Business News Articles

£10bn Government business lending scheme delayed
The government's £10bn business lending guarantee scheme is weeks behind schedule and it is unclear when small and medium-sized businesses will be able to apply to receive finance from the scheme. The £10bn scheme was at the heart of a range of measures introduced by business secretary Lord Mandelson in January designed to get financial institutions lending money again. The lending guarant... more

Health and Safety Executive looks to simplify small firm regulations
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is consulting small firms as it considers new strategies to ensure that complying with health and safety regulations is easier for small businesses. The HSE has stated that it wishes to ensure that all SMEs meet their legal obligations "in a manner proportionate to the risks posed by their work activities". "The HSE is clearly acknowledging that small bu... more

UK online sales to grow ‘6% a year’
UK online sales will actually increase during the recession at a rate of 6% a year, according to research by e-commerce consultancy firm Forrester. Despite the current economic downturn, the research predicts that online sales will continue to rise as an increasing number of customers move away from the high street. "The recession will hit online sales less hard than other channels as people... more

House prices drop 15% in a year
The price of an average home in the UK declined 15% in a year, according to a new survey by Nationwide. In February house prices fell by an average of 1.8%, the 17th month in a row that average prices have fallen, following 21 successive months of price rises. This latest decline takes the average price of a house in the UK to below £150,000 for the first time since May 2004 and means that ... more

New tax law will add to cost of hiring temporary workers
A change in employment law meaning that all employers have to pay 15% VAT on the entire tax of hiring temporary workers will result in tens of thousands of temps losing their jobs. The new tax will be implemented on April 1st and recruitment agencies have calculated that the extra VAT charge will add £400m to the cost of hiring temporary workers and will exacerbate the current employment figur... more

Banks lose latest court appeal over late charges
Seven high street banks and one building society have lost their latest appeal over unauthorised overdraft charges in the Court of Appeal. The case has been brought by the Office of Fair Trading to determine whether overdraft and unpaid item charges - which can be as much as £38 - are unfair. If the UK lenders - Abbey, Barclays, Clydesdale, HBOS, HSBC, Lloyds, RBS and Nationwide - lose the ... more

Small firms could save over £1,000 as EU cut accounting red tape
The EU have announced cuts to the amount of red tape faced by small businesses, which could save each small firm over £1,000. The European Commission is abolishing accounting rules which oblige ‘micro enterprises' - defined as companies with fewer than ten staff and with a turnover of less than £880,000 as year - to submit audit reports to national authorities. "Reducing requirements for... more

Female entrepreneurs call for more government help
Small and medium-sized businesses owned by females have little or no debt and experienced a 40% rise in enquiries for business advice, according to research conducted by Prowess. However, the survey also revealed that the reduction of the availability of bank finance, alongside reduced government funding has had a significant impact on their firms. "Women are showing incredible fighting spir... more

RBS records £24bn loss - largest ever in UK corporate history
The Royal Bank of Scotland has announced that in 2008 it made a loss of £24bn - the largest annual loss in UK corporate history. RBS, one of the banks that were bailed out by the government in a £37bn scheme, also announced that it would put £325bn of toxic assets into the governments Asset Protection Scheme that offers insurance against any further losses. The government will inject an e... more

A quarter of manufacturing and business services SMEs expect growth
Small companies in manufacturing and businesses services sectors are the most optimistic SMEs, according to research by the Open University Business School. The survey of 1,300 small businesses in November and December found that over a quarter of firms in these sectors expect sales to increase. Small businesses that view themselves as ‘entrepreneurial' were also optimistic about the futur... more