Amazon will expand its support to small businesses, together with Amazon Web Services, re/Start graduate employers and creative industry partners by funding more than 200 new apprenticeships through levy transfers. Earlier this year, Amazon announced 1,000 new apprenticeship roles in 2021 within the company, including 100 degree-level apprenticeships which pay up to £30,000 a year, and more than 500 apprenticeships for Amazon employees. Amazon today announces the creation of an Amazon Apprenticeship Fund to help small businesses across England take on apprentices through the levy transfer scheme. The £2.5 million investment will help create more than 200 new apprenticeships in…
Author: sme-admin
The Northern Affinity, a business community powering growth and development across the North has seen significant growth as business owners look to collaborate more in a post lockdown world. The firm has witnessed an influx of northern businesses looking to expand their networks, work together and share advice. Alongside 58 small business owners, a selection of corporate flagship firms have become partners of the community. In May, Metro Bank officially became a Northern Affinity partner. As part of this, Metro Bank is providing access to its branches and facilities for The Northern Affinity meetings, including at its soon-to-open Bradford branch. Other larger partners include…
The pandemic has forced many businesses to turn to digital marketing, more so than ever, in order to maintain their customer base. With so much ‘noise’ out there, it means that if you want your business to stand out from everyone else’s, you need to pay attention to your customers’ online behaviour and interests in order to adapt. Market Research The pandemic has already had an enormous impact on consumer behaviour and marketing strategies, and some of these changes may be permanent. This is why including renewed market research in your marketing strategy for 2021 is a very wise move.…
Five human skills SMEs should nurture in their team right now to improve capability and engagement. We’ve all heard of the term ‘soft skills’ or ‘power skills’ as they’ve also been coined. They are the essential being and thinking (or social and emotional) behaviours we should all be developing in our teams to improve future capability alongside the ‘hard’, doing, technical skills too. Soft skills, such as patience, adaptability, curiosity and being able to build relationships and collaborate, are all integral to fostering healthy, respectful and productive working environments; places where we all want – and choose – to work.…
Kelly Swingler, an executive coach to CEOs and senior people leaders who want to lead from their core and change the world of work, was offered a ‘no-brainer’ opportunity. She was asked by Matt Manners and Ruth Dance, co-founders for Inspiring Workplaces, if she would like to join them as a co-founder herself, work with Inspire: Cities and also be a judge for the Inspiring Workplaces Awards this year. “I have known Matt for several years and our relationship is built totally on trust,” said Kelly. “The entire Inspiring Workplaces ethos is all about creating a local and global community…
Vitality, in partnership with the RSA, is launching a new study that warns of the crippling impact of successive lockdowns on the future physical and mental health of employees, and calls for UK businesses to urgently incorporate health and wellbeing into the Company Risk Register. The report’s key findings and recommendations include: Worsening physical health – homeworking has reinforced sedentary lifestyles leading to an ‘ergonomic timebomb’ risking increased back and shoulder injuries and pain. This has been coupled with a reduction in physical activity of 28%[1]. Increased anxiety: 50% of homeworkers are anxious about a return to the office. As…
Many start-ups won’t imagine they can make use of video as a tool for great Customer Experience (CX) but with preferences for video chat increasing, even early stage businesses can make use of video as a communications channel to support customers. The global COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound effect and completely changed how consumers interact with brands. Since March 2020, purchasing journeys in nearly every industry have moved online with many businesses changing the way they connect with their customers. In a recent report released by Webhelp, it shows consumer preferences for video calling in a customer service setting…
GoDaddy Inc., today reveals that a micro-business ‘powerhouse’ has emerged in the North of England during the global pandemic, with growth in new ventures outstripping that in the South. More than a year on since the first Covid-19 lockdown, GoDaddy’s ‘State of the Nation’ data1 confirms that UK entrepreneurs have continued to defy the odds, and that there has been an increase of 21% in new ventures2 across the nation. The strongest growth was seen in ‘The Northwest Gateway’ – an area spanning from Stafford and Telford in the Midlands to Cheshire in the North – which saw new venture…
London-based soft prosthetics company, Koalaa, is celebrating after securing investment from British Design Fund (BDF), to help bring its innovative prosthetics to children and adults across the world. BDF works with ambitious British startups who are ready to scale-up and build thriving stand-out businesses. Alongside capital investment, BDF provides expert mentoring to support such companies to accelerate their growth plans. BDF invested in Koalaa under the EIS scheme and is the company’s first institutional investor following an angel round in May 2020. The funds from BDF will be used to increase manufacturing capacity at the company’s west London facility, in…
It is not just the weather that is getting better: restaurants are fully booked; city centres are bustling again and the vaccination programme is exceeding expectations. The question for SMEs is no longer how they will weather the storm, but how they will get ready for the commercial upswing as the economy opens up again, particularly when it comes to managing cashflow and adapting to a business environment that has fundamentally changed. To take the temperature of UK businesses, Allstar Business Solutions surveyed 500 SME business owners and senior decision makers at the end of 2020 and found that, as…