When it comes to posture and sitting correctly at our desks and on the commute it’s something we all know we need to improve on, but it’s hard, despite knowing the benefits. What if I told you that there is something you can do anywhere, any time, that would help with maintaining your physical, mental and emotional health, and is as relevant today as it was in the time of Confucius. Enter the ancient art of Chi Kung, rooted in Taoist philosophy. As humans we are well practised in using our grey matter to solve problems and find solutions but…
Author: sme-admin
The ‘gloss’ of hybrid working will soon dull if business leaders do not know how to successfully keep their teams engaged and motivated whilst working at home. In 2020, Global Workplace Analytics administered the Global Work-From-Home Experience Survey, where it was found that 76% of global employees want to continue working from home, with more than 77% saying they felt more productive. The Office of National Statistics found that in 2021, 85% of remote workers wanted their businesses to implement a hybrid approach in the future. With the introduction of hybrid working, people feel better about working from home part time,…
Recent data has shown that we are busier than ever, even working longer hours than we did before the pandemic. As a result, our diaries are busier than ever. Conversations that used to happen naturally while in the office now require a deliberate, scheduled call. Some weeks it can feel as though your day is jam packed with little room for deep work. As a result, you may dread opening your calendar on Monday morning. It doesn’t have to be this way. Calendars are a powerful tool to help manage workloads. However, many of us simply don’t use them as…
March 2022: London-based retailer agnostic mobile app Slip announces its £750k pre-seed fundraise to revolutionise the retail experience for both consumers and retailers ahead of its summer launch. Founded in 2021 by Tash Grossman and Eddy Herman, Slip aims to innovate and simplify the retail experience for customers by allowing its users to receive digital receipts via QR codes, view and manage their omnichannel spending and receive exclusive discount offers and personalised content based on their buying habits. The software behind the app sets out to support retailers by providing powerful data and insights around consumer trends at the product…
Flexible, remote working was the first change to working patterns ignited by the pandemic, but its impact continues on. As final restrictions are lifted, and the new way of work becomes normal, the Great Resignation has begun. With so many people resigning, what does it mean for businesses, and what can companies do to mitigate its impact? Here Doug Mulvihill, UK and Ireland marketing manager at business phone system provider Ringover, investigates. The Great Resignation has swept the UK job market over the last year — in the final quarter of 2021, job-to-job moves reached a new record. According to…
As the last vestiges of pandemic restrictions lift in the UK, many small-and-medium enterprise (SME) business owners are left facing a long recovery back to full health. As they do so, the new reality of doing business in post-Brexit Britain will start to bed in. Emma Lovell, Chief Executive of the LSB (Lending Standards Board), explores how lenders can support these firms, as government-backed support ebbs away. At the start of 2021 there were 5.5 million small businesses operating in the UK, accounting 99.9 percent of the UK’s total business population. These firms – with fewer than 49 employees –…
Terry Blackburn, award winning entrepreneur and author of his new book Be A Lion provides 5 ways to have an unstoppable mindset when it comes to setting up a business: With everything in life, I believe you should enjoy what you’re doing. What do they say: work is two-thirds of your life or something crazy? Work is a huge part of your life – you can’t escape that. So why not do something that you enjoy? If you don’t, then change it! I strongly disagree with all these online training companies saying, “Leave your job and start a business.” It’s not…
5 Reasons to book a business branding photoshoot: Personal Branding Photography is more than a headshot, it’s the story of who you are and creating authentic images of your business, this could be images of you interacting with a client, behind the scenes images or some more relaxed shots of you, it’s the story of your brand and business. When taking photos for your business the look and feel of them need to connect through your brand, this is very hard to do with stock photos. When you have a personal brand photoshoot we can use props, styling and colours…
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…
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…