Business News Articles

Small firms owed £5bn
Small and medium-sized businesses have been left £5bn out of pocket due to trading partners or customers going bust, according to data released by CreditPal. Over the last two years 43% of small firms in the UK have been left with an average of £7,500 owed to them. "The amount left owing to SMEs as a result of company liquidations is shocking and threatens the survival of some UK businesse... more

Budget to be held on March 24th
The government have confirmed that this year's Budget will be held on Wednesday the 24th of March. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, speaking at Canary Wharf earlier, said the Budget would take place in "two weeks' time". Alistair Darling has said that he is "absolutely committed" to reducing the UK's deficit and that his Budget would show he was on course to cut public borrowing from its forecas... more

SMEs increase marketing to fight downturn
Small businesses are trying to beat the economic downturn by increasing their sales and marketing strategies, according to a survey by the Forum of Private Business (FPB). After cutting operating costs to the bare minimum to survive the recession, many smaller firms are hiring sales staff, improving their websites and boosting marketing activities. The survey also revealed that 56% of those ... more

Number of new jobs available rises
The number of new job opportunities increased by 1% in February compared to January, according to the Reed Job Index. The data also revealed that the average salary of a new employee increased by 5%. Despite the number of job opportunities increasing, the number of active job-seekers that have re-entered the market in 2010 means that the average number of applications for a job rose 50% comp... more

Royal Mail reach settlement with staff
The Royal Mail has announced that it has reached a settlement to end a long running dispute with its workers over pay and conditions. Small and medium-sized business owners will welcome the announcement, as it vastly reduces the chances of any strike action by postal workers in the immediate future. Many SMEs saw their businesses suffer towards the end of last year when the Communication Wor... more

House price increase ‘to ease’
Further rises in house prices may be hindered by increasing numbers of properties entering the market, according to data released by The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics). Rics says new instructions to sell outpaced inquiries from new buyers in February - the second month in a row that this has occurred. "There was a resumption of interest in the housing market following the fa... more

Retail sales rise 2.2%
Retail sales in the UK increased 2.2% in February after a tough January, according to figures released by the British Retail Consortium (BRC). Like-for-like sales were up 2.2% in February, following on from the 0.7% fall seen in January when snow put off shoppers. However, this rise has been greeted with cautious optimism as sales for last month have risen compared with very weak trading in ... more

BCC: deficit must be cut
The government must come up with a credible plan for cutting the budget deficit or risk the country's credit rating being damaged, according to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC). However, the business body have warned against cutting the deficit too early, which could damage the UK's recovery. "Cutting the deficit too early would be a major mistake that could unleash a new recession. Ho... more

Tories pledge help for small firms
The shadow business secretary, Ken Clarke, has promised that a Conservative government will help small and medium-sized businesses, "the bedrock of the economy." Mr Clarke said that Labour had failed to encourage private investment into new technologies and that he wanted to simplify regulation and employment law to create more business development opportunities. The shadow business secretar... more

Time constraints hindering recruitment
Business owners say that they are spending too much time dealing with the recruitment process and agencies and are potentially missing out on good candidates as their process takes too long, according to data released by recruitment firm TalentPuzzle. Over 70% of the respondents admitted that because of lack of time they were limiting their recruitment pool and missing out on potentially good c... more