The Office of the Small Business Commissioner, launched in December 2017, has reclaimed less than £800,000 for small businesses since June 2021.

At the same time it has been revealed that the British Business Bank (BBB), the Government's economic development agency, reported a loss of £135m in the year to March.

Neither of these revelations is good news for SMEs, already struggling with rising interest rates and costs.

The British Business Bank was set up by the Government to support investments in SMEs.

The Office of the Business Commissioner was supposed to improve the situation for SMEs waiting on payments from bigger organisations.

It seems neither has been particularly successful in fulfilling its remit.

A Government review of payment rules and the role of the Commissioner was completed this year and is due to report soon.

Craig Beaumont, chief of external affairs at the Federation of Small Businesses, says the decline in recoveries shows it is...

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is urging the Government to extend the 75% rate relief discount for retail, hospitality, and leisure businesses.

It is due to end next April but the FSB argues that the relief is a "lifeline" for struggling small firms.

Martin McTague, FSB national chair, said the system is not fit for purpose and “small firms should not be stifled by the looming threat of higher business rates bills as a consequence of investment.”

Investment in their businesses may be a long way down the list of priorities for many SMEs with the news that the number of companies going bust in England and Wales increased by 19% in August 2022 compared to the previous year.

Elsewhere it has also been reported that Britain's manufacturers are preparing for a potential recession as they see a sharp slowdown in activity, according to the Make UK manufacturing outlook survey.

Whether the Government is listening remains to be seen.

What do you think? Is the business...

It was recently reported that HSBC plans to move out of its global headquarters in Canary Wharf, London.

Research by property analytics provider CoStar has also revealed that vacant office space is at a record high, with an increase of 68% on the pre-pandemic level recorded in early 2020.

Reportedly Knight Frank and commercial real estate firm Cresa found that 50% the largest businesses they questioned expect to shrink their global workspaces.

Paradoxically the Cresa survey also found that this contrasts with the expectations of smaller firms surveyed – those with up to 10,000 employees – just over half (55%) of whom said they were expecting to increase their global office space.

Is this evidence of an increasing divide between businesses embracing hybrid working and smaller, greener, more flexible headquarters that is more convenient for employees and old command and control bosses mandating staff to be in the office the majority of the time?

Certainly, the move by HSBC...

The circular economy aims to break the link between economic activity and using up the earth's resources.

This may involve reusing, repairing, and sharing materials and products.

Amsterdam has become the first city in the world to trial the idea after announcing its intentions in 2020. Within seven years it hopes to have halved its use of new raw materials.

The fashion industry is one obvious candidate, where instead of consuming endless new raw materials, disposing of perfectly acceptable clothes, they are recycled.

The component parts of mobile phones, electronics and the raw materials used in construction are other obvious examples.

At the moment, committing to being part of a circular economy can be more costly than sourcing raw materials, but the hope is that as the movement goes this will change with obvious benefits to the environment and the planet.

It may take some state aid to kickstart the movement, particularly for start-up businesses.

However, if the idea becomes more...

Are you considering restructuring your business?

Do your employees know?

You may think they don’t but don’t underestimate the efficiency of the staff rumour mill.

At a time when it is proving difficult to recruit key employees it is crucial in a restructure that you retain those employees that are going to be key to its success.

They will be essential to the business’ recovery going forward.

It is important to keep employees fully informed, and not relying on the rumour mill if you want them to put their energies into helping it survive.

Their opinions, feelings and concerns should be actively listened to. If they don’t know what is going on they are likely to be worrying about the future of their career and their jobs and more likely to be a flight risk.

Clarity will do a great deal to help employees to put their efforts into supporting the restructure to help assure their future.

Preparation and planning are vital for a smooth restructure. From the first...

According to figures from Bibby Financial Services, which provides financial services to SMEs, the average level of bad debt - where a company suffers because clients fail to pay the full sum invoiced – has risen by 61% in the past year.

Late payments also climbed last year, with nearly a fifth of businesses reporting that they were paid for their services after 90 or more days.

It is not surprising, therefore, that UK company profit warnings for the first quarter of 2023 rose to 75 compared with 72 for the same quarter in 2022.

Meanwhile a promised review of the powers of the Small Business Commissioner which started in 2020 was delayed, like many things, by the disruption of the Covid pandemic and lockdowns and has been resurrected in February this year.

Among the proposed actions was to reduce the maximum payment period from 60 to 30 days for businesses that had signed up to the (voluntary) Prompt Payment Code and to allow the Small Business Commissioner to impose legally...

Almost 80% of UK companies report difficulty filling jobs according to analysis by the Manpower Group.

So is using AI (Artificial Intelligence) the answer to the skills shortage?

In some instances it may be.

Examples include automating CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems, machine learning for data processing, and in cybersecurity in defending computer defences. AI is key to automating various routine processes in manufacturing.

Most of the above will be familiar to businesses and have already proven their worth but there is a new and much-hyped piece of AI which has been the focus of attention, and that is ChatGPT.

ChatGPT is an AI chatbot system released by OpenAI that answers any questions and can even compose poems.

It has been argued that it useful for generating creative ideas, providing summaries and writing first drafts. It can also produce large amounts of text with a quick response time, So, It can arguably automate routine tasks, provide personalised customer...

BCC’s most recent update on the difficulties to find workers highlights shortages in several key areas.

The February 2023 update said:

“Attempted recruitment in Q4 remained virtually unchanged from the previous quarter, with 61% of firms looking to find staff (62% in Q3 2022).

“Overall, over eight in ten firms (82%) attempting to recruit reported recruitment difficulties, up from 76% in Q3.

“While the problem is persistent across all sectors, firms in the hospitality sector are most likely to face challenges when recruiting, with 87% reporting difficulties. This is closely followed by the manufacturing sector on 85%, and the construction sector; professional services; and public, education, health sector all on 83%.”

According to research from fintech provider Nucleus Commercial Finance 68% of SMES with up to 150 employees are concerned about staffing in 2023.

So what can SMEs that are already strapped for cash do to help themselves in the short and...

It can be a challenge to recruit and retain the best staff, especially at the moment, but can offering perks really make a difference?

Online recruiters Glassdoor argues that many workers will tolerate less pay if other perks and benefits fill in the gap.

Among the top perks it lists are free bicycle repairs on site, a day off for Christmas shopping,  four free weeks of holiday for four years work, free on-site dentistry and free day-care for new parents.

But although they may be appreciated how important are they?

It is argued that a benefits package can Improve workplace morale, reduce stress and associated staff absences, boost productivity, help set the tone for your company’s internal values and ethos and can also both reduce staff turnover by helping to retain existing staff and make recruiting top talent easier.

But to be truly effective perks and benefits must offer something employees will actually value and which will help them.

In this context perhaps arguably...

In the context of rising costs of living with more and more ordinary workers struggling to make ends meet this is a question many would be likely to ask.

FTSE 100 data shows CEO pay and bonus packages average £3.4m each which equates to 103 times the £33,000 average salary for full-time UK workers.

But according to a recent survey by the High Pay Centre, more than 60 per cent of people think that chief executives should be paid only 10 times the average salary.

So it is fair to ask what makes them worth such enormous sums when Britain’s productivity, judged by output per worker, is 20% to 30% lower than most other industrialised economies.

CEO remuneration packages are made up of a combination of salaries, bonuses, and stock option packages, according to Investopedia.

In theory the package is designed to align executives' actions with company success, in other words to make it performance related.

However, this only works if the package is reduced when the company...