Final call for the UK's best franchisees to be rewarded There is only days remaining for the UK’s most inspiring and enterprising franchisees of 2011 to enter the bfa HSBC Franchisee of the Year Awards, and see their achievements recognised.

No sleeping on the job for England’s best entrepreneur The inventor of an ingenious way to help children sleep while in a pushchair has won the England heat of the Pitch, a competition which is rewarding some of Britain’s best small businesses.

You're welcome to them Sugar as SMEs wouldn't employ his hopefuls A survey of SME owners has revealed that more than a third of small and medium businesses would not dream of hiring a candidate from the BBC series The Apprentice.

English finalists revealed in search for Britain's top small business Five lucky small business owners have made it through to the English heat of a competition tracking down Britain’s best new entrepreneurs.

Staff on holiday, but still working 'on the mobile' With many staff off on holiday this week to coincide with school half term a survey has revealed that over a third of UK employees take business calls on holiday, with top level management and the over-65s being the guiltiest of never switching off from work. Men are 66% more likely than women to pick up a call.

Last call for National Business Awards entries 2011 Every year the National Business Awards, in partnership with Orange, uncover hundreds of examples of British business leaders and entrepreneurs who are taking a unique approach to overcome major challenges and achieve business excellence, however time to enter the 2011 awards is fast running out.

Hollywood Director Oliver Stone to judge online video festival 2011 Lights, camera, action! Hollywood Director, Oliver Stone – known for his box office hits like Platoon, Natural Born Killers and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps – is turning his talents to the small screen as judge of a unique online video festival, conceived and run by vzaar, the leading business online video hosting platform.

BlackBerry supports small businesses with bite size information books Small business publisher Brightword has teamed up with BlackBerry to launch a series of eBooks that will deliver bite size information to anyone starting and growing a small business.

Franchisee awards ready to celebrate UKs leading franchise owners The 2011 bfa HSBC Franchisee of the Year Awards are now open for entries, with top franchisors urged to nominate their most enterprising franchisees. The Awards highlight the outstanding efforts and achievements of the franchisees in the UK who ‘set the standard’ for the industry.

Lord Heseltine encourages business to bid for share of funding for jobs and growth Lord Heseltine has kicked off a series of road shows today to promote the second round of the Regional Growth Fund and encourage bidders to compete for a share of £950m.

Website for employers staffing up for London 2012 Games launched Organisations looking to take on new staff in the lead up to the London 2012 Games can now access a central pool of enthusiastic and available talent, all seeking roles related to the Games.

Council contracts open to SMEs with 25% earmarked for small firms Although around 80% of public sector IT is currently provided by about 20 large suppliers, the government has stated it's goal is to place 25% of external expenditure with SMEs over the next few years.

The Apprentice 2011. No job at the end, but a £250,000 investment This year’s successful Apprentice will no longer win a six figured salary job working in one of Lord Sugar’s businesses, but instead the winner and their business idea will found the basis of an equity partnership with Lord Sugar making an investment to the value of £250,000.

Saturday club launched to help people become their own boss Office supplies company Staples has put its full weight behind a new StartUp Britain campaign in an effort to create a 500,000-strong army of entrepreneurs to help get the economy moving.

UK entrepreneurs take to the web to 'start-up Britain' New insight has revealed that the Government’s recently launched start-up push has delivered an immediate increase in the number of people searching online for advice on starting up a business, with proportionally more online interest from people in the North West and the Midlands, and amongst those living in some of the UK’s most remote, rural areas.

Finalists revealed for top franchisor awards A shortlist of 13 franchisors has been announced in the 2011 bfa HSBC Franchisor of the Year Awards, supported by Express Newspapers. The finalists were selected from entries spanning multiple sectors, business size and locations across the UK to reveal this year’s potential Award winners.

The search is on for the UK's most inspiring business women The quest to find the UK’s most inspirational entrepreneurs has commenced - the prestigious NatWest everywoman Awards are now open for entries.

We don’t believe we can succeed in business, say British young people A new international study has found that, while young people in the UK are more ambitious than many of their European counterparts, they need a boost to their self-belief and determination to turn that ambition into success.

National Business Awards open for entries looking for the leaders of 2011 A business angel, economist and innovator of the year launched the entry campaign for the National Business Awards in partnership with Orange with the backing of the Chancellor, George Osborne.

Keeping business in the family Research of small business owners found that over a fifth employ a family member and of these 43% cited the downturn as a reason for recruiting a relative. This was a positive, as nearly all of the 1,000 businesses who took part in the survey move as 94% believe that a family hire benefits their businesses.