SME Business News

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, [...]

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A new deal for entrepreneurs to stimulate social enterprise as a “recession buster” solution for the UK;
A redistribution of all government support from ineffective business support activities to direct credits for angel and family investment in small businesses;
A broad commitment to apprenticeship support across all forms of business to help people be employed rather than [...]

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We stand at a crossroads. The United Kingdom has the potential to remain a central economic and political power amongst the world’s nations or it can sink slowly beneath the weight of its problems and the impotency of its remedies.
We are a nation that has everything it needs to enter the 21st century on a [...]

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And what it held
stood ready to be loosed
with all the power that being changed can give.
Philip Larkin

A spectre is haunting the United Kingdom – the spectre of Capitalism.
As a nation we fear that nothing has changed; that greedy bankers will continue to be rewarded for their failure, that amoral corporations will continue to put profits [...]

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Former Dragons’ Den panellist and founder of School for Startups, Doug Richard has published The Entrepreneurs’ Manifesto in which he calls for a radical overhaul of the way the government supports entrepreneurs.
The Entrepreneurs Manifesto is a public declaration aimed at supporting the UK’s 4.4 million small business owners and entrepreneurs.
The document consists of two sections:
The [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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