Over a third of women business owners (36.7%) are forecasting 10% revenue growth in 2009/10 according to findings of a major report on UK entrepreneurship. But female entrepreneurs are a lot more cautious than men when it comes to assessing their prospects.

According to the annual Entrepreneurship UK report released by accountants Deloitte’s, 42% of men expect to see turnover increase by between 50-200% over the next three years.

This compares to just over 32% of women who anticipate similar growth over the same period.

Debbie Griffiths of Deloitte says:

Expectations amongst women entrepreneurs are relatively guarded at this point, a sentiment that is only heightened when compared with the confidence displayed of their male counterparts.

When it comes to how growth is likely to be achieved, men and women also differ significantly.

Female business owners say entry into new markets (32%) and increased productivity (29%) will be the key drivers to boost business over the next few years.

Male entrepreneurs consider these areas less important (20% and 17% respectively).

Optimism is a byword for entrepreneurship, but hard-nosed realism is a must too.

The question is are women less confident in the prospects for their business, or are they simply avoiding the bravado of the alpha-male to look at the commercial climate with realistic eyes?

[Picture credit: Dyanna licenced from Flickr]

Although businesses big and small continue to go into insolvency and the situation is worse than a year ago, the rate of firms going bust in Q3 has fallen by 13.5% compared to Q2 according to the latest figures from Equifax’s 2009 Business Failure Report.

All business sectors and all regions of the UK have seen a slowing in the number of businesses closing their doors during June-September of this year.

Wales and the North East have seen the failure rate fall by 25% quarter-on-quarter, while the wholesale sector has performed the best with closures falling by 19.4%.

All of this, of course, doesn’t hide the fact that thousands of SMEs are going bust every month. Nevertheless, Neil Munroe of Equifax believes its latest data do offer some cause for cautious optimism:

… this must give businesses in general and the UK economy as a whole some confidence that the extreme difficulties we have been experiencing may be lessening … [but] it is crucial that these early signs of recovery are not over-stated.

A realistic approach continues to be paramount. Many businesses will have cut to survive.

Over the next six months, the real test of whether the worst of business closures is over, will be signs of a recovery in demand, sales and profitability.

The latest official figures from the Office of National Statistics show the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) taking a further fall during September 2009 with inflation for the month at 1.1% compared to 1.6% in August.

Quite apart from the impact on sterling, a period of zero inflation or even deflation looks quite possible.

The Retail Prices Index (RPI) still languishes in negative territory, also having fallen in September by 0.1% to 1.4%.

Gas and electricity prices were the major contributor to the downturn in inflation with prices unchanged month-on-month, but not increasing as they did a year ago when tariffs went up.

Other areas dampening inflation were food and drink, restaurants and hotels and recreation and media sectors where the price of DVDs and to a lesser extent games and toys increased by less than a year ago.

David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce, said of the latest figures:

Given the threats facing the economy, this allows the MPC to provide additional stimulus without fear of a short-term upsurge in inflation.

Quantitative easing by the Bank of England may not have filtered through into the system according to many economists.

Meanwhile businesses importing goods will find the effects of low inflation making conditions tough as sterling continues to fall against the Euro in particular.

What is uncertain is whether the Bank of England pumping money into the economy will have the desired effect or not.

SmallBizPod spoke earlier in the week to renowned economist Roger Bootle who believes deflation could still represent a very real threat to the UK economy in much the same way it did to Japan during that country’s ‘lost decade’.

[Picture credit: timparkinson licenced from Flickr]

Steps to shred sensitive documents seem like common sense, but large numbers of SMEs are failing to act to prevent criminals from taking advantage of lax security, according to a new survey released today as part of a national campaign to prevent identity fraud.

Nearly a third of UK businesses have fallen victim to fraud and 1 in 3 employees say they simply throw sensitive documents into normal rubbish bins, rather than waste baskets destined for shredding or secure disposal.

National Identify Fraud Prevention Week (NIDFPW) is designed to raise awareness of issues around ID theft for businesses and consumers alike and is backed by government, police, public sector and private businesses.

