New research from uSwitchforBusiness.com suggests that a feeling of optimism is growing among SMEs. The research reveals that over four in ten SME owners (42%) report seeing some signs of economic recovery, with a further 1% saying that these signs are strong.

The findings also reveal a small increase in the number of small businesses confident that they will survive, with 81% now of the belief that they will get through the downturn, compared with 76% in the first quarter of this year.

However, small business owners still expect the recession to have a long lasting impact. Over a quarter (27%) … Continue Reading

A leading business group has warned that small businesses will suffer if the Chancellor raises taxes on small businesses in the Pre Budget Report.

Raising taxes for small businesses would ultimately cost the UK billions of pounds and hundreds of thousands of jobs, according to a new independent report for the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). The report, by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), argues that increasing the burden of taxation on the country’s small businesses – which make up 99 per cent of all UK businesses – would plunge the economy further into debt and take its … Continue Reading

A new study from Lloyds TSB Commercial suggests that British businesses are still reeling from the effects of recession and are as such ill-prepared to face a return to economic growth.

The research reveals that a third of firms (31%) have not taken any steps whatsoever to prepare their business for the upturn, while 36% don’t believe they need to do anything to ensure their business is ready to benefit as the recovery starts to gain momentum.

Amongst the 31% of firms that have not taken action to prepare for a recovery, 17% stated they hadn’t thought about it. However, 43% recognised … Continue Reading

New figures released today reveal that the UK business failure rate, which has been seeing an upward trend since 2007, fell in August to its lowest level since September 2008.

The Insolvency and Distress Index from information services firm Experian, reveal that 0.09% of UK businesses failed during August this year, a slight increase on the 0.08% recorded in August 2008. However, this figure is still lower than the 0.11% recorded in July, and the lowest rate so far this year.

According to the report, the total number of business insolvencies during August 2009 increased by 11.3%, compared to August 2008. … Continue Reading

The National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers (NACFB) has released the results of its latest annual survey of its members.

NACFB member brokers act as intermediaries to the SME community, arranging finance for small businesses for premises, equipment, vehicles and to help cash flow.

The report reveals that total funding to SMEs via brokers has fallen by nearly 60% year on year, while buy-to-let business reports a staggering 88% drop.

Meanwhile, equipment finance to SMEs has fallen by 10% and vehicle finance has dropped by 30%. Some members have reported drops in business by as much as 85% year on year

Chief … Continue Reading

The latest figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have revealed that the unemployment rate for countries which fall under its remit was 8.5% in July 2009, the same as the previous month but 2.4 percentage points higher than a year earlier.

In the Euro area, the unemployment rate was 9.5% in July 2009, 0.1 percentage point higher than the previous month and 2.0 percentage points higher than in July 2008. For the United States, the unemployment rate for August 2009 was 9.7%, 0.3 percentage point higher than the previous month and 3.5 percentage points higher than a … Continue Reading

Last week, the FTSE 100 reached the 5,000 point mark for the first time this year. Now, Richard Moore, manager of the Santander UK growth fund at Santander Asset Management UK, gives his thoughts on what this means for the market:

“The rise to 5000 on the FTSE100 means that the market has rallied in excess of 40 per cent since the low point reached in early March 2009. Economic growth across the world has been picking up in response to unprecedented levels of Central Bank stimulus and looking ahead there are two reasons for investors to remain hopeful that the … Continue Reading

The majority of the UK’s SMEs are bullish about their prospects in ‘the worst recession in living memory’, according to new research from business insurance provider Hiscox.

More than half (54%) of UK SMEs report that they are confident their business will survive the downturn and almost half (48%) claim that they have taken no additional measures to ride out the downturn.

Among those who have taking action to survive the downturn, almost nine out of ten (88%) reported that they have not enforced salary cuts, while 87% have continued with bonus payments. Furthermore, more than four in five (85%) have … Continue Reading

New figures from the CBI have revealed that business levels in the services sector are still below normal, but less so than in the previous three quarters.

The latest quarterly CBI Service Sector Survey attributes the continued downward pressure in part to deflation in the sector.

The research was conducted between 29th July and 12th August 2009 and covered 184 service-sector firms. These were divided into Business and Professional Services, such as accountancy, legal and marketing firms, and Consumer Services, including hotels, bars and restaurants, travel and leisure.

In Business and Professional Services, both the value and volumes of business rose slightly compared … Continue Reading

It’s been a busy week for business news, with several stories floating around that could affect the way you do business.

Here’s our round up:

Business confidence is rising

A report from the Lloyds TSB Commercial revealed that business confidence in Britain is on the up, with the more firms expecting an increase rather than a fall in sales and orders by the end of 2009. Read the full story here.

Small business better placed to survive recession

In the same week, a survey from The Open University Business School showed that small businesses in particular are now more optimistic about … Continue Reading