Following the success of our International Women’s Day Afternoon Tea and Networking in 2020, we’re bringing it back for 2022! About this event Every year, we celebrate International Women’s Day on 8th March to recognise the incredible, strong women in our community. This year is no different and the theme is #BreakTheBias, raising awareness about how we can create a gender-equal world. Join us at the Wyvern Theatre from 11am – 2pm and enjoy women-only networking, the chance to make new connections and of course, a delicious Afternoon Tea with a glass of Prosecco!- Women Only. Up to x5 stands…
Author: sme-admin
At the start of 2021 there were 5.5 million small businesses, but this was down by 6.5% on the previous year[i]. Retiring is one of the most common reasons for selling a business, and after the challenges of dealing with the pandemic, many business owners may wish to retire and sell during 2022. For some who have had their business for many years this can be an emotional and complex task. It can be difficult to know where to start, and it’s something most will need help with as there are many important legal and financial considerations. They will need…
NEW BOOK: successful entrepreneur reveals the unstoppable ‘have-it-all’ mindset to transform your life. Ever felt blocked and overwhelmed by challenges in business and in life? Self-doubt and self- limiting beliefs can stop us from overcoming these obstacles, preventing us from grabbing opportunities to create the life we want and that we truly deserve. Bold new book, Be a Lion explains how you can change the way you think, to develop an unstoppable mindset, to overcome fears and push forward to succeed in both your professional and personal kingdom, without having to give ANYTHING up! Author, Terry Blackburn, had a turbulent adolescence. He…
Today, the process of getting and staying compliant with food safety rules is cumbersome and bureaucratic. As a result, companies struggle and spend significant resources to achieve compliance. FoodDocs — an innovator in the food safety industry – has raised £1.8M ($2.4M/€2.1M) to solve food safety compliance issues with the help of Artificial Intelligence. The funding is led by Bonnier Ventures with Forward Venture Capital, and Spring Capital also joining the round with existing investor United Angels VC. The funds will be used to continue the strategic growth journey, drive further expansion in the US and the UK to reach…
Winchester is the best city to start an apprenticeship, new research has found. The study by marketing agency School of Marketing analysed the latest 2021/22 ONS data to see which cities had the highest rate of achievements in apprenticeship schemes. It found that the Hampshire city of Winchester was the best city to start an apprenticeship, with 130 out of Winchester’s 370 apprentices successfully completing the course, leaving them with an achievement rate of 35.14%. Winchester’s most popular subject for apprentices is Health, Public Services and Care, with 120 of their 370 starts being in this field. In second place is…
Committed to assisting SMEs in obtaining finance for future growth, Allica Bank has revamped its commercial mortgage products to help improve access to finance. The changes include reducing interest rates and increasing the maximum Loan-To-Value (LTV). The bank has also increased procuration fees for its broker community. The product portfolio was updated in response to Allica’s broker survey in December. It will seebroker procuration fees increase from 1 percent to 1.5 percent for owner-occupied, commercial, and semi-commercial investment mortgages. It will be applying a reduction of 0.25 percent to interest margins for all loans in excess of £1,500,000 on both…
Two in five (40.0 per cent) small and medium-sized businesses in the UK plan to hire, on average, six new employees before the end of March, following a promising start to the year, according to the latest quarterly Barclaycard Payments SME Barometer*. The news comes as 56.2 per cent of SMEs report a rise in earnings in the last quarter of 2021 against the same period in 2020. Data from Barclaycard Payments, which processes £1 in every £3 spent in the UK and services over 350,000 SMEs, supports this trend – with transaction volumes up 42.3 per cent for in…
Cornwall-based Boost Innovations, which has developed an innovative new type of breast prosthesis designed to boost confidence and aid comfort and usability, has just secured a £105k investment from British Design Fund. The start-up was founded by friends and colleagues Sam Jackman and Rosie Brave in 2018, after seeing the many issues Sam’s mum experienced using a breast form following treatment for breast cancer. Working closely with users, Boost has reimagined the design of the breast form. Unlike traditional prosthesis, Boost’s products are light, comfortable and breathable. They are colourful and decorative – a far cry from the ‘chicken fillet’ feel…
Whether it’s the audacity of such delicate, white flowers to emerge at this time of year, or the fact they are the first of the spring bulbs to emerge and promise the end of winter, discovering the first snowdrop never fails to surprise and lift the spirits. Here at the Cotswold Wildlife Park in Oxfordshire we enjoy drifts of Galanthus nivalis naturalised in several meadows around the Park. There is also a collection of approximately 30 varieties displayed in the Winter Garden and adjacent woodland setting of the owl enclosures. First to make an appearance is Galanthus ‘Faringdon Double’ with…
StepEx, a fully FCA authorised fintech, providing infrastructure for boot camps and universities to enable students to accept payment with a share of future earnings, has added IronHack, Northcoders and Le Wagon as clients. Signalling a significant move into the UK by the two largest European boot camps, StepEx, by partnering with the renowned Spanish IronHack and French Le Wagon, demonstrates the vast opportunity for IT training boot camps in the UK and the opportunity for students to access courses in a new, affordable way. These partnerships allow StepEx to add even more data to further enhance its ability to reliably…