Business Insights

Productivity declines as ‘most depressing day’ looms

UK production in all major sectors is shown to have declined from the previous month in the latest report by the Office for National Statistics. The Index of Production, released by the ONS on January 12, showed that overall production fell by 0.7% between October and November last year.

Read more

Only a third of SMEs predict 2016 first quarter growth

A slowdown in growth and uncertainty in the wider economy has seen confidence amongst SMEs decline sharply over the past two years, according to a new survey.

Read more

A fifth of SMEs still do their admin with pen and paper

A significant proportion of small and medium-sized UK businesses are still using nothing more than pen and paper to carry out their business admin tasks, according to a new survey. This could be hampering both productivity and profitability.

Read more

SMEs facing hidden costs for international payments

Small and medium enterprises in the UK could be paying up to £4 billion a year in hidden charges on international money transfers. According to a new report, 96% of the costs charged to make international payments are hidden from the customer as they are built into exchange rates.

Read more

More than 100,000 UK businesses are creditors in insolvency cases

More than 100,000 businesses in the UK were owed money by insolvent companies and individuals over the course of the past 12 months, according to figures released by insolvency trade body R3.

Read more