In the digital-first age, social media is a platform that allows SMEs and business of all sizes to reach millions of people worldwide. The benefit that SMEs have by using social media is that it allows them to reach a targeted group of people at scale in a short space of time. As well as being a key platform to grow your online audience and customer base, social media is a great platform to try new things and learn as you go. Through the Skills for Tomorrow programme, BT has helped over 14.7 million people learn new digital skills by…
Author: sme-admin
As the debate around flexible working in the UK continues to burn, Susan Stick, SVP People & General Counsel at Evernote, highlights the benefits it has experienced from embracing remote working. Over the last few months business leaders and politicians ranging from Lord Sugar to Elon Musk to outgoing UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson have suggested people are more productive when working in the office than at home. This influential group is urging workers to return to the office post-pandemic to improve productivity. But whilst Evernote understands that a remote-first policy may not work for every company, there are clear…
Rishi Sunak was plauded by most for responding so quickly to support small businesses as Covid hit. But what a shame that the years of campaigning didn’t trigger such a revolutionary business rates consultation before an unprecedented global pandemic hit the already underperforming high street retail and shopping center sector, or Brexit, the war in Ukraine, spiralling fuel prices and a cost of living crisis. Any OST is not supposed to be a revenue grabbing exercise. Moreover, it is mooted as a way to fund further retail business reliefs for physical stores that are not high value and thereby protect…
Operating effective eCommerce fulfilment across the globe has become essential for many growing brands, as consumers in various countries increasingly demand certainty and speed of delivery. This has therefore necessitated the requirement for businesses to consider opening fulfilment centres in different locations to keep pace with demand. One region that continues to be of great appeal is the US market. However, “setting up shop” stateside is not as straightforward as one might think for foreign businesses. It demands a vast amount of preparation and planning behind the scenes – which can often go unnoticed and is underestimated. Emma Dempsey, CEO,…
Online marketplaces that enable independent sellers and businesses to reach a wider array of consumers have dramatically increased in popularity over the past decade, and now represent a significant portion of the UK e-commerce market. New research released from Shieldpay, has found that almost 900,000 (882,900) UK businesses are currently selling on online marketplaces, generating an estimated £282 billion worth of sales every year – worth 6% of all UK business turnover. The Shieldpay and Cebr research found that companies selling on marketplaces reported stronger business performance, with annual revenue growth in 2021 amounting to 9.4% for businesses selling on…
An estimated 803,000 – one in five – employees in companies with 5-49 people aren’t saving into a workplace pension as participation rates stall A further 374,000 employees at businesses with 50-249 people also not participating Employers need to communicate benefits of pension saving as they funnel £37.5 billion into pensions and workers benefit from a further £7 billion in tax relief New analysis of the DWP’s latest workplace pension statistics from consultancy Broadstone highlights the need for smaller employers to boost member pension participation with over a million of their workers missing out on the billions of pounds of…
Content is and always has been King. It just changes forms. And right now, video is the ultimate means of engaging an audience, whether online or at a conference. But with audiences coming close to saturation point, how can businesses make their video content stand out? Tom Baker, Video Lead at RCCO and Co-Founder of Wild Film, is an award-winning Video Filmmaker and Director, having worked on projects that have won eight dolphins at the Cannes Corporate Media Awards. In this article he provides insights on how to create better video content. Producing Engaging Video Content as a Small Business…
We normally associate cyber security with computers, but the addition of smart, connective technology to the vehicles we drive has opened up new vulnerabilities for hackers to exploit. In its 2022 Global Automotive Cybersecurity Report, Upstream, a cybersecurity and data management platform, revealed that cyber attacks on cars have soared 225% in the last three years. They found that the most common automotive cyber attacks saw a data or privacy breach, followed by car theft or a break-in via the car’s wireless key fob mechanism. Charles Griffiths, Head of Technology and Innovation at AAG explains this worrying trend, highlighting the measures manufacturers and…
Steve Haskew, Head of Sustainability and Social Leadership at Circular Computing talks to SME Today and highlights three actionable insights every business should be focusing on. Taking the first significant step towards addressing ESG regulations can seem like a daunting task for any business. While growing pressure is being placed on all industries to ensure they clean up their operations both environmentally as well as socially, there is no doubt that extra attention is being placed on bad actors after years of corporate exploitation. However, the risk remains that matters of ESG become buzzwords or ambivalent terms, meaning many professionals…
A new study into the future of business has found 85% of SMEs are likely to adopt new technology in the next five years in order to support their growth. The Quantum Leap Report, by Virgin Money, revealed that two in five businesses (39%) plan to utilise data science, almost a third (31%) will use artificial intelligence, and over a quarter (26%) anticipate using virtual reality. The research also found that while SMEs are aware of the rapid growth required for the future, 39% attribute a lack of time and 30% attribute a lack of money preventing them from using advanced technology.…