September 30, 2009
Filed under: Small business — Alan @ 8:32 am
Avia’s new research shows that more than half of all medium and small business enterprises (also known as SME’s) are attempting to diversify in an effort to make it through the debilitating business environment that is a result of the recession.
SME’s have embraced several different diversification techniques including opening on the weekends, increasing the hours they are open in general, broadening the amount of services or products that they offer, and attempting to broaden their customer bases, in order to attract more business in general to combat the trend to buy less by each consumer.
In fact, SME’s have even embraced several tactics that are generally not considered desirable, in an attempt to stay afloat in current economic times. Some of which include offering discounts, lowering the amount they are able to pay employees, and reducing the amount of employees overall.
Apparently some of these tactics must work since only one out of the fifty businesses that were surveyed stated they needed to receive assistance from the Government. This is not to say that some of the tactics used are not risky, as 12% of all the businesses surveyed reported they had foregone commercial insurance.
Avia’s commercial product manager David Bruce stated that while diversification is a positive sign of flexibility and versatility among the SME’s in Britain, it is worrying that some of the firms do not have all of their insurance policies up to date since this means that some of them may be operating illegally in an attempt to cut corners.
September 28, 2009
Filed under: CBI — Alan @ 8:51 am
The CBI will release a new manifesto for business that outlines what the group believes the governments priorities should be after the election is over, regardless of which party ends up with in power.
The CBI outlines in its 12 point plan the need to take action against youth unemployment, further stabilization of the banking sector, and a new plan that is more coherent to address the way that Britain’s public finances are handled.
Additionally, other areas that need addressed are public sector pension reform, energy security, and a better focus on becoming a low carbon economy.
Outside of these areas, the CBI also stated that the government needs to quickly address these issues by creating timetables that will deal with each of the priorities stated by the CBI within the first 100 days following the election, when the new people in power take over.
CBI deputy director general, John Cridland, said the economy is still the biggest priority of the incoming government power. He stated that although every new government has a lot to get done in its first few days in office, the economy needs to be considered every step of the way in particular with the global recession, and the current state of public finances.
September 26, 2009
Filed under: Loans, Small business — admin @ 11:08 am
Following the British Government’s rescue of two of the biggest financial institutions, the Federation of Small Businesses in Scotland is now voicing concerns over a strangling domination of the business banking market. In particular, the FSB have made clear their uneasiness over a monopolisation in business credit for small to medium enterprises.
The RBS Group and the Lloyds Banking Group, both having required substantial bailouts and effective nationalisation following poor decisions in business acquisitions, have been accused of forging a duopoly within the Scottish credit sector for SMEs. There is now growing disquiet surrounding the issue of a dilution of credit choice for small business owners when it comes to banking.
Further to the possible ramifications of this for SME, there have been calls for the government to aid the reputation of banks that did not require such high-profile bailouts. The director of Debt Advisory, Neil McDaid, asserted that there was a lingering distrust in banks combined with an inversely anticipated increased loyalty, meaning that the introduction of competitor brands and products in capital lending to SMEs would become increasingly difficult.
He commented: “The availability and cost of bank debt continues to be a problem for businesses, and an obstacle to economic recovery. The lending commitments of the state-owned banks have failed to make a significant impact on borrowers so far.”
Whilst this may prove to provide the groundwork for an analysis of future business lending pending a continued commitment in the wake of economic recovery, there have been warnings that a moderating influence on the release of credit, as displayed by the cautious activity of the Scottish duopoly could be beneficial. Peter Jones has this week spoken with caution about a substantial credit influx, which would result in the perpetuation of toxic debt and debt solutions in companies with poor business models.
“If you open up the doors and credit opens up too fast, all that’s going to happen is the businesses that are going to be saved, on occasion, will be the businesses that probably do not deserve to be around.”
Small to medium enterprises, it seems, are now under increasing pressure to secure credit in an economic environment that neither suitably facilitates negotiation in essential credit nor aids in providing contingencies when dealing with Individual Voluntary Arrangements or Protected Trust Deeds when they struggle to repay inflexible debts they had no choice in taking out.
September 24, 2009
Filed under: Small business — Alan @ 10:49 am
Over half of all small business owners across the UK believe that the recession will continue to last well into next year, according to a new survey by Amplify Communications.
The results showed that 58% of all SME owners believe that the recession will be around at least until spring of next year, with about the same amount stating that their company’s overall health is dependent on the economy.
Additionally, out of these 25% stated that even once the economy enters a recovery stage their business will still feel the aftershocks of the recession.
Along the lines of the old adage hindsight is 20/20, if businesses could foresee the recession and change their response 32% said they would have reduced the amount of employees they hired and 43% said they would have put more time into their marketing and sales efforts.
According to the survey, in order to deal with the results of the recession 58% of the businesses surveyed were cutting costs. 42% were improving their website and online business fronts, and 38% were attempting to find new partnerships.
Thus, over half are focusing on marketing techniques to beat the recession as of the survey date.
September 23, 2009
Filed under: Loans — Alan @ 8:10 am
The world economy has been hit severely by the recent credit crunch, the nature of which could only be compared to the Great Depression in 1930s. The recession has a number of consequences, one of which is the difficulty faced by the SMEs in acquiring credit from the banks.
The European Central Bank (ECB) has recently conducted a survey on fiscal matters relating to nearly 6100 SMEs in Europe, and the outcome is alarming, as access to credit is completely closed for most of the companies.
The issue is going to be addressed at the G20 summit this week in Pittsburgh and is expected to raise considerable arguments.
The major point of concern among the G20 leaders would be the amount of reserve’s that the banks should hold in order to fund SME’s.
