Britain's top franchisees unveiled at glittering awards night Mike and Catharine Chalton of Home Instead Senior Care in the Wirral were last night revealed as the 2011 bfa HSBC Franchisees of the Year, supported by Express Newspapers.

Mumpreneur officially recognised as it enters the English Dictionary The word Mumpreneur has finally achieved the recognition it deserves after being entered into the Collins English Dictionary.

Fashion SMEs eager to capitalise on global demand of 'Brand GB' Recent research has identified that over half of UK fashion SMEs believe British celebrity style icons such as Kate Middleton are driving demand for British fashion overseas.

IBM launch SmartCamp event to help early stage entrepreneurs IBM has opened its registration process for this years SmartCamp, the exclusive global event aimed at identifying early stage entrepreneurs who are developing business ventures that align with IBM’s Smarter Planet vision.

Ernst & Young unveil their 2011 Entrepreneurs of the Year Entrepreneurs were hailed as the “lifeblood of Britain’s economy” by the Business Secretary at an event to celebrate the best of UK enterprise.

10 of Europe’s most promising technology start-ups announced PepsiCo today announced the 10 start-up companies from across Europe that will make up PepsiCo10 – a programme designed to discover and support emerging technology companies.

The Dragon and The Apprentice combine to motive Leeds students Dragons’ Den star Theo Paphitis will be speaking to more than 1,400 sixth form students in “An audience with Theo” at Saviles Hall in Leeds on 3rd of October.

Surge in demand for flexible offices as more new starts 'flexy work' Regus, the world’s largest provider of flexible workspace, has reported a 30% increase in demand for virtual office services in the last 12 months.

Northern Ireland’s best small company celebrates a berry successful pitch The entrepreneur behind a premium liqueur infused with wild berries has won the Northern Irish heat of The Pitch 2011, as the search for Britain’s best new small companies continues.

O2 unveils first instore SME workshop inside London outlet O2 have announced the opening of a new O2 Workshop at the O2 Shop in London's Tottenham Court Road. The workshop is a revolutionary drop-in workspace targeted at flexible workers, entrepreneurs and local small businesses, offering one-stop-shop support.

Northern Irish finalists revealed in search for Britain’s best small businesses Five entrepreneurs from Northern Ireland will pitch for the chance to win business support worth £50,000 at the last regional heat of Britain's biggest small business pitching contest.

Farmer hatches an entrepreneurial plan for growth Fresh from winning Cornwall Entrepreneur of the Year, egg farmer Julie Hewitt from St Wenn, near Bodmin has set her sights even higher with plans to expand her family run business.

The search is on for technology's most inspiring women everywoman, the UK’s largest female business community, is inviting entries for the second year of its everywoman in Technology Awards, supported by Women in Technology

CMI ramps up activity to deliver employability skills to young people In an attempt to help tackle youth unemployment, address the complaints of business leaders and deal with management skills gaps, the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) has redoubled its efforts to ensure young people graduating from UK schools have basic management and leadership skills.

School children regard Branson & Sugar as best business role models Schools should teach honesty, reliability, teamwork and punctuality to boost young people’s job prospects, said 65 per cent of adults who took part in a Young Enterprise poll.

Fund101 launches to help fill small business finance gap The small business support company, Enterprise Nation, along with PayPal and Intuit, the makers of QuickBooks, is launching Fund101 to offer amounts of up to £500 to start ups and young businesses.

Smarta 100 sees UKs smartest small business unveiled, but who is no.1? Smarta.com and O2 have unveiled the winners of the 2011 Smarta 100 awards: its collection of the UK’s savviest, enterprising, most disruptive small businesses.

Having an affair at work tops list of business sins Having an affair with a colleague tops the list of seven deadly business sins newly appointed bosses should avoid at all costs.

Pipe dreams become reality for Scottish plumbing entrepreneur The creator of an ingenious device which provides a temporary fix to burst water pipes has won the Scottish heat of The Pitch 2011, BusinessZone.co.uk’s search for Britain’s best new companies.

Cheques set to become faster & cheaper Cheques - until recently facing the threat of abolition - should be improved, with the "delays and uncertainty" that affect cheque payments should be reduced, said a Treasury Committee report.