Business Models

Young workers in modern office, serviced offices illustration

Is the office now officially a financial millstone?

INDUSTRY analysis by debt advisory firm Sirius Property Finance predicts that the UK’s serviced offices market will grow by 17 percent this year. But the...
Personal guarantee insurance illustration

Some SME founders are putting everything on the line

AS THE deadline for the inquiry into SME finance nears, the founders of UK start-ups are facing increasing demands to personally guarantee business loans. Applications...
AI call centre illustration

AI: here to improve customer service, honest…

CUSTOMER service has evolved to allow automated systems to assist with traditional human interactions — and AI may hold the key to best-in-class service. AI...
Graph, recession illustration

How resellers can ride the recession wave

By MARK JONES CHANNEL resellers find themselves in a precarious position. With mounting pressure to cut costs and inflation at an all-time high, vendors are...
Hope and despair, signpost graphic

Hope never springs eternal — unless you’re a realist

DAVID KEAN reflects on ‘hopium’ addiction — and how to kick the habit I ONCE had a boss who said, “I think we got away...
Warehouse interior

Warehouse? There house! Sector thinks laterally

Commercial proptech is facing challenges and changing demands, writes PAULIUS KVEDARAS THE RECESSION is raising interest rates, causing property yields and prices to shrink. With...
Online banking

Online shift has banks shutting shop

HIGH street bank branches are shutting as people turn to online services and money management. Which? magazine reports that 5,355 bank and building society branches...
Personal guarantee insurance illustration

Support calls from SMEs in UK and US

UK firm Purbeck’s personal guarantee insurance has seen a sharp rise in small businesses contacting its mentoring and advice service for support. From January to...
Futurestate Design book

Design your business for ‘tomorrow’s customers’

By MARK WILSON BUSINESSES are facing tough times, with EU trade difficulties and inflation driving pessimism. So, now’s the time to reimagine things using creativity and...
Gas burner, euro sign, graph. Energy prices illustration

Rising energy prices worry SME owners — price-hikes coming

A SURVEY of 1,000 British SMEs indicates that rising fuel and energy costs are the greatest threats to survival in 2022. Half — 49 percent...