According to one company behind the scheme, which sells shredders (unsurprisingly!), 79% of small businesses make no effort to destroy sensitive documents bound for landfill or recycling.

To help raise awareness among businesses and to offer practical advice and tips, NIDFPW has launched a new ID fraud prevention website.

With banks and government agencies all failing to protect data in some high profile cases over the last 18 month, the site could well prove a useful resource for businesses large and small.

[Picture credit: Peat Bakke licenced from Flickr]

With the launch this week of the Home Business Awards 2009, it’s that time of year again when all home-based businesses have a chance to be recognised on a national stage for all their kitchen table entrepreneurial prowess.

This year’s awards highlight four main categories, ‘Home Business of the Year’, ‘Home Business Couple of the Year’, ‘Home Office of the Year’, ‘Young Home Business Owner of the Year’.

A new category introduced in 2009 focuses on everyone building a business from home in their spare time – the so-called 5 to 9ers.

Winners will be announced at the Enterprise Nation Conference on Home Enterprise Day on Friday 20th November.

The deadline for Home Business Awards entries is Friday 6th November.

Over 200,000 businesses could be facing a tax bombshell, having taken advantage of government ‘time-to-pay’ arrangements which let SMEs defer their liability with HMRC to ease cash flow.

Some £2.7 billion has already been deferred up until June this year, according to official figures.

Of that total £1.1 billion is now up for repayment, although 33,000 repeat arrangements have already been agreed amounting to £440 million.

On top of these figures, business debt owed to HMRC has risen enormously from £2.7 billion to over £27 billion over the last 12 months.

Some, including business restructuring specialists, MCR, are concerned that with the possibility of smaller businesses finding times tough, even if we emerge from a ‘technical recession’, the building up of tax owed could aggravate the very cash flow situation the Business Payment Support Service was set up to ease.

Steve Clancy, partner at MCR, said:

… the growing numbers of cash strapped companies that have put off paying taxes are at risk of insolvency because of this. Increases could start as soon as the end of the year as, despite the scheme still being available, we have seen HMRC tighten up on the procedure considerably since August 2009.

[Picture credit: Andy Beez licenced from Flickr]

Modest increases in GDP (gross domestic product) are set to return to the UK economy with 0.3% and 0.4% growth predicted in Q3 and Q4 2009 respectively, according to the CBI’s latest economic forecast released today.

The end of the recession is nigh, but the CBI warns that consumer and business demand is likely to remain stifled, making recovery in 2010 somewhat tentative.

The reintroduction of a 17.5% VAT rate in January 2010 will prompt consumers to rush out and buy ahead of the Christmas holiday period, but will see growth fall back in Q1 and Q2 to little more than 0.1%, says the lobby group for British business.

CBI director general, Richard Lambert, said:

The outlook is improving as the UK draws strength from quantitative easing, a weak pound and a recovering global economy. Although growth this quarter should mark the end of the recession, conditions in the UK will remain tough for some time yet, and it is difficult to see where demand growth will come from.

Business investment has seen its greatest fall in 40 years during 2009 and economists predict the situation will only gradually improve during 2010.

Add to this a ‘debt correction’ among consumers who are unlikely to want to splash the cash in the way they did when credit was easy, and you have a recipe for a very different economic landscape over the next few years.

This kind of economic adjustment was inevitable. Most businesses will already be planning for more subdued demand.

[Picture credit: DavetheGrey licenced from Flickr]

There has been a marked decrease in the numbers of firms going out of business in the UK, according to data from Experian’s Insolvency and Distress Index which estimates 1,796 companies went into administration in August 2009.

This is 23% lower than the figures for July 2009 and the smallest increase since September 2008, almost a year ago.

But just as entering a recession was unclear for some time, so exiting a recession is certainly not black and white.

The overall stock of new businesses has continued to rise and Experian believes this may mask the real impact on business closures of the greatest global downturn since the end of WWII.

The number of firms on the brink has also decreased slightly with Experian reporting that its ‘distress’ score (the number likely to close soon) has also improved to be at its most robust since August last year.

