After nine long weeks of lockdown, businesses are starting to re-open or, at least, planning to reopen in the near future. For some of the luckier ones this might be possible without having to make too many, or too onerous, changes. For others, the planning will need to be much mere detailed and the implementation will be much more complex.

The severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, and necessary Government restrictions to curb the spread, has thrown millions of the UK’s small and medium sized businesses into a period of uncertainty, and in many cases, hardship. The Government has announced a series of sweeping, comprehensive and extraordinary measures for businesses to help them weather the storm

Africa is a land of innovation! For several years now, initiatives have been multiplying to publicise the dynamism of this continent full of future. From Futur.e.s in Africa organised in Casablanca in collaboration with Cap Digital to EDF’s Pulse Africa competition, African technology is seducing by its ability to break codes and propose effective solutions to current issues.

Over £7.25bn has now been paid to more than 40,500 businesses under the UK government’s Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS). More than 130,000 applications were also received for the newer Bounce Bank Loan Scheme (BBLS) on the first day of launch alone, with SMEs able to apply for between £2,000-£50,000.

According to new research from Small Business Britain and BT Skills For Tomorrow, UK small businesses are moving more of their services online for survival as the sector looks to take its first steps towards recovery.

Agile startups have proven that they are able to help in a crisis. Access to bright thinkers and technical experts means they can come up with creative solutions quickly in response to changes in circumstances - and many have been helping in the fight against COVID-19.

The Institute of Coding (IoC) is partnering with social inclusion enterprise, Sisterhood, to host a free virtual workshop and inspire young women to turn their passion for social good into a career that sees them at the forefront of change.

Arieli Capital has signed a cooperation agreement with Ramat Negev Regional Council and Ramat Negev Industries, for the establishment of an ag-tech innovation centre to take advantage of the region’s achievement in turning the desert into an unmatched agricultural success story.

Plans to create a UK Lawtech research and development (R&D) environment - the Lawtech Sandbox - have been announced by LawtechUK, a government-backed initiative delivered through a collaboration between Tech Nation, the Lawtech Delivery Panel and the Ministry of Justice.

On 29th April, 2020, the Red Herring judging panel announced the winners of its competitive Top 100 Europe Award. Inspekto, the German-Israeli company founder of the Autonomous Machine Vision category, was one of the companies to receive the prestigious recognition, which celebrates the achievements of visionary enterprises and their potential to revolutionise their respective industries.

The global pandemic is creating huge uncertainty for people, businesses and livelihoods in the UK. To support those who are looking to better understand the new government financial support that is available and how it can help them, Jim Harra, Chief Executive and Permanent Secretary of HMRC, will be participating in a LinkedIn Live interview and Q&A hosted by Emily Spaven, UK Editor of LinkedIn News, on Thursday 21st May at 3pm BST. 

The banking platform that consolidates multiple cards and accounts into one smart card and even smarter app, Curve, has announced that its premium Curve Metal card and great benefits are now available to its customers in the European Economic Area (EEA).

If a guest asked for toast, would you butter a piece of bread and serve it up to them? No way - the ‘toasting’ is the essence of toast, and anything else is simply a job half done. The same applies to your brand. Skipping straight to designing your business logo is equal to spreading the butter straight onto bread...it’s ineffective and lacks the ‘essence’.

Mental health startup, Flow has become the highest scoring free depression treatment app in the ORCHA App Library. The inclusion means that many NHS trusts and healthcare professionals, who have their own bespoke App Library using the ORCHA platform, can now include Flow in their library and directly recommend it to their patients to reduce symptoms of depression - particularly during the current coronavirus pandemic.

A considerable task business owners face during the outbreak is keeping teams motivated and productive in the face of uncertainty. According to the people management and CIPD poll, around 63% of employers say anxiety is the biggest challenge facing their organisation right now, followed by the inability for their teams to work remotely.

Most of us want to do our bit to save the planet. We’re aware of the ongoing risk of climate change. We’ve all watched David Attenborough’s Blue Planet documentary, and we’ve watched the Facebook videos of our oceans filled with plastic, and our sea life swimming amongst dozens of empty drink cans. But after seeing these saddening sites, do we actually try to do anything about it?

To help small businesses and their advisors manage revenue, profit and cash flow, Xero has announced availability of its improved financial reporting tools.

Many businesses ask me many questions but one of the questions that has become more common over the last few months is whether their business should pivot. Regular readers will know that many of the answers to questions I overhear are often prefaced with ‘well it depends’ but this question can in many ways be easier to answer than that.

A deep-learning medical imaging analytics company, Zebra Medical Vision, has announed its fifth FDA 510(k) clearance for its Vertebral Compression Fractures (VCF) product. The company’s latest AI solution automatically identifies findings suggestive of compression fractures, enabling clinicians to place patients that are at risk of osteoporosis in treatment pathways to prevent potentially life changing fractures.

There’s no denying that living in lockdown amid a global pandemic is something new to us all. And for millions of workers across the country, they’ve spent the last few weeks working from home as a result of social distancing. Here, Parin Ashra, UX/UI Designer at Perlego for mental health awareness week, delves into mental health within businesses, and why we should be doing more.