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Relationship between British, American companies growing closer

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According to a transatlantic survey done by both the UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) and British American Business Inc., British and American firms are growing closer together as trade between the counterparts have been increasing.

Based on the survey, inward investment projects from the United States to the UK rose to 48 per cent over 2003 totals, placing at 464 and creating 17,730 jobs.

The survey revealed that the “special relationship” between the United States and the United Kingdom has grown ever stronger for the last five years because of the strength of both countries’ economies as well as their skilled workforce.

Eighty-nine per cent of the survey respondents credited UK workers with having good skills, compared to 74 per cent who said the same thing about their American counterparts.

Nearly one-fifth of the respondents said the UK is a country where you can easily recruit talented staff. Twelve per cent , on the other hand, said the same thing about the US.

According to Trade Minister Ian Pearson, the UK considers the United States a very important trading partner and that the positive perception shows that the business relationship between the two countries is continually growing.

The US-based survey respondents praised the UK for having a compatible business environment and that it has fewer restrictions and regulations compared to other European Union countries.

Company formation and business solutions experts welcome this development saying that a healthy business relationship between the two countries may compel start up entrepreneurs to explore the possibility of expanding their businesses to include trading in the US.

Small businesses warned about new scam

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Business Buzz, a business network based in Scotland, has recently issued a warning to business owners to be more aware about the new “phishing” scam that has been targeting small businesses.

“Phishing” is a term that refers to gaining access to sensitive details such as passwords and bank account details. This practice has been happening more frequently ever since the advent of online banking.

The latest phishing scam usually involves an email entitled “Photo approval”. The email would allegedly come from a publication that would claim to have been sent a photograph of the recipient and that they would like to use the photo in a future article. A supposed copy of the said photo is attached to the email but if the recipient clicks on it the attachment will release a virus that would allow the sender of the email to access the passwords and other vital information that is stored inside the computer.

Company formation and business solutions experts have urged business owners to take precautions in order to protect their businesses from this kind of scam:

Refrain from clicking on links that are embedded in emails. Be naturally suspicious even if the email comes from a well known company.

Don’t open attachments if the email itself looks dubious. Don’t open attachments from sources that you don’t know to reduce your risk of exposure.

Use a spam filter. Try to use an anti-spam software to help sort out possibly fraudulent email.

Make sure that the definition files for your anti-virus application is up to date. When you have up to date definition files your PC has a better chance of catching any virus in case you or any person unwittingly opens a suspect email.

More entrepreneurs see the value of sound advice

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More and more prospective entrepreneurs are becoming more conscientious and prudent by asking for enterprise help before they take the plunge and start up their own company.

According to a nationwide poll made of over 7000 surveyed small and medium-sized firms, it was found out that about 70 per cent had asked for business advice before eventually making the decision to start a business on their own.

The number of self-employed individuals that have sought the advise of others to ensure future success has risen nine per cent compared to the results of the last survey done in 2003, the DTI’s Small Business Survey indicates.

The actual numbers of self-employed consulting top tips for future success has risen nine per cent since the last reading in 2003, the DTI’s Small Business Survey shows.
Additionally, a lesser number of small businesses has cited red tape as a crucial obstacle in running their business. The decline has been marginal though, about one per cent over the last year.

A source of optimism though is the survey result that showed a growing number of entrepreneurs who feel that the Government is exerting more efforts for small businesses than it has done in previous years.

Also, over half of the respondents said that they expect their respective companies to grow within the next three years. The remainder of respondents insists that they prefer their micro status and will still maintain their small size. They also unanimously agreed that the biggest problem of starting a company is in accessing finance for their business.

The Government has acknowledged the problem and has pointed to the changes in the Small Firms Loan Guarantee as a way of addressing it.

Government to probe cheque clearing

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The amount of time it takes for cheques to clear could possibly be shortened following a declaration that the Office of Fair Trading
(OFT) will investigate to find out the demand for cutting the three-day process.

The probe will involve banks, building societies, consumer group and trade groups with the aim to determine whether there is a clamor and significant benefits for businesses and individuals if the cheque clearance time is hastened.

Although paper-based payments has been steadily declining in recent years, cheque payments still remain a popular mode of payment by and from small businesses for the transaction of goods and services.

The UK payments association APACS has confirmed the lowered cheque volumes because of the increased use of plastic cards, direct debits and e-payments. But the association also said that cheques still remain popular among the enterprise sector for paying suppliers. Consumers also still use their cheque books to pay for one in six regular bills.

All over Europe, the growing acceptance of debit cards followed by credit cards has further decreased the market share of cheque payments. The drop has been most notable in Germany where only one per cent of the population prefer cashless payments.

France and the UK have remained dominant issuers but both countries have been suffering from marked declines. The Netherlands, Spain and Portugal are also experiencing a slump in paper payments.

Company formation and business solutions experts hope that with the OFT’s investigation any changes in the system will only benefit the country’s entrepreneurs and businessmen.

UK Businesses urged to be more mindful of language

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Businessmen and entrepreneurs face many challenges during the course of forming their businesses and running their companies. But for businessmen whose businesses involve overseas operations, a linguistic barrier must also be overcome.

The UK government has recently said that British businesses that trade overseas or has overseas operations must be able to speak the language. And surprisingly, that language is English.

The UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), the government’s support service for international traders, has realised that there is a need to address the growing language barrier between UK businesses and their overseas interests and counterparts. To address this issue it has announced an event in November that aims to help firms from the East of England improve their English language skills.

According to the UKTI, even though many businesses that trade overseas have foreign language skills, a good number of them still rely on their customers to speak English. But more often than not, these customers may speak English but not fluently. Because of this they get easily confused with business owners and managers who would naturally rely on slang terms and colloquialism in their speech that is unfamiliar to the customers.

The UKTI said that it has noticed that UK businessmen not only resort to unfamiliar expressions, they also tend to speak quickly.

The November event aims to help businesses that has international exposure and interests to assess how they communicate with their overseas customers and think of how they can improve “understanding between both parties by making a few small changes to the way they use the English language.”

The event, dubbed Speaking English to Foreigners, will be held on November 9 at the Priory Hotel in Bury St. Edmunds.