The jury’s still out on how devastating this recession is likely to be in terms of jobs and business closures. Both tend to be known, notoriously, as ‘lagging indicators’.

Just in raw numbers alone, the number of business closures is already on a par with the total for the last major recession in the early nineties.

[Picture credit: mycuteladybug licenced from Flickr]

More good news for early stage internet and mobile companies today as Julie Meyer, online Dragon and founder of Ariadne Capital, announces backing for a debut VC fund which aims to raise £20 million by the end of the year.

The first £250,000 to £1 million of the Ariadne Capital Entrepreneurs Fund (ACE Fund) will target ‘game-changing’ businesses – those investors consider to have disruptive technology, business models or market vision.

As well as Julie Meyer herself, backers of the fund include un-named investors from the London Private Equity world and the following entrepreneurs:

• David Rowe, founder of EasyNet
• Marc Worth, founder of WGSN
• Rob Hersov, founder of Marquis Jet Europe
• Michael Jackson, former Chairman of Sage, Partygaming and Access Intelligence, Founder of Elderstreet
• Simon Capreis, gaming and betting private investor
• Gerard Bonnevay, Board Director of Success Europe, Former Board Director of Credit Agricole and founder of Celimage

On announcing the fund this morning, Meyer said:

Ariadne Capital has developed a model whereby we bring the gutsiest entrepreneurs into our portfolio, and advise them effectively on the Go to Market, the Board alignment, Corporate Structure and High Growth Management. Our new ACE Fund helps us to take that expertise to the next level.

The ACE Fund launch follows a similar fund, ProFounders Capital, announced by Lastminute.com founder Brent Hoberman and Bebo founder, Michael Birch, earlier this summer which plans to offer £30 million to early stage web/technology businesses.

The ‘entrepreneurs funding entrepreneurs’ sector seems to be very active at the moment in the UK. Perhaps a sign of the times.

Definitely an interesting bridge between angel and VC funding proper.

Three young men have scooped prizes for best small business, best startup and best entrepreneur at the first Nectar Business small business awards. Among them is 24 year old, Rob Mattham founder of Shiply.com an innovative online transport marketplace.

Other winners include the very well known, but astonishingly young (considering what he’s achieved at just 20) Fraser Doherty of SuperJams who clinched the best entrepreneur award and James Taylor whose business SportStars was named best small business of the year.

Robert Mattham’s startup Shiply.com is perhaps the most innovative and interesting of the bunch.

He discovered that 25% of lorries on British roads run empty every day estimated to be 36 million tonnes of unnecessary CO2 pumped into the atmosphere each year.

Shiply.com, an online transport marketplace, attempts to improve this environmentally damaging situation by allowing users to list goods and eBay items requiring transport which are then bid on by a pool of 3,500 hauliers who may already be making similar delivery trips.

If you’ve ever used a supermarket home delivery service, you’ll know that you can select delivery times to match hours when the delivery van is already in your area. It’s a similar kind of principle.

Robert plans to expand the site to Australia later this year, having already received over 23,000 shipping requests.

Fraser Doherty set up his business, SuperJams, making jam at his grandmother’s kitchen table when he was just 14. Six years on and Fraser’s jam is stocked in all the major supermarkets, selling over 500,000 jars a year.

Finally, James Taylor’s SportStars, which won small business of the year, was set up to provide UK children with quality sports coaching as part of schools’ PE curriculum.

In its first year SportStars grew its school contracts from 5 to 30 and has also developed a subsidiary brand, SuperStars, which aims to provide a similar service for children interested in developing their arts skills.

All in all some great winners and inspiration to the one in four young men who say they would like to start their own business according to YouGov research.

The only question we have about the awards is whether the judges had a predilection for sibilant small businesses?

It may not have been an easy month for manufacturers, but their outlook for production over the coming quarter is more positive than it has been since last summer, according to data from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).

The CBI’s Industrial Trends Survey shows 32% of UK manufacturing firms believe their output will fall over the next three months, while 24% say it will increase.

