Red Tape Challenge sets retailers free from outdated regulation Plans to scrap or simplify more than 160 regulations, freeing the public and retailers from rules that are unnecessarily burdensome, overly bureaucratic or completely redundant have been announced by Business Secretary Vince Cable.

Rising costs are crippling UKs small business Small firms are trapped in a vice of rising business costs, which is squeezing margins, choking growth and threatening their survival, according to a new study the Centre for Economic and Business Research (Cebr).

Administrations at their lowest level since before financial crisis Administration appointments in England have fallen to their lowest level since the end of 2007, well before the current financial crisis, according to data published today.

Cable announces skills projects to boost UK growth Business Secretary Vince Cable has announced Government backing for employer led projects to deliver the skills for growth in sectors ranging from healthcare to nuclear manufacturing.

Business Link helpline replacement announced The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has appointed Careline Services, in partnership with the Business and Enterprise Group, to provide its new Business Link helpline.

Global Entrepreneurship Week & ‘Tenner’ re-auctioned as Peter Jones investigation launched Enterprise UK, the non-profit making body, formerly chaired by the leading entrepreneur, Dragons’ Den panelist and founder of the National Enterprise Academy, Peter Jones which received nearly £4M of funding from BIS has taken the surprising step of seeking new interest from charities interested in taking over its two main assets Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) and [Make your mark for a] Tenner .

New partnership on manufacturing export promotion signed EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation and UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on the promotion of export services to manufacturing and engineering companies across the UK.

Over half of UK workers expect the extinction of the office in a decade A nationwide poll today reveals that 58 per cent of the UK’s workforce believes that companies will no longer require an office space to do business by 2021, as mobile working continues to grow in popularity.

Business mentoring scheme with bank manager mentors launched Over 200 current and former bank managers have signed up to form the core of a national mentoring scheme being rolled out today with Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland and Santander offering businesses more support on issues like finance, marketing and HR.

Government regional economic growth strategy called into question New data released from eBay shows that over 45,000 new businesses have registered on the UK online auction site since September 2008. However despite the continued economic uncertainty the top places are set to receive support, whilst the bottom have failed to be mentioned by the Government.

Men are more Savvy when it comes to online networking than women Men are better at online business networking than women according to data produced by LinkedIn, the world's largest professional network. It claims that data it has released today proves that men and women do go about gaining business through online networking differently and that men are more savvy at it than women.

HMRC is set to hit ebay traders hard in hunt for unpaid taxes eBay businesses, private tutors and cash-in-hand traders are now becoming the focus of HM Revenue & Custom investigations in its latest efforts to recover around £7bn lost to the Treasury each year.

Government launches next phase of Growth Review Skills, the rural economy and medium sized businesses will be at the centre of the next stage of the Growth Review, the Government announced today, as it continues its focus on restoring the economy’s health.

Government told that one in three businesses rejected by banks More than thirty per cent of all small businesses needing finance were turned down by their bank last year, up from only 14 per cent twelve months earlier.

Britain's got entrepreneurialism as number of businesses increases Government statistics show that the number of companies in the UK at the start of 2010 has increased by 48,000, with 99.9 per cent of them Small and medium sized businesses.

Project Merlin small business loans to fall well short of target The latest figures on how much UK banks are lending to businesses will be published later today by the Bank of England and they are expected to show that the five biggest banks are not meeting the lending targets set under their Project Merlin agreement with the government.

Vince Cable set to launch £2.5Bn business growth fund Business Secretary Vince Cable will formally launch the Government's flagship £2.5 billion business growth fund (BGF) today as part of efforts to stimulate lending to small and medium sized companies.

Government appoints Mary Portas to review the future of the High Street Mary Portas, one of the UKs leading retail experts and host of TV's Queen of Shops, has been appointed to lead an independent review into the future of the High Street, The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister announced today.

Radical reforms for parental leave and flexible working proposed The Government today launched a consultation on plans to introduce a new system of flexible parental leave from 2015 as part of its plans to create a modern workplace for the modern economy.

Business Minister looks to boost local business with growth package The drive to boost local economic growth was stepped up today with Business Minister Mark Prisk announcing a package of measures to help local enterprise partnerships get up and running.