The Hot, Top 100 Companies in the UK

The Hot, Top 100 Companies in the UK

Real Business recently undertook a study in partnership with Investec and came up with the top 100 companies in the UK today.

The leading company was Alternergy – a green and solar energy company.

Here are the top 10:

• Alternergy
• Baird Investments
• Galmarley
• Toluna Group
• Ria Capital Markets
• State Oil
• Ink Publishing
• Mayday Healthcare
• JC Peacock & Co
• Firesource

Find out about who the other 90 companies were.

Source: http://realbusiness.co.uk/news/the-real-business-hot-100-2012

Why SMEs are important to the UK economy

I believe that SMEs are in the best position to respond to the current economic climate and generate business that will contribute to UK plc and move us out of recession and into a more stable environment.

The infographic below generated by BIS provides some interesting statistics relating to small business within the UK:

SMEs ‘can power an economic recovery’

SMEs 'can power an economic recovery'

Small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) could be the driving force for an economic recovery in the UK over the coming months, it has been argued.

Ensuring SMEs continue to invest in the future of local communities is key to getting the country back on a positive economic footing, as many firms have been hoarding cash in recent years and it is now important that these funds are reinvested in ways that deliver long-term growth for the UK economy.

The Office for National Statistics revealed that the third quarter of last year saw a 4.3 per cent year-on-year rise in business investment. Overall, outlay for UK firms rose by 0.3 per cent on the previous three months to £30.1 billion.

The figures showed the UK’s manufacturing industry performed particularly strongly over the three-month period, with a six per cent increase on the previous quarter.

Source: http://www.taylorvinters.com/news/smes-can-power-economic-recovery/4667

More business? No thanks I’m fine! What?

I despair.

Is entrepreneurism dead for British businesses?

So here I am at the Ibis Hotel in Earls Court at a seminar being run by Lee Gilbert (he’s great by the way – look him up. He’s an Internet Marketing Expert) and lo and behold there’s a ‘traditional’ English public under the same roof.

So, what has this got to do with the headline? Well, I only found out by accident because it happens to be raining and I didn’t bring a brolly; therefore thought I’d see what was available in the hotel.

There are another 50 people at the event, any of whom would only have found the venue by accident not by design.

There is admittedly an A-frame billboard in the reception of the hotel but no concerted effort by the pub to promote their services to almost a captive audience.

There’s 2 possible exits from the conference room we are in, neither with any clear promotion for delegates.

Wouldn’t you as a business owner do something proactive rather than leave it to chance – a couple more A-frames,  leaflet delegates as they came out, liaise with the event organisers to highlight the venue as opposed to all the establishments outside of the hotel,…..?

How many thousands of potential prospects just walk out the door and spend their pounds elsewhere over a year?

Why rely on the weather?

Stranger than fiction!

Government failing SMEs

A survey of small businesses reveals that 70 per cent of those polled do not feel that the Government is doing enough to help them despite the fact that the ‘Start-up Britain’ initiative places start-ups and small firms at the heart of the UK’s economic recovery.

According to the research by skilledpeople.com, small businesses want to see a range of changes to help them grow. Some 44 per cent would like to see more flexible employment laws introduced; 38 per cent would like to see business rates reduced; 30per cent would like the Government to introduce lower levels of corporation tax, while 29 per cent of business owners want to see the Government provide tax breaks to employ unemployed people.

Read full article.

New partnership to help SMEs seize global opportunities

The European Commission (EC) has launched a new partnership to help SMEs to profit from fast-growing markets such as China, India, Russia and regions like South East Asia and Latin America.

Currently only 13 per cent of SMEs are internationally active outside the EU through trade, investment or other forms of cooperation with foreign partners.

The EC sees promoting and supporting SMEs’ economic activities outside the EU as an important part of the Union’s overall competitiveness strategy and has, therefore, launched the Small Business, Big World partnership to help them penetrate new markets and find the right local partners.

The new strategy sets out six fields of action:

• Strengthening and mapping the existing supply of support services;
• Creating a single virtual gateway to information for SMEs;
• Making support schemes at EU level more consistent;
• Promoting clusters and networks for SME internationalisation;
• Rationalising new activities in priority markets;
• Leveraging existing EU external policies.

Failure rates improve amongst UK’s small business community

The health of the UK’s micro and small business community improved in April, according to Experian®, the global information services company.

Experian’s latest Insolvency Index, published last week, reveals that 1,808 UK companies, 0.10 per cent of the active business community, became insolvent in April 2011, 0.55 per cent fewer than the same period in 2010 (1,818).

Failures fell at a faster rate across the majority of the smaller business segments year-on-year, with the most notable reductions amongst the three to five (17.04 per cent fewer) and 26 to 50 (24.59 per cent fewer) employee organisations.

Failures amongst medium sized firms (101 – 500 employees) increased by 4.44 per cent year-on-year, while large company insolvencies (501+ employees) rose by 9.09 per cent.

Despite this, medium and large companies continue to have amongst the lowest failure rates, with just 0.18 per cent and 0.13 per cent of firms in these segments failing during April compared to the previous month.

Read more: http://www.creditman.biz/uk/members/news-view.asp?newsviewID=13720

Outlook positive for UK smaller companies

While concerns over bank lending to small and medium sized companies have grabbed the headlines recently, Alex Wright, manager of the Fidelity UK Opportunities fund, believes that the outlook for small caps in particular is very positive.

Alex Wright commented: “I still think we are early in the current economic recovery, which only really began in mid 2009. As we move into an environment of greater certainty this should be good for small caps which have historically performed well in times of positive economic momentum”.

Read full article: http://www.britishsme.co.uk/2011/06/09/outlook-positive-for-uk-smaller-companies/?utm_source=British+SME+Newsletter&utm_campaign=3c54634822-British_SME_Newsletter_June_20116_9_2011&utm_medium=email

Big tax changes for small businesses

Small business taxation is facing major reform with the potential merging of income tax and national insurance contributions, new approaches to taxing very small, unincorporated businesses, and a review of IR35 rules, says Francesca Lagerberg, Head of Tax at Grant Thornton.

In his 2011 budget speech, Chancellor George Osborne announced changes to the way small businesses are to be taxed. This follows the advice and recommendations proposed by the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS).

Following its initial review of the tax reliefs available in today’s tax system, the OTS’s second job was to carry out a review of small business taxation (PDF). The interim report, published on 10 March 2011, identifies those areas of the tax system that cause the most day-to-day complexity and uncertainty for small businesses, and recommends where to prioritise efforts in simplifying the regime.

The overwhelming conclusion is that major structural changes are required if the Government is to achieve a genuine and long-lasting simplification of the UK tax system.

Read more: http://www.grant-thornton.co.uk/thinking/elevate/index.php/elevate_templates/article/big_tax_changes_for_small_businesses/#

Small business owners rely on ‘gut instinct’ – *gulp*

Research released by T-Mobile shows that 56% of the UK’s small business owners would rely on gut instinct to make decisions about the future of their business.

The results found that 56% of small business owners believe that nothing stops them making change in their business, and 36% initiate change more in their business life than in their personal life. The majority (81%) believe themselves to be optimistic by nature. This perhaps explains their proactive attitude to initiating change in their businesses. 23%, however, describe themselves as ‘being too busy’ to make positive changes to their business and 20% admit to worrying about change.

Hmm – I wonder if this is a good thing or a bad thing?

At least, I guess, action is being taken but based on what? Is this necessarily going to achieve results?

Without making an informed choice to base a decision I am not convinced that this is going to lead to success.

My money is on having a defined plan and making decisions based on measurable targets.

What are your thoughts?