Advice on growing your small and medium sized business, SME, in the UK. Hiring and managing staff and finance plus marketing all on one website
After digesting months of feedback and suggestions, Smarta, the free online business resource has launched a new, easier to use, and a more functional website. From the feedback Smarta learnt that there are three things users wanted from the site: Advice, Networking and Tools.
A recent survey of small to medium sized businesses reveals that the three worst qualities an employer can exhibit during difficult times to their staff are ‘hiding the extent of problems’, ‘making the problems appear worse than they are’ and ‘being distant with staff’ – indicating that SME employees want honesty and straight talk from their employers about the state of the business.
BT people are being freed up to tackle the issues that are important to their local communities and to communities across the world. Some are helping make local community areas cleaner and greener. Others are working with a whole range of charities and social enterprises to enhance their operations.
Cyclescheme, the UK’s number one provider of cycle-to-work schemes, has been given top billing in the Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100 and as such is the first company from the bicycle industry to gain entry.
The run up to Christmas is one of the busiest times of the year for many businesses. Tens of thousands of seasonal jobs are being created on the high street alone with many of the big retailers recruiting thousands of staff to cope with the Christmas rush, and for ‘specialist’ jobs such as the 10,000 Santas that are reportedly needed. However, the surge in demand from customers doesn’t just have an impact on retailers, many other businesses are affected.
Lord Drayson and James Caan joined industry leaders in celebrating companies at the leading edge of science, technology and innovation. The iawards ceremony at the Science Museum saw the teams behind this year’s best British innovations rewarded for developing practical solutions to some of society’s greatest challenges.
This summer, the search began for the UK’s most exciting and innovative small companies.
Competing in The Pitch 2009, entrepreneurs in five regions presented their product or service to panels of leading business experts.
Five winners plus a wildcard entry will now compete in a live grand final in London where a victorious entrepreneur will walk away with a package of business support prizes worth £50,000 including coverage in a forthcoming edition of Business Matters, and our sister magazine Angels, as well as business research services from our research division Trends Research.
Two businessmen who run an online hand-tailored suit-making company have outperformed thousands of entrepreneurs to reach the National Finals of the 2009 HSBC Start-Up Stars Awards.
Despite the downturn, more than half of small firms in the UK are providing support to charities, according to new research.
The research, conducted by Barclays One Step programme, reveals for the first time the size and scope of local business support for the charity sector, with over two million firms across the UK helping good causes through donations, volunteering and pro bono work.
The sixth series of Alan Sugar’s The Apprentice has been rescheduled to take place in the summer.
Lord Sugar’s show will now be broadcast to clash with Channel 4 reality series Big Brother, which traditionally airs in late May or early June, according to reports in The Guardian today.
The awards, which take place tonight, described by Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, as the “Business Oscars” have this year attracted entrants that combined employ more than 1m staff, have revenues totalling £253bn and make profits in excess of £40bn.
Apprentice winner, successful business woman and Business Matters columnist Michelle Dewberry is joining musician and graffiti artist, Goldie, and Ginny Lunn, head of policy and development at The Prince’s Trust in backing to Bebo’s Big Think – Take Your Ideas to the Top, which is looking for young people to put forward innovative and practical suggestions on how to make a positive difference on crime, careers and climate change.
The Telegraph Media Group (TMG) has launched a six-month partnership with British Airways (BA) to promote its ‘Opportunity Grant’, awarding 100 SMEs 12 business class return flights for a year, set to appear in The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph and on Telegraph.co.uk.
Due to greater pressures from work 40% of women who earn in excess of £40,000 don’t feel equipped with the skills to achieve a work/life balance, according to new findings released today.
Businesses that help staff achieve a good work / life balance earn 20% more per year from each employee, according to a recently released study.
