Artificial Intelligence (AI) usage in the UK has risen by 66% since September 2023 and 18% since the beginning of 2024, according to Slack’s Workforce Index. As the owner of an AI tool myself, I see this as a positive. It paves the way for increased productivity, efficiency and profitability for businesses, amongst a shedload of other benefits.

Government, shackled by the need to appease voters and navigate political agendas, simply can't drive the change we need to reach net zero. Political parties struggle to lead in climate innovation because their policies often prioritise large, established sectors over nimble, innovation-driven startups.

Revolut vs Starling: the landscape of digital banking has seen a significant transformation, and picking the right bank for your needs has become a complicated affair with so many innovative new players in the market. This article provides a detailed comparison of these two financial powerhouses, examining their services, fees, user experience, and security measures.

Dr Nadine Hachach-Haram is the Founder and CEO of Proximie, a global healthtech platform digital connecting surgical operating rooms (ORs). Alongside her entrepreneurial venture, she is also a practising NHS surgeon, specialising in plastic surgery at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in London.

The evolution of technology continues to redefine industries, challenging traditional professions to adapt or risk obsolescence. Khariton Matveev, CEO and Founder at AI-Startup is an entrepreneur whose journey from edtech to AI offers valuable insights into the future of traditional work in a contemporary landscape.

The journey from a humble garage startup to a sustainable business is fraught with challenges – most startups don't survive their initial years. While challenges like funding or product-market fit are common hurdles, a critical – and often overlooked – factor is lack of a clear vision for what they want their business to be in the future.

Despite the UK's headline inflation rate decreasing from 11% in 2021 to 2% in June 2024, businesses are not resting easy. In a recent survey by consulting firm The Hackett Group, procurement leaders identified inflationary pressures on profit margins as a major concern for 2024. For startups, protection against market volatility is critical to ensuring longevity and growth.

As the Paris Olympics is well underway, athletes from all over the world have prepared to compete at the highest level. It takes skill, dedication, and perseverance to be a gold-standard winner, as the British cycling team demonstrated during the London 2012 Olympics.

There are subtle ways you can work out what someone who might want to buy your SME is really thinking, says Clive Stanley of Warwickshire-based M&A advisors, Acqius.

The impact of social media on our business can’t be underestimated: it can amplify authentic voices and help brands reach a whole new audience (even if the constant rebranding and changes are annoying, I’m looking at you X!). We’ve never been closer to our customers, whether that’s through daily behind-the-scenes Instagram stories or WhatsApp for business chat, but this can also be a double-edged sword.

Control is often seen as a good thing for businesses. Particularly where there’s so much at stake, including customers, employees, revenue, products and more. But it’s a term that lives or dies by its definition.

In this article, Matt Bird, CEO and Founder of Lemon, shares insights drawn from his experience in the music industry. Matt highlights the transferable lessons he has brought from his former career, demonstrating the value they offer to fellow business owners.

Innovation. That’s the answer you’re most likely to get if you ask Scottish Business Network (SBN) founder Russell Dalgleish what Scotland’s most valuable contribution to the world is. He’s not talking about it in the past tense, either. Scotland’s capacity for innovation didn’t stop with world-changing technologies like the telephone, television, and the ATM.

In today's digital-centric environment, manufacturers are looking to enhance efficiency and increase productivity to stay competitive. It’s a goal that must be achieved against a backdrop of challenges such as labour shortages, supply chain bottlenecks, cost pressures, and even mounting cyberattacks.

Cyber-attacks are on the rise. From ransomware and phishing to data breaches and insider threats, attacks are not only increasingly common, but more sophisticated too.

SFE Services is a Buckinghamshire-based air conditioning, refrigeration and ventilation company. Founded in 2017 and based in Widmer End, High Wycombe, it is owned and managed by husband-and-wife team Grant and Sophie Davenport.

Today, many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are still dependent on paper-based and offline workflows, with data from Inside Government revealing that 55% of businesses across West Europe and North America are still completely reliant on paper. This means that without existing digital systems and a centralised database of historical data, the transition to AI-powered workflows can seem completely out of reach.

The Joy Club helps businesses attract, engage, and retain customers in later life through providing its life-changing community and content platform as a benefit and digital channel. The Joy Club Founder, Hannah Thomson, felt inspired after losing her Granny Jean, as she wanted to find a way to pay tribute to such an important person in her life.

No reader of this publication needs me to tell them that finding and maintaining growth for a business of any size is not a straight and linear process. Far from it. Ambitions and expectations clash with the realities of operating a business day-to-day. What you want to do is restricted by the constraints of what you can do.

In 2023, Statista found that around 850,000 UK businesses turned over up to £250,000. At the £1 million turnover mark, however, this number dropped to just over 123,000 businesses.