimated
The UK economy contracted at a slower pace than originally estimated in the third quarter of the year, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The ONS have revised their figures to show that the UK contacted in the third quarter by 0.3% - an improvement on the original estimate of a 0.4% contraction. Despite the slight revision, the decline of 0.3% still means that the economy... more