SME Business News

The Bank of England’s (BoE) quarterly review of lending trends found that many firms are still experiencing the effects of the credit crunch, with business lending suffering its biggest drop in nine years.
Eight out of ten firms included in the Bank’s survey reported that lending had become scarcer and more costly over the past year, [...]

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The results of the Quarter 2, 2009 British Chambers of Commerce Economic Survey confirm that the worst of the recession is over.
Data from 5,600 companies shows welcome progress in both the manufacturing and service sectors with most key indicators improving in the last quarter. However, almost all the critical measures remain in negative territory and [...]

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Employment law is the costliest bureaucratic burden faced by small businesses in the UK, losing them almost £2.4 billion (bn) per year, according to the latest research from the Forum of Private Business (FPB).
Britain’s smaller firms spend £2,394 million (m) every year simply complying with the rules. The figure was calculated based on feedback from [...]

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The U.K.’s economy is showing signs that it is recovering after the sharp gross domestic product slump reported for the first quarter of 2009.
The purchasing managers’ index for the manufacturing sector rose to a 13-month high of 47.0 in June, from 45.4 in May, Markit Economics and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply said. [...]

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