With the Cost-of-Living crisis seemingly driving worker theft up, specialist background screening and identity services firm, Sterling, has warned businesses to be mindful of the cost of a bad hire. This latest warning comes following reports from insurer Zurich UK, that employee theft had increased 19% in 2022 when compared to the year before. It’s […]
Remote working could hinder skills development longer-term, with employers indicating difficulties in the onboarding, training and development of staff in a remote environment. That’s according to a recent study from workplace creation expert, Unispace, and not-for-profit corporate real estate association, CoreNet Global. The study of global leaders revealed that the physical separation between peers could […]
New research reveals the extent to which the UK’s SMEs are exposed to substantial debt stress today. The average bad debt amongst UK SMEs has jumped 61 percent – from £10,329 in Spring 2022, to £16,641 today. Currently, around 1.5 million – or 27 percent – of SMEs are struggling with this issue. Combined with official statistics showing […]
The Chancellor’s reforms to Research and Development (R&D) tax reliefs take effect today, including an increase in the Research and Development Expenditure Credit (RDEC) rate from 13% to 20% for UK businesses. However, new research has found that half of UK SMEs have had to borrow or raise any money due to the current energy […]
Despite the number of unfilled job vacancies in the tech sector falling by more than a fifth in the latter months of 2022, there are still over 55,000 unfilled roles suggesting that talent shortages are still plaguing the sector. That’s according to the Robert Half Jobs Confidence Index (JCI). Created in association with the Centre […]
The UK Government has lost £21bn worth of taxpayers money due to fraud since the start of the pandemic, that is “very unlikely” to be unrecovered, according to the National Audit Office (NAO). The NAO said that many public bodies are unaware of the amount of fraud they face, as it revealed that levels of […]
People in Britain have more confidence in the EU than the UK parliament, reversing a state of affairs that has lasted for more than 30 years, research reveals. Since the UK voted for Brexit, the proportion of people declaring confidence in parliament has slumped by 10 percentage points to 22% while there has been a […]
Small businesses are in a David and Goliath battle for talent. Research has found that almost half of SME workers are looking for a new role, compared with 39% of those at large businesses. Such a talent drain could have a huge impact on SMEs, especially at a time when businesses need to hold onto […]
Today’s government announcements on energy security and climate change are inadequate and risk failing to meet UK climate targets, says Friends of the Earth. These announcements are likely to be part of a revised net zero strategy, which the government is required to publish by the end of this week following a successful legal challenge […]
A businessman who presided over one of Britain’s worst “pension liberation” scandals was branded evasive, hostile and guilty of “highly regrettable conduct”, according to the judgment in a tax tribunal published yesterday. Craig Tweedley, founder of the pension scheme company Ark LLP, displayed “a total disregard for due diligence and careful administration and was primarily […]