New data reveals a deepening crisis for UK businesses, as employment tribunal receipts for single claims have surged by 33% year-on-year, leaving business owners facing a perfect storm of rising litigation and historic backlogs. In response, Irwell Law, the commercial legal arm of the Peninsula Group, has announced the rollout of Tribunal Edge, a specialised legal defence service designed to provide total financial immunity from the soaring costs of workplace disputes. According to the latest tribunal statistics, the open caseload for employment tribunals has hit a staggering 515,000 cases. For the average business, the stakes have never been higher. A standard…
Author: sme-admin
Generative AI is changing how businesses are discovered. New evidence suggests Scottish firms that fail to adapt risk losing visibility altogether. This report was prepared by AccuraCast, drawing on publicly available research and industry reporting. Generative AI is rapidly becoming the primary way people discover businesses, services and expertise online. Instead of browsing pages of search results, users increasingly receive a single synthesised answer, often with a small number of cited sources. According to a report by Gartner, traditional search engine volume is forecast to decline by 25 percent by 2026 as generative AI chatbots and virtual agents increasingly replace…
As digital connectivity becomes increasingly important for business growth and productivity, over one million SMEs across the UK are still thought to be operating without access to full-fibre broadband, which could limit their ability to compete and serve customers effectively. New analysis of UK broadband coverage data by the Uswitch business broadband experts shows that full-fibre connectivity access varies significantly between local authorities. For example, non-residential full-fibre access is highest at 97.4% in Nottingham and lowest at 8.6% in Harlow, highlighting gaps for local businesses. Of the UK’s 3.17m SMEs, an estimated 2.16m are estimated to have access to full-fibre broadband.…
Small businesses are being urged to prepare for higher insurance premiums next year as rising repair costs, inflation and increased claims continue to drive prices up across the commercial insurance market. According to the 2025 Premