Govt expands software scheme to help a million more UK small businesses July 25, 2022 A government scheme that slashes the price of leading software, boosting productivity and growth of the UK’s small businesses, has more than tripled its reach of UK firms from today.
Liz Truss promises post-Brexit bonfire of EU rules that hinder UK growth July 22, 2022 Tory leadership candidate Liz Truss has vowed to seize the opportunities posed by Brexit by scrapping EU regulations that hinder the UK’s growth. The Conservative MP said that if she becomes prime minister, she will scrap any EU rules that hinder investment or fail to support growth in the UK economy by 2023. If Truss [...]
City watchdog tells banks to treat small businesses ‘fairly’ during cost-of-living crunch July 12, 2022 The UK’s financial watchdog has told Britain’s top banks to improve their treatment of struggling small business owners when collecting and recovering debts. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said Britain’s banks should take action to ensure fair treatment of small and medium enterprise (SME) customers, after the watchdog uncovered repeated instances of failures during [...]
Small businesses lambast government’s price cut plan for being a “slap in the face” June 29, 2022 Asking small businesses to cut product prices as a way for the government to help Brits with the cost-of-living crisis was deemed as a “slap in the face” by trade bodies. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) argued that forcing small firms to “soak up additional costs just isn’t realistic,” as business owners are no [...]
Record £11.9bn invested in London’s smaller businesses in 2021 June 22, 2022 Equity investment in London’s smaller businesses hit a record £11.9bn in 2021, according to data released today by the British Business Bank. This was an 89 per cent increase year over year, with the number of deals announced in the capital increasing by 23 per cent to 1,286, the Bank’s annual Small Business Equity Tracker showed. The upward trend continued in [...]
Female founders face greater risk of equity dilution than men June 8, 2022 Female founders are significantly more vulnerable to the dilutive effects of equity funding than their male counterparts, according to new research from JP Morgan, which shows women, on average, give away much larger stakes in their businesses than men. The UK’s 10,647 female led businesses raised a record £5.05bn in equity investment in 2021, whilst [...]
Exclusive: UK business loans written off by banks almost double to £356m as insolvencies quadruple May 16, 2022 The value of UK business loans written off by banks nearly doubled in the last quarter of 2021, rising 87% from £190m in the third quarter to £356m in the fourth quarter. Debt advisors told City A.M. this afternoon that write offs of loans have been subdued throughout the Covid crisis but are now rising [...]
Banks across the UK are ‘pulling the drawbridge’ as lending to small businesses hits all-time low May 16, 2022 The UK’s largest business group is warning that banks “pulling up the drawbridge” to small firms will further stifle economic growth as a new SBI study showed that successful finance applications plunged over the first quarter of this year. Fewer than one in ten (9 per cent) small firms applied for finance in the [...]
35 top business leaders write to PM backing new permanent ‘Thank Holiday’ for Queen’s jubilee: ‘The benefits would outweigh the costs’ April 26, 2022 Nearly 35 top business leaders have written to the Prime Minister in a show of support for a new annual ‘Thank holiday’ honouring Her Majesty the Queen’s 70 years of public service. Dragon’s Den star Deborah Meaden was joined by the head of the Confederation of British Industry and Hospitality UK in backing the initiative, [...]
Rishi Sunak urged to ‘turn wise words into action’ by FSB chair after small retailers feel ‘abandoned’ March 11, 2022 The chair of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has urged chancellor Rishi Sunak to “turn wise words into action”, after the vast majority of micro firms said they felt “abandoned” by his policies. As the cost of living crisis continues to bite for retailers and consumers alike, 2,000 independent retailers were surveyed through Not [...]