Tax breaks called for as recession aftermath stifles recovery The recession has created a toxic environment for business, with most UK managers still feeling insecure about the future and businesses struggling to regain a competitive footing, according to a new report from Lord John Eatwell, published by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) today.

Warning to business from online auction sites Sellers on internet auction sites like eBay have been given a "wake-up call" after a man was prosecuted for bidding against himself to raise prices.

Planes finally take to the sky, but for how long? Flights from northern UK airports at Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle were finally being given the green light to take off from 7am today, but passengers in the rest of the country faced confusion as airtraffic controllers backtracked on plans to reopen runways further south.

Lord Sugar's £400,000 sweetener for the Labour Party The Businessman and enterprise tsar Lord Sugar has confirmed that he has donated £400,000 to the Labour party.

Copycats never prosper You're never going to be market leader, copying the market leader. That’s a fact.

Employees give scathing report on bosses management Half of the UK workforce thinks the dominant management style within their organisation is negative, putting the UK’s economic recovery at risk. The finding comes from figures published today by the Chartered Management Institute.

Coca-Cola becomes majority owner of Innocent smoothies Coca-Cola has taken a majority stake in the British fruit smoothie maker Innocent, but Innocent's three founders said that they would keep running the firm.

VAT increase looks a done deal, despite all the Government's denials It isn't normal to hear a major retailer arguing for a rise in the rate of VAT, but that is precisely what Sir Stuart Rose, chairman of Marks & Spencer, did on the BBC radio “Today” programme on the first full day of the election

Countdown to the Election Gordon Brown has called the General Election for May 6 and launched his campaign by calling for a ‘mandate’ to restore the trust between voters and the politicians elected to represent them.

RBS fined for sharing information with Barclays Royal Bank of Scotland has been fined £28.6m for breaching competition law after sharing confidential details about the pricing of its commercial loans with rival staff at Barclays.

The Apprentice might be postponed There are reports in today's edition of The Sun that, in the increasingly likely event of a hung parliament, the next series of The Apprentice may have to be postponed until 2011.

Detailed analysis of The Budget We have looked at all of the key points related to business in yesterday's budget - the last one before the election- and spoken to leading commentators and business owners to get their opinion on what Darling's Budget really means to business.

The Budget in full For anyone who missed the last Budget that Chancellor Alistair Darling delivered before the General Election, you can read the full transcript here.

Small businesses back tax breaks worth £40bln to the economy As businesses round the country prepare themselves for the coming budget, research has found that small business decision makers are calling for a range of innovative tax breaks to help the unemployed back to work and give the UKs economy a much-needed boost.

Game On! New jobs to open up for young people The National Skills Academy for Sport and Active Leisure has announced the creation of almost 2,500 new employment opportunities for young, long-term unemployed people in the sport and active leisure sector.

Cameron in pledge to back black entrepreneurs Tory leader David Cameron has announced that he has drawn up proposals for a national mentoring programme to help thousands of aspiring black business people get into business. The Conservative leader claims that currently, “racial barriers” mean that black entrepreneurs are four times more likely to be denied bank loans.

Europe agrees to cut business red tape Members of the European Parliament are calling for small businesses to be freed from the bureaucratic burden of having to produce annual accounts.

VAT returns going online only is no April fools From 1 April 2010, businesses with an annual turnover of £100,000 or more and all newly VAT registered businesses, must submit their VAT Returns online and pay VAT electronically.

Make your mark with a tenner students challenged a million in a month 30,000 students have today taken up Peter Jones’ challenge of turning £10 into a projected £1.2 Million in just one month with their own community-minded, enterprising ideas, as part of Enterprise UK’s Make Your Mark with a Tenner campaign.

Tories plan radical tax changes for business if elected The Conservatives are reported to be working on a pilot for a new automated bank-based system which would remove the responsibility of deducting and paying income tax from employers. The new system could save businesses up to £5.5bn according to the Tories whilst also increasing revenues to the Exchequer by nearly £1Bn