UK/Ireland Small Businerss NEws Round-up – 01/08/2008

Here is this week’s news round-up for home business, micro business, sole-traders, freelancers, self-employed and any one who is interested in small business news from the United Kingdom and Ireland:

• FSB Attack Late Payment Large Companies: The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has attacked large companies that delay invoice payment and impose new terms and settlement fees on small businesses.
• Business lobby group calls for a rethink of dispute resolution reforms: The FPB is warning that proposed changes to the dispute resolution process could make a bad situation even worse for many small firms. The FPB is concerned that replacing the current mediation process with a new Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) code of practice will add to the existing problems faced by small businesses.
• Accountants urge government to ‘think smallest first’: Evidence from a survey of tax professionals has convinced the FPB that the Government needs to reform the tax system urgently to support small businesses across the UK. Failure to do so could have severe implications for the economy over the next twelve months.
• FSB accuses big firms of abusing small businesses trust: Large companies are exploiting small businesses by delaying invoice payments and imposing new terms and settlement fees on owners, the FSB can reveal.
• Crime is costing businesses billions, warns business lobby group: A proposal to tackle business crime by forcing offenders to pay for losses and damage to property is only a first step to protecting small firms, the FPB is warning. Following its 2008 crime survey, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) revealed that business crime has increased by more than £2 billion since 2004, from £10.5 billion to £12.6 billion.
• What do entrepreneurs need to know about Energy Performance Certificates?: Since the Kyoto Protocol the protocol was signed in 1997 the government has launched a swathe of measures to reduce carbon emissions. The latest is the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), which is being phased in between now and 1 October2008. So what do business owners need to know about it?
• Barclays reveals SME owners plan to stay in business longer than they’ll be married: It may not always be a match made in heaven, but UK bosses are in it for the long haul when it comes to running their own company, according to a survey of small business owners conducted by Barclays Local Business* research reveals that over a quarter (28%) expect to run their business for more than 25 years (longer than the average marriage in the UK at 24 years, or 11.6 years if it ends in divorce**) and one in five said they plan to keep working well into their seventies.

As always this list is not exhaustive, but I hope it will give you a little overview. — ST.

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