| Most Small Firms are Victims of Crime |
31/08/2005 |
| Almost six in 10 companies are victims of crime every year, half of which goes unreported, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) claims.
The small business lobby group’s survey of more than 18,000 business owners suggests that firms in the north of England and those in urban areas are most likely to be affected by crime, but that one in four owners would not report it to the police as they don’t have confidence that the police would find the criminals.
“There is a perception amongst business owners that the UK is experiencing a crime epidemic and that no-one cares,” said David Croucher, FSB crime spokesman. “Sentences are lower for commercial burglaries than domestic burglaries, and criminal damage and theft from commercial premises have effectively been de-criminalised.
“There are twice as many crimes against businesses as crimes against households, but business crime comes low on the list of Home Office priorities. The government sets 13 targets for the police and none of them feature business,” he added. |
| One in four CVs are bogus |
31/08/2005 |
| Companies are being urged not to take information on CVs at face value after a survey by the Risk Advisory Group found that one in four CVs contain incorrect or false information and the average CV contains three pieces of misleading information.
The study of 3,000 CVs of candidates applying for jobs in finance firms found the biggest discrepancies tend to be in academic qualifications, previous jobs, gaps in employment and directorships.
"These results are a warning to employers of taking too much at face value when hiring people," TRAG deputy director Richard Prior said.
"Clearly any candidate could make a mistake when preparing a CV, but three mistakes are unlikely and effectively mean that these CVs are bogus." |
| Banks are forced to speed up the transfer of funds |
31/08/2005 |
| BRITAIN’S high street banks have bowed to pressure from the Bank of England to cut the time it takes to transfer money from one account to another. After decades of complaints from consumers, the banks announced a cut from about three days to one, but claim that it will take more than two years to bring in computer systems to effect the change. According to research, the banks profit by at least £25 million a year from slow money transfers.
The announcement comes after recent public pressure from Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England. Earlier this year, in front of the Treasury Select Committee, Mr King expressed concern that slow electronic processing put Britain at a disadvantage to other countries.
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| Pension ignored in recruitment advertisements |
19/08/2005 |
| The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has recently issued the findings of a report into the number of recruitment advertisements carrying information relating to company pensions. Whilst the government has upped its campaign for pension reform the research found that out of 1,132 job advertisements, only 69 provided details of an employee pension.
The 6.1% marks a 0.5% drop from 2004, and of the 69 advertisements, only 29 mentioned a final salary scheme.
"Employers who offer workplace pension schemes should be boasting about it," said Brendan Barber, general secretary of the TUC. "Those who don't are missing a golden opportunity to attract and retain key workers who are seeking a pension in their benefits package. If all job adverts gave clear information on their pension schemes, prospective employees would take the advertisement more seriously."
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| Are you fed up of bank charges? |
01/08/2005 |
| Small companies can be charged for putting money in the bank and charged for taking it out, as well as paying an annual management fee. But a new offering from the FSB and The Co-operative Bank claims to give businesses "the service they deserve."
Britain’s small companies spend a whopping £65 million a year on bank charges, with 40% of firms citing confusion and uncertainty over bank charges as one of the biggest problems they face. The Federation of Small Businesses claims its 185,000 members are regularly hit by charges on such trivial matters as depositing money over the counter and face limits on depositing more than a certain amount in an account in a month or on the number of cheques they can issue.
The organisation is now linking up with The Co-operative Bank to offer what it calls “a new, genuine promise of free banking” for the vast majority of its members.
“Small businesses have £44 billion on deposit with the banks and it is high time that they receive the service they deserve. The FSB is delighted to have teamed up with The Co-operative Bank to provide members with an account where it is crystal clear what is on offer: genuinely free banking.” |
| Free IT checks for smaller companies |
01/08/2005 |
| A recent story published by newbusiness.co.uk reveals that companies with fewer than 250 staff are being offered a free IT healthcheck and cut-price training courses in an initiative by eCademy that is being backed by the Learning and Skills Council and European Social Fund.
Small and medium-sized businesses in London can take advantage of a free IT skills healthcheck and cut-price training courses under an initiative backed by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and European Social Fund (ESF).
The ICT4SME programme (www.ict4sme.co.uk), launched this month by IT training company eCademy, aims to help small and medium-sized businesses meet their growth and development potential through workforce training. Companies in the central London area with fewer than 250 employees are eligible for the scheme.
“First we assess a company’s current situation and their skills need, not just IT skills but generally,” said Deepa Taneja, operations manager at eCademy. “We then produce a plan outlining what’s required in that company.” “Some contribution still has to come from the employer, but we have managed to bring that down to a negligible level."
The ICT4SME website will also serve as network for small companies to share their skills with each other. “The website has been designed so we can list other people’s training projects as well as our own,” said Taneja. The project is open to people living or working in Camden, Islington, The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Lambeth, Southwark, Wandsworth and the City of Westminster.
If the project proves to be a success in London, eCademy hopes to extend it to small and medium-sized businesses across the country.
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| Micro firms 'take fewer risks' |
01/08/2005 |
| For a number of micro business owners, starting up was more about attaining a better work-life balance than building a bigger bank balance, new research suggests. The report from financial services firm MORE THAN Business claims many so-called 'alterpreneurs' - entrepreneurs who seek an alternative to the 9 to 5 office life - are unlikely to make any business gambles that could threaten their lifestyle.
Once up and running, nearly three-quarters run their business in a way that poses little risk to their most important lifestyle factors, such as family life.
The study, as reported on startups.co.uk, shows that alterpreneurs, who own and manage around two-thirds of the UK's smallest companies, choose not to set overly ambitious targets for business growth, preferring to have more control over their lives. Half felt there was no risk in not reaching their growth targets.
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| Lifestyle beats tradition for start-ups |
01/08/2005 |
| A recent report published on startups.co.uk reveals that modern entrepreneurs are shying away from traditional start-ups in favour of lifestyle services like wedding planning and life coaching.
Data from Business Link for London's (BL4L) StartQuest service - an email course providing guidance on setting up a company - shows a shift in the types of businesses being run by new entrepreneurs. In 2002, repair companies, construction firms and hotels were the most popular choices for budding business brains. This year, however, BL4L has seen a significant increase in requests for advice on going it alone with a so-called 'lifestyle business'. These include event organisers, cafe owners and fashion designers.
Judith Rutherford, BL4L chief executive, said: "Within the top 15 most requested business areas on StartQuest, there are coffee shop owners, online auctioneers, life coaches and wedding planners.
"This really highlights a growing trend for entrepreneurs to start a business in sectors and fields that would have been unheard of from as little as five years ago."
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