Rising fuel prices are becoming a real headache for UK small businesses again, especially the firms that feel every extra pound straight away: tradespeople in vans, local delivery operators, mobile services, independent retailers and hospitality…
Hospitality businesses in Northern Ireland are warning that the VAT gap with the Republic of Ireland is making it harder to compete for customers, functions and visitor spend. For small hotels, cafes, pubs and restaurants…
Retail crime is hardly new, but the tone of the conversation has sharpened this week for a reason. Marks & Spencer has publicly called for tougher action after a run of incidents involving shoplifting, staff…
Scottish small businesses heading into the Easter weekend may need to plan for a rougher few days than usual. Storm Dave is expected to bring strong winds across much of Scotland, with some exposed areas…
If you run or manage a UK forecourt, this is one of those admin jobs that has just become harder to ignore. The Competition and Markets Authority has written to road fuel retailers to remind…
Most small businesses can ignore this one. But if you make, import, warehouse or sell vaping products in the UK, HMRC has just opened the approval process for a new duty regime that could become…
A fresh procurement push in England will not put a public-sector contract on anyone’s desk overnight. But for small growers, wholesalers, caterers and local food producers, it is one of the clearer signals in a…
Weekend jobs used to be a fairly normal way into work for teenagers. For many small firms, they were also a useful way to cover busy shifts, build a future staff pipeline and bring in…
UK shoppers are getting more cautious again, and that matters for the smaller firms that rely on everyday discretionary spending. GfK’s Consumer Confidence Barometer fell two points to -21 in March, while expectations for the…
The government has agreed to invest up to £100 million to reopen the mothballed Ensus plant on Teesside as part of a contingency plan against possible carbon dioxide shortages linked to the Iran war. That…