The resulting balance of opinion is the least negative since June 2008.

As others have pointed out, the signs of optimism are fragile.  A balance of 54% of businesses say their order books are below normal.

In addition, in stark contrast to their German counterparts (an economy which has recently escaped recession), export order book levels also look weak.

Richard Lambert, director-general of the CBI says:

Expectations for manufacturing output over the coming three months are the least negative in over a year. This is partly because many firms have run their stock levels down quite aggressively over the summer, so some manufacturers are now looking to raise production.

Most manufacturers are still expecting to lower prices over the coming months in domestic markets.

[Picture credit: sara~ licenced from Flickr]

Official figures released today show the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) held firm at 1.8% in July 2009, the first time the rate of inflation hasn’t fallen for several months. The Retail Prices Index (RPI), while still in minus territory, also rose slightly.

Data from the Office of National Statistics reveal that downward pressures on inflation were largely exerted by food and non-alcoholic drinks.

Following large price rises in food and drink due to seasonal supply issues last year, the decline in the cost of produce in this area makes sense.

Other sectors to have dropped prices include hotels and restaurants perhaps looking to offer good deals to consumers to make the most of an anticipated ’stay-at-home’ holiday trend – i.e. people holidaying in the UK, rather than abroad.

The RPI rose by 0.2% to reach -1.4% in July compared to -1.6% the previous month.

[Picture credit: Dave McLear licenced from Flickr]

Keeping track of changes to legislation that affect your business often feels like a daunting task. A summary of what you’ll need to look out for from 1st October, the next twice yearly ‘common commencement date’, have just been listed on the Business Link website.

Key changes include:

• companies will only need to make their records available for public
  inspection in one place, rather than multiple locations;
• the national minimum wage (NMW) rising to £5.80 an hour for
  workers aged 22 and above, to £4.83 an hour to workers aged 18-21 and to £3.57 for under 18s above compulsory school age;
• tips paid to a worker through the employer’s payroll will no longer count towards the NMW;
• public companies will need to file their corporate governance statement at Companies House (unless it is already included in the Directors’ report).

Details of the above changes and others can be found at the Business Link common commencement date page.

The site also offers an alert service for more instant updates to give you and your business time to prepare.

[Picture credit: InfoMoto licenced from Flickr]

James Caan of Dragon’s Den is among those supporting the government-backed iawards which aim to recognise British achievements in science, technology and innovation. These new awards are open to all businesses, with a couple of categories paticularly suited to SMEs.

The Next Big Thing category is for businesses or organisations who have conducted research and development into an innovative product, but have yet to fully commercialise it.

The other category which may be perfect for smaller businesses, is the Best British Inside category.  This will focus on businesses or organisations whose innovation created a breakthrough which forms a central element of the success of any other company around the world.

The closing date for entries is 16th September.

Full details on how to throw your hat into the ring can be found can be found on the iawards how to enter pages.

As regular listeners of the podcast will know, we’re big fans of business books here at SmallBizPod, so were intrigued to find out which titles had made the cut on this year’s long list for the Financial Times and Goldman Sachs business book of the year awards.

The full list is as follows:

Animal Spirits
George A. Akerlof & Robert J. Shiller (Princeton University Press)

Clever
Rob Goffee & Gareth Jones (Harvard Business Press)

Free
Chris Anderson (Random House UK, Hyperion Books USA)

Good Value
Stephen Green (Penguin Press UK, Grove/Atlantic USA)

House of Cards
William D. Cohan (Penguin Press UK, Doubleday USA)

How the Mighty Fall
Jim Collins (Random House UK, HarperCollins USA)

Imagining India
Nandan Nilekani (Allen Lane UK, Penguin USA)

In Fed We Trust
David Wessel (Crown Business)

Lords of Finance
Liaquat Ahamed (Cornerstone, Random House UK, Penguin Press USA)

The Match King
Frank Partnoy (Profile Books UK, Public Affairs USA)

The Myth of the Rational Market
Justin Fox (HarperCollins)

SuperCorp
Rosabeth Moss Kanter (Profile Books UK, Random House USA)

This Time is Different
Carmen M. Reinhart & Kenneth S. Rogoff (Princeton University Press)

Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal
Tristram Stuart (Penguin Press UK, WW Norton & Co USA )

Why Your World is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller
Jeff Rubin (Virgin Books UK, Random House USA)

As ever, any SmallBizPod listeners who’d like to contribute a book review to the podcast, perhaps even one or two from the above list, please get in touch. We’ve had some exceptional contributions so far.

