Franchisee Richard Pugh is certainly glad he decided to become his own boss with a Driver Hire recruitment franchise. Last week Driver Hire East London hit the £1m mark and is currently 13% up on last year’s turnover. Richard Pugh is of course happy with the news and the hard work he and his team […]
Vince Cable to speak at FSB conference
Business secretary, Vince Cable, is one of a number of senior politicians to speak at this years’ Federation for Small Business annual conference. The event will be held in Leicester this spring, where more than 600 delegates are expected to attend. Cable has been a strong advocate of small business and franchise services. The conference […]
Businesses remain cautiously optimistic in 2013
It seems that while the government is forecasting economic doom and gloom, the business community is predicting fields of gold for 2013…or at least fields of bronze. Despite the government announcing a double dip recession and UK’s credit rating being under threat, the business market is remaining cautiously optimistic. A survey of 300 senior business people in […]
Social media key for generating sales, study finds
New research shows that more companies are crediting social media for their sales volumes, freshbusinessthinking.com reports. A study by Barclays Bank found that social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and Pinterest had helped generate up to half of new sales, with the hospitality and leisure sectors in particular enjoying success via this channel. Ten per cent […]
Great business owners start off as great employees
The key to being a great business owner is to first learn how to become a great employee, according to a leading management consultant. Steve Tobak, who is a managing partner of Invisor Consulting, has claimed that aspiring business owners can prepare for entrepreneurship by showing great honesty, commitment and loyalty in their current job. […]
Middle-aged Brits keener to start their own business
The amount of middle-aged Brits starting their own business has almost doubled in the last year, according to new research. A study by freelance recruitment website PeoplePerHour has estimated an 88 per cent rise in 50 to 60-year-olds choosing to become self-employed. The majority appear to be happy with their decision as well. More than […]
Business owners urged to get help with their marketing straight away
New business owners have been urged to invest in help with their marketing from the word go. Scott Knox, who is director of the Marketing Agencies Association, questioned why many executives felt that a solid marketing strategy wasn’t important to them at launch. In an interview with guardian.co.uk, Knox said that digital marketing should be at […]
Businesses to benefit from the cloud this year
Businesses are set to make the most of the cloud in 2013, according to freshbusinessthinking.com. Software as a service popularity is on the increase and looks likely to continue its rise in popularity over the coming year. Firms are looking for more flexible computing capabilities and having cloud services ticks all the boxes. With the […]
Funding Circle founder hails peer-to-peer lending growth
Peer-to-peer lending looks set to have an increasingly important role to play in the UK economy, claims one industry source. In a column for telegraph.co.uk, founder of Funding Circle James Meekings claimed the past 12 months has seen the system ‘come of age’, adding that the government’s recent vote of confidence should help this form […]
