Britain’s SMEs (smalls and medium businesses) plan to hire more employees over the coming three months, a very recent Vistage Medium-Sized Business Confidence Index was able to reveal.
The survey polled 431 CEOs, MDs and owners of medium and larger small businesses and found that up to 60% of respondents expect the economic conditions in the UK to improve over the next 12 months.
One of the UK’s largest mobile phone retailers has entered administration earlier this week, putting no less than UK 5,596 jobs at risk, a news report on the matter was able to reveal.
Phones 4u was forced to call in administrators from PwC after all the company’s mobile network partners announced that they would not be renewing their current contracts when they expire next year.
Small and medium businesses continue to have a strong level of confidence in their future business prospects, statistical information released by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) was able to reveal.
The group’s confidence-measuring index registered plus 41 in the third quarter – the first time that sentiment has reached this level – with every sector recording a positive outlook for the next three months.
A UK multi-channel supplier of trade tools, accessories and hardware products has revealed plans to create 900 new jobs and open 50 new stores next year, a recent news report on the matter was able to reveal.
Screwfix, who has recently opened its 360th store, serves over 4 million customers and employs over 6,000 staff.
The announcement was made during a recent visit by Chancellor George Osbourne, as part of his Great British Brands tour.
£525m in funding have been made available to the construction industry by the UK Government via the Builders Finance Fund in a bid to help bolster the construction efforts around the country, a recent media report on the matter was able to reveal.
The cash would be used for building up to 12,000 new homes, accelerating construction on the first wave of sites with potential to support nearly 13,000 new jobs.
The large majority of small and medium businesses across the North West of England are worried about their “digital future” and strongly believe that they will need enhanced or increased digital capabilities in the next three years to cope with the ever-changing business landscape.
Construction work has started on a new housing development in Devonport called ‘Emerge’, that’s being created by Linden Homes and DCH, a recent news report on the matter was able to reveal.
The redevelopment marks the last significant phase of Linden Homes and DCH’s work in the Devonport Development Framework following on from Evolve, which when complete this year, will have delivered 219 new homes overall, including 90 affordable homes.
The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has recently announced a new partnership with the London Enterprise Panel that aims to directly address the increasing shortage of construction skills in the Greater London Area.
Research and forecasts estimate that an average of just under 1,300 new skilled construction workers will be required in Greater London every year through to 2019. Around 6,450 new workers in total will be required over the five year period (2015 -2019).
Stress-related absence has risen by 70 per cent across public sector workers in the East of England, recent analysis by the BBC was able to reveal.
After going through data from more than 100 FOI (Freedom of Information requests), days lost by East of England Ambulance medical staff to stress-related sickness absence has grown from 1,948 in 2009 to 6,106 in 2013, or a 213 per cent increase.
British companies in general and services firms in particular are planning to go on a hiring spree over the next three months, figures obtained from BDO’s latest jobs index were able to suggest.
The accountancy firm revealed that its jobs index for July, which measures hiring plans over the next three months, was at its highest level since 1998. Furthermore, an increase in the rate of job creation is expected for the rest of the year, the survey found.