In this edition of Connected Thinking with Virgin Media O2 Business, data security experts Anton Davies and Stephanie Nisbet explore the risks of poor security investment, and the steps to ensure your data is safe and secure, wherever it needs to go. As medium-sized businesses continue to implement the latest tech to keep up with employee expectations and increasing customer demands, their data needs to do more, in more places. Employees accessing information from different devices and locations has allowed for more seamless and agile work. But it has also opened businesses up to very real risks. In our recent…
Author: sme-admin
UK-based PR agency Lem-uhn announces its Work From Anywhere scheme becoming the first PR agency in the UK to announce a scheme. The feel-good PR agency’s policy allows employees to work outside the United Kingdom for 45 days per year. Employees are permitted to work in any country where the United Kingdom has a double taxation agreement. The appetite for working abroad has shot up in recent months as many companies have cut back remote-working freedoms. Searches for ‘work from anywhere’ peaked at the highest in the past five years in August 2023 with a 669% increase compared to the same period…
Kim Fournais, CEO and Founder of Saxo Bank, offers comment on how he believes that the financial industry needs to pass on the benefits of central bank rate hikes to clients. In the labyrinthine world of banking and investing, where opacity tends to masquerade as tradition, few are aware that amidst the ebb and flow of financial markets, a significant number of banks and brokers choose to retain the benefits of central bank rate hikes, rather than passing them on to their clients. This practice, while not immediately visible, has significant implications for all people, and it’s time we shed…
Every employer has a duty of care to their employees, which means that they have a legal responsibility to assess and anticipate risks that workers may face, and to take whatever action is necessary to mitigate and reduce the chances that an accident could occur. Businesses that fail to uphold this responsibility can face serious consequences, but with a clear understanding of health and safety regulations in your industry, a thorough approach to risk assessments, and an effort to monitor compliance on an ongoing basis, you can keep accidents to a minimum. Some workplaces are naturally more dangerous than others…
If you’re working as a tradesperson or courier and take pride in your van and the tools within, the last thing you want to deal with is the stress of someone breaking into your vehicle, especially when your van is a lifeline for everyday work. Van theft isn’t uncommon. In fact, recent research reveals that there were over 40,000 cases of tool theft in 2022. And with the cost of living affecting an increasing number of households, rates of theft may begin to rise too. To help tradespeople and couriers protect their tools and their vehicles, the insurance experts from Toolbox by Admiral have offered…
As a business owner, it’s in your interests to make sure that all contracts that you enter into on behalf of your business are legally binding and enforceable. However, you may never have assessed ‘what actually constitutes a legally binding contract’. As this is such a fundamental matter, it’s worth taking the time some time to consider this question. In this article, we’ll be discussing the constitution of a contract and the key role that the concept of consideration in contract law plays. What are the key elements of a contract? A contract requires five elements which must all be…
Insurance experts from Toolbox by Admiral have revealed surprising business expenses that sole traders and self-employed tradespeople may be forgetting about or are simply unaware of. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will allow you to claim lots of expenses. While most business owners probably already know about many of them, like office supplies, tools, and even your business vehicles, there are many more obscure deductions that could potentially save the UK workforce hundreds of pounds. As a sole trader or self-employed tradesperson, knowing what you can and can’t claim as a business expense can be a learning curve. It might seem easier…
Post-pandemic, we had the Great Resignation — the movement where hundreds of thousands of people changed or left their jobs. While the dust left in its wake continues to settle, 2023 is on the verge of yet another mass job movement. Here, Ross Slogrove, UK and Ireland country manager at business phone system provider Ringover, explores what’s causing the Great Resignation 2.0 and what this means for recruiters. Between July and September 2021 in the UK, over 400,000 workers left their jobs. By December 2021, vacancies reached a record high, with approximately 1.3 million positions available. More than two years…
UK business leaders have been urged to stay up to date with the latest fraud risks in order to protect their reputation and prevent potential financial losses. FDM Group, whose mission is to bring people and technology together, has revealed seven fraud risk trends so that businesses can keep pace with evolving fraud tactics, and enhance their fraud detection capabilities. Various types of fraud pose significant risks to UK businesses, including financial loss, reputational damage, legal consequences, regulatory non-compliance, and loss of customer trust. Fraudulent activities can also lead to direct monetary losses through theft, embezzlement, or fraudulent transactions. The…
Imposter syndrome – the internal psychological experience of feeling like a fraud, despite success that you might have achieved – is more widespread than you might think. Leading training and apprenticeships provider Executive Development Network, a HIT Training Ltd brand, is working with behavioural psychologist Jo Hemmings to spotlight the prevalence of the condition impacting almost half of today’s workforce, and ask the question – should it be a diagnosable condition? Jo Hemmings says, “There are seven tell-tale signs of imposter syndrome, and research shows 43% of Britons display at least three out of the seven of these signs.” Jo explains, “You might have imposter syndrome…