Business News Articles

Corporate data theft doubles in the last two years
Small businesses are being warned to protect their data following recent research by law firm Mishcon de Reya and KPMG revealing that corporate data theft cases doubled in the UK between 2006 and 2008. The research discovered that in 70% of cases the data was taken by employees who left their firm to work for a rival company and 75% of the data stolen was customer or client-related information.... more

Honda and Ford delay joining car scrappage scheme
Ford and Honda have delayed their involvement in the government's car scrappage scheme due to concerns over the VAT arrangements. The two manufacturers are waiting for clarification from the government on certain details about how the scheme will be implemented before they agree to join. The scrappage scheme, announced last month in the Budget, offers a discount of £2000 - paid equally by t... more

Complaints over payment protection insurance triple
Complaints over payment protection insurance tripled to more than 30,000 in the 2008-09 financial year, according to data released by the Financial Ombudsman Service. PPI covers borrowers against the risk of missing payments if they lose their job or fall ill, but customers have become angry over a recent rise in prices and questionable sales techniques in this sector. "[PPI complaints] acco... more

Websites losing revenue by not offering different payment choices
Small businesses that do not offer a choice of payment options on their sites are in danger of losing business, according to a survey by internet payment system ClickandBuy and YouGov. The survey revealed that 50% of those that regularly shop online would cancel the purchase if their preferred payment method is not available, and 40% are more comfortable purchasing from a retailer that offers a... more

25% of entrepreneurs expect demand to rise next quarter
Confidence among UK entrepreneurs is returning, with 75% believing that demand for goods and services is either rising or stabilising, according to a report from accountancy and business advisory firm Tenon. A quarter of the 300 business owners polled said that they expect demand to increase by at least 10% over the next quarter and around 50% expect demand to remain at the same level. Male ... more

Long-term sick absences increase by a third
More than a third of employers say that long-term sick absences increased last year, according to a report by the EEF manufacturers' body and insurance company Unum. The report revealed that 36% of employers saw long-term sickness - where an employee is off for more than a month - rise between 2007 and 2008. "Employers can do a lot to address this sickness absence through better management,"... more

UK retail sales rise 4.6% in April
UK retail sales in April increased by 4.6% compared to the same month a year ago, according to figures released by the British Retail Consortium (BRC). The rise in sales has been attributed to the good weather in April encouraging consumers to leave their homes and make purchases. "Over the last three months sales have gone up by about 2%, but that is below inflation. What we're seeing is a ... more

Scottish franchise show taking place on June 5th
The Scottish Franchise Showcase takes place at the Glasgow Royal Concert Halls on 5 June 2009. This is the only franchising seminar that takes places in Scotland whose exhibitors are all British Franchise Association (bfa) approved franchises. The event offers reliable and genuine franchise advice, information on how to raise finance even in the difficult economic environment and the opportu... more

Pension tax change under attack
Alistair Darling's plan to cut tax relief on pensions has been met with criticism by several leading business figures, with claims that the measure will discourage pension savings. The measure - announced last month in the Budget - will reduce tax relief on income paid into pensions only for those earning more than £150,000. Despite this only affecting those in the higher bracket of earning... more

Small firms wasting £7bn on unnecessary IT equipment
Small businesses in the UK are wasting more than £7bn on unnecessary IT equipment, according to research by online storage specialist humyo.com. Ignorance of new technologies is driving many small firms to invest in traditional server technology in the often false belief that it offers the cheapest and most secure access to business files. Few companies are examining the true cost of server... more