As retailers head into peak season, one thing is clear: Christmas 2025 will be defined by value. According to new BHN research, eight in ten UK shoppers (82%) say they plan to use promotions such as BOGOF deals to make their festive budgets go further. For retailers, this signals a decisive shift – promotions are no longer just a conversion tool, but a crucial lever of customer acquisition, loyalty, and channel choice. The Rise of the Promotion-First Shopper Almost half of shoppers (47%) plan to use buy now, pay later services or earn-a-gift-card incentives, demonstrating that consumers increasingly expect value…

The way we do business has changed dramatically in the last decade. Traditionally, companies would have their own HQ, in which every employee would work from each day. Now, business models are much more flexible.  Working from home and hybrid working have become the norm. Because of this, many businesses are choosing not to purchase or rent out their own office space, and instead are opting for coworking spaces. So, let’s take a look at why this might be.  Benefits of Coworking Spaces  Here are just some of the reasons why businesses are choosing to use coworking spaces.  Lower Overheads …

HSBC UK has teamed up with Double Olympic Champion Dame Kelly Holmes and rugby legend Brian O’Driscoll to boost visibility for Britain’s smallest businesses. Small businesses are the beating heart of the UK economy: creating jobs, energising high streets and boosting communities. But while they’re vital to growth, new research from HSBC UK shows many entrepreneurs are struggling to promote themselves and attract new customers. According to the findings, just one in five (19%) SME leaders feel their business is promoted enough, while four out of 10 (38%) say they lack the time or resources to reach new customers. More than half…

In today’s job market, businesses are confronted with an uncomfortable truth; while employers believe they’re prioritising employee wellbeing, many staff feel overlooked and underserved. Mike Hay, Chief People Officer at Benenden Health, provides SMETodays readers with some insight into this issue. Across most sectors, health and wellbeing provision is a core enabler of employee engagement. It’s fact that health and wellbeing provision needs to be employee-led, and HR teams’ job is to take that direction and turn it into an accessible, multi-generational offering. It can’t be the other way around. Our new report, Preventative Health in the Workplace, highlights a stark…

BERKSHIRE-based document management specialists, Filestream Ltd, are celebrating winning at this year’s Document Management Awards, taking home the trophy for the best Low Code/No Code Product of the Year. The award recognises Filestream Ltd’s innovative, user-friendly approach to managing documents, making it simpler and more efficient for businesses of all sizes. Filestream Ltd, led by Paul Day, Managing Director, and Layla Cockburn, Operations Director, were nominated in two categories this year and were crowned the winners of the Low Code/No Code Product of the Year – an award they’ve won three times before. The Document Management (DM) Awards, now in…

A successful exit is often the ultimate ambition for founder-led businesses – but achieving it can be tough. Charlotte Hinchcliffe, managing director of Harold Sharp accountancy, provides insight on the fabled SME-owner exit and five key factors that can impact the chances of reaching it. Achieving a successful exit is a common end-goal for a founder, but there are pitfalls to navigate and treating it as a distant milestone is a mistake. Preparing for an exit isn’t a project you start when you decide to sell, it’s a mindset that must run through your business – particularly your finance function…

Rachel Reeves’ Autumn Budget was billed as a Budget for stability, discipline and long-term growth. Against a backdrop of high inflation, strained public finances and subdued business confidence, expectations across the SME community were high. Small and mid-sized firms — responsible for 99.9% of UK businesses — were looking for bold, targeted support to ease rising operating costs, unlock investment and stimulate hiring. Instead, what emerged was a Budget defined less by sweeping reform and more by incremental adjustments, selective reliefs and a clear reliance on fiscal drag. While households saw help on fuel duty and rail fares, the underlying…

Growing a business is never straightforward. Leaders often find themselves stretched thin between retaining staff, acquiring customers, securing funding, driving innovation, and balancing the books. Growth isn’t just about increasing sales; it’s about building the right foundations to scale successfully. One of the most overlooked foundations is financial management. Many businesses assume that if the numbers add up, the system must be working. But as companies expand, the accounting methods that once sufficed can become liabilities. Recognising when your finance function has outgrown its usefulness is crucial to maintaining profitability and avoiding costly surprises. At Insight Associates, we’ve spent over 30…

