Business News Articles

Pressure on banks to cut rates
The government has called on banks to pass on the full 1.5% interest rate cut to business borrowers and homeowners. The impact of the Bank of England’s decision to cut rates by such an unexpected amount will be limited if banks fail to pass on the cut to customers, but so far only Lloyds TSB and Abbey have said they will do this. ... more

UK energy bills rising at double the European average
Gas and electricity bills in the UK are rising at more than twice the rate experienced in the rest of Europe. The Organisation for Economic Development (OECD) has reported that energy prices in Britain have increased by 29% in the last year, more than double the European average. "The UK energy consumer is being clobbered faster and harder than those in Europe," said Ed Mayo, the chief execu... more

Job vacancies at lowest level for a decade
Job vacancies and appointments have fallen to their lowest levels for over a decade, according to a survey of more than 400 recruitment and employment consultancies. The survey was conducted by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and consultants KPMG and found that job vacancies are at their lowest levels since 1997. “The terrible news from the equity markets and the broader... more

Bank of England cuts base rates by 1.5%
The Bank of England has slashed interest rates to 3% in a surprise move to revive the UK economy. Many analysts had been predicting a 0.5% cut with business groups calling for a 1% fall in rates. ... more

Free branding guide from Design Council
The Design Council has produced a free guide to help small businesses use branding to increase their turnover. Based on research with small businesses and the design industry, the guide includes step-by-step advice, real-life examples and ideas that other small businesses can learn from and put into practice. The guide can be downloaded from the Council's website and covers exactly what bran... more

Demand for London office space falls
New property developments in London have decreased by more than a half in the last year, but the capital is still facing a rise in empty office space. According to a report by property consultancy Drivers Jonas, the number of new developments in the capital has fallen from 46 this time last year to just 17 in the last six months. Despite the slow down in production more than 12m square feet ... more

Franchisor launches new business
An entrepreneur who has already built up one successful franchise operation has launched another venture. Freddie Rayner built Time for You into a one of the country’s leading domestic cleaning franchises over a six-year period and is now inviting other entrepreneurs to buy into his No More Mites business. ... more

Franchise company recognised at national awards
The National Franchise Academy have been recognised at the National Training Awards - the first time that a specialist franchise trainer has won an award at the event. The awards, held on November the 1st, are a government sponsored initiative designed to celebrate the very best in training and development. The National Franchise Academy had to go through four rigorous rounds of assessment b... more

Second independent utility supplier closes
ndependent electricity supplier BizzEnengy, supplier to over 40,000 small and medium sized enterprises has entered administration. Centrina, the owners of British Gas, have bought the company for £3.5 m in cash. Although they claim that customers will be largely unaffected, the closure of another independent supplier is being seen as a blow to small businesses. BizzEnergy was founded in 200... more

Businesses using less electricity
Electricity consumption in the UK has dropped significantly in the last two months, according to figures released by the National Grid. Due to the credit crunch and escalating utility bills demand for electricity in September and October was 3.5% lower than the same two months in 2007. The recent failure of two independent utility firms that supplied SMEs, Electicity4Business and Bizz Energy... more