HMRC has launched a new website called Tax Confident, aimed at helping people understand tax in simpler language. For small business owners, sole traders and side-hustle founders, the practical value is not that it changes…
The Bank of England has left Bank Rate unchanged at 3.75%, but this was not a quiet hold. For UK small businesses, the bigger message is that borrowing costs may stay awkward for longer and…
Hundreds of employers across the UK have been named for failing to pay the legal minimum wage, in a fresh government enforcement round that small business owners should treat as a timely reminder rather than…
England-based small businesses with enough land or yard space may soon have a simpler route to generating some of their own electricity. The government has opened a consultation on new planning rules that would let…
UK small businesses are being asked to check their Companies House details after a security issue in the WebFiling service exposed a narrow but uncomfortable risk: some logged-in users may have been able to see…
A new level 4 AI and automation apprenticeship is open to employers across the UK. For small businesses, the opportunity is not just hiring talent but fixing repetitive admin, joining up systems and building AI capability without jumping straight into expensive software projects.
A new government-backed energy-saving tool could be worth a look for hospitality SMEs that are tired of watching margin leak away through lights, fridges, extraction systems and other everyday power use. The scheme, announced on…
Small employers across the UK have been handed a new reason to look again at apprenticeships and entry-level hiring. The government says a fresh £1 billion youth employment package will help unlock 200,000 jobs and…
Higher oil prices are already feeding through into the day-to-day costs that many UK small businesses feel first: fuel, deliveries, supplier charges and customer confidence. Over the weekend, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said the government…
HMRC has quietly posted a practical warning that could matter for thousands of small firms doing VAT checks next week. From 9am on Monday 16 March until 5pm on Friday 20 March 2026, new VAT…