As the Chancellor prepares to deliver this week’s Autumn Budget, SME business leaders across the UK are bracing themselves – not for bold intervention, but for disappointment. According to Vistage’s latest Q3 CEO Confidence Index, a striking 76% of SME leaders have little to no confidence that the Budget will support business growth, Rebecca Drew, Managing Director, Vistage UK & Ireland provides some insight. This pessimism sits against a background of cautious optimism. While 57% of MSEs expect revenues to rise over the next 12 months, only one in ten anticipate any improvement in the broader economy. Leaders are planning…

Many self-employed business owners and freelancers are balancing invoices and incomes from multiple sources. While this can mean greater financial security and freedom, it can also bring additional administrative headaches when it comes to taxes. According to Lauren Harvey, Accounts Manager at The Accountancy Partnership, an expert in accounting and tax for sole traders, limited companies and freelancers, she sees many freelancers make life harder for themselves when it comes to tax. “Freelancers are always wearing multiple hats; one day hosting a workshop, the next day travelling to a client meeting, and the next day purchasing equipment for the business. However, HMRC…

What business owners need to know about new Companies House requirements – Bernadette Young, Co-founder and Director of Indigo Independent Governance, provides some guidance. From today, (18th of November 2025), all UK directors are subject to new mandatory identity verification requirements. The new obligations are being phased in over the next year, with some directors impacted immediately and others with a little more time to comply. It is not just directors who are going to be subject to the new regime. Persons with Significant Control (PSCs), meaning shareholders with more than 25% ownership or voting rights in the company or…

Berkshire-based document management and software specialists Filestream are celebrating a decade of working with Dublin-based Datascan Document Services. The two companies have collaborated for more than ten years to support a range of clients, particularly in the health care sector in Ireland, to ensure all sensitive documentation is processed in a fully encrypted manner prior to its secure delivery. Paul Day, MD of Filestream, said: “It’s a moment to celebrate this successful partnership. Working with Orla and her team has been a joy and we are very grateful to them for believing in us back then – and still trusting…

Stroud-based personal trainer James Hilton, founder of online fitness platform Jim’s Gym, took to the stage at this year’s Retirement Living Show at the NEC in Birmingham, joining sector leaders for a panel discussion on the role of exercise in later life. The discussion, held on day two of the event, brought together experts from across the UK retirement living sector to explore how fitness, wellbeing and social activities can help residents thrive physically, emotionally, and socially. James joined Liz Fairbank, Care & Lifestyle Director at McCarthy Stone, and Kate Jarvis, Wellbeing Lead for ExtraCare Charitable Trust, in a conversation…

More than a third of the UK’s fastest-growing technology start-ups have no board-level female representation. UK scale-ups are failing to adequately prioritise board-level gender diversity, according to a new study from global growth consultancy Think & Grow. The research shows that while 94% of UK board members believe that it is essential to have a diverse mix of people on a company board, women hold just 18% of board roles across the UK’s fastest growing technology scale-ups. Additionally, more than a third (36%) of these companies have no board-level female representation at all. The findings highlight a disconnect between how…

The leaders of one in eight (12%) small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – equivalent to around 680,000 businesses out of the UK’s 5.67 million – are actively planning to relocate themselves, their businesses, or both due to the current tax burden, according to a new poll by Rathbones, one of the UK’s leading wealth and asset management groups. Among those planning to relocate, a third (33%) said they will also move their business abroad, with another third looking to move as individuals, while the rest plan only to move their businesses. Ireland was rated as the top destination by 26% of…

South Wales-based Complete Background Screening (CBS) is helping universities across the UK manage high volumes of DBS checks with greater speed and accuracy through its purpose-built platform, UniPro. The update comes as universities face increasing scrutiny over student placement safeguarding and new DBS ID-checking guidance which came into force this month. The system has already made a measurable difference at Cambridge’s Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), where it helped the applicant services team cut turnaround times, reduce admin work, and achieve their best-ever clearance rates. ARU screens between 2,500 to 2,600 students each year, many preparing for placements in regulated sectors…