Experts are predicting a rise in people calling in sick after their Christmas parties this year. With government officials advising against cancelling office Christmas parties this year, many workers will still be celebrating the festivities with their teams over the next week. With employees facing a dilemma as to how much they should enjoy the event, employers are being urged to let their employees work flexibly after the party to avoid an influx of absences, particularly as some employees may wish to isolate after the event. “Companies often see an increase in sick days after Christmas parties” George Miller, Employment Lawyer…
Author: sme-admin
Small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) are the lifeblood of the UK economy. According to UK Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, they account for 50% of the total revenue generated by UK businesses and 44% of the country’s labour force. Supply chain issues have been making headlines at present, and these issues are unlikely to disappear anytime soon. Many different entities make up a supply chain, including suppliers, manufacturers, freight forwarders, warehouses, distributors, and retailers. These entities facilitate the movement of information and resources around the UK and the world. Broadly, the UK’s current supply chain issues stem from global shortages of…
Just over two weeks ago the Etihad stadium in Manchester, home of Manchester City Football Club, hosted the last Great British Expo of 2021. A multitude of businesses, both local and national, congregated to network and discuss business, thankful to be face-to-face again after the months of Covid lockdowns. Representatives from the entertainment industry, recruitment, IT and marketing through to accounting and business growth consultants filled the venue keen to meet new suppliers and uncover new opportunities. Keynote speakers and industry-leading workshops offered visitors the chance to hear from experts in their field and to receive sound business advice. Whilst…
No handshake, no deal. Life has been tough for sales people raised on face to face meetings and networking. Yet while some have railed against the lack of personal contact over the past 18 months, digitally empowered individuals have gone from strength to strength, tapping into deep online data and fast video access to prospects to transform the sales process. Digital tools, including AI, have changed the nature of sales for good. They are supporting sales people by identifying the most likely deals with more accuracy, reducing wasted time and improving conversion. They are defining the most successful approach for…
The eCommerce party just became a little more challenging. Online businesses have enjoyed a boom time over the past 18 months as customers moved online in unprecedented numbers. With a raft of new factors now placing additional pressure on eCommerce retailers, however, from rising prices to global supply chain disruption, escalating environmental awareness and changing customer expectations, new fulfilment thinking is a priority. Whether it is adding contingency stock to mitigate shortages, expanding fulfilment locations to get closer to the customer or reviewing carrier options to better set and meet customer expectations, effective fulfilment demands insight, understanding and the data…
Allica Bank, the leading fintech SME challenger bank, announces a £110m Series B funding round led by Atalaya Capital Management*, alongside existing lead investor Warwick Capital Partners. Allica is the only fintech challenger bank in the UK dedicated to providing a full range of credit and payment services to established, growing SMEs – combining proprietary technology and experienced local relationship managers to provide great customer experience. Since first opening its doors to SME lending in March 2020, the bank has built strong momentum in its existing lending, with more than £0.5bn in committed loan offers provided to customers in the…
Surging energy prices and supply chain delays are threatening the economic recovery whilst causing significant issues for businesses still struggling with the aftermath of COVID-19 restrictions. On top of this, SMEs must navigate local bottlenecks – such as UK border delays, transport, and petrol shortages – causing further stress. Worries about stagflation and the looming rise of interest rates are undoubtedly causing angst for SMEs across Europe, too. A steady decline in business output and the impact of the supply chain crisis means the perfect cash flow storm is brewing for this vital community. Mikkel Velin, co-CEO at YouLend provides SMEToday’s readers with some…
Online shopping during last year’s Black Friday surged by around 22% in a record-breaking haul for eCommerce. But whilst consumers are making the most of peak season discounts, the Black Friday period is now one of the most lucrative times of the year for hackers, who are looking to take advantage of the influx in transactions and financial information shared online. Increased mobile commerce, higher spending and elongated shopping hours creates the perfect environment for the cyber vulnerability that attackers are waiting to take advantage of. Cyber criminals today are becoming smarter and more cunning, and are looking to capitalise on the…
Pete Evans, Practice Partner of SalesStar UK discusses why the second digital revolution currently taking place in the sales industry, means sales teams and people are under pressure to adopt and adapt to new technologies – perhaps without fully understanding how to utilise these technologies, nor how best to benefit from them. Particularly for SMEs, these technologies are generally sold with the promise of an increase in sales success, but without the know-how can this promise be fulfilled? This begs the question; do sales teams really need to embrace technology for success? Sales Technology Cannot Be Ignored There isn’t a…
The Insolvency Service recently announced that it had penalised the directors at three companies for exploiting a government loan handed out to them during the pandemic. A total of almost £100,000 of Bounce Back Loans had been wrongly applied for or misused: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/insolvency-service-cracks-down-on-bounce-back-loan-abusers John Bell is director and founder of licensed Insolvency Practitioners Clarke Bell and here he explains the purpose of the Bounce Back Loan Scheme and what business owners can do if they cannot repay the loan. What is the Bounce Back Loan Scheme? The Bounce Back Loan Scheme was designed to offer small to medium sized businesses…