With the housing boom, came a boom for tradesman of all kinds and standards. But today, as the recession continues, plumbers, builders, electricians, carpenters and others with trades are finding business increasingly tough.

Nearly 80% of tradesmen have seen customer spend decline over the last 12 months. What’s more the big squeeze is well and truly on.

Haggling down prices, less spending and late payments from customers have combined with tighter payment terms from suppliers to make life extremely difficult for many tradesmen according to a SimplyBusiness.co.uk survey released today.

Nearly three quarters (64%) have experienced a doubling of the number of customers defaulting on money owed for work completed.

Over a third (36%) have also experienced an increase in the number of complaints about their work.

Although there has been an upturn in home improvement jobs as fewer people are in a position to move house, tradesman seem to be taking the brunt of the construction recession.

Perhaps they should take some advice from one of London’s best known millionaire plumbers.

[Picture credit: Rob Shenk licenced from Flickr]

New figures from the The Insolvency Service show the total number of company voluntary and compulsory liquidations rose by 2.9% in Q2 2009 compared to the previous quarter, an increase of 39.1% on the same period in 2008.

Overall there were 5,055 business liquidations in England and Wales from April to July 2009.

Of these 1,457 were compulsory liquidations and 3,598 creditors voluntary liquidations.

In addition the official statistics reveal a further 1,529 corporate insolvencies, a rise of 22.7% on the previous year.

Some small business groups believe the big rise in firms going out of business is due to banks’ failure to lend to the sector.

Phil McCabe of the Forum of Private Businesses said:

A variety of factors are contributing to soaring insolvencies, but they all lead to the same major symptom – a lack of cash … our research has consistently shown that demand for finance is not being satisfied by the supply from lenders.

What is not, of course, clear from the business closure statistics is how many were potentially viable had the credit crunch not combined with a deep recession.

Every business closure is a tragedy.

But in the worst recession the UK’s seen in a generation, the number of businesses closing does not seem particularly surprising or indeed, particularly extraordinary from a historical perspective.

[Picture credit: secretlondon123 licenced from Flickr]

Medium-sized manufacturing firms in the UK are expecting growth to return in the third quarter of 2009, in part stimulated by an improvement in export orders. Other small businesses in the sector are also seeing the rate of decline in orders and output slowing.

Just over half (51%) of SME manufacturing companies saw new orders fall in the three months to end July, while 17% saw a rise, according to the latest Confederation of British industries (CBI) SME Trends Survey.

This is a significant improvement on results from the first quarter of 2009.

Despite a slowing in the decline of confidence, orders and output, CBI figures still show the SME sector suffering.

Volumes of domestic orders remained weak (a balance of -38%) and are predicted to shrink further during the next quarter.

Nevertheless, it’s encouraging to see attitudes shifting, optimism returning, little by little and a real upturn for some medium-sized businesses, especially in terms of exports.

Russel Griggs, chair of the CBI SME Council, said:

So far, the relative weakness of Sterling has not provided firms with much of an export boost. It is therefore encouraging that medium-sized companies are hopeful overseas orders will pick up in the next quarter, helping raise total orders and output.

Green shoots? Perhaps.

[Photo credit: photohome_uk licenced from Flickr]

The global recession may have levelled off with growth expected to return to the economy within 18 months according to the latest survey of international finance professionals. But public sector debt may yet stifle economic growth.

The Global Economic Conditions Survey, published by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), reveals a decline in business confidence has come to a halt in regions such as Asia-Pacific and in some sectors, including small and medium-sized businesses.

