Every penny counts when you’re allocating marketing spend so spending it where it will have the most impact is crucial. Jemma Robertson, director of Glasgow-based marketing agency GRA, has predicted some key marketing trends for 2024 with her team and suggests these six top ‘ins’ and ‘outs’ for the year ahead. IN FOR 2024 Broadcast and radio advertising for smaller brands Five or 10 years ago, only the biggest of brands could have advertised on TV or radio. Now these channels are becoming much more affordable and accessible, we think we’re going to see much smaller brands utilising these to help…
Author: sme-admin
A Cambridge-based publican and micro-brewery owner has secured a £1.1m funding deal to purchase a landmark pub and hotel business on the outskirts of the city, paving the way for future growth. Marcus Turpin is primarily utilising the facility provided by alternative finance lender Reward Finance Group to purchase The Lord Byron Inn in Trumpington from Stonegate brewery. This acquisition aims to further develop that side of the business and transform Turpin Breweries after it was heavily impacted during COVID-19. Marcus started his career as a builder before becoming a publican in 2006 when he acquired a lease for The Lord Byron Inn. Working…
Let’s be honest, nothing beats the thrill of launching your brand in the digital frontier. Whether you’re a mom wanting to launch your Italian sauce blog, a teen with a gaming site, or an entrepreneur with a million-dollar idea, we all want that starry eye moment when first brainstorming, creating, and then publishing our web destination. It’s like planting your flag on the digital landscape declaring, “This is my address!” And for a long time, we ended our digital brand names with good old “.com” extensions. It’s what we know. It’s comfortable. However, most of us are now looking for…
Some energy suppliers are using rocketing standing charges as a way to inflate bills for small firms, according to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). In its response to Ofgem’s recent consultation on the standing charges system, FSB flagged fresh complaints from members of staggering rises – up to 12-fold increases – in the fixed fee set by energy suppliers regardless of energy usage. While standing charges are capped for household customers, they are now on a second year of hikes for business customers of the same energy suppliers providing the same electricity. Small businesses are often left with no…
Microsoft 365 Copilot is the new AI powered solution from Microsoft, and it looks set to revolutionise the way we work. Microsoft have recently announced they are removing the 300-seat purchase minimum for commercial plans and making Microsoft 365 Copilot available as an add-on licence for Office 365 E3 and E5 customers, as well as those on Business Standard and Business Premium plans. Cybersecurity and IT support experts, ramsac, deep-dive into what Microsoft 365 Copilot is and how you can prepare your organisation for it. What is Microsoft 365 Copilot? Microsoft 365 Copilot is an AI-powered chatbot that leverages the power…
Businessman Chris Maslin has been appointed as a trustee of the charity The Pickering Cancer Drop-In Centre in Tunbridge Wells. The centre, based in Monson Road, Tunbridge Wells, celebrates its 20th anniversary later this year and was set up by a group of cancer patients who recognised the missing link within the NHS and the need for cancer support, not only for themselves but also for their family and close friends. Due to offering this support, the centre has thrived, however the existing trustees were looking for new talent to join their core team. Chris, who is an expert in helping ethical business owners exit…
The debate surrounding flexible working has intensified, gaining heightened attention and sparking fervent discussions. Amidst the ongoing debate, which often features headlines highlighting the return to office-centric policies by major corporations or critiques questioning the impact of remote working on the economy, Damon Anderson, UK Managing Director at Employment Hero, offers a perspective. In the ever-evolving landscape of work dynamics, his insights shed light on the diverse advantages of remote working across various workplaces. A recent survey conducted by our team at Employment Hero involving 540 UK SME leaders revealed that nearly a third are hesitant or outright unwilling to…
When Robert Parkin and his wife started their traditional pub snacks business over 12 years ago, they could not have predicted the huge growth and demand that they see today. Robert’s Dorset, based in Wimborne, Dorset, has seen phenomenal growth since its humble beginning back in 2011, operating with just a couple of employees out of its ‘modest kitchen’. Just in the last year the business has achieved a turnover of £750,000, with a £1.5m turnover predicted for the business in 2024. Now available across mainland UK, Robert’s Dorset has achieved a Great Taste Award for its Sweet Chilli nuts…
Technology continues to redefine SMEs and their capabilities. As the great equaliser, it has made it much easier for small businesses to compete with bigger companies and global corporations, James Robson, FundOnion CEO provides SMEToday’s readers with some insight to the fintech landscape. One area that has seen huge growth since the financial crash in 2008 is the explosion of fintech solutions. As one of the most fintech friendly nations in the world and with one of the highest fintech adoption rates, the UK is at the front of the fintech revolution, empowering smaller companies with limited budgets to use…
January 2024- A new analysis by UK Virtual Business Assistant firm SpareMyTime, reveals that commuting is now rising 3% faster than inflation, with the daily commute now costing the average worker a whopping £2,616 every year. The study comes as SpareMyTime finds that the cost of commuting has risen by 12% compared to inflation which currently sits at 9%. This is due to the combination of different factors including the cost of fuel increasing by nearly a third (32%) and a 6% increase in the cost of train tickets compared to last year. Using ONS data on the average time spent commuting, against real-time…