Business News Articles

UK unemployment rises by 30,000
The amount of people unemployed in the UK rose 30,000 in the three months to September, the lowest rise since May 2008, according to data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Unemployment now stands at 2.46m and the number of people claiming unemployment benefit rose by 12,900 to 1.6m in October, the smallest increase in 18 months. The figures also revealed that the amount o... more

Staff wasting 4m hours commuting
British workers are said to be wasting 4.6m hours a day commuting, according to research released by Citrix GoToMyPC. Over 60% of workers want to reduce their commute, with the most popular solutions being though home working (34%) and varying start and finish times (22%). However, of the 2,000 workers surveyed, 46% revealed that their employer will not allow them to work from home or work f... more

Swine flu putting strain on firms
Small businesses are facing mounting employee absences due to a rise in staff that are being hit with infections, according to data released by leading absence management provider Active Health Partners (AHP). The AHP's data reveals that the incidence of absences due to infections (including flu, swine flu, colds and viruses) from July to September 2009 increased by 96% compared to between Apri... more

House prices will ‘continue to rise’
House prices are likely to keep on rising as sellers are returning to the property market, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics). Rics said that in October the balance of surveyors reporting price rises rather than falls increased to 34%, up from 20% in September - the strongest survey result in favour of rising prices since December 2006. According to surveys from... more

Lloyds pledge support to 30,000 start-ups
Lloyds Banking Group has pledged to offer support to 30,000 start-up businesses over the next three years. The bank - of which taxpayers own 43% - said its plans would help ‘viable' businesses gain access to credit as the UK recovers from recession and give "clearer and fairer" prices under a small business charter. Under the charter the bank said it would run a programme of 200 seminars t... more

Jobs market decline is ‘easing’
The number of UK firms planning to make staff redundant has fallen, but the labour market is still in difficulties, according to a report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). The data reveals that there has been a fall in the number of employers planning to make staff redundant compared with earlier this year but that the jobs outlook in manufacturing and production... more

Rise in costs leads to inflation fear
Fears over inflation have increased as the price of manufacturers' raw materials rose by 2.6% in October, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The increase is the largest since June 2008 and has been driven by rising oil prices and the decline of the value of the pound. "The manufacturers are in a difficult situation. If they increase their prices in re... more

Business insolvencies down 4.7%
The number of businesses going into administration in England and Wales in the third quarter of 2009 declined 4.7% from the previous quarter, according to figures released by the Insolvency Service. However, the amount of companies going bust in the third quarter of 2009 was still 14.6% higher than the same period a year ago, and the number of personal insolvencies has risen 28% from the s... more

Latest postal strike 'called off'
The latest set of postal strikes, scheduled for Friday the 6th and Monday the 9th of November, have been called off and there will be no further action until at least the New Year. Trade Union Congress (TUC) general secretary Brendan Barber said the decision had been made to provide "a period of calm" in which the two sides could try and reach a long-term deal and meant that the service would b... more

40% of SMEs increasing their exporting
Over 40% of small and medium-sized businesses have reported an increase in the export side of their business, according to new data released by independent invoice financier Bibby Financial Services. The data also revealed that the economic downturn has prompted 29% of businesses to refocus their efforts towards international markets and 31% of businesses said that the strengthening of the Euro... more