According to ECB, which is going to conduct the same survey again in six months, it is the bigger and older companies that are going to get the loans as first preference from the banks. For small companies and the public, which are the majority of the loan seekers, the situation will stay unaltered for at least the next six months.
Many governments are getting proactive to tackle the situation, as in Germany for example, where the Government is planning to supply credit worth 18 billion Euros straight to the banks, which they in turn will use to fund SME’s.
ECB page
September 21, 2009
Filed under: Business equipment — Alan @ 10:19 am
Vodafone has introduced a new line of services specifically tailored to meet the needs of medium to small sized business proclaiming that the new hosted Vodafone One Communications packages can help clients reduce their communication costs by 20%.
The new hosted service is called the Vodafone One Net and is available from today. It allows customers to use one phone number for both mobile phones and desks phones with combined mobile voice and fixed line capabilities. Additionally, every call is billed at a flat rate on one invoice and there is one voicemail box for both lines.
The new Vodafone One Net service is very close to the Vodafone One service that enterprises have been able to purchase since June with the main difference being that it is a hosted service instead of one that is located on premise. For smaller businesses Vodafone believes the hosted solution will be easier to use since routing and call handling will be handled by the Vodafone network.
In order to receive the service customers will need to purchase a business grade internet connection from BT and a router which is supplied by Vodafone. From there, businesses can choose from a wide array of mobile handsets from Vodafone along with the option to purchase PC based softphones and IP deskphones.
Vodafone One Net is best suited for businesses that have between 50 to 100 employees but the company is hard at work so that by summer of 2010 the service will be desirable for firms that have five to ten staff members.
September 19, 2009
Filed under: Small business — Alan @ 8:17 am
In an age where the post office is quickly being replaced by digital mail, the Federation of Small Businesses has proposed that post offices should be transformed into business hubs so that they do not disappear in the near future.
The FSB says that small firms use PO’s on a regular basis and they should receive better service than the PO s are able to provide at the moment.
It proposes that each PO should have a business desk that has staff trained to specifically offer advice on insurance, government services, banking, and the best way to send and receive parcels.
They also have requested that a Business Link service should be placed in each PO that can give out advice one-on-one the same way that mortgage advisors would, new advertising services, financial services, and the addition of meeting room facilities to aid small start up businesses as they get going.
In summary, the FSB is looking at Post Office locations as the perfect way to build a tangible social network out in the real world.
The FSB says that Post Offices at the core of many communities because not only do they collect letters and parcels, but they also are a great place for small businesses to get together and network. He added that at the moment there is no operational service that meets their needs however.
Turning post offices into the newly envisioned small business hubs will not only preserve post offices but will help sustain the local communities and encourage the growth of small businesses.
September 18, 2009
Filed under: Legal — Alan @ 6:30 am
ITV shares took a fall yesterday when the Competition Commission found that the set of advertisers’ rules that were first placed on the company in 2003 should remain in place.
The commission found that while advertisers may be able to build campaigns with other broadcasters, the channel has too much dominance to be considered part of a level competitive playing field.
The main issue at stake was the Act rights renewal system which ranks the prices of advertising on ITV by the amount of viewers. The system was formed for use by ITV when the broadcaster was originally formed to keep it from abusing its power as a dominant player in the market.
The good news for ITV is that the commission did state that ‘some variations’ of the current system may be open for change such as a proposal to widen what is classified as ITV1 and the inclusion of ITV1 high definition channels.
Additionally, the commission is also looking at the best way to determine competition matters by splitting air time into normal viewing audiences and special viewing audiences such as when a sports programme is being broadcast or a major entertainment show such as X Factor. Its final decision will be released by the end of 2009.
In the mean time, ITV has also been engaged in its own battle to keep consumers as they are leaving to choose digital channel broadcasting and the internet as an advertising competitor.
Since 2007 ITV has watched its shares decrease from 100p down to 50p last night when word of the decision started to float around.
Media analyst stockbroker Paul Richards of Numis Securities said that it was expected that the commission would not remove the CRR system but that the wording of the statement of the commission was much harsher than most people expected to hear at this stage in the decision making process.
September 15, 2009
Filed under: Business Awards — Alan @ 5:36 am
The South Wales Chamber of Commerce and the Western Mail honoured the best in the Welsh business world at the Chambers of Commerce Business Awards 2009 which were held in Cardiff at the Mercure Holland House Hotel.
In total, eight entrepreneurs and companies were honoured with host TV personality John Sergeant in charge of doling out the awards which included a Liftetime Achievement Award that was given to Alfred Gooding from Risca.
Gooding is an entrepreneur who has created a large amount of businesses over his fifty year career that has helped to create thousands of jobs in Wales and in other locations as well.
Among his prominent companies is Modern Building Wales which has been responsible for the construction of 7,000 homes.
Another award recipient at the awards benefit was the automobile insurance agent, Group Admiral, who won the Welsh Company of the Year Award which is sponsored by the University of Wales’ Global Academy.
Group Admiral employs about 3,000 people in Swansea, Cardiff, and Newport and is the only FTSE 100 company found in Wales. There are also subsidies of the insurance group in Europe with the expectation that a US branch will open by the close of the year in the United States.
Sophia Hughes and Lucy Cohen won the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for co-founding the accountant firm Mazuma which is located in Cardiff.
Mazuma now has six franchises located around the UK in addition to the Mazuma Hub which was created this summer with plans to build up 30,000 customers and 110 staff members by 2012.
Freshwater’s Woman in Business Award went to GoCompare.com’s chief executive and founder Hayley Parsons. The website, which was established in 2006, is one of the largest price comparison sites in the UK.
Zeffa’s Excellence in Marketing Award went to Clogau Gold which is a jewellery company known for its handcrafted custom jewellery that contains place settings of Welsh gold which is extremely rare.
