SME Business News

University of Strathclyde researchers say that more than a third of the UK small businesses are run from home.
Amazingly, 10% of those have a turnover of ‘at least’ £250,000 and employ more than ten workers.
The report says that more than half of the total have increased sales in the last twelve months with 58% intending [...]

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Two SME campaigners have come together to offer some tips for small businesses to avoid the worst of the credit crunch.
Small businesses are being urged to follow five top tips to cope with the credit squeeze and protect their businesses as the economy slows.The Federation Of Small Businesses (FSB) and ASC Finance For Business [...]

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The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has attacked large companies that delay invoice payment and impose new terms and settlement fees on small businesses.
The recent post about Alliance Boots has led to the FSB obtaining a copy of the letter that was sent out to the companies suppliers in June.
The letter states that as of [...]

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UK bank HBOS has announced that it is to set up a single business division in an attempt to move itself into the SME banking market place.
The bank plans to merge it’s business banking and commercial businesses by the end of 2009 as part of strategy to boost it’s market share in the £800million business [...]

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A small business that employs just two people has forced multinational retail store Alliance Boots into back tracking on its payment terms.
After receiving a letter from Alliance Boots that said that the company was changing it’s payment terms from 30 days to 75 days from receipt of invoice, the husband and wife team of training [...]

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Accounting Software company Kashflow, recently surveyed Small Business owners to evaluate what they perceive as the major factors in growing a company from Small to Medium sized in business.
The research revealed these top five milestones that small business owners consider they have to reach before they can consider their business to have grown to Medium [...]

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Actress and entrepreneur Jane Asher shares her experiences of setting up a business during a recession, offering tips and advice to small businesses on surviving an economic downturn.
Jane Asher set up her business Jane Asher Party Cakes in 1989, on the back of her best selling cake decorating book. It has since grown to become [...]

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Government proposals that new out of town supermarkets should be prevented if they negatively impact on smaller shops, have been welcomed by small business groups.
However there is concern that the scrapping of the current ‘need test’ is unnecessary until the new system is proven, with businesses sceptical whether the new policy will afford them the same robust [...]

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In a bid to save small businesses from being driven out of the UK’s high streets, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is urging the government to support its Keep Trade Local campaign.
The Communities Secretary, Hazel Blears, made some welcome comments on planning this week, but the country’s biggest business organisation is challenging her to [...]

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The British Chamber Of Commerce (BCC) has warned that Britain is at ’serious risk’ of a full scale recession, with suggestions that the economy is now slowing down much more quickly than experts had previously predicted.
It is the backbone of UK businesses, the service sector that is showing the worst signs, with more firms now seeing [...]

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