Need to know - advice for SMEs

New health and safety review

Small and low-risk firms will be the focus of a major review of business health and safety laws... Read more

Creative employees make a positive change

Research from Orange and Make Your Mark has found that 77 per cent of small firms are finding it difficult to recruit... Read more

Red tape remains

The Employment Simplification Bill will not be the start of a red tape revolution, warns the Forum of Private Business (FPB)... Read more

Unions want £6 minimum wage

The Trades Union Congress has suggested that the Low Pay Commission should increase the National Minimum Wage to £6 next year... Read more

Risk-takers get richer

The wealthier the entrepreneur, the greater the risks they have taken. This is the finding of new research from Barclays Wealth... Read more

Human and financial cost of crime

The value of goods stolen from shops is at a ten-year high and violent acts against retail staff have increased by 50 per cent in a year... Read more

New insurance targets female entrepreneurs

Given that 27 per cent of self-employed workers are female and that there are 620,000 majority women-owned firms in the UK, generating £130 million turnover, it is not surprising that an insurance company has decided to target this market... Read more

Start-up costs dropping

Setting up a business in Europe is getting cheaper and easier, according to new figures from the European Commission... Read more

Over-50s make Britain enterprising

A sixth of all new businesses are founded and run by people over 50, according to research commissioned by Yellow Pages... Read more

OFT urged to press banks on card processing costs

Retailers are urging the Office of Fair Trading to pressurise banks into reducing card transaction costs... Read more

SMEs desert Royal Mail

Research from the British Chambers of Commerce suggests that over half of SMEs have already switched, or are considering switching, from Royal Mail to use private delivery companies... Read more

Pension tensions

Proposals for all employers to pay a compulsory contribution to staff pensions would be costly and damaging, the Forum of Private Business (FPB) has warned...Read more

Emission zone unworkable

The Federation of Small Businesses has branded the proposed introduction of London's Low Emission Zone as unworkable... Read more

Swap shops

In an unlikely partnership, a prominent business lobby and an environmental group have joined forces to save Britain's local shops...Read more