Latest Financial News
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A prominent television personality has said that small businesses should be doing more to protect consumer data. Adrian Chiles, who previously presented the television programme, Working Lunch, will be the public face of this year's National Identity Fraud...
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The interest rates applied to overdrafts for small businesses have soared in recent months, according to the Independent on Sunday. The newspaper reported that small to medium enterprises (SMEs) could face paying as much as 15% on overdrafts as the credit...
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The government should be doing more to help small businesses implement environmental laws, it has been argued. The British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) believe that the Carbon Trust - the government's energy efficiency agency - should be better integrating with...
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Small to medium enterprise (SME) managers and directors are increasingly moving out of the capital, it has been shown. A survey by the networking company KDB published this week indicated that London and the south-east had both a substantial fall in the...
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The UK's small businesses are proving slow in their adoption of the new national minimum wage, it has been shown. Research by Bibby Financial Services has disclosed that more than two-thirds of small to medium enterprises (SMEs) have yet to implement the...
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The increased cost of fuel is causing a large number of small businesses to make cutbacks in spending, it has been revealed. Research by Enterprise Rent-A-Car has shown that a quarter of small to medium enterprises (SMEs) are reeling in expenditure, with 26%...
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There has been a significant reduction in the number of new business start-ups in Scotland, statistics have shown. The Committee of Scottish Clearing Bankers have reported that new small to medium enterprises (SMEs) fell by nearly 3,000 in the second quarter...
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The government has warned employers that it will take tough measures against those who do not comply with minimum wage standards. The national minimum wage (NMW) increases from today (1 October), with the adults aged over 22-years-old set for a rise in their...
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Small Business Week 2008 is set to give a boost to smaller firms up and down the UK this year. The BT-organised event will run for the five days following 13 October and will bring together business experts from small to medium enterprises (SMEs) from all...
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Small to medium enterprises (SMEs) are caught up in too much "red tape", it has been claimed. A European Commissioner has called on the member states of the EU to reduce the administrative burden that many small businesses face, saying that in the...
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A new service designed to help the well-being of both employers and employees has been launched. The Employee Advisory Resource's (EAR) has provided the employee assistance programme which helps small to medium enterprises (SMEs) adversely effected by the...
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Small businesses in the UK are failing to disclose data security breaches to clients, a survey has revealed. Research by IT and business services firm Logica found that 60% of small to medium enterprises (SMEs) that experienced a data breach did not inform...
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The recent merger of HBOS with Lloyds TSB could have a negative effect on small businesses, a pressure group has warned. Representatives from the Forum for Private Business (FPB) believe that the merger will lead to less competitive lending rates and choice,...
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Small businesses are being hit by Royal Mail's decision to introduce a flat rate for fewer week day collections. That is the argument of the Forum of Private Business (FPB), which believes the decision to switch morning collections at an annual rate of...
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Small business managers faced with the prospect of trimming down the wage bill have been warned to stay within the law. With tough economic situations making the possibility of redundancies all the more real, small firms have to be careful to stay within...
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A large number of small to medium enterprises (SMEs) in the UK do not understand the concept of marketing. In a study of more than 3,000 SMEs, the website projectword.com found that over a half of all new businesses begin with no defined marketing plan. ...
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Small to medium enterprises (SMEs) have saved close to £60 million a year by complying with green legislation, a study has revealed.
Despite this, a government survey by netregs.gov.uk discovered more than 50% of small businesses...
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Small businesses in the UK are among the world's best when it comes to recognising the potential of new technology. That is what a new study by global IT trade association CompTIA has discovered as part of a survey of major IT decision makers. The...
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Nearly all of the UK's small businesses have vowed to beat the recession, a survey has revealed. Conducted by Orange SMS Business Jury, a poll found that only 2% of British small to medium enterprises (SMEs) said they were considering "throwing in the...
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Lending to small to medium enterprises (SMEs) will continue at current levels after the Lloyds TSB-HBOS merger. That's according to Lloyds, which has moved quickly to dispel any fears that lending rates could see sharp increases after the formation of the...
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Increased revenues for charity shops brought on by the credit crunch will help small retailers, it has been claimed. Not-for-profit stores have seen turnover rise by 7.4% over last year to £106.7 million, according to the Charity Finance report. High...
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Small business managers consider protecting their buildings more important than staff safety, says research. An investigation by Norwich Union has found that out of 300 small to medium enterprises (SMEs), the majority said they thought policies that...
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Generic web domain names are likely to bring a "constant flow of traffic" to the websites of small businesses, an internet expert has said. Domain names such as officesupplies.com or roomdividers.com are said to hugely increase traffic to websites,...
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Small to medium businesses (SMEs) in the UK are wary of the security threats posed by instant messaging (IM) software. One expert on IM claims that SMEs feel threatened by the security implications of using software such as MSN Messenger and Yahoo IM. This...
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Small business owners and entrepreneurs contribute more than £1 billion to the UK economy every year, it has been found. The insurer Hiscox calculated the figure after discovering that owners of small to medium-sized businesses work over half a billion...
