At St. James’s Place, we work with a large number of fund managers within the UK venture capital industry, notably in the tax-advantaged space, investing across many different sectors. This provides us with a unique insight into the small business ecosystem.

The world’s leading event technology expo, Event Tech Live (ETL) returns to the Old Truman Brewery on November 3rd until 4th with the virtual show running for a full five days, from November 1st to 5th.

Our new-found, post-pandemic ability to work from home has certainly brought benefits for many of us. No more long commute, no more interruptions at your desk and the ability to work from anywhere...

When I hear that female founders have been the hardest hit due to the effects of COVID-19 and the UK’s numerous lockdowns, it pains me greatly, not least because, studies such as The Rose Review estimate that if women in the UK were founding businesses at similar rates as they are in other countries, about £200bn would be added to the UK economy!

The UK’s largest ecommerce investor and a leading digital insights specialist have joined forces to help accelerate business transition online.

A new survey of 750 UK business leaders has revealed how the pandemic has affected long-term digital transformation plans.

Over a third (35%) of UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) believe the pandemic has been a positive catalyst for change as digital skills soared during lockdown, according to the findings of PayPal’s inaugural report, The Business of Change: Recovery and Rebuild.

Startup OLÉ is becoming the first deep tech startup event in Europe. This ground-breaking event is associated with the fourth wave of innovation on the European continent, as Startup OLÉ is the event for universities and university startups, which are the cradle of science.

As Loneliness Awareness Week just took place (14-18th June), Naomi Thompson, Head of Organisational Development at Benenden Health, wanted to explain how employers can support team members struggling with loneliness as we slowly move away from COVID-19 restrictions.

According to MoneySuperMarket, around 22% of the UK’s two million freelancers are busy delivering essential business support. As more companies embrace hybrid working models, recruiting external consultants can complement the skills of in-house staff. Here Ashmita Das, CEO of Kolabtree, the freelance platform for scientists, explains how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can integrate freelancers successfully.

ReLondon is set to convene leaders and innovators from across the capital and beyond for the fourth Circular Economy Week (#CEweekLDN), which took place 14th – 18th June. The week showcased some of London’s most promising circular economy approaches to inspire action and encourage organisations and individuals to waste less and reuse, repair, share and recycle more. The aim is to promote polices, practices and behaviours that can accelerate the growth of the circular economy and place it firmly on the agenda for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in November.

A technology hub has launched two unique business incubation programmes in response to post-COVID needs by building a peer powered community and bringing world-class innovation and growth opportunities to the region’s most promising entrepreneurs.

TravelTech Show, taking place virtually on 14-15 September 2021, has committed to supporting startups in the travel technology space by creating a £25,000 fund that startups can apply to access. The fund supports startups from across the globe founded with the last 48 months and have not raised more than £2M in funding with subsidised exhibiting options and additional marketing and PR support.

UK-based healthtech firm Kiteline, formerly known as Liminal Health, has secured £370,000 in funding to meet the demand for support for those living with chronic conditions, including cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and, most recently, long COVID.

CRL have shortlisted 16 startups as potential participants for the CRL Accelerator programme. Over the past six weeks, the CRL team have been working with the group, supporting them to identify the biggest questions and assumptions that need to be understood before they could progress their business to the next stage.

What exactly is an Advisory Board and why is it so important to growing your business? This is a question that I am often asked by founders of early stage businesses.  Thankfully, as questions go, it is one of the easiest to answer and, indeed, one of those topics that can make a fundamental difference to your business.

Putting a sustainable spin on laundry, Oxwash, the UK-based startup backed by Twitter Co-founder Biz Stone has raised £2.08m ($3M) in seed expansion investment, to clean up the traditional and environmentally costly washing and dry cleaning sector with its space-age technology.

According to government data, SMEs made up over 99% of the total business population at the start of 2020 - and this is the reason why thriving SMEs remain the backbone of rebuilding our economy. Across the UK, SMEs are getting back on their feet, employing workers and providing important services which fuel our local economies.

Over the tumultuous year we've just faced, productivity has been challenged in ways most had never considered. The strain of financial, career and health uncertainty has been a formidable foe for employees and employers alike. As we celebrate World Productivity Day this year, we do so with the learnings of the past 12 months under our belt.

Environment-savvy small firms have been stirred into action by the pandemic and propelled saving the planet to the top of their agenda. And business owners now see sustainability as a critical issue and want to take action as lockdown restrictions ease.