Facilitating SMEs

Accounts, late payment illustration

Cash on the barrelhead, or cheque in the post?

Entrepreneurs say ‘enough is enough’ as late payment crisis worsens THE FEDERATION of Small Businesses has released a report uncovering “the true scale” of damage...
Doing Business 2020

UK’s surprise showing in business start-up costs

By Hal Williams BUSINESS support platform Rovva recently analysed World Bank figures on the cost of starting businesses around the world. When the data were in,...
Kibble Cafe

Quirky TikTok trends ‘can help to drive business’

WHAT happens when TikTok trends and British small businesses collide? That’s what Funding Circle, the UK’s largest small-business platform, wanted to know. The firm paired...
Orgnostic diagram

Power to the HR people: New tools ‘democratise’ analytics

PEOPLE analytics is about to be “democratised” for fast-growing firms, according to Orgnostic — which has raised $5m to make it happen. The tools available...
zambia-makes-steady-progress-in-financial-inclusion-but-many-women-still-excluded

Zambia Makes Steady Progress in Financial Inclusion but Many Women Still...

Mary Banda runs a small restaurant in Kamwala market, one of Lusaka’s oldest markets. She uses the proceeds from her business to feed her...
UK Government loan

Covid-19 loan schemes ‘a debt, not a grant’ cautions UK Finance

UK BUSINESSES are pessimistic about their growth potential once the COVID-19 crisis passes. A survey of 1,200 firms has found that the pandemic has negatively...
wcms_582287

ILO calls for new strategies to help SMEs get loans

Bank loans can help firms improve job quality and productivity, but are often difficult to get for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Consequently, policy-makers...
Rishi Sunak, UK Chancellor

Mixed but generally positive responses to Sunak’s revised support package

By HAL WILLIAMS THE UK government’s new package of measures to support businesses through to March 2021 has met with differing responses from the business...
Carpenter, woodwork, saw, apprenticeship

SMEs hamstrung by Apprenticeship Levy limitations

AS THE UK celebrates National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) 2022, the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) urges levy-paying recruitment firms and SMEs to make...
Money, squeeze, SME borrowing

£672bn of SME borrowing is unprotected: Legal & General

LEGAL & GENERAL estimates a business protection gap of £672bn for SMEs — with an overall gap estimated to extend into the trillions. Following their...