In the UK over two thirds of finance professionals (69%) say the economic downturn has bottomed out – twice the number who thought so in Q1 this year.

Although confidence may have returned, the reality of trading is still very tough.

Accountants focusing on the public sector were particularly concerned by what impact necessary austerity measures introduced by governments would have on public sector spending.

This raises concerns of a double dip recession with the private sector having been hit hardest first, and the public sector suffering once economic stimulus packages are spent and government debt needs to be repaid.

When asked what they thought the economic landscape would look like post credit crunch, these were the top five features identified by respondents:

• stricter and more pervasive regulation, especially of financial institutions;
• tighter credit conditions;
• increased efficiency, as organisations look inward for cost savings and more efficient ways of doing business;
• stronger governance and internal business controls;
• consumers expected to become cautious net savers.

Commenting on the research, Dr Steve Priddy of ACCA said:

While there is little evidence of economic recovery, there is renewed confidence and optimism … given the growing debate about fiscal policy in the UK, it will be important to see some early evidence of whether the concerns of public sector finance professionals are justified.

[Picture credit: j / f / photos licenced from Flickr]

Survival, not growth is the mantra of British businesses in recession according to the latest annual Entrepreneur UK report from Deloitte which suggests the axe must fall further to cut costs to the bone.

According to the report released today, just over one fifth of firms see no prospect of revenue growth during 2009.

Meanwhile 98% of entrepreneurs and business owners recognise their companies have weaknesses which could readily be spotted and exploited by competitors.

Commenting on the report, Dragon’s Den entrepreneur James Caan takes a Darwinian view:

… after six or seven years of uninterrupted economic growth, companies have become a little complacent. Many have not done enough to improve the quality of their services or products. The market has now moved on and only the best will survive.

A failure by many businesses to slash costs hard enough and deep enough is one of the report’s biggest criticisms.

Two thirds of businesses have identified areas where costs could be cut, but haven’t got around to implementing them yet.

Four out of ten say, if a new owner took over, they’d immediately find it easy to reduce head count and admin costs as well as salaries and bonuses.

Despite the potential benefits of expanding overseas with the pound relatively weaker against other currencies, looking to international markets for growth is not a priority for most.

Nearly two thirds of companies (62%) say the UK offers them the best opportunity for growth over the next three years.

All of which adds up to a slightly bemusing picture. It seems bizarre that so many businesses would have spotted competitive weaknesses and opportunities to cut costs and done nothing about it.

We’d be really interested to know how your business is reacting to the recession. Are you cutting costs? Are you fixing competitive weaknesses? Or are you just keeping your head down and surviving?

[Picture credit: Darren and Brad licenced from Flickr]

If you’re running a small business in the digital space, then UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) and our friends over at Chinwag are encouraging you to be part of the UK presence at two key international trade shows.

Grants are being offered to support funding of SMEs to take part in the UK Pavillion at the eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit in Washington DC and ad:tech China in Beijing in October and November 2009 respectively.

Funding is being provided as part of UKTI’s Tradeshow Access Programme and is awarded on the basis that participation will have a major impact on the prospects of the chosen businesses in breaking into new markets overseas.

Eligible small businesses have until 5.00pm on Friday 7th August to get their applications in. Full details available on the Chinwag website.

[Picture credit: scorp84 licenced from Flickr]

Official figures for June 2009 released today show large falls in both the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) and the Retail Prices Index (RPI). The figures raise the very real spectre of deflation with the RPI heading into negative territory not seen since recods began in 1948.

At 1.8% CPI has fallen below the government’s 2% inflation target for the first time since September 2007.

The main downward pressure came from food and non-alcoholic drinks where prices fell between May and June in 2009 compared to increases in the cost of food during the same period in 2008.

David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce said:

Inflation is a longer-term threat which must be dealt with by a credible exit strategy, but this can only be applied when the recession ends. In the near future we urge the Bank of England to increase the scale of quantitative easing well beyond £125 billion.

The RPI, which includes housing costs such as mortgage interest repayments, fell by 0.5% to a record deflationary low of -1.6%.

