Absences soar morning after Champions League final Record numbers of people called into work sick this morning (thu) following Manchester United’s defeat in the Champion’s League Final.

London’s top female entrepreneurs celebrated Some of the UK’s brightest female entrepreneurs are defying the recession by developing and growing new business ventures. They were celebrated recently at The FreshIdeas Events Mentor Competition Awards, held at HSBC, Mayfair.

Are you ready for The Pitch 2009 Doug Richard, former Dragons’ Den panellist; Tim Campbell, the first winner of The Apprentice; and Deirdre Bounds, star of Channel 4’s Millionaires’ Mission, have all signed up to take part in The Pitch 2009, a competition which is going on the road to track down the UK’s most innovative small companies.

Staff turn bedrooms into boardrooms to save cash Over half of employees are working from home more often since the financial crisis began, according to new research from BT Business and Remote Employment, released as people prepared for the National Work From Home Day.

Bannatyne Fitness makes £8.2m profit Dragon Duncan Bannatyne's health club business has prospered despite the recession after it shifted focus from expansion to maximising profits.

The Budget: The Business World's verdict We find out what the Budget really means for small firms from the most important and influential business lobbyists and support groups including the FSB, The Forum of Private Business and The British Chamber of Commerce.

Alistair Darling looks to boost confidence ahead of budget The Chancellor has posted a YouTube video detailing his last-minute preparations ahead of what has been dubbed 'the budget from hell' on Wednesday.

Support required now for more businesses to win government contracts Proposals designed to help more small businesses win government contracts should be prioritised in the forthcoming Budget, the Forum of Private Business (FPB) is arguing. As part of its submission to the 2009 Budget the FPB is pressing the Government to fast-track measures outlined in the Glover Review, at present scheduled to be implemented in 2010, in order to stimulate the flagging economy by increasing competition for tenders and providing better value for money.

Blitz spirit reigns for Britain's small businesses As recessionary pressures continue to bite and are clearly impacting on the survival of the nation’s small and medium sized firms, a number of business owners and managers are embracing a blitz-type attitude and are resolute in spite of the ongoing challenge.

Trademark applications fall 30pc Trademark applications have fallen 30pc from their peak, indicating the decline in business activity and new product launches.

Is your business Britain's best? Business Matters is pleased to announce that we have partnered with one of the UK’s most exciting small business competitions of 2009. The Pitch will see entrepreneurs and small business owners from all over the nation competing to win a massive £50,000 of business related goods and services.

Pitching their idea to a panel of top industry experts, entrants will be asked to demonstrate the innovation, market knowledge, customer engagement and financial viability of their business. The contest kicks off in June with heats in Bristol, Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham and London, followed by a grand final later in the year. The Pitch promises to offer a real taste of how resourceful UK entrepreneurs are reacting to current economic conditions, bucking the downturn with innovation and creativity.

SpinVox CEO & co-founder Christina Domecq named as ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ The Award was presented at a gala reception in London by CNBC, in partnership with the Financial Times, to honour those CEOs who are making a difference through leadership and innovation in their industry sectors.

Initial nominations where made by CEOs from European companies in the FT Global 500, whilst the final winners were decided by a panel that consisted of EBLA 2008 winners from companies such as Arcelor Mittal, Autonomy, Fiat and GE, plus representatives from CNBC, the Financial Times and IMD business school.

Winners of the 2009 Make Your Mark Enterprising Young Brits Awards announced The winners of the 2009 Make Your Mark Enterprising Young Brits Awards were announced today (Tuesday 24 March 2009) at a ceremony at the Institute of Directors (IoD), London. They were each presented with a trophy and £1,000 prize money by Alistair Darling, who made time to chat to finalists and hear their positive stories.

National Business Awards: The business oscars unveiled for 2009 Recognising and rewarding business excellence, innovation and success, The National Business Awards, sponsored by Orange have launched its eighth consecutive regional Awards programme.

Finalists of the Enterprising Young Brits Awards 2009 revealed The finalists of the 2009 Make Your Mark Enterprising Young Brits Awards have been named and must now pitch to a panel of judges including successful entrepreneurs and representatives from HM Treasury and the Institute of Directors (IoD), but now YOU the public have the chance to help them on their way to success.

The Apprentices 2009 unveiled The identities of the fifteen contestants taking part in this year's Apprentice have been revealed.

Eight females and seven males will compete for a job working with multi-millionaire Sir Alan Sugar in the business-based reality show. The series kicks off on March 25 on BBC One.

This year's hopefuls include a city stockbroker, a teacher, an award-winning restaurant owner and an ex-professional footballer.

Make working from home...work Working from home has been a growing trend over the past five years. Now, with people taking redundancy payments and turning their backs on corporate life, it’s set to become even bigger. But before you take the plunge, consider the pros and cons in order to avoid the pitfalls. “Don’t you watch TV all the time? Or sleep in?” are the two most frequent questions IT entrepreneur Katherine Mellon* gets asked when she reveals she works from home. They’re also the most common misconceptions about this increasingly popular way of working.

Family businesses in strong position to survive downturn Low-risk approach, long-term view and lower borrowing advantageous in today’s business environment - UK businesses can learn from adopting elements of the family business model A new report entitled ‘Family Business: In Safe Hands?’ published today (2nd March) by Barclays Wealth and the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), suggests that family businesses have leadership values and particular characteristics which may position them well to ride out the economic downturn.

1 in 5 British workers would rather prove their skills in the bedroom rather than the office A study commissioned by the UK’s leading recruitment scoring website has found that 1 in 5 British workers would rather have sex with their boss for a quick promotion than the drawn out process of working hard.

Banks in dark on loan guarantee, say firms Frontline bank staff are denying small firms loans backed by the government's £1.3 billion enterprise fund – because they have not been told how the scheme works. The Federation of Small Businesses yesterday said that some bank workers were not even aware of the existence of the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme.