British business owners are happy to prioritise their business over their personal lives, study finds. A new survey from Superscript: the subscription-based, online business insurance provider, found that business owners and entrepreneurs across Britain are happily choosing to prioritise their business over their personal lives. A shocking 52% of men and nearly half of women (48%) surveyed agreed that it is often necessary for them to put their work or business first, over their family or friends. Superscript asked entrepreneurs and business owners, with its unavoidable impact on home and family life, is starting up and running a business all…
Author: sme-admin
As corporate advisers they have written hundreds of business plans for all types of organisation – start-ups, not for profit, public sector and multi-million-pound firms looking to expand, improve or exit. Each is different, but if you are thinking of writing your own plan here are some thoughts from Andrew Pollard, Director of Falkirk-based Ahead Business Consulting, to bear in mind. 1. Write for your audience. If your plan is written to seek investment or secure a loan then you need to set out your stall in a way that will convince someone who is not an expert in your business. They need to “get it” by just reading your plan. Explain properly what you do, why it…
Paragon Bank has provided £160,000 in funding to The Log Company, a Richmond-based business that specialises in logs, wood fuel and outdoor living equipment. Established 10 years ago, The Log Company was created by Mark Smith and Edward Gibon and supplies over 10,000 bags of logs per year alongside other outdoor living products such as wood-fired heating and cooking equipment. It also stocks a selection of top of the range Kirami wood fire hot tubs and saunas. Paragon provided funding for a range of equipment, including telehandlers, light commercial vehicles, gritters and a weighbridge. The new equipment will support the…
To mark International Day of the Cotton-top Tamarin, on 15 August 2021, Cotswold Wildlife Park is celebrating two new additions to the Burford collection from one of the world’s rarest primate species. The striking eleven-week-old infants were born to the Park’s new breeding pair, Johnny and Trillian. Visitors can see the playful youngsters in their enclosure opposite the entrance to walkthrough Lemur exhibit Madagascar. Cotton-top Tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) are considered to be one of the world’s 25 most endangered primates* and are classified as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), making them one of South…
The UK Space Agency is undertaking a programme of educational activity to inspire young people, particularly those from under-represented groups, to engage with STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Maths) subjects. They hope to inspire the next generation of British space scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs. To this end, the Agency is now inviting potential delivery partners to help create and manage a new competition aimed at primary-age children. The competition itself will task children in each nation of the UK between the ages of 4 and 11 to design a mission logo to commemorate the launch. The winning design will be featured on…
Trade between the UK and the EU has plummeted since January 1st 2021 – but that’s just half the story. Many of the sales that have been made have incurred a loss. The cost of doing business has risen an estimated 30% – and in many cases the VAT, customs and delivery costs have been presented directly to the end customer. Repeat business has fallen off a cliff and companies have been forced to destroy stock in Europe rather than incur the cost of repatriating it into the UK supply chain. As a result, many UK businesses have simply pulled…
Mersen UK Teesside, a world-leading manufacturing facility specialising in machined graphite products, anti-corrosion and hot glass handling equipment (CERBERITE®), is now offering a 24-hour turnaround time for low volume, high precision engineering products following the introduction of a digitised manufacturing process developed in a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with Teesside University. Mersen is a global expert in electrical specialties and advanced materials for high-tech industries. With more than 50 industrial sites and 16 R&D centres in 35 countries, the company develops customised solutions and delivers key products to its clients to meet the new technological challenges shaping tomorrow’s world. For Mersen…
Retail is the UK’s best industry in which to start a business, new research has revealed. The analysis by cloud accounting company Ember revealed that retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles, tops the rankings after scoring highly in a number of key indicators for business success. The research used ONS data to assess Britain’s 15 broad industry groups on factors including the number of businesses that were started between 2014 and 2019, compared to the number that failed in that time period, and the number of companies in that sector turning over more than £1 million. Retail came out on…
Earlier this year Lucy Alexandra Spencer was awarded “Thames Valley Female Entrepreneur of the year”. Following her awards success Lucy spoke to SME Today about her business, it’s origins and her aspirations for the future. Lucy is the founder and Director of Education Boutique, a tutoring business for children of all ages, as well as being the Vice President of the Tutors association. Lucy founded Education Boutique 6 years ago and has now been acquired by the UK’s biggest education recruitment job site and Ed tech company, Eteach, allowing the company to expand it’s reach and customer base. Throughout the…
Many SMEs have an urgent need for cash but are being turned away from many ‘traditional’ lenders, leading to the risk of a major funding gap as they strive for growth post pandemic. New data from Allica Bank, acquired from a survey carried out across the Midlands and Yorkshire, shows that 46% of Yorkshire-based SMEs and 45% of Midlands-based SMEs will require additional funding within the next 12 months, but that nearly seven out of ten (69%) in Yorkshire and more than half (58%) in the Midlands say they have previously been rejected when applying for extra cash. The deficit in funding will potentially hamper recovery and growth in the region, only to…