Despite inflation reaching record levels coupled with great economic uncertainty, women in the UK built more businesses last year than ever before. A total of over 150,000 new companies were established by women in 2022, according to the Alison Rose Review of Entrepreneurship, more than twice as many in 2018. Furthermore, a fifth of all […]
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is calling on the Chancellor to tackle the childcare crisis and take proactive measures to help more people work in his Spring Budget. Childcare providers are facing insufficient Government funding are currently caught in a tough spot – either having to shut for good or pass the costs onto […]
Housing tenants could be given extra protections and housebuilders forced to change their practices, the competition watchdog has warned. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced a probe into the building and rental sectors, saying it would “need to find” any competition issues that might be holding back house building in the UK. “The […]
Hybrid working is becoming more and more engrained, with workers now splitting their time between city centre offices and suburban and rural workspaces. New data reveals that office attendance in January is up by 40% year-on-year, while demand for IWG space outside city centres grew 36 per cent in 2022. IWG’s latest office footfall data […]
Restructuring specialist Begbies Traynor Group says its finances have been boosted by the collapse of Paperchase earlier this year. Begbies Traynor was appointed as administrator after the struggling stationery chain failed to secure any buyers. The retailer’s 106 branches could face closure after Tesco agreed to buy the brand but not its stores or workforce. […]
HSBC’s and Lloyd’s rival plans for the futures of their London headquarters have revealed a growing split in attitudes towards the long-term prospects of working from home. Lloyd’s of London is reportedly in talks to extend the lease on its iconic City headquarters as it works to bring staff back into the office in resisting […]
The organisers of the world’s largest trial of the four-day working week have launched a drive to persuade more companies to try the idea, after receiving global coverage. The 4 Day Week Campaign said it aimed to persuade hundreds more companies to adopt the four-day week – crucially with no loss of pay for workers […]
A firm that fixes smartphones is calling for an official device repair apprenticeship to be introduced. In 2022 there were almost 72 million mobile phone connections in use in the UK. But repair firm TMT First, which introduced its own apprenticeship after struggling to find staff, points out there is no industry training standard. By […]
Banks are reducing their appetite to fund small and medium-sized companies, according to brokers handling loan applications. Asked by the alternative lender iwoca if high street banks were becoming more cautious, 82 per cent of the brokers said that they were, with 49 per cent saying they had seen more applications rejected in December compared […]
The UK’s former chief Brexit negotiator has urged the Government to “fully and enthusiastically embrace the advantages of Brexit” as he warned of a plot to undermine the agreement. Lord Frost referred to a “secret” cross-party gathering on foreign affairs, which was held at the Ditchley Park retreat in Oxfordshire last week, as “a further […]