PLCs have to answer to shareholders – and to the wider business community – on both stock performance and sustainability, and more and more often the two are inextricably intertwined. On the one hand, being a publicly-listed company can impact the sustainability journey. Shareholders demand short-term returns and that can negatively impact long-term investment – […]
Technology continues to redefine SMEs and their capabilities. As the great equaliser, it has made it much easier for small businesses to compete with bigger companies and global corporations. One area that has seen huge growth since the financial crash in 2008 is the explosion of fintech solutions. As one of the most fintech friendly […]
An EdTech entrepreneur has called for more effort to be made ensuring fewer people are excluded from education. James Tweed’s comments were made in connection with International Day of Education which is this Wednesday, 24 January and has the 2024 theme ‘learning for lasting peace’. Tweed is CEO of King’s Award-winning digital learning company Coracle, […]
Today is Small Business Saturday. A day to celebrate the thousands of businesses and entrepreneurs across the country who are the backbone of our economy. We use small businesses all the time. Whether it’s your local coffee shop, hairdresser, or family bakery, they are the beating heart of our high streets and a huge part […]
Digital transformation, often hailed as the panacea for business growth and innovation, is continuing to prove to be a highly damaging leaky bucket for businesses both in the UK and world-wide. Global investment in digital transformation is expected to almost double between 2022 and 2025 (according to Statista1), but given that many major business consultancies […]
Recently, the BBC presented a segment within their BBC Breakfast broadcast, discussing self-employment statistics. Pulling reference from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), the BBC shed light on the fall in those registered as self-employed. Discussing self-employment in more detail, BBC reporter Ben Bland says “Being self-employed can be the dream for many, but not […]
Whilst the determination of the Chancellor for HMRC to collect more taxes that people owe is admirable, the statement does not have any substance, say leading tax and advisory firm Blick Rothenberg. Fiona Fernie, Partner at the firm, said: “The tax gap remains at a level of over £30billion – a figure which has not […]
There were slices of good news for Britain’s retailers and SMEs in today’s Autumn Statement. However, there was also a filling of bad news on the overall economy and lack of business rates reform. The home delivery expert ParcelHero, a champion of small retailers and SMEs, says there were layers of good news for small […]
AI has rapidly revolutionised how marketing teams work, with 63% of UK marketers reporting that they had experimented with ChatGPT or generative AI as a part of their marketing and customer experience efforts. This figure will only increase over the coming year, and it is vital that businesses start to plan how they’ll use AI […]
The overall vacancy rate across Britain rose by 13.9% in the second quarter of 2023, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC). They also found that around 6,000 retail outlets have closed their doors in the last five years. Increasing financial pressures – with everything from insurance to supply chain costs rising significantly – have […]