September 2021. A month that is almost certainly guaranteed to go down in history as a whirlwind of gut-wrenching announcements and low blows to small and micro business owners. Guest editorial by Richard Osborne, founder UKBF (UK Business Forums) Resilience levels in anyone who has been involved in small businesses over the past eighteen months will already be pretty steely. Navigating a business through a pandemic is definitely not for the faint-hearted and so, after closures and re-openings, furloughs and pivots, no one could blame founders for wishfully thinking the worst was over and they can look ahead with a…
Author: sme-admin
Leeds, Edinburgh and Birmingham have been named the best UK cities outside London to start a new business, according to a new study based on government and business data. The research, compiled by personal finance experts at independent price comparison site NerdWallet, follows a record growth in start ups. There were more new businesses created between April and June than in any other second quarter on record¹. It comes as workers increasingly leave London for other UK cities thanks to the rise in remote working². Major employers, such as the BBC, Channel 4 and the UK Civil Service, have also recently committed to…
Allica Bank, the relationship-driven SME lender, has launched new specialist commercial mortgages for care homes run by independent or small group operators. The bank says that the SME care home market is drastically underserved, with smaller firms often struggling to get finance compared to larger operators with multiple locations. Allica Bank will focus specifically on those operators, such as those looking to acquire their first care home, single home operators looking to expand into second or third homes, or those acquiring other operators to grow their portfolio. To spearhead this expansion, Allica Bank has hired two healthcare lending specialists, Anthony…
Dame Irene Hays and her late husband John, who founded Hays Travel, were among the business leaders honoured at this year’s North East Entrepreneurial Awards. They were acknowledged for their longstanding contribution to the region, particularly within Sunderland where the Hays Travel headquarters is based, and for saving thousands of jobs when they purchased the Thomas Cook retail operation. The company, launched in 1980 by John, is now the largest independently owned travel agent in the UK, with sales of over £1 billion per annum, 7,500 employees and 450 retail branches. An avid supporter of entrepreneurship in the North East,…
Embello, a leading printing and merchandise company has helped Midlands charity Support Staffordshire Together to raise vital funds. Support Staffordshire Together is an organization which supports local charities and voluntary organisations across the county where volunteers are in need of expert guidance around running effectively. Lisa Carson, fundraising development manager, said: “As an organization which helps other charitable projects it can be tricky to get the message out there that we offer a vital service in our county. Smaller charities, which make a big difference in each community, need support and advice to be successful and to be sustainable – and…
A Wiltshire businessman is raffling a two-kilo gold James Bond coin, worth £175,000, to celebrate the release of No Time To Die. The 24-carat gold coin features Bond’s Aston Martin DB5 and the iconic 007 logo. It’s from a sought-after series of commemorative coins from The Royal Mint, celebrating the secret agent. There’s only seven of these hefty collectors’ pieces on the planet and you could own the first one made for less than a martini cocktail. The man with the golden coin is Jon White who set up The Britannia Coin Company last year. His new venture into the…
THREE paramedics aim to revolutionise first aid by bringing their innovative medical kits to the masses with the aim of saving lives. Brad Sadat-Shafai, Dylan McAteer and Kyle Raffo are all registered paramedics in the Midlands. Their work has shown them that most first aid kits in the community are not fit for purpose and in a crisis will do little to save a life. Brad, who lives in Congleton, Cheshire, said: “It’s known that the biggest cause of death in the under 40s is through traumatic injury. In so many of those cases having a first aid kit which is actually useful could…
New study from borofree reveals that the events of the last year meant that financial worries caused workers to take off an average of three working days HR Directors are keen to reboot employee productivity as people return to the office, with 83% saying they will be prioritising plans to improve employee productivity over the next year September 2021, London: Since the start of the pandemic, rising financial stress due to an uncertain economy has created a downward spiral on employee wellbeing that has ultimately impacted employee performance and therefore companies as a whole. New data released today has revealed…
Neo, the treasury management, payments, and FX fintech, today announced that it has cleared $1 billion through its multi-currency accounts, which went live in June 2020. The firm has made huge strides in the past year and now has over 200 corporate clients across Europe sending and receiving payments every day. Furthermore, over 3,000 banks across the globe are connected to its Bank Identification Code (BIC) on the SWIFT network. According to the 2021 European Association of Corporate Treasurers survey, managing multiple bank accounts and relationships is one of the greatest challenges for treasurers. Neo helps corporates overcome this issue by generating their…
Metapack, the global leader in ecommerce delivery technology, today announced that it has launched new shipping plans for retailers around the world. From small and medium businesses to large global enterprises, the new transparent pricing models from Metapack have been launched to help retailers expand their business by providing quick and direct access to its Delivery Manager platform. As the shift to ecommerce becomes more prevalent, it’s essential for all retailers to have access to the right scalable shipping technology and infrastructure to meet the growing delivery experience demands from consumers. Recent research highlights that 86% of consumers plan to continue shopping more online after the pandemic, with 42% planning to make fewer trips to stores. Sitting alongside Metapack’s Enterprise plan, the new Essential and Professional shipping bundles…