Enterprise news and opinion from Cobweb

There are currently over 300 business incubators in the UK, each providing support for start-up businesses. BETTER BUSINESS spoke to Peter Harman, chief executive of UKBI, about business incubators and their place in the future of business support…

At this time of year its customary to reflect on what has happened over the preceding 12 months (in a business sense) and ponder what lies in store over the next year. Across the UK in 2012 there has been no core support or major push to build capacity and quality in the development and promotion of viable start ups and micro-enterprise…

Business support and advice agencies are currently facing record levels of demand for their services at a time when restrictions in the availability of funding are seriously hindering their ability to maintain their levels of service. The findings come from a survey of business support and advice organisations carried out by BAD News publisher Cobweb [...]

The Work Foundation has reported that business leaders are preparing to vote with their feet and move away from supporting Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) which they see as ineffective. The report has been followed this week by the publication of a comprehensive economic review by Lord Heseltine…

One particularly damaging effect of the economic downturn and cutbacks to funding of frontline business support has been a surge of people starting up on the side, without registering with HMRC or Companies House, rogue trading without statutory licences and permits, and plain illegal trading…

Lack of demand and the current economic climate is the number one problem facing 40% of firms, according to a new report from the Open University (OU)…

Individuals and businesses are being asked to give their views on how well Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) have performed so far in promoting local growth and creating jobs…

The Government must clear up the “alphabet soup” of business support schemes and set up a single business support agency, according to a new report commissioned by the Department for Business (BIS)…

Business acronyms are part and parcel of daily business life, whether they are used by Government initiatives which purport to support you, are terms used by your accountant that grip you with fear, or are the terms which your suppliers use to provide you with useful everyday products and services…

A Government-commissioned report has concluded that volunteer mentoring from successful entrepreneurs is ‘not to be relied on’ as a core source of advice…