By the time a piece of paperwork lands on your desk or elsewhere in the office, that humble piece of A4 has already had quite a journey. Even if its constituent fibres have been through the recycling process several times it will usually have started life at a tree farm or commercial forest – hopefully […]
Category: General
A look at Small Business Saturday
This is the week for “Small Business Saturday”. More gimmicks are coming up as people across the Atlantic try to make people to spend. However, this campaign goes beyond simply making people to incur expenditure. Started in the US in 2010 by the American Express, the Small Business Saturday is meant to encourage people to […]
Chancellor set to make speech on regulating business rates
The BBC has learned that the chancellor will make a statement on Thursday in an effort to boost small and large businesses through regulating the business rates to stop further increases. The announcement will put a cap on increases in rates to fix them at 2% next year within England and Wales unlike having them […]
A guide to CIS compliant payroll solutions
Any contractor or sub-contractor working in the construction industry needs to understand the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) in relation to their tax affairs. The CIS is a set of rules set out by Her Majesty’s Customs and Revenue (HMRC) – often referred to as the tax authorities – that detail how payments to sub-contractors for […]
Cold callers – what’s to be afraid of?
We’re so contactable these days. Whether it’s at home, on the work mobile or the smart phone we can’t bear to be apart from, we’re always waiting to be beeped at with a message from a friend or loved one (or dreading it ringing with our boss’s name on the display). Unfortunately, our constant availability […]
Shop prices in the UK fall again
For the sixth month in a row, the prices in UK shops fell in October despite the seemingly positive economic outlook, which has been met by reduced spending by UK consumers. There was a 0.5% reduction in UK shop prices, up from 0.2%, that was registered in September according to the British Retail Consortium. The […]
Are ‘Career Colleges’ the Key to Future Career Success?
It was suggested recently that the UK Government would look into the possibility of setting up a number of ‘career colleges’ around the country to try and coach young students into following through with a number of vocational skills to set them up for future careers. 14-year olds from around the country would be trained […]
UK author introduces us to the latest go-getters; the New Olderpreneurs
Discover how the over ’50’s are powering the next wave of business start-ups Vince Stanzione, the best selling author, has recently introduced his many followers to the New Olderpreneurs, the latest group of people who have over achieved in business. Stanzione, wrote The Millionaire Drop Out, the New York Times best seller as well as […]
The difference between Scottish SME’s and those in the rest of the UK
Scottish small businesses are a little different from other UK businesses. Small firms with 50 or fewer employees make up half the small business total, but in Scotland things are more miniature. In Scotland, 90 percent of businesses employ fewer than 10 people. When you consider employment growth, it comes down to growth in small […]
Few realise how much SME’s contribute to the economy
Whilst the national press mostly talks up big business and highlights world famous brand names, it may surprise many observers to learn that almost half of the UK’s business turnover comes from small and medium sized businesses. Just under 15 million people are employed by these businesses which have a collective turnover of £1.6 trillion. […]