Government set to reduce fuel duty to battle against rising costs The Chancellor plans to use the Budget to respond to anger over soaring fuel prices and help fleet and company drivers battle against the rapidly rising costs.

Enterprise Zones to be re-introduced to cut taxes and boost regional growth George Osborne is plotting a UK SME and manufacturing revival with recreation of 'enterprise zones' and £100m business tax cuts.

UK’s entrepreneurs becoming keen to start expanding their business again New research published today signals a strong focus on growth amongst UK’s small businesses and an ambition to take their business onto the next level is returning after recent negative.

Business growth plan 'not enough' without bank involvement Business Secretary Vince Cable has accepted that there is more to be done to help business as a report by MPs has said that the government's growth strategy will have little effect without the support of the banks.

CBI calls on government to harness the potential of waste for business The CBI is urging the Government to be bold in its approach to waste policy and recognise its potential to deliver easy wins on a number of big policy areas from meeting climate change targets and bolstering energy security to helping unlock infrastructure investment.

Top banker admits £200bn loan pledge to businesses is meaningless Following the announcement of ‘Project Merlin’ yesterday, the requirement by banks to lend up to £200billion to small and medium sized businesses this year is ‘meaningless’, a senior banking executive admitted.

Continuing North/South divide in business failures Businesses entering administration fell by almost a quarter across England in the last quarter of 2010 compared to the same period in 2009, with the fall in insolvency numbers much more pronounced in London and the South East.

Ministry of Defence 'overlooks' small businesses in bidding process Small businesses face a "significant disadvantage" when bidding for contracts from Government and the Ministry of Defence (MoD), a report has said.

Enterprise UK & Global Enterprise Week to close The non-profit organisation Enterprise UK, which runs Global Enterprise Week in the UK, has announced that it is to close after more than six years following the withdrawal of public funding.

Who's breathing fire now? Caan sued after Dragons' Den deal went sour Following the controversy surrounding Sharon Wright, her company Talpa Products, and entrepreneur James Caan's following a pitch on Dragons' Den, which we reported on a few months ago, we understand that it may well now be Caan who will be pitching to a different kind of judge as Wright has launched High Court action against Caan.

New government proposals to increase and share paid maternity leave to 10 months announced The government plans to allow parents to share childcare and will allow new fathers to take up to 10 months of paid paternity leave, a huge increase from the two weeks currently allowed.

Change in retirement age will cause business chaos & costly legal actions The government has announced that it is to scrap the default retirement age of 65 this year, against the wishes of businesses, who wanted another year to manage the change, and who fear it will cause legal confusion and lead to a rise in cases taken to employment tribunals.

David Cameron: Small business will employ more if they can sack easier David Cameron plans to kick-start small business sector growth by making it easier to sack staff in the first two years of their employment.

Calls for reform of employment tribunal system to be made a priority The British Chambers of Commerce have released figures highlighting the costs for business in the current employment tribunal system and urging for a reform to the unworkable, and unaffordable system.

Plans for government support to 40,000 new businesses over next two years announced David Cameron has today unveiled plans to support 40,000 new enterprises over the next two years by offering grants and loans to unemployed people who can show they have a robust business plan.

Nearly half of small businesses face £3,000 fine over poor records &Nearly half of all small and medium sized businesses that keep poor trading records are set to face investigation and fines of up to £3,000 under a planned HM Revenue Customs clamp down.

CBI predict the slow recovery to continue through 2011 The UK economy is expected to grow by two per cent overall in 2011, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has predicted and removing the risk of a douple-dip recession.

Cable remains Business Secretary after threat to 'bring down the government' After a day, where a number of ill-thought through comments made to undercover journalists from The Daily Telegraph by the Business Secretary Vince Cable were exposed, threatening the stability of the Coalition Government, David Cameron has announced that Cable will remain in post, but with reduced powers.

Stella English beats Chris Bates in a close final to win The Apprentice Stella English was last night hired by Lord Sugar as his apprentice after beating rival Chris Bates to be crowned winner of the BBC reality show watched by a reported 10.5Million viewers.

Government says businesses can avoid giving day off for Royal Wedding Business Link, the governments small business advice service, has said the decision to mark the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton on April 29 with a public holiday has left employers wondering if they had any wriggle room, especially as, coming off the back of Easter it creates four 4 day weeks.