Against a weak economic backdrop, brands in Britain spent almost 5 billion pounds advertising online in 2011, with video ads and marketing on social media platforms driving growth to its biggest increase in five years.
Category: News
The latest news affecting small and medium sized (SME) businesses in the UK
Minister for employment backs new charter for work experience
The Minister for Employment Chris Grayling has urged employers to sign up to a new work experience charter published today by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
Santander named ‘Business Bank of the Year for record tenth time
Santander has walked off with three awards at the annual Business Moneyfacts Awards.
Game rescue deal safeguards 3,200 jobs
Buy-out group OpCapita has paid £50m for 333 Game stores and will appoint former Halfords’ chief executive David Hamid as chairman.
Google Opens London Centre for Start-ups
Teaming up with the government, Web giant creates a sprawling campus to support early-stage companies.
New minimum 12 month duration for all apprenticeships
Tougher standards introduced by Skills Minister to drive up quality with apprenticeships set to last for a minimum of 12 months guaranteeing improvements in training and workplace learning, Skills Minister John Hayes has announced
Nationwide search for young manufacturing stars launched
Business Minister Mark Prisk has launched a nationwide search for the Make it in Great Britain 30 Under 30 – 30 young rising stars employed in the manufacturing industry, all aged under the age of 30.
Landlords welcome Government response to Portas
The British Property Federation has welcomed the Government response to retail guru Mary Portas’s review of the high street.
Stamp price changes ‘bad for business’
Small businesses will be hit with significant increases in the cost of postal services after an Ofcom announcement allowing Royal Mail bosses to set stamp prices themselves.
Over three million firms see radical tax simplification
The Treasury has set in motion a dramatic simplification of the way the smallest companies have to keep trading records and pay taxes.
Germany launches strategy to counter ECB largesse
Germany is preparing a raft of measures to safeguard its financial system and prevent excess stimulus from the European Central Bank leaking into an inflationary credit boom
Number of apprenticeships continues to rise
New statistics published today show an increase in the number of people starting an apprenticeship.
RBS admits thousands of SMEs were sold interest rate swaps
RBS released details of its potential exposure after being asked how many swaps it had sold to its small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) customers.
SMEs see opportunities ahead
Small business confidence in UK economic and international trading conditions is the highest for six months, research finds.