Business News Articles

UK debt grows to £799bn
The debt owed by the UK government has risen to a record figure of £799bn - 56% of the UK's GDP - according to the Office for National Statistics. New borrowing in June by the government amounted to £13bn, almost twice the amount that was borrowed in the same period last year. Although public borrowing is in line with chancellor Alistair Darling's forecast, business groups have warned that... more

Royal Mail staff to strike again
Small business owners are being warned that Royal Mail workers in London are planning three days of strikes on the 25th, 27th and 28th of July, that will severely disrupt service in the capital. Around 12,000 workers staged a 24-hour strike last week over work and pay in centres across London, Edinburgh, Bristol, Darlington and Plymouth. The Royal Mail and the Communication Workers' Union (C... more

Banks lend small firms £153m in May
High street bank lending to small businesses increased by £153m in May, according to data released by the British Bankers' Association (BBA). The BBA figures also reveal that deposits increased by £250m and over 45,000 new small business banking relationships were established in May. "The small business sector saw another monthly increase in its borrowing from the high street banks in May,... more

Gov must create 5,000 small firm interns
The government should create 5,000 internship places in small businesses to tackle rising graduate unemployment and produce skilled workers for small firms, according to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). The FSB is urging the government to allocate just 10% - £3m - of a £32m pot of money allocated to universities to market and develop internships and jobs within businesses to open up ... more

A million workers forced into part-time jobs
Almost a million people in the UK are working part-time because they can not find full-time hours, according to data released by The Office for National Statistics (ONS). The ONS has revealed that in the three months to May 927,000 people said they were working part time because could not find a full-time job - a third more than a year ago. "These people won't be showing up in the spiralling... more

Bosses must plan for swine flu
Small business bosses are hastily planning for a big rise in staff absence following news yesterday that the number of swine flu cases has risen dramatically, with 55,000 new cases reported in the UK last week. The government has estimated that in the worst case scenario, approximately 12% of the UK workforce could be off sick over the coming months. The surge in numbers has forced the ... more

84% of London firms plan to grow
Small businesses in London are planning to grow despite the recession according to a new survey of 3,000 firms by Business Link London. The report found that 84% of firms were planning to expand by diversifying into new products, services and locations despite nearly two thirds admitting that the recession was affecting their business. The survey also looked at different sectors and disco... more

Big UK jobless rise to 2.38m
The number of unemployed people in the Uk increased by 281,000 to a 13 year high of 2.38 million in the 3 months to May of this year, the largest quarterly rise since 1971. The figure was larger than expected and has cautioned optimism about the recovery of the UK economy. In total, 7.6% of the Uk workforce were jobless, the highest level since January 1997. ... more

24-hour postal strike on Friday
Small business owners should be aware that 12,000 postal workers are to strike on Friday in a row over jobs, pay and services. Workers based in London, Edinburgh, Bristol, Darlington, Stoke-on-Trent, Plymouth, Norfolk and Essex will be taking part in the 24-hour strike. "There are serious and growing problems in the postal sector which urgently need resolving," said Dave Ward, the Communicat... more

UK inflation falls to 1.8% in June
UK annual inflation has fallen in June as the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) dropped to 1.8% from 2.2% in May and The Retail Prices Index (RPI) slowed to -1.6% from -1.1%, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This is the first time since September 2007 that the CPI has fallen below the Bank of England's target of 2%. The RPI - a key inflation figure that includes mortgage inte... more