The news that the UK was to launch a four-day working week pilot recently shook the country and wider business circles. The trial will see 30 companies move to a 32-hour week for six months, while employees receive the same pay and benefits. This follows a similar move from Iceland, which undertook the world’s largest ever four-day week trial between 2015 and 2019, which found that productivity remained the same or improved in the majority of workplaces. But whether the UK trial will emulate such success is yet to be seen. However, while the idea of an extended weekend sounds…
Author: sme-admin
New research from UKBF (UK Business Forums) highlights gaps in support for thousands of entrepreneurial 16 to 18-year-old school leavers. More than 45,000 school leavers aged between 16 and 18 years started their own businesses in the last three years, yet current legislation prevents thousands of them from reaching their full potential. New research from UKBF (UK Business Forums), the UK’s largest online small business community, has shown that 45,797 young people aged between 16 and 18 either registered as self-employed or formed their own limited companies between 2018 and 2020. Despite UKBF’s encouraging research figures about young entrepreneurship, released during…
The UK’s fastest growing gut health food brand, Bio&Me, created by The Gut Health Doctor, has closed a £1.4million funding round in a record 72 hours. The fundraise was supported by a number of high profile investors including England captain Harry Kane. The investment round, which was over subscribed and closed within 72 hours, sees Harry Kane become a shareholder in the burgeoning business. Investors were impressed by the innovation and credibility that underpins Bio&Me as well as being drawn by the brand’s mission to educate and make gut health easy and accessible to all. The brand will use the…
AFTER YEARS OF battling, HP has recently won its civil fraud case against Autonomy founder and chief executive Mike Lynch. The ruling found that the defendants had fraudulently inflated the company’s reported revenue and value in the run up to the acquisition and must now pay compensation. Chris Francis, Commercial Litigation Solicitor, Ashfords LLP, warns that the judgment acts as a lesson and warning for any SME considering selling or involved in a Mergers & Acquisition process. The civil case itself was complex, and the documentary evidence spans some 28,000 documents. At the time of writing, the published judgment is awaited…
‘Business Women in’ (BWi) has been named Diversity and Inclusion Champions at the 2021 Business Awards UK. BWi is a UK networking company that represents a nationwide community of diverse businesswomen working in a range of sectors. This award is in recognition of their unique approach to the Government’s Kickstart Scheme and their commitment to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace and community. Michelle Eddahar, Founder of Business Women in, said: “I am so thrilled that BWi has been recognised for this award. This achievement sums up the hard work and dedication of our employees and members over the past…
Since introducing the policy, Love Energy Savings has seen a 156% increase in female hires. Bolton-based business utilities retailer and comparison service Love Energy Savings introduced their ‘flexible flexible’ working policy last year. To put it simply, this policy allows staff to work wherever they want, whenever they want. While the introduction of this new way of working was initially introduced as a temporary response to the pandemic, it has evolved into so much more than that. For women it is nothing short of a professional game changer. Women around the world have to jump through a number of hurdles throughout…
Covid-19 has propelled cashless payments as the preferred way to pay in the UK. The accelerated growth of cashless added prominence to a spate of payment instruments like spending cards, mobile wallets, and pre-order apps. With the growing ascendancy of the cashless movement, business leaders need to weigh up the options. Should they ditch cash completely – or is there still a place for it in the modern enterprise? Simon England, Managing Director, Equals Money provide some insight for SMEToday’s readers. The cashless route A severe shortcoming of cash in a business is that it limits the real-time visibility of finances.…
In many ways, life has never been better. We live about 10 years longer than just 50 years ago, we have all sorts of goods and services that not long ago even a billionaire could not have – high-speed internet allowing unbelievable access to information, almost infinite streaming movies, songs, TV and hundreds of medicines. Yet for all this improvement there is a feeling that we are all a bit stressed and gloomy. There is some new evidence that what is making us feel bad is not necessarily the state of the world, but how we are getting our information.…
More UK leaders are showing appreciation of their employees, with 60 per cent of UK workers feeling that the great work they do is acknowledged by leaders. This is a four per cent increase on 2021 figures in which 56 per cent of employees stated that they felt appreciated. These findings, taken from O.C. Tanner’s 2022 Global Culture Report, have been released to coincide with Employee Appreciation Day (4 March 2022). Despite a greater number of employees feeling recognised by their leaders, the research also highlights that more needs to be done to ensure workers feel valued, and strongly connected to…
Did you know today is Employee Appreciation, Friday 4th March – a day for employers to recognise and reward their people and let them know they’re appreciated. Motivation & engagement expert, Hedda Bird, author of The Performance Management Playbook: 15 must-have conversations to motivate & manage your people, offers some advice for businesses on how to celebrate it. How reward and recognition drive culture Most organisations say they want their staff to feel valued, however their actions don’t always follow their words. Some senior leaders operate on the basis of ‘they are paid to do a job, why should I be…