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National Insurance tax holiday to begin on September 6

The one year National Insurance holiday for start ups, announced in the budget, is set to begin on September 6 but now the Government has now said that some sectors as well as regions of the country will be exempt.

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Businesses are having to pay more to borrow than last year

Bank fees and costs for SMEs have risen sharply since the end of last year according to a report by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. The report also says that many small businesses are unable to borrow from banks, because their lending criteria are too restrictive.

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They aren't called Dragons for nothing! James Caan's investment practice in the den exposed

When Sharon Wright, wanted to increase the profitability of her fledgling business Talpa Products, which produced the award-winning Magnamole product, she did what many entrepreneurs dream of and walked up the famous steps in TV’s Dragons’ Den and walked back down again with a deal done and with the two dragons that she had wanted, for more money than she had asked for. Sounds perfect doesn’t it? However without the cameras, the deal became anything but perfect.

We talk to Wright about what went wrong and why the perfect deal turned so sour.

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IN Business

BlackBerry Remote Employer award winners announced

Amanda Potter, from Coulsdon, Surrey, has won The BlackBerry Remote Employer Award in a prestigious ceremony to celebrate The Remote Worker Awards, held in association with BT Business, at The Grand Connaught Rooms in London.

IN Business Full article

People

From the catwalk to the boardroom - Caprice It isn’t often that we interview an entrepreneur so globally famous that they are known by just their first name, but Caprice talks to Paul Jones about what it is really like moving from the catwalk to the boardroom and why she makes every single decision herself in her business.

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Bannatyne: The musical! The entrepreneur, philanthropist, TV dragon, and Business Matters columnist Duncan Bannatyne is set to see his rags-to-riches life turned into a musical.

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Getting to know you: Stuart Murray We talk to Internet entrepreneur Stuart Murray, founder of gatszu.com, the UK’s fastest growing online recruitment marketplace, to determine the source of his motivation, his ambition, and extract real-world advice for those wishing to follow in his footsteps.

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Opinion

What are you great at?

As the business world becomes increasingly fast paced, unrelenting and unforgiving, the solution to the myriad of problems that organisations face appears to become ever more complex.

Opinion Full article

Advice

A quarter of employees say trust in managers has deteriorated in the last two years

New research has revealed the poor state of trust between employees and managers with a quarter of those surveyed saying that they are feeling that the level of trust they have in their manager has deteriorated. A further one fifth of respondents have reported that they are less engaged.

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Marketing

Advertising Standards Authority gets online & social media power

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is extending its remit to cover the online realm, and so online marketing and ads will, from 1 March 2011, be subject to the same strict advertising rules as traditional media.

Marketing Full article

Legal

A 50 point check-list for business legal security

We spoke to Chris Sherliker, founding partner of the London based law firm Silverman Sherliker, who gave us a non-exhaustive 50 point checklist designed to help you avoid some very common legal pitfalls and maximise the legal security of your business.

Legal Full article

Finance

Accounts due at the end of the month? Make them relevant to now

Businesses are being urged to plan how they release "recession era" accounts due by August 31st in order to avoid unnecessary credit rating downgrades.

Finance Full article

Tech

BlackBerry users can't see new hybrid device winning over iPhone users

A significant majority of BlackBerry owners don’t think the company’s new Torch handset will be successful, and cite the number of apps available on other platforms, such as iPhone and Google Android, as a weakness.

Tech Full article

Travel

Car clubs drive commuters to public transport

Businesses which have signed up to one of the UK’s largest car clubs say the service has helped to cut the numbers of staff commuting to work by car.

Travel Full article

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