Business News Articles

Sugar steps down from Amstrad
The Apprentice boss Sir Alan Sugar has announced that he is to step down as boss of Amstrad. The company was sold to BSkyB in 2007 and the famous entrepreneur now intends to focus on his other business interests, which include Viglen Computers, Amshold, Amsprop and Amsair. ... more

FSB backs entrepreneur scheme
The Federation of Small Businesses is urging the government to expand a scheme that provides local authorities with around £300m a year to support entrepreneurship. The government is planning to replace the Local Authority Business Growth Incentive (LABGI) scheme with an alternative that would see local authorities receive only £100m a year. ... more

Confidence lowest since 1992
Business confidence in the UK has hit its lowest point since 1992, according to BDO Stoy Hayward’s business trends report. The report revealed business confidence slipped further in June as the housing market continued to fall and inflation rose due to high food and fuel prices. ... more

One in three has no savings
One in three people is unable to put away anything for their retirement, according to a survey by pensions provider Scottish Widows. The report found that 49% of the 6,381 respondents were not saving enough for a comfortable retirement and 60% said there was no prospect of being able to increase the amount of money they put away in the next 12 months. ... more

House prices fall again
The rate of house price falls slowed to 0.9% in June from the record 2.5% in May, according to figures released by Nationwide Building Society. But prices were now 6.3% lower than they were a year, the research found, and the average price of a house has fallen by over £13,000 since the market peaked in October 2007 ... more

Businesses face further fuel rises
Businesses and consumers could see energy bills increase by 20% on top of market rises to pay for the cost of meeting the EU’s 2020 emissions target. The warning comes from Ernst & Young, which estimates that the UK needs to find £100bn for the investment needed to achieve the target of cutting green emissions by 20% by 2020. ... more

Confidence falls to near record low
Consumer confidence is almost at the record low point recorded during the recession of the early 1990s, according to research by GfK NOP. The consumer confidence index recorded a score of -34, compared to the total of -35 reached in March 1990. ... more

Bill proposes positive discrimination
The government has outlined plans that will allow companies to discriminate in favour of female and ethnic minority candidates when recruiting. The aim is to allow companies to choose a woman or ethnic minority candidate over a man or white candidate if the two have identical ability. ... more

Small business hotspots named
Smaller towns are producing more entrepreneurs per head than larger cities, according to research conducted by O2. The study names Leicester, Preston, Ipswich and Tonbridge as the nation’s small business hotspots, with Peterborough, Chelmsford, Oxford, Gloucester, Chester and Newcastle-upon-Tyne making up the top 10. ... more

Report reveals flood weaknesses
The official report into the summer floods of 2007, which accounted for 13 lives and saw thousands of businesses and homes flooded, has made a number of recommendations designed to prevent a repeat. The proposals include new building regulations for areas that are susceptible to flooding and a new centre run by the Met Office and the Environment Agency with the aim of providing more accurate wa... more