SME Business News

Despite calls for a cut, eight out of ten (84%) Finance Directors who were surveyed fear the rate of corporation tax will either stay the same or increase after the next general election, despite calls for a cut, potentially leaving UK PLC hamstrung, according to new research from leading business and financial advisers Grant Thornton.
However [...]

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Small businesses are vital to tackling graduate and youth unemployment, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) will tell delegates at the Labour Party Conference next week.
Youth unemployment has reached nearly 950,000. Graduates and school leavers are entering the job market at one of the worst times since 1992. The FSB believes that the Government must [...]

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Research carried out by the Forum of Private Business (FPB) has found that almost half of its members (47%) expect to see an increase in trade over the next year.
The business support and lobby group found that 13% of the firms it surveyed are already seeing an upturn in their order books, while a further [...]

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The Low Pay Commission is to decide early next year whether apprenticeships should be brought under the national minimum wage rules.
But the CBI has said that any minimum wage for apprentices should be realistic and cautious if it is not to deter firms from offering apprenticeships in the first place.
Currently, the minimum weekly wage for [...]

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As the leaders of the main political parties prepare to deliver their keynote speeches during this year’s crucial party conference season, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has issued a warning that all three parties must present a clear vision that gives business the freedom to create opportunities, jobs and growth to drive the UK’s [...]

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Responding to today’s announcements relating to maternity and paternity leave, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD):
• Welcomes the decision, in the current financial climate, to drop plans to extend paid maternity leave from 9 months to a year.
• Draws attention to the administrative burden involved in sharing parental leave between parents, which will [...]

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The Chancellor, Alistair Darling is looking at ways of enabling small and medium-size firms to borrow money from sources other than the major high street banks.
There have been consistent complaints that SMEs are struggling to raise capital from the banks.
Under the mooted plans, SMEs would be able to apply to borrow money from City pension [...]

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The new research based on Freedom of Information Act requests has been designed to discover how many local authorities and health trusts are paying their suppliers – which are often small businesses – in a reasonable amount of time.
It comes almost a year after the Government urged councils and the NHS to commit to paying [...]

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According to the new research by the Asset Based Finance Association (ABFA), 56 per cent of SMEs aren’t aware of the amount of financial support available from the Government.
SMEs were asked if they were aware of the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme, Working Capital Scheme or the Capital Enterprise Fund, which have all been developed by [...]

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The online resource for business owners, directors and entrepreneurs www.freshbusinessthinking.com revealed in a recent survey that 45% of small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) owners who utilise Internet Marketing use social networking sites such as Twitter or Facebook to promote their company.
Theo Paphitis explained in his column for the Daily Mail that allowing your employees to [...]

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