Optimism is returning to the small business sector with over half expecting to expand over the next three years, according to the Quarterly Survey of Small Business in Britain, the longest standing survey of the sector set up by the Open University in 1984.

Although nearly half (49%) the small firms questioned had seen sales fall over the last 12 months, fewer expect to cut staff and 62% have made no employment changes during the same period.

Of the 50% who are most optimistic about the future, 34% had bucked the prevailing trend and seen an increase in sales over the last year.

Professor Colin Gray, professor of enterprise development at the Open University Business School, says:

These second quarter results show the mood of UK small businesses as one of cautious optimism. The decline appears to have slowed and may be levelling out and points to small businesses having a very different experience of recession.

Despite these possible green shoots, the survey highlights how the recession may have had an impact on the ambition of Britain’s SMEs with 37% saying they have now set only modest growth targets, while 32% aim to keep their businesses the same size.

When asked what were the biggest factors affecting business at the moment, the economy and lack of demand topped the list of concerns (61%) with cashflow, late payment (33%) and government red tape (31%) following on.

[Picture credit: lrargerich licenced from Flickr]

One of the most prestigious awards for UK businesses of all sizes, considered by some as a knighthood for a company, the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise will be open for entries from 20th July with winners announced on 21st April 2010.

Entry forms can be downloaded from the Queen’s Awards website and should be submitted by 2pm on 30 October 2009.

Any UK-based business with two or more employees demonstrating outstanding and sustained commercial success can enter the awards which have three categories: International Trade, Innovation, and Sustainable Development.

From 20th July nominations are also being sought for The Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion (QAEP).

These Awards recognise individuals who have found inspiring ways to encourage UK entrepreneurship.

Just over two fifths (42%) of finance directors in small to medium sized businesses in the UK say the weakness of the pound has had a serious and significant impact on their business, according to a survey released today.

Moneycorp, which commissioned the survey of 500 decision makers in SMEs across the UK, says that 30% of businesses rely on imports which on average make up 20% of their costs.

Currency fluctuation and a vulnerability in sterling therefore creates a problem for importers, particularly as 40% of larger SMEs say that they do not directly protect their exposure to currency risk.

For many, of course, the cost and volumes required to hedge currency will outweigh the benefits. Nevertheless firms with larger turnover may be missing a trick with 30% of finance directors acknowledging their lack of understanding of currency risk had hit the bottom line.

UK exporters by contrast have found a weak pound a godsend, creating new opportunities in international markets. Indeed the government is encouraging export-led recovery from recession with the UKTI (UK Trade and Investment) playing an active role.

Nevertheless, recent steep climbs against the dollar for example (up 11% in one month) and ongoing volatility mean that even exporters may be vulnerable to swift movements in currency, despite the pounds inherent recent weakness.

[Picture credit: computerjoe licenced from Flickr]

In radical proposals the CBI is calling on government to overhaul employment legislation at what it describes as a critical time for the UK economy.

Among the ideas presented is a scheme designed to provide employees with an option to take time off work for a period of six months, rather than being made redundant.

People choosing to take up to six months off work, under the ‘alternative to redundancy’ (ATR) scheme would receive twice the level of job seekers’ allowance they’d be permitted if made redundant, split 50/50 between the government and employer.

Employment legislation has added over £70 billion to business costs since 1998, according to the CBI, and action to address this burden is required quickly as the organisation predicts unemployment in the UK will reach 3.03 million by the second quarter of 2010.

John Cridland, CBI director-general, said:

The worst of the recession may be over, but businesses still face a long convalescence and the dole queues will continue to grow. The alternative to redundancy scheme could save jobs by giving businesses more leeway as the economy recovers.

Employers and employees have shown extraordinary flexibility and co-operation in trying to protect jobs over recent months.

The CBI appears to be trying to formalise some of the schemes created by individual companies on an ad hoc basis, while clawing back some of the costs of legislation introduced over the last decade.

How likely is an ATR scheme to take off with government backing? The words pigs and fly seem appropriate.

