Small changes to policies and processes could help SMEs improve their cashflow levels, a senior finance professional has said. Matthew Grant, Yorkshire Head of Accountancy and Business Advisory at international accountancy and business advisory group Azets, is encouraging business owners to think strategically about their terms of trade and customer relationships, and review their debtor days, and payment processes and policies. His five key tips are: Implement robust terms of trade: clearly setting out terms and conditions at the start of a new working relationship puts everyone on the same page and gives the business protection if a client fails…
Author: sme-admin
By Mim Mogul, UK Managing Director, BauWatch The government’s recent decision to reject blueprints to combat construction theft is deeply concerning. The proposed plans would have seen mandated forensic marking of power tools and compulsory fitting of immobilisers to machinery, but were rejected by the Home Office following a consultation on tool theft. At a time when the construction industry is haemorrhaging around £800 million annually to criminals, and when industrial-scale theft has surged by 67% over the past year alone, according to our research, this inaction sends a troubling message that tackling construction crime isn’t a priority. The Home…
As the Autumn Budget approaches on 26 November, speculation is mounting that Chancellor Rachel Reeves could target pensions as part of a wider fiscal reset. Rumours suggest potential reforms to pension tax relief, salary sacrifice schemes, and even the long-standing 25% tax-free lump sum may be heading toward the UK pension sector, prompting concern among savers and employers alike. This is according to pensions specialist, Penfold. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), the government faces a £22 billion funding gap. With the Chancellor having ruled out increases to income tax, VAT, or National Insurance, attention is turning to more technical areas of the tax system – including the generous reliefs that…
Radius Group has grown into a trusted partner for UK businesses. Supporting businesses of all sizes, Radius is geared towards driving cost savings and convenience when it comes to fleet management, offering offer fuel cards, telematics, vehicle leasing, EV charge points, telecoms and more to businesses globally. SME Today spoke to Sam Eggington, Head of Specialist Sales at Radius. With over a decade of experience in technology sales, Sam is passionate about helping businesses harness technology to solve real challenges. He is driven by making a genuine difference for customers, focusing on solutions that deliver value, simplify operations, and enable…
Ben Schilz, CEO at Wire, predicts movements towards a sovereign Europe, quantum-ready encryption and a slow goodbye to Big Tech The digital tug-of-war between open-source and proprietary software is not only underway but determined to accelerate in 2026. After years of loud promises but lacking delivery, the world has woken up. Privacy, sovereignty and security aren’t just firmly on the agenda, they are a long-term necessity to ensure companies and nations secure and control their data. However, not everyone is on the same page and frankly, many have competing interests. In the name of safety, governments continue to push for deeper…
Dentsu B2B, dentsu’s specialist business-to-business marketing services organisation, today announced the launch of The Superpowers Index 2025, the largest and most systematic global study of B2B buying behaviour. Now in its fifth edition, the Superpowers Index draws on over 16,000 interviews since 2021, including 6,107 B2B decision-maker interviews this year alone, spanning 21 markets and four major industries: Financial Services, Technology, Professional Services, and Manufacturing. It also ranks over 170 B2B brands, showing how they are performing against a wide range of buyer criteria. The report identifies three defining trends for 2025: Getting Back to Business: Buyers are balancing personal and…
On average, international business visitors to the UK spend 15% more than holidaymakers per day. With this in mind, Nicole Kerr, CEO at airport transfer platform Mozio, has shared the following advice on how businesses can reduce the cost of business travel trips. 1 – Pre-book an airport transfer “For most business travelers, the preferred method of transport to get from the airport to their destination is to pay for a taxi outside the airport. However, this can be costly, as taxis from an airport are renowned for being expensive, which can considerably add to the cost of the trip.” “To…
The majority of UK estate agents may now be at risk of breaching anti-money-laundering (AML) regulations following major changes introduced by HMRC last month, according to compliance technology specialist, Coadjute. On 9 September, HMRC published revised AML guidance that fundamentally redefines what is mandatory. The word “must” appears 212 times in the document, turning dozens of previously advisory checks into legal obligations. The update introduces a new checklist of 34 named risk indicators that must be addressed within every agency’s Business Risk Assessment (BRA) and Policies, Controls and Procedures (PCPs). Any business that has not updated its documentation and onboarding…
Meta just changed how their algorithm works, and it’s got 30% of marketers calling it the most difficult to navigate, citing major visibility and engagement issues. Most of them are doing the same thing, which is posting more content, thinking that’ll fix their reach problems but unfortunately it won’t. A participant, whom we’ll call Czy, a fitness influencer, shared that she lost 8 million views in a span of a month, “From 12 million views to 4 million quickly in a month, which leads me to want to post more. This hasn’t drastically affected partnerships yet, but I’ve noticed fewer…
Cyber criminals are stepping up their surveillance of British businesses, scanning online devices more than 4,000 times a day to identify gaps in security, BT network data reveals. Malicious scouting raids, which increasingly use automated ‘bots’ to look for weaknesses across organisations’ networks, have risen 300% in the last 12 months as hackers zero in on web-connected devices. This can range from company laptops and mobile phones through to IoT devices such as office security cameras. Once a system vulnerability has been identified, it can lead to the launch of a cyber-attack such as ransomware, which can compromise an entire…