SME Business News

After cutting operating costs to the bare minimum, many smaller firms are hiring sales staff, improving their websites and boosting marketing activities in an effort to tackle tough trading conditions.
Research carried out by the FPB also found that business owners expect their efforts will pay off. More than half (56%) of those surveyed expect to [...]

[Read more →]

Small and medium-sized manufacturers are starting to benefit from the relative weakness of Sterling, with overseas orders stabilising after seven quarters of decline, according to the CBI. Manufacturing production also steadied, but is expected to fall in the next quarter as overall demand remains weak.
Of the 418 firms surveyed for the CBI’s quarterly SME Trends [...]

[Read more →]

Publishing group Yell (YELL) saw signs of stability in the third quarter as the rate of revenue decline slowed.
The Yellow Pages publisher said confidence is beginning to return to the small business community from which it gets most of its advertising revenue and this will be reflected in its results for the quarter to the [...]

[Read more →]

Manufacturing production rose for the first time in two years, as overseas demand for UK-made goods increased and stock reductions eased, the CBI comments.
The business group’s latest quarterly Industrial Trends Survey revealed a stronger-than-expected rise in output in the three months to January. But the CBI warned that the outlook for the sector remains uncertain, [...]

[Read more →]

The Surrey snows have forced me to get some serious reading done. This weekend I read a fascinating business book with a fairly uncompromising title that promised much and to an extent at least delivered it: “The Upside of the Downturn: Ten Management Strategies to Prevail in the Recession and Thrive in the Aftermath.”
Its premise [...]

[Read more →]

The UK Economy continues to improve: the service sector PMI figures are out and the news has bolstered demand for the British Pound.
The UK service sector is reported to have ended 2009 on a positive note, with growth of both activity and new business improving since November.
Expectations for the new year remain high and, despite [...]

[Read more →]

The latest Insolvency Index from information services company Experian, has revealed a positive picture in November, as the number of failing businesses continued to fall and the financial strength of businesses improved.
Businesses across Great Britain saw an improvement in their financial strength score from 79.66 in November 2008 to 81.26 November 2009. Furthermore, the rate [...]

[Read more →]

Richard Lambert, CBI director-general, commented on the economic and political situation in his message for the new year.
He said: “This will be a year of exceptional challenges for businesses in Britain. Looking 12 months ahead, the risks and the opportunities both seem strikingly clear.
“Risks first. One is that the international banking crisis is far from [...]

[Read more →]

VAT-registered businesses are being urged to take note of the forthcoming changes to the rules on filing returns.
From 1 April 2010, businesses with an annual turnover of more than £100,000 (excluding VAT) will need to have their VAT returns filed online and payments made electronically, for accounting periods beginning on or after that date.
Meanwhile, businesses [...]

[Read more →]

Many of the latest CBI report’s findings are supported by a new survey conducted by Ipsos MORI in October and November and sponsored by the CBI and business advisory firm Deloitte. The survey of business leaders, mostly CEOs and chairmen, and representing a UK workforce of almost 1m and a global turnover of around £1trillion, [...]

[Read more →]