Business News Articles

Tube strike talks fail
Small and medium-sized business owners have been warned that talks aimed at averting a series of strikes on the London Underground have broken down. Industrial action will now definitely take place, with the first 24-hour strike planned for Monday and then three further three dates. The action is taking place as unions are fighting plans to cut 800 jobs. London Underground has said there wil... more

House prices decline 0.9%
House prices declined for the second month in succession in August, according to the Nationwide building society. Prices dropped 0.9% last month following a 0.5% decline in July - the first time that prices had fallen for two consecutive months since February 2009. The building society estimates that the average price for a house in the UK is now just over £165,000. As more sellers have ... more

Staff reveal why they would quit
Employees have revealed that the main reason why they would leave their job is due to poor communication with management, according to a survey by serviced office provider Regus. The second most popular reason was stress caused by overworking followed by poor promotion prospects. The survey also asked workers what companies could do to avoid losing their best talents. With the UK detaining t... more

Poor IT equipment costing SMEs money
Over a third of businesses are losing time and money from out-dated office practices and a struggle to handle and store electronic documents, according to research released today by 1&1 Internet Ltd. The study revealed that 37% of respondents lose money is lost from employees failing to share updated versions of documents and 53% of companies are held back by poor archiving of emails and docume... more

Bosses struggling to reward staff
The number of HR professionals that believe that businesses are poorly prepared to to manage the risks around how they reward their staff has grown in the past 12 months, according to a survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). The survey found that 15% of respondents think that their organisation is poorly prepared to deal with these risks, up from 9% in 2009. T... more

Consumer confidence rises
Consumer confidence in the UK economy improved in August for the first time in five months, according to the GfK NOP Consumer Confidence Index. Consumer confidence increased by four points in August - the first time since February that confidence has risen. August saw increases for confidence in consumers personal financial situation over the last 12 months and confidence in the general econ... more

Retail sales increase again
High street sales increased for the second month in succession, according to the latest CBI quarterly Distributive Trades Survey. The survey also revealed that retailers expect sales to continue growing in September and they are more optimistic about the general business situation in the coming three months. Over half of the retailers surveyed said that the volume of sales rose during the fi... more

20% of workers face 90 minute commute
Long-distance commuting is still the norm in spite of progress in flexible working practices with 20% of commuters travelling over 90 minutes every day, according to research by Regus. The average commute length in the UK is 25 minutes but one in ten commuters travels more than an hour to and from the place of work. Cars are by far the most popular form of commuter transport with 64% using t... more

Why trust is vital in business
Small and medium-sized business owners must create a level of trust with their employees in order to drive their businesses forward, claims leading entrepreneur Nick Ogden. A recent report by Ceridian revealed that the level of trust between business managers and staff has been seriously damaged by the difficult economic climate. The survey of over a 1,000 employees revealed that a quarter o... more

Tube strike date announced
Business owners in London should be aware that Tube workers are set to go on strike on midnight on the 7th of September. There will be a series of monthly walkouts as workers protest against job cuts. The Rail Maritime and Transport Union and secretary Bob Crow and Transport Salaried Staffs Association leader Gerry Doherty are due to meet today to finalise the timetable. The London Chambe... more