By Jon Tait, Co-founder, Alpha Swanson For one client Alpha Swanson has worked with since 2018, it helped propel them from a small business serving local clients, to a large organisation, working for some of the largest businesses in Europe and making a difference to the local economy where they are based. I speak to small business owners about this every week. My answer is always the same: it depends. And it depends on two specific things – what contracts you’re trying to win, and whether you’re willing to build the system properly. Get both right, and ISO certification is…

Employment experts are urging employers to encourage staff to take their annual leave, as new research reveals a “holiday hoarding” epidemic that could be leading workers to burnout. In a poll of 2,000 UK workers, commissioned by Breathe HR, over half (51%) of respondents said they did not take their full annual leave allowance last year. This trend of “holiday hoarding” (when workers don’t use all their annual leave) looks set to continue, with one in four (23%) saying they plan to take less holiday this year than they did last year. The research also found that around half (48%)…

Property Management Businesses & Agencies Risk Underestimating the Financial Impact of the Renters’ Rights Act, Warns The Property CA. As the UK property sector continues to roll into the Renters’ Rights Act, many businesses may be focusing on the wrong risks, according to Diana Mushosho of The Property CA. While much of the industry discussion has centred on legal compliance, tenancy reform and operational processes, Diana believes the greatest challenge facing agencies is financial visibility – and whether business owners truly understand how changes in the market will affect cash flow, profitability and long-term resilience. Not only theoretical impact, but quantified…

Employers are being urged by LifeVac Europe® to ask themselves how prepared their workplace is to deal with a choking incident and to review their emergency response procedures and first aid provision. While many organisations invest heavily in fire safety, mental health support and defibrillators, choking remains an often-overlooked workplace risk despite thousands of employees eating at their desks, in staff rooms, canteens and hospitality areas every day. LifeVac Europe®, which manufactures the regulated non-invasive airway clearance device used in numerous workplaces worldwide, says employers should be asking whether their teams would know what to do if a colleague started…

Nearly half the UK public (48%) use in-person banking at least once a month, and almost seven in ten (68%) want to keep access close to home, new Post Office research has found, underlining how millions of people and small businesses still rely on face-to-face services even as high street bank branches close. The research found a wide range of everyday moments during which people still want to deal with someone in person, from a recently bereaved customer closing a loved one’s account, to a shopkeeper banking the day’s takings, to someone querying in person whether a suspicious payment request…

Searches for “office dogs” have risen by 348% in the past year, as more owners appear to be considering whether their pets can join them at work.According to Google searches analysed by the team at Years, the fresh dog food brand, there were 547,000 searches for “office dogs” in the past month alone, with interest climbing sharply after  Bring Your Dog To Work Day, on the 26 June 2026. But while dog-friendly workplaces are becoming more popular, a canine behaviour expert is warning that bringing a dog into the office should not be treated as a simple perk. Jo Hinds,…

The future of women’s football is in jeopardy if grassroots teams can’t access more funding. Nearly all coaches of grassroots female football clubs (97%) say their team needs more funds, which is limiting the opportunities for girls, who are being turned away, missing games, and paying with their own money to play.* Three quarters (76%) of female players even say they’ll drop out of their team or the sport altogether if more funding isn’t secured in the next five years.  To secure the pipeline of future Lionesses, Starling Bank is set to matchmake 2,000 business sponsors with their local grassroots…

Businesses are being warned about ransomware attacks and how to report them, as new figures reveal 323 companies were targeted last year, equating to more than 26 attacks each month. Data from Report Fraud reveals that 323 organisations reported a ransomware attack between April 2025 and March 2026. Of the reports received, more than 50 per cent were from Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) (175 reports). Financial losses totalling around £270,000 were reported, a 50 per cent increase compared to previous year. However, these figures are likely to be much higher, as businesses often underreport financial losses, as admission of ransom…

Nils Henning, Senior Solution Engineer and Product Evangelist at Ninox, explains why businesses often outgrow Excel, the risks of using spreadsheets as databases, and what to look for in a modern alternative. Microsoft Excel is one of the most widely used business applications in the world, and one of the most misused. It works well for what it was designed to do. But companies rely on it for more than that, and the cracks show up exactly when you can least afford them: data errors in critical records, version chaos across shared files, processes that can’t be automated, and no…

Following the sad passing of Mary Flavelle, one of the UK’s most respected business networkers and champions of the SME community, Alec Jones-Hall, Director of Great British Expos, reflects on her remarkable life, her extraordinary contribution to British business, and the lasting legacy she leaves behind after more than four decades of bringing people together. The UK business community has lost one of its most recognisable and respected champions with the passing of Mary Flavelle last Friday. To thousands of business owners across the country, Mary was a familiar face – a gifted networker, mentor, speaker and the warm, welcoming…