The government ‘roadmap out of lockdown’ has prompted an increase in SME confidence: More than a fifth (21%) of small businesses expect their productivity to rise as children go back to school full time. New research also suggests that more than a quarter (26%) of businesses will be able to resume ‘normal working hours’ without childcare demands – says a study by Enterprise Nation, commissioned by Starling Bank. British business owners have been putting in longer hours since the schools closed, working more than four hours over the average working week. But with childcare and homeschooling no longer on the…
Author: sme-admin
Tom Pom Organic, the frozen baby food brand, has announced plans to raise funds for FareShare, the UK’s biggest charity fighting hunger and food waste, through membership of ‘1% for the Planet’. Surrey-based Tom Pom Organic was founded by Kari Sharman after she had struggled to find suitable food for her second son, Tommy – known as Tom Pom. At nine-months-old, Tommy was diagnosed with food allergies, particularly to nuts (including peanuts), and dairy, as well as reactions to potato, chicken, and watermelon. At the time, there were no frozen baby or weaning foods on the market which were healthy,…
Lauren Douglass, SVP Global Marketing, Channel Factory discusses why marketing should not be seen as a “Dirty Word” The marketing function has long been considered less than essential, a back office ‘nice to have’ for businesses with money to spare. It is often marketing roles that are made redundant in times of business uncertainty, and the current climate is no exception. Research by the Chartered Institute of Marketing found that 40,000 marketing jobs have been lost in the UK alone as a result of COVID-19. Is it any wonder that marketing practises are seen as a tick box exercise that, traditionally speaking,…
With 31 December 2020 marking the end of 48 years of the UK membership of the European Union, the largest trading block in the world, it would be unrealistic to believe 1st January 2021 was going to be business as usual. Throw in the worst international pandemic for a century, and businesses are reassessing what the new, post-Brexit, post Covid-19 world will look like. What does the real landscape for UK businesses, and companies trading between the UK and the EU look like? Let’s consider the evidence so far and try and come up with some lessons we can learn…
84% of large businesses and organisations in the UK have lost working days due to a lack of effective contact tracing, according to a new study. The resulting lost productivity is estimated to have cost the country’s economy over £11b in the last 12 months, equivalent to 4.3 million working days. The study, which looked at 500 UK companies employing over 100 staff, found an average cost of £660,193 per business due to absent workers isolating and waiting for test results, following potential contact with COVID-19. This includes time off for those who thought they might have been in close…
Constant restrictions and national lockdowns in most countries have made it almost impossible for many businesses to stay afloat – and that does not factor in other political changes that have caused great cost and impact, such as Brexit. Loans, whether it was government support schemes or conventional consumer credits, have been the only way out of what seemed like a hopeless situation for many. Our recent study across seven European markets showed that more than half (52%) of SMEs had to apply for a loan of some sort to survive 2020. The number of SMEs that needed loans to…
MultiPay Group is bringing its experience and ability to accept any payment, anywhere, to small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). The launch of MultiPay Merchant Services will enable SMEs to benefit from the same quality of service, level of expertise and innovative payment technology that is already helping businesses in the retail, hospitality, travel, and tourism sectors thrive and grow. The pandemic effect The last 12 months have been some of the hardest trading conditions UK SMEs have ever faced. A combination of lockdowns, restricted trading hours and new social distancing measures have impacted SMEs across the board and resulted in an estimated 234,000 small businesses permanently closing. With…
Berlin, 15 April 2021 – Seven Senders, Europe’s leading delivery platform for parcel shipping, can look back on a successful 2020 which has concluded in a series C financing round of $40 million. As with previous funding rounds, the lead investor is Digital+Partners, which, together with btov, covers the investment needs of the Berlin scale-up. Seven Senders will use this flow of capital for further technical expansion and the advancement of its internationalisation strategy. This will include the introduction of central service hubs to support the European business activities of Chinese and US online retailers. With its focus on cross-border…
Knowing what customers want is the key to success for any business but do you apply this when it comes to the content on your website? Too often, businesses get caught up sharing their own business news or sales messages and ultimately miss out on capturing potential customers through the topics they genuinely care about. Here at React & Share, we asked 2,000 UK consumers about their online habits. Our research, carried out by YouGov, discovered the most searched topics over the last year and how search habits have been affected due to the impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic. Since…
Metro Bank has launched new invoicing technology for business customers using its mobile app. The new invoicing features offer a range of benefits for the bank’s business customers, including the ability to create, track and manage branded invoices directly from their Metro Bank accounts. Metro Bank customers can quickly create invoices on the go via the mobile app, accessing lists of their previously saved clients as well as products and services they provide. They will then be able to manage their cash flows more effectively, with the app showing the payment status of each invoice and automatically reconciling their invoices with payments that…