Business Franchise June

7
dr barrie pennington is a lecturer in business studies at Liverpool University.
His company provides small businesses with information on new markets, grants and
legislation. You can contact him at: btpennington@ukline.co.uk
COMPILED AND EDITED BY DR BARRIE PENNINGTON
Sharing the health
Money for a
■ Owners of small ﬁ rms are keeping up with
big businesses by encouraging their workers
rainy day
to lead healthy lifestyles a report concludes.
According to research from Standard
Life Healthcare, half of small business
owners encourage their employees
to stay healthy, thereby ensuring fewer
days off and improving staff loyalty. More
than three-quarters believe that companies
should be directly involved in their staff’s
welfare. Seventy-ﬁ ve per cent of employees
reported that they would ﬁ nd it more
attractive to work for a ﬁ rm that supported
staff health and welfare.
IN BRIEF
NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS
■ A business lobby group has called on politicians to improve their understanding of
issues facing SMEs after research found that only nine per cent of politicians had more
than 10 years of business experience. The survey, carried out by research agency
ComRes and the Industry and Parliament Trust, investigated the business experience
of UK and Scottish Parliament members, Welsh and Northern Ireland Assemblies and
the European Parliament, revealing that just 13 per cent had spent at least ﬁ ve years in
business. The Forum of Private Business says the need for politicians to gain a greater
understanding of commerce was made more pressing by new ﬁ gures, which show
that the number of ﬁ rms going out of business was increasing signiﬁ cantly. There was
an air of scepticism among SMEs that MPs did not care about the plight of small ﬁ rms,
the FPB concluded.
WASTED POTENTIAL
■ Groups of ‘hidden innovators’ could add millions to the economy with the right
support. Research from Cass Business School’s Centre for New Technologies, Innovation
and Entrepreneurship (CENTIVE) found that sectors of the community including
‘oldpreneurs’, minority and ethnic groups could add as much as £15 billion to the
economy if the right conditions were created. Those aged over 50 could contribute an The credit crunch has lead UK
extra 17 per cent of potential uplift to the UK economy alone. The report, sponsored businesses to think more carefully
by Microsoft, says that a wealth of experience and insight means that the over-50s have about their money, with many more
the greatest business success rate, with more than 70 per cent of start-ups lasting more putting cash aside for a rainy day. A
than three years, compared with 30 per cent for younger entrepreneurs. Faced with study from Alliance & Leicester reveals
increasing global competition, part of the solution may be to tap into the pools of talent that almost half of small businesses are
already available, concludes the report. setting aside savings to be ﬁ nancially
prepared for a downturn. One in six
NORTH-WEST DIVIDE expected to use reserve funds to
■ The Forum of Private Business (FPB) is calling for more support to help ﬁ rms in the cover for any loss of business, while
North-West of England following publication of a study of business failures in the region. 40 per cent were saving in the event
According to Equifax, the North-West is the worst affected area in the country with of equipment failure. Twenty-ﬁ ve per
a 21.4 per cent increase in failures. In London the ﬁ gure was 13.9 per cent and in the cent were putting away sums between
South-West it was 4.9 per cent. The FPB points out that recent tax increases have hit at £5000 to £20,000 each year. The study
M
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the same time as the crisis in ﬁ nance, with banks taking a critical look at their exposure concludes that the news is encouraging
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to credit risk. Given the additional problems SMEs have with late payments there is an and a well-thought out contingency S
T
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increased chance of a ﬁ rm going bust, even with a full order book. plan could mean the difference
T
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between survival and disaster.
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www.businessfranchise.com June 2008
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