Features

As the economy opens up in the aftermath of the pandemic, many SMEs will be looking to trusted accountants and lawyers to ensure they take appropriate steps to enhance their businesses as they start to expand. While many advisers prove themselves to be a very effective asset, poor advice from a trusted source could cause significant financial loss for SMEs, and can constitute professional negligence under the law.  Some SMEs will be in the fortunate position of never needing to bring a claim against one of their professional advisors.  But for those that do, that process may be an unfamiliar one. 

Every now and again, a complex area of law is thrust into the limelight by the circumstances of a particularly high-profile case.

COVID-19 has fundamentally changed the way restaurants operate, accelerating adoption of online ordering and delivery technology like never before as dining rooms closed and customers spent more time at home.

When you run a business, you aim to maximise the profits from your operations. To achieve this, you can consider automation to unlock the benefits of the constant technological advancements taking place. In this guide, we show you how your business can reap the benefits of automation.

Global crises like the current Corona and Ukraine crisis throw us into an ocean of uncertainty. And it isn’t over yet. We are probably facing a whole decade of drastic change, uncertainty, and upheaval.

Young consumers around the world adore the serendipitous nature of online shopping today. They can discover exciting new brands, great prices and wide choices when they’re browsing beyond familiar, domestic websites for fashion, health and beauty, and homewares.

Nothing is set in stone. With signs that many industries are starting to bounce back after the COVID-19 pandemic, it can still be tricky to predict what lies ahead and what can be done to future-proof businesses for a successful 2022 and beyond.

There’s no doubt about it: today’s economy and sociopolitical outlook are impacting the ability of start-ups to fundraise. Early data during the pandemic showed a 50% drop in funding compared to the same weeks in 2019, and while there was significant uptick in venture capital in 2020, early stage companies still suffered.

The Challenger disaster. A part of the shuttle known as the O-ring was faulty. NASA employees knew about the fault before the disaster, but they either ignored the problem or were disregarded when they tried to alert higher-ups about the issue. Single loop learning had failed NASA and it ended in disaster.

As the economy springs back into action following two turbulent years, businesses are considering how to recover after the pandemic and maximise their commercial success. The role that events can play in this post-pandemic recovery should not be overlooked.

While individual multinational corporations may have a disproportionately negative impact on the environment, the cumulative effect of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) also presents both a huge problem and an excellent opportunity for climate action. According to a recent study by the British Business Bank, SMEs are responsible for nearly 50% of all business-driven greenhouse gas emissions in the UK largely, in part, due to the use of inefficient internal and supply chain processes. Despite this, 76% of SMEs are yet to implement a decarbonisation strategy and according to another recent study by O2 and the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC), only one in ten are even measuring their carbon emissions.

When the founder of an e-commerce company is looking to sell their business in the mid to long run, there are a few things they need to do first to make sure that they get the valuation they want and ensure a smooth process.

There can be little doubt that the last few years have been among the liveliest in online retail on record. While the sector has seen years of relentless incremental growth, several factors converged in 2020 to instigate a boom in eCommerce, and a quickening of its growth in share of all sales.

Increased digitalisation and the changes to the labour market brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic mean that working from anywhere has not only become possible but also acceptable to an increasing number of people. This is therefore changing the way we work, as well as how we buy, sell and share goods and services.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly two billion frontline workers across the world have played a vital role in supporting our communities and economies, all while battling various health risks, supply chain problems, and labour shortages.

It is fair to say that the UK’s tech industry is currently experiencing something of a renaissance period. The sector is booming, and shrewd investors from right across the globe are attracted by the technological innovations that are being made in the country.

Starting a new business is an exciting and empowering prospect, but it’s not without significant challenges along the way. In fact, many entrepreneurs struggle to navigate the hurdles of starting a company, with around 20% of new businesses failing within their first two years. Part of giving your enterprise the best chance of avoiding this trend is to embrace the right tools.

If 2020 was the year that the world was forced to dip its toes into flexible working patterns and 2021 was the year that this became standard practice, what will 2022 bring? Flexible work looks to have cemented itself as the new ‘business as usual’, with over two-thirds of UK businesses now reportedly offering employees remote working options, but the changes haven’t stopped there. As business leaders look to satisfy the world’s growing appetite for greater flexibility and freedom, many are now not only reconsidering where their team can work, but also when.