Business News Articles

bmi taken over by Lufthansa
British airline bmi is being taken over by the German operator Lufthansa in a move that will make it the second biggest airline at Heathrow airport. Lufthansa was already a 30% stakeholder in the British airline but has now increased its stake to 80%. ... more

Company vehicles abused
Employees mistreat thousands of company vehicles every year, according to research conducted by Fleet Support Group's (FSG) video inspection systems. FSG's approved Masterserve garages are equipped with a remote video inspection system that enables fleet managers to view the condition of company cars and their components when they are serviced or repaired. When vehicle abuse is detected the ... more

Direct mail marketing still popular among SMEs
Recently released figures show that direct mail marketing still has an important role to play for SMEs. A survey by media intelligence firm Mintel Comperemedia revealed that the amount of direct mail sent by companies to consumers last year increased by 17% from 2006 figures. "Just as people continue to read hard-copy books despite the proliferation of online reading material, companies cont... more

Debut phone from Google goes on sale
Search engine giant Google's first ever mobile phone goes on sale today in the UK. The G1 runs off a specialist operating system called Andriod, which is designed to bring the desktop computing experience to mobile phones. The phone has similiar capabailities and applications to a desktop computer, meaning that any staff with the phone will be able to work on the move and at the office. T... more

Government invests £500,000 in women entrepreneurs
The government today launched the Women's Prowess Policy Centre (PNPC) to offer support and guidance to women entrepreneurs. The centre is the first of its kind in Europe and is receiving over £500,000 of funding from the Department for Business. It will act as a ‘one-stop' shop for the latest in women's enterprise-related research and policy. The brief of the PNPC is to increase the ... more

Annual house price fall 15%
House prices in the UK fell by 1.4% in October and have dropped by almost 15% in the past year, according to figures from the Nationwide. The data takes the annual fall rate from 12.4% to 14.6% as the housing market shows little sign of recovering. ... more

Average pay rise for September is 3.8%
The average pay rise in September was 3.8%, according to figures released by the Incomes Data Services. Many employers are using the October rise in the national minimum wage, which increased the rate by 3.8% to £5.73 an hour as a benchmark. With the rate of inflation currently standing at 5% any workers receiving the average pay increase will be worse off.... more

Business insolvency surges 28%
The amount of businesses closing has increased by 28% in the last three months, according to research by information group Experian. Since the start of the year over 16,000 firms have ceased trading, with 6,000 of these closures occurring in the last quarter of the year. This rise is being partially blame don banks becoming increasingly aggressive with the number of bank controlled receivers... more

New bank fund ‘must filter down to small businesses’
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has called on more banks to take advantage of new funds provided by the European Investment Bank (EIB) so the money is passed onto SMEs. The Government recently announced that it is expecting up to £4b in support from the EIB. "The Government must insist more banks apply to the EIB so more small businesses can access the much needed funds, said FSB c... more

Home office workers encouraged to claim tax
Small business owners who work from home are being encouraged to claim additional tax relief, as expenses they incur at home are equivalent to office expenses. "If you have to work from home, HMRC has a website that explains the benefits which are payable for home workers," said Chas Roy-Chowdhury, head of taxation at ACCA. "Tax relief is available for the extra household expenses that have ... more