BigChange, the mobile workforce management technology company, is delighted to announce that it has been awarded a prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise, one of the highest official honours for companies in the UK.
Across the globe we have witnessed a plethora of brands hit impressive targets in terms of sustainability. Despite clear leeway opening up between these brands and those left behind, an opportunity presents itself for reinvention.
Science, technology, engineering and mathematical modelling save lives – we see that more than ever in this C-19 crisis. We are relying on our scientists, technologists and engineers to come up with solutions, fast, to improve health and survival rates, to support businesses, organisations and the economy, to enable virtual social connection. They are essential contributors, key workers and equal among them are many, many women.
The Francis Crick Institute today announces that it is deploying a cloud-native simulation engine developed by UK start-up, Hadean Supercomputing, to simulate how COVID-19 spreads both in the body and through the wider population. The Francis Crick Institute and Hadean are working together to accurately forecast how the virus spreads in order to help governments, public health authorities and businesses make fast, informed, and in many cases, life-saving decisions.
For the majority, the word entrepreneur conjures an image of a male in his twenties or early thirties. It’s unlikely the picture of someone in retirement age would come to mind and even less likely a woman in her 60s. However, a new wave of silver start-ups is emerging and with good reason! One such disruptor is Sheila Holt. Having traded on a smaller scale for a few years, Sheila embraced her entrepreneurial spirit and began scaling her finance business, Sapphire Lending Ltd, at the age of 60.
The modern consumer is demanding a future in which the products they use leave no trace on the planet. Brands who can’t meet this demand will see their customer base move towards those who can deliver products that are in line with this vision.
The current pandemic has brought shock and uncertainty to businesses across the world. From global heavyweights to SMEs that are the backbone of the British economy, the question for many leaders is, how can we keep afloat during this crisis? Thankfully we live in a digital age where many businesses can be taken online. Along with government support, there are many tools that can be easily accessed to pivot during this period.
A new not-for profit social impact grant scheme has been launched, the Energy for Tomorrow (EfT) campaign. This grant scheme has been created by Centrica to support and empower entrepreneurs, particularly those from underrepresented groups, who have concepts and innovations to tackle climate change, lower energy bills, and deliver real impact to people and communities.
We Are F, the social media and creative boutique for female-founded brands, has connected a team of NHS GPs with the PPE they urgently require – following a campaign to raise funds for the NHS.
The Chancellor’s £1 billion package for startup businesses is another brilliant move to support the UK’s business infrastructure during the COVID-19 crisis, but it will need backing from private investors if it is going to work, say leading tax and advisory form Blick Rothenberg.
Nottingham University Business School announces May event to help business leaders survive and thrive in the ‘new normal’. Chief Executives, HR, Learning and Development and Talent Management professionals are being brought together by Nottingham University Business School to plot their way forward from the Covid-19 pandemic which is threatening irreversible damage to the UK economy.
The biggest enemies of good decision-making in times of deep crisis, like COVID 19, are neither uncertainty nor ambiguity; they are over-confidence, procrastination, and incomplete or biased data.
Businesses in the UK, and across the world, are facing unprecedented challenges in order to survive and thrive in the wake of COVID-19. Scaling businesses are facing an additional and unique set of challenges, as many will be in the ‘critical growth’ phase which is often loss-making – embarking on a stage of expansion in order to achieve future revenue growth. This makes the current climate daunting to approach.
YourLocal.Delivery, a new free online store service, is supporting local businesses to sell their goods online and help them to survive current difficult trading circumstances. Since its launch last month, a number of Kent businesses have signed up to the service and are already experiencing sales.
Balpro helps businesses balance aggressive revenue goals with employee wellbeing, creating aspirational corporate cultures that are safe to log off from. A typical client would be a company that’s flown through hyper-growth but forgotten to nurture their staff along the way, meaning that they’re suffering from a decline in productivity and have started haemorrhaging staff. Balpro helps their leadership get their mojo back, reignite employee engagement, help employees reconnect to the corporate vision and create a more safe, supportive and sustainable environment. Here we interview Founder Amber Coster.
Across the globe, companies are introducing innovative ways to help their workforce focus. Wildly unconventional benefits and perks have surfaced over the last few years, with research estimating that increasing happiness can boost productivity by around 12%.
UK-founded marketing technology company ContentCal has secured a £2.5 million investment from early and growth stage investor Fuel Ventures with participation from existing shareholders. The new funding will be focussed on driving customer growth, product innovation and doubling the size of the team.
UK businesses are still missing out on thousands of pounds of unclaimed tax credits, according to new figures from Leyton, the UK’s leading innovation funding consultancy. Leyton’s clients – 85% of which are SMEs – claimed an average of £78,000 in R&D tax credits last year.
In 2020, companies throughout the world are investing significantly in colleague training. 94 per cent of British businesses’ suggesting, ‘that even in the current economic climate, learning and development is at the heart of their strategy’. The report by UK L&D noted how none of the companies who are spending more than the national average of £300 on training for each employee have a retention rate of less than half a year. Clearly, staff morale and job satisfaction are enhanced by sufficient training.
It’s part of the natural ebb and flow of running a company. Sometimes there’s peaks, sometimes there’s a trough. Some seasonal businesses experience them every year so have them planned into their annual activity. But what if you have an extended period of downtime enforced upon you?
