Business Insights

New sentencing guidelines for corporate manslaughter, health and safety and food safety offences have now come into force. The Sentencing Council’s Definitive Guideline for the Sentencing of Health and Safety, Corporate Manslaughter and Food Safety and Hygiene offences took effect from February 1 and could see the steepest fines rise up to £20 million.

As the tail end of Storm Jonas is followed closely by Storm Gertrude, more UK businesses are braced for disruption. Rain, high winds and flooding have all hit the headlines in recent weeks but despite the effects they can have on small businesses, many remain under-insured.

Parliament has debated plans to fully digitise the tax-reporting process for small businesses and the self-employed. The debate was triggered by an e-petition titled “Scrap plans forcing self-employed and small business to do four tax returns yearly”, which received more than 100,000 votes of support.

Small and medium enterprises in the UK are split over the forthcoming referendum on whether to stay in the EU, a new study has found. Big businesses, meanwhile, are far more likely to lean towards staying.

Small and medium businesses in the UK are owed over £500 billion in outstanding invoices, according to a new study. The Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking Business in Britain study found that the problem of late payments is mounting, with the amount owed representing an increase of more than 70% in just two years.