[Picture credit: Justin Cormack licenced from Flickr]

The ripple effect of late payments could be costing British businesses as much as £2 billion a year according to research released today which shows that for 1.35 million firms, one late payment instantly affects their suppliers.

The time devoted to chasing late payment has also increased during 2009 with 52% of small business owners saying it’s taking them longer to persuade customers to pay up.

The research of 876 businesses conducted on behalf of Bibby Financial Services found that 12% were spending three days or more a month chasing late payers.

These figures support data released earlier this year by payments system BACS which showed SMEs are owned £25.9 billion, up 40% on 2008.

In order to cover the shortfall created by delays in payment, small businesses are resorting to bank overdrafts (20%), loans from friends (10%) and family (10%), drawing on savings (5%) and in some cases using personal credit cards (3%).

All in all disappointing that more businesses of all sizes aren’t recognising that paying promptly is going to benefit all of us, but a sign of the times.

[Picture credit: laRuth licenced from Flickr]

The second half of 2009 looks set to be packed with awards to celebrate the success of startups and small businesses.

Here’s a quick round up of a few you might want to think about entering or voting in.

First off there’s the annual O2 X awards for UK businesses with 1-50 employees that have done something daring, different or unique. Details online from the above link with a closing date of 1 August 2009.

Next up there’s the Techcrunch Europas, a celebration for all things web startup throughout Europe on which you can vote. If you want to vote for your favourite be quick, as winners are announced next Wednesday 9 July.

For businesses with an eye on international trade with China there’s the Cathay Pacific China Business Awards. These aim to recognise successful British businesses in the region. Entries to be submitted online by 31 October 2009.

Finally bringing awards right back down to a local level, we’ve just heard about the Martin & Audrey Wood Enterprise Awards launched by Oxford Innovation. The awards celebrate hi-tech startups in Oxfordshire and the Thames Valley. To enter or nominate a company before the closing date of 15 September 2009, head to the above link.

We’re great believers in recognising success here at SmallBizPod, so if you know of other awards we should be highlighting, do get in touch.

[Picture credit: terren in Virginia licenced from Flickr]

According to reports from Techcrunch this morning, the huge restructuring at MySpace will continue outside the US with up to 300 staff being axed and four or more offices closing before the end of the year.

London, Berlin and Sydney look set to become the main hubs for MySpace outside the US.

As brutal as the cuts appear to be with over 60% of international staff being given the boot in addition to the cull of 33% in the US, revenues at MySpace are reportedly set to plummet by 15% to $495 million by the end of 2009.

It’s also clear, while the advertising market even online is challenging, Facebook continues to present a massive challenge having stolen MySpace’s social networking crown last year.

What’s the future for MySpace, that Rupert Murdoch so astutely purchased back in 2005?

Although growth is flat, it’s still profitable and ought to be more so now costs have been slashed so brutally.

It’ll be fascinating to see whether there’s a strategy to grow users after this phase is over. If not, it may be doomed to become the next Friendster.

The growing trend in kitchen table entrepreneurs and homeworkers means the sector is rightly getting lots of attention.  So it’s good to see the recent launch of two events for home-based small businesses, Home Enterprise Week and Home Enterprise Day.

Home Enterprise Day will take place on Friday 20th November as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week here in the UK and will be run by our friend Emma Jones at Enterprise Nation.

Its aim will be to encourage new businesses to start from home and to inspire existing ones to grow.

The day will include a conference for home entrepreneurs and the announcement of winners of the annual Home Business Awards.

If you can’t wait until November, then there’s always Home Enterprise Week which will take place on 6-10 July, recently announced by the National Federation of Enterprise Agencies (NFEA).

The NFEA typically represents enterprise support agencies around the country.  Through these support agencies it intends to focus on a series of local events to encourage and support home-based businesses.

Since Emma Jones from Enterprise Nation sits on the board of the NFEA, it’s no surprise that the federation has chosen to focus on the home enterprise sector.

Who knows, this interesting partnership may even lead to the creation of a new membership organisation designed to support and represent Birtain’s home-based small business community.

[Picture credit: scorchamac licenced from Flickr]