Banks told to lend more or face higher taxes & Saturday sessions see huge interest

Cable tells banks: Lend firms more or we’ll tax you harder – Vince Cable has threatened banks with higher taxes if they fail to abide by a deal to lend companies more to boost Britain’s recovery. The London Evening Standard is reporting that the Business Secretary admitted recent bank lending trends, particularly to small and medium sized firms, were so far not “greatly encouraging”.

Saturday sessions for business hopefuls: As we reported a few weeks ago, Emma Jones and The StartUp Britain Campaign have launched Saturday workshops with Staples as part of a national campaign that aims to get the economy moving again by creating a 500,000-strong army of entrepreneurs. The Crawley Observer are reporting strong interest in the first session on what looks to be a great campaign

Small firms to win breaks on employment regs: Employment regulations are to be thoroughly reviewed for their effect on small businesses while two specific workplace rights are to be relaxed in order to cut red tape, People Management magazine are reporting that the government has said.

Fab and funky are all in a day’s work: Consider the cool office cliché for the Google generation. It probably involves beanbags, a massage room, a Smeg fridge and an all-you-can-eat diner. The Evening Standard is covering Central Working. Described as an “entrepreneur support solution”, it is designed as a working and networking spot for start-up business people who might not have the resources they need to build their own.