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This piece of news will be welcomed by students all over the country. The DTI has recently awarded �52 million to a number of universities under the third round of the Higher Education Innovation Fund or HEIF. The goal of the awards is to aid in building closer ties between business and institutions that offer higher education. One of the projects that will share in the 52 million pounds funding handout are initiatives whose goal is to boost the number of entrepreneurs, establish a UK creative industry in China and to target the early signs of disease. The DTI has awarded ...


Small businesses seem to be taking a lot of unnecessary hits of late, and they are already feeling the effects of this “injustice.” It seems the government is not yet content with just hitting businesses with an endless list of legislation and then tying them up with red tape. Now it looks like small business employers will be forced to make contributions to a new National Pensions Savings Scheme or NPSS. An employee can decide not to participate in the NPSS but with the sheer apathy of most employees it is believed that most will choose to remain ...


The recent decision of Prime Minister Tony Blair to reshuffle his cabinet has been hit by an interest group, saying that the move has once again ignored the welfare of small businesses. The Forum of Private Business (FPB) has maintained that the decision has been detrimental for businessmen and business owners who own small businesses. They particularly cite the reshuffling of the Department of Trade and Industry but overlooking the fact that the position for Small Firms Minister has remained vacant. FPB Chief Executive Nick Goulding said that he thinks what has happened is another case illustrating the ...


There seems to be a dearth of good, competent staff for small and medium sized businesses across the UK who are looking for people to fill important positions in these companies. In fact, 172,000 businesses have reported that they have not received any kind of applications for some of the job vacancies. This shortage presents a good opportunity for many recruitment agencies who can possibly help fill these vacancies. Although a skills shortage among the applying job candidates can still be considered as a tough issue, more often than not the difficulties arise from the ...


A pressure group is strongly urging the government to finally remove the big headache posed by confusing and time consuming tax returns. According to the Forum of Private Business (FPB), through its Chief Executive Nick Goulding, “It’s time to make tax returns less taxing. Our research shows that small business is left spending valuable time completing forms that they find confusing and over-complicated.” Goulding asserts that it is clear that not enough effort is being done in order to give assistance to small businesses in trying to understand what their role and responsibilities are when it comes to filing ...


According to the accountants and business advisers at BDO Stoy Hayward, UK economic growth is expected to grow stronger in the second half of 2006. The report, which was included in the most recent BDO Business Trends report, shows that a there is an increase in business confidence both in the short-term and the long-term. There is an expected growth of 3.4 per cent for the third quarter of 2006. This is compared to the 2.4 per cent posted in the last quarter of 2005. These positive numbers are likely to give tremendous benefit to the UK economy especially later this ...


Finance Minister Tom McCabe has confirmed that Scottish Parliament is planning to cut business tax rates to the same level as England’s by 2007. This move is intended to bolster growth in the Scottish economy, which has been lagging in the recent years. Businesses in Scotland lack the competitive edge relative to their counterparts elsewhere in the country, given the higher tax rates, and hence higher overhead costs. The tax cuts are expected to help businesses gain a cost advantage, leading to higher productivity and output. The new policy will be effected in a staggered fashion, with the gap in tax ...


A report by financial analysis firm Experian states that 2005 was marked with an increased level of company failures, as indicated by a jump in corporate insolvencies up 11% from the previous year's levels. This increase has been attributed to rising interest rates, a slowdown in consumer spending, high energy costs, and increased difficulty in going through the bureaucratic processes. Experian came up with this analysis by taking into account the number of adverse notices that Companies House issued to these companies, such as voluntary liquidations, compulsory liquidations, administration orders, receiverships and voluntary arrangements. Such adverse notices are usually indicative that ...


A large majority of entrepreneurs are calling for single flat rate to replace Britain’s tax regime, which business owners said is outdated. According to a study done by business advisor Tenon, seventy-five per cent of company directors said that they back the adoption of a single flat tax in the UK as a replacement to the incumbent system and its many fees. Only 18 per cent of business owners said that they were happy with what the government is offering, while more than seven in 10 felt that it has become too complicated. Company formation and ...


Based on predictions made by BDO Stoy Hayward for 2006, small media firms are going to withstand a peak year for UK business failures. Even though business failures have already climbed up 10 per cent in 2004, analysts expect company closures to lessen to around 17000 by the year 2007 – this is one of the lowest failure rates in over a decade. But even before the good times kick in, manufacturing, construction and services entrepreneurs will have to fight to survive as directors of the companies most prone to fold and at the highest rate. Company formation ...


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