SME Business News

Official figures have revealed that business investment fell in the third quarter of the year.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the level of money invested by businesses dropped back by 3 per cent compared with the second quarter of the year. In real terms, that represents a fall of £885 million. Compared with [...]

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The proportion of older workers planning to work beyond the state pension age has increased dramatically in the last two years, suggesting that the recession has shrunk pension pots, savings, investments and house values. This is the main finding from a survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
The Employee Outlook survey of [...]

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The recession has raised concerns about commercial models, supply chains and finance that will reshape business behaviour well into the next decade, the CBI said today.
Launching its report “The Shape of Business - The Next 10 Years”, the CBI said that the recession and credit crunch had become the catalysts for a new era.
The report [...]

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Access to finance remains a serious problem for British businesses, despite the Bank of England pumping 200 billion into the economy to boost money supply and stimulate lending.
In the latest Monthly Business Survey, published by the British Chambers of Commerce, 33% of companies reported that accessing finance had been more difficult over the last three [...]

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The FPB is calling for a freeze in new business legislation to allow the Government to re-assess the burden of red tape. The proposed moratorium would last until the General Election, which is expected to take place in May.
With the Pre-Budget Report (PBR) less than a month away, the FPB is lobbying the Government to [...]

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A new Charter setting out what individuals, businesses and other groups dealing with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) can expect from the department, as well as what it expects from them, was launched today.
Under the Charter, HMRC gives a commitment to: respect you; help and support you to get things right; treat you as honest; [...]

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Presenting the latest quarterly inflation report, Mervyn King,  Governor of the Bank of England, states that lending by commercial banks would “probably remain weak over the next three years”. Mr King added that inflation may “rise sharply over the next few months”.
The increase would be triggered by VAT returning to 17.5% on 1 January [...]

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The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has called for the resignation of the Government’s Enterprise Tsar, Lord Alan Sugar
Following a meeting of the FSB’s National Council this afternoon (Wednesday, 4 November) in central London, the ruling body of the organisation was unanimous in its agreement that Lord Sugar’s position was no longer tenable.
Responding to a [...]

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Apprentice star Sir Alan Sugar sparked fury at a meeting with entrepreneurs in Manchester this week by slamming struggling business bosses as “moaners” who “live in Disneyland”.
The 62-year-old peer - the Government’s Enterprise Champion - also claimed 85 per cent of small firms refused bank loans weren’t worth lending to. He insisted what many firms [...]

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