According to the International Monetary Fund’s ‘World Economic Outlook’, Britain will be the best performing of the world’s largest economies in 2014. A key contributory factor to Britain’s expected 2.9% GDP growth this year is the strongest rate of growth seen in the manufacturing sector for three years; anticipated at 3.8%. The manufacturing sector in […]
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With the chancellor’s announcement in the March 2014 budget that loan based crowdfunding investments can be included in ISAs, it’s clear that crowdfunding has well and truly become mainstream. According to a 2013 study commissioned by The World Bank, the scale of the crowdfunding market worldwide is expected to be as high as $96bn; that’s […]
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A top priority for many high profile technology firms this year is the automation of software development¹ as a way to stay competitive and continue growing. Mike Manos, CTO at First Data Corp. has said that “to drive and scale this business forward, automation at every level is really key”. Automation is not solely confined […]
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guest blog by Peter Rogol of Goodman Jones LLP. You have an idea that might work. The more you think about it, the better it seems. You’re convinced – people will love it! It’ll sell itself, it’s going to break the mould, it’s hotter than hot cakes, you’re more Zuckerberg than Zuckerberg himself. You talk […]
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As consumer demands continually evolve, so too does the SME landscape within which these consumers procure goods and services. There has been a noticeable shift in consumer attitude to what is expected from a business; winning the price war alone is no longer enough, so businesses have to think differently. It’s not just consumers whose […]
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The modern business environment is more competitive than ever, and this has forced many SMEs to take a long hard look at their overheads, and trim them where possible. The wage bill can often be one of the largest overheads that a small business has to manage, and a large number of SMEs are now […]
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The United Kingdom has suffered 13 recessions since 1812. The Global Financial Crisis of the late 2000s saw the UK suffer its worst recession since the war. Revised GDP data published in December 2013 shows that the ‘double dip’ recession took place between Q4 2011 and Q2 2012. The catalyst for which was the European […]
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A guest blog by Ben Timms of HCFX. There won’t be many businesses that haven’t had phone calls from foreign exchange brokers and there are probably even less that haven’t made the wise move to get one on board, but in an increasingly competitive market, where everyone is promising ‘a better rate’, what does real […]
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The term ‘family business’ often conjures up images of a small, locally run enterprise, traditionally in the towns and villages of mid 20th century middle England – perhaps a family building firm or bakery. Family business doesn’t always have to mean small however; think JCB, think Tesco even. And Wal-Mart, with approximately £287bn of annual […]
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Running a business is tough. With risk to manage, cash flow to control, and relationships to build with key stakeholders such as your bank manager and accountant, there is often little time for anything else. Many business owners find themselves working around the clock to drive the business forward, and this can be made all […]
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