Category Archive

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SMEs resigned to recruitment difficulties

Brian Amble | 27 October 2005

Smaller organisations are more relaxed about recruitment difficulties than their larger counterparts but still face real difficulties persuading talented managers and professionals to join them.

Lack of role models deterring young entrepreneurs

Nic Paton | 26 September 2005

Young people are being deterred from starting up their own businesses because of a fear of failure, lack of role models and a rules-based 'conveyor-belt' educational system that crushes the enterprise spirit.

Favouring the first born

Nick Hood | 19 September 2005

The first employees recruited by small firms tend to climb the corporate ladder faster than those who join later. But favouring the 'first born' is fraught with peril, according to those who have seen the results.

Is flexibility the magic bullet for SMEs?

Brian Amble | 07 September 2005

With almost half of smaller employers in Britain unable to find the skilled staff they need locally, could flexible working prove to be the inducement they need to persuade people away from larger employers?

Entrepreneurs plump for friends, not family

Brian Amble | 25 August 2005

Entrepreneurs are shunning family members when setting up a business and increasingly setting up new ventures with friends rather than relatives.

Employers slam 'unemployable' school leavers

Brian Amble | 16 August 2005

Britain is producing a generation of 'unemployable' school leavers who are not qualified for anything except getting drunk and not turning up for work in the mornings, employers have complained.

Government 'failing to help small businesses'

Brian Amble | 14 August 2005

Despite all the rhetoric talking up Britain's enterprise culture, the government is failing to stimulate the development of small businesses, according to a report from the country's largest employers group.

Britain's entrepreneurs remain bullish

Brian Amble | 12 August 2005

A quarter of Britain's small business owners intend to recruit additional staff and invest more during the next 12 months, underlining continuing optimism amongst the country's entrepreneurs in their own businesses.

In search of the UK's most successful entrepreneurs

Brian Amble | 29 July 2005

The CBI/Real Business Growing Business Awards 2005 have been launched to find the UK's most successful entrepreneurs.

Red tape keeps small firms small

Brian Amble | 29 July 2005

More evidence has emerged of the effect of red tape and taxation on small business as a new survey find that more than third of small firms in the UK want to stay small and not recruit any more employees.

Securing finance - the next glass ceiling

Nic Paton | 18 July 2005

The boardroom glass ceiling may finally be starting to crack, but for women who want to get on in business it is becoming increasingly clear there is another significant gender imbalance to be tackled – finance.

£30m fund for women entrepreneurs

Brian Amble | 13 July 2005

A new £30 million investment fund has been launched to bridge the funding gap for female entrepreneurs in Britain who often face obstacles raising money through traditional channels.

Red tape crushing entrepreneurial spirit

Brian Amble | 15 June 2005

Four out of 10 of Britain's company bosses say they would be unlikely to set up in business if the opportunity arose again, with red tape and tax their two biggest problems.

EU admits that regulation stifles job-creation

Brian Amble | 15 June 2005

The European Commission has admitted that Europe is missing out on the creation of 1.5 million new jobs because micro-businesses are being held back by excessive employment regulation and red tape.

Employment legislation hitting SMEs

Brian Amble | 08 June 2005

More evidence has emerged of the damaging cost of excessive regulation with half of Britain's small businesses saying that employment legislation is their biggest administrative headache and is hitting their bottom line.

Boom in minority-owned businesses

Brian Amble | 26 May 2005

The number of minority-owned business start-ups has reached record levels in Britain, accounting for 11 per cent of all new business start-ups and often outperforming their white-owned counterparts.

Banks biased against women entrepreneurs

Brian Amble | 24 May 2005

Britain's high street banks have an institutionalised bias against female-owned businesses, typically charging them one percentage point more in interest on business loans.

What a load of ******!!

Brian Amble | 17 May 2005

The UK government's latest piece of regulation on business is causing a bit of a stink among owners of equine businesses.

No rest for the productive

Brian Amble | 04 May 2005

In an antidote to endless research about work-life balance, flexible working and the like, a survey by Bank of Scotland has revealed the deeply unfashionable fact that the more hours an entrepreneur invests in their business, the greater chance they have of achieving growth.

Gearing up for growth

Sue Cheshire | 25 April 2005

When a business gears up for growth and the inevitable changes this brings, everyone looks to the top for direction. This is especially true – and difficult - for SMEs.

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