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Friend us on FacebookLeading business organisations have given a guarded response to the government's £11bn loan guarantee package with many voicing the opinion that it ‘did not go far enough’ to help businesses starved of credit.
The employers' organisation, the CBI, said certain important companies needed to refinance £100bn of credit facilities this year. "The scale of the problem goes well beyond what the government has announced today. The sense of living on borrowed time is palpable," the CBI's director-general, Richard Lambert, said.
A third of small businesses surveyed in the Forum of Private Business’s (FPB’s) latest Referendum poll of members actively sought finance during the last quarter of 2008. However, despite the Government’s high-profile bail-out and pressure on banks from the FPB, almost half were either partially or completely rejected by UK lenders.
Insurer chief and Dragon head business leaders honoured in New Years HonoursEntrepreneur Peter Jones, famous for his appearances on TV's Dragons' Den, is among the other business people on the list.
The first black person to own a business on Savile Row, tailor Andrew Ramroop, is made an OBE.
Nick Macpherson, permanent secretary to the Treasury, becomes a Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath for his work on the financial crisis.
Small firms 'take long Christmas'More small firms are planning to take an extended Christmas break than at any time in 16 years, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has said.
From a survey of its members, the FSB estimates that 10% or 500,000 are planning to close for two weeks over the festive period.
The FSB says the main motivation for the move is to save money.
FSB official Stephen Alambritis said the firms were following the decisions of carmakers such as Land Rover.
'Reduced bills'
"By closing down for the full two weeks, small firms are looking to save a bit of cash though reduced electricity and fuel bills," he said.
Government hears concerns of small businesses at second finance meeting
Representatives from the UK’s banks and business groups met government officials yesterday to discuss the impact of the economic downturn on small businesses. At the meeting of the Small Business Finance Forum, the Forum of Private Business (FPB) presented the latest findings of its economic downturn panel of member-firms, whose owners are being surveyed every fortnight to present a true picture of market conditions and lending restrictions for small firms.
HSBC throws business a Billion Pound lifelineHSBC has announced a new £1bn loan fund for its small business customers as recession leaves firms struggling to meet day-to-day running costs.
Many of its rivals are constraining lending while they nurse their balance sheets back to health, and HSBC hopes to seize the opportunity to find profitable business in the midst of the downturn.
Apprenticeship expansion launchedThe Government has reaffirmed its commitment to developing the nation’s skills with the launch of an innovative new trial to develop Apprenticeship Expansion Programmes aimed at increasing current apprenticeship numbers to fill existing skills gaps. The trials, delivered through the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) will provide participating employers with access to funds of more than £10 million over the next three years, in a bid to increase the number of available Apprenticeship vacancies.
Chancellor's help firmly rejected by small business ownersSmall business owners are wary of the Chancellor’s efforts to help them, believing the longer-term costs of Alistair Darling’s Pre Budget Report outweigh the supposed benefits. A resounding majority reject the government’s assistance because of fears that the Chancellor’s generosity will come back to bite them.
An online research programme by Trends Research for us at Business Matters magazine immediately after the Pre Budget Report gathered the opinions of 816 leaders of small and medium sized businesses to a package of measures designed to help them survive the recession.
Lord Mandelson says he is concerned about the "alarming" treatment of small businesses by some bank managers.
The business secretary welcomed Royal Bank of Scotland's announcement that it would freeze overdraft charges for small firms until the end of next year.
But he said there was concern some banks were summarily changing the terms of loans to small firms.
Unseen heroes' contribute £72 billion per year to UK small business sectorAs Britain’s small and medium-sized businesses battle harder than ever to stay profitable new research has revealed that ‘spouse power’ is providing companies with 230 million unpaid hours every month - a contribution worth some £72 billion per year to the UK economy.
Company liquidations jumped by 25%Company liquidations jumped by a quarter in the last three months according to official figures today.
The Insolvency Service said there were 4,001 voluntary and compulsory liquidations in England and Wales in the third quarter of 2008. The figures represented a 10.5% rise on the previous quarter and an increase of 26.3% on the same period a year ago.
Government's small business package a welcome first stepThe Government says that the proposals – including extending its pledge to lead the way on tackling payment by paying its own suppliers within 10 days – are designed to preserve small firms’ cash flow by improving access to finance. The FPB is calling on banks to commit to preserving and improving credit lines for small firms.
Tories urge small business helpHe said local authorities could also help by paying small businesses for their services earlier.
Meanwhile, the chancellor, Alistair Darling, has said the government will help the economy by "re-prioritising" its spending to create jobs.
The Treasury's Yvette Cooper has also urged lenders to be more lenient on people who default on mortgages.
Small business divided on Britain as a 'great' place for doing businessThere is a clear divide on whether Britain is a great place to run a small or medium sized business according to the latest poll from the Orange SMS Business Jury. Over a third of SME and small businesses (36%) surveyed disagreed that Britain was a great place to run a small or medium sized business, while just under a third (32%) said that Britain was a great place to do business, despite the current downturn.
Drinkers must soon pay £4 for a pintFirst it was petrol, then food, now beer. Breweries have decided to hike their prices for the second time this year, bringing to the market, for the first time, the £4 pint.
Business owners fighting to 'make it' bigResearch carried out within the small to medium sized enterprise market and found that the most common factor that makes small business owners consider their business to have “made it” is when they have made over £250k-£500k profit cleared and in their business bank account.
The research from KashFlow.co.uk found that the Top 5 business milestones that small business owners considered that they had to reach before considering their business to have made it were as follows;
A recent survey from The Chartered Institute of Marketing, conducted by Ipsos MORI, has found that marketers are woefully ill-informed about the legality of Olympic-related marketing activities.
Jacqueline Gold nominated for top awardJacqueline Gold, Chief Executive of Ann Summers and Knickerbox, has been nominated for the first VQ Hero Awards – due to be presented to winners at the Royal Opera House on VQ Day – the first national celebration of vocational qualifications on 23rd July 2008.
Older workers boost UK EnterprisesUK entrepreneurs are increasingly relying on older workers to plug skills shortages in their businesses, according to figures released today by entrepreneur think tank, the Tenon Forum.
