Business News Articles

BT seeks firms for hotspots
Organisations using BT Business Total Broadband are now able to turn their BT Business hub into a BT Openzone wireless hotspot at no extra cost, meaning anyone visiting their premises can now log onto a separate secure channel to check email, use the internet and make VoIP calls. “This is something totally new for UK businesses of any size, from the smallest start-up to larger multi-site bus... more

Annual house price growth falls
The annual rate of house price growth has fallen for the seventh month in a row, figures from the Land Registry have revealed. The annual increase in March was just 3.6%, compared to 5.3% in February, while prices fell by 0.4% in month-on-month figures. ... more

Credit crunch hits top entrepreneurs
Britain’s wealthiest entrepreneurs have seen their fortunes dip due to the recent economic downturn, according to The Sunday Times Rich List. The list revealed that Sir Richard Branson’s wealth had dropped by £400m to £2.7bn as the value of his Virgin empire decreased, while retail magnate Sir Philip Green’s fortune fell by more than 10% to £4.3bn. ... more

Simpler system for train tickets
A new rail ticketing system designed to make it simple for travellers to understand the types of ticket on offer is due to come into force from May. The new system, brought in by the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC), will feature only three ticket options: Advance, Off-peak and Anytime. ... more

FSB launches VoIP initiative
The Federation of Small Businesses has launched an initiative to provide its members with a business-class VoIP (voice over internet protocol) telephony service free of charge. In a partnership with telecoms company Coms, all 210,000 FSB members will receive a VoIP telecoms account where they will be able to contact each other free of charge. ... more

Banks warned on identity fraud
The Financial Services Authority has called on banks and other financial institutions to do more to tackle the threat of identity fraud. The organisation’s research found that nearly half of the 39 companies polled failed to give staff training in data security, with small and medium-sized firms the worst culprits. ... more

Bosses warned on pregnancy stance
The majority of company bosses make an assessment on whether an employee is likely to get pregnant before deciding whether to offer them a job, according to a survey by Employment Law Advisory Services (ELAS). Over half (52%) said they took factors such as age and whether a candidate had just got married into account when recruiting and 76% of managers said they would not hire someone if they ... more

BBC exposes card fraud scam
The level of cardholder-not-present fraud is far greater than had previously been thought, according to an investigation by the BBC. The organisation quotes banking industry data which suggests card fraud from the internet, phone or mail order accounted for £290.5m in 2007. ... more

Office workers lack IT skills
A worrying proportion of UK office workers are unable to use the technology at their disposal to its full potential, according to a survey carried out by TechSmith. The research found that 45% are unable to merge a Word document while 6% have no understanding of any basic Word functions. ... more

Four in 10 want to quit jobs
More than four in 10 employees are considering packing in their job in the next 12 months, with a lack of motivation and unreasonable workloads the main reasons. A survey by Investors in People found that half of staff said they had not received any support beyond their original induction and a quarter said they felt they did not receive the support they required from managers. ... more