News

Staff training crucial for SME recovery post-COVID

A new study, commissioned by business bank, Allica Bank, shows that the practice of regular training correlates strongly with high performance in SMEs and will be vital to businesses’ prospects of a swift recovery post-COVID. The study analysed data from over 1,000 companies and ranked their success on a scale that evaluated factors including productivity, growth, consistency and outlook.

Does your startup have the potential to revolutionise logistics?

W2 is Wincanton’s digital innovation programme for developing products and services across all sectors of the Group to drive sustainable value in the supply chain. Under the W2 umbrella, W2 Labs aims to reach out to both startups and existing partners to bring fresh thinking to the supply chain, help us respond intelligently to business change and develop agile, flexible and potentially transformative solutions that improve Wincanton’s customer offering.

Fintech Pledge launched to further strengthen UK’s fintech sector

Tech Nation has today announced the launch of the Fintech Pledge with support from HM Treasury (HMT) and the Fintech Delivery Panel, to accelerate the growth of the UK’s fintech sector by enabling enhanced collaboration between banks and leading fintech firms.

Sewio launches competition to win a Digital Hero Enablement Kit

Sewio, a UWB-based real-time location system (RTLS) vendor, is giving away three Digital Hero Enablement Kits for free to evangelise ultrawideband (UWB) technology and its advantages to the wider market.

Xero revamps Starter plan to support SMEs in a changing economy

Xero has announced that it is increasing the limits on its Starter plan, alongside improving the functionality of payments and insights tools, to help sole traders and new small businesses get started, manage their cash flow and grow during and beyond the pandemic.

Sustainable fashion app expands across UK & Ireland

Sustainable fashion app, Nuw has announced the expansion of its services across the UK and Ireland to empower people to reduce their environmental impact of fashion, and give love to the clothes that already exist in our own wardrobes.

BigChange premieres Kevin Keegan’s Secrets of Leadership

When should leaders invest in homegrown talent or go headhunting? Is there a place in a team for driven but disruptive employees? Is leading with transparency always the right way? These questions and more are tackled by former England football manager, Kevin Keegan OBE and BigChange founder, Martin Port in a new series of video interviews launched today.

Government called to step in on SME tech adoption

Xero is calling on the government to step in on tech adoption for small firms after its report reveals the impact on the post-pandemic recovery. The resilience and recovery of a small business is acutely impacted by how digitally enabled they are, according to Xero’s new report on the global impact of COVID-19.

Three quarters of businesses not transparent about paternity rights

New research, commissioned by meeting provider, PowWowNow has revealed only a quarter (25.9%) of companies provided information about Shared Parental Leave (SPL) without it being requested first, suggesting a lack of transparency around the existence of the initiative is preventing its uptake.

New global marketplace for high end furniture to launch Spring 2021

Founder of early digital success story, Online Galleries, and former Managing Director of 1stdibs’ international region, Carmine Bruno has announced his new venture: an international marketplace that will set a new standard for dealing antiques and furniture online.

London Tech Week launches new ‘12 Clusters of Tech’ programme

London Tech Week has announced plans to definitively map the UK tech scene highlighting and promoting the best businesses, innovators and thinkers operating across the country.

Innovations and ventures awarded €60m from EIT Crisis Response Initiative

As part of the ‘Pandemic Response Projects’, 62 new innovation projects bringing together 212 partners from 25 countries are developing solutions directly tackling COVID-19 related challenges. The ‘Venture Support Instrument’ is supporting 145 startups, scale-ups and SMEs from 23 countries that have been enormously impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.

UK fintechs partner to speed up CBILS access ahead of deadline

As the Government’s CBILS initiative draws to a close this month, two British fintechs Ebury and MarketFinance, have joined forces to ensure SMEs across the UK are able to quickly access the emergency lending. MarketFinance will offer both its CBILS loans and revolving credit facilities to Ebury’s UK SME base to support them with their business finance needs.

Video call fatigue amounts to 862 million unproductive business hours

Connected Brits admit to spending hours getting ready for work-related video calls during lockdown and struggling to get back into the zone once the call is over, leading to millions of hours of ‘wasted’ work time since lockdown.

SweGaN selected for second year on list of Sweden’s hottest tech startups

Manufacturer of custom-made GaN-on-SiC epitaxial wafers for components and devices for telecom, satellite, defence and power electronics, SweGaN has announced that the company has been named for the 2nd year in a row to the Ny Teknik (New Technology) “33 List” of Sweden’s most promising and innovative young companies. This year’s contenders included 270 companies.

UK engineering team launch new website focused on product design

Nottingham based electronics design consultancy, Ignys has launched a new website this month, hosting an electronics blog full of design advice and a carousel of 16 product development services.

Teach children entrepreneurship to future proof workforce

Is the education system equipping young people with the skills to succeed in a fast changing labour market? A new report from The Entrepreneurs Network argues that as children return to schools after lockdown, students as young as eleven should have the opportunity to learn about entrepreneurship in order to develop the skills and mindset necessary to prosper in the modern economy.

Networking opportunities boosted with eco-friendly business cards

BeCard, a digital and ecological alternative to paper business cards, has been launched. Using Smartphone technology, the BeCard app makes it much easier and less time consuming for eco-savvy, networkers to capture and prioritise the business details of their newly won contacts.

Startups must re-evaluate trading horizons to succeed post-COVID

A new study, commissioned by business bank Allica Bank, urges small businesses to re-evaluate their trading horizons, following the establishment of a clear link between overseas trade and SME performance.

New book on how to master PR as a startup or scale-up launched

Matias Rodsevich is proud to announce the official global launch of his book ‘The PR Paradox – How to Master PR as a Startup or Scale-up’, the first of its kind book solely focused on doing PR as a startup, which will take place on the 10th September 2020.