The latest Lloyds Bank Business Barometer shows: Overall business confidence fell by seven percentage points to -18% for the first time since May, as new lockdown restrictions introduced. The Services sector registered the biggest decline in confidence to -24%, while sentiment in manufacturing and retail was marginally higher. Regionally, confidence fell in all but three […]
In the third quarter of 2020, the overall GB vacancy rate increased to 13.2%, from 12.4% in Q2. This was the ninth consecutive quarter of increasing vacancy rates, from Q2 2018. All locations saw an increase in vacancies in Q3, with Shopping centre vacancies increasing to 16.3% from Q2’s 14.3%. On the high street, vacancies […]
UK SMES are showing resilience, agility and innovation as they enter the second phase of the coronavirus pandemic, taking the learnings from the first wave of the pandemic and implementing them permanently in their businesses, Paragon Bank research has revealed. Despite the difficulties caused by the pandemic, half of the SMEs surveyed are feeling positive […]
Hunters Lodge, a boarding kennels and cattery based in Newport Pagnell, secured a £200k CBILS loan from Santander UK to support the business through the challenges brought about by coronavirus. The family run business covers 22 acres and offers a range of services for cat and dog owners across Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire. As lockdown and […]
Oracle today announced new cloud services to help mid-sized banks combat money laundering and outsmart financial crime. Oracle Financial Crime and Compliance Management Cloud Service brings two decades of experience in fighting big bank financial crime to an easy-to-manage, cost-effective application suite designed for mid-sized banks. The solution powers the full anti-money laundering (AML) lifecycle, […]
Businesses considering the purchase of capital equipment need to think quickly or risk missing out on significant amounts of tax relief over the next few years, the Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT) is warning. This is due to the anticipated fall in the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) from £1m to £200,000 on 31 December 20201. […]
Barclays is launching a 12-week virtual accelerator programme designed to help early-stage tech businesses, founded by one or more Black entrepreneurs, in order to boost diversity in entrepreneurship. The accelerator, in partnership with Foundervine, an award-winning social enterprise specialising in digital start-ups, includes a series of expert masterclasses focused on a number of core business […]
New research from Tech Nation and Dealroom reveals that investment into UK impact startups increased 9.5x between 2014 and 2019. UK impact startups have raised €1.4bn so far in 2020 with cleantech and climate tech companies raising the most capital of all UK impact startups. The biggest rounds for UK impact startups in 2020 include […]
SHL analysed data for 6,098,962 businesses created in the UK in the last decade, using Companies House data, to find how many new businesses have been created per year and which sectors have grown the most. The results show that the number of new companies set up this year drastically surpass that of last year, […]
Consumers are actively seeking out more sustainable products and services and rewarding environmentally-friendly businesses in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, a research report from E.ON reveals today. The pandemic has caused a big shift in consumer behaviour, with more than a third (36%) of Brits saying that they’re buying products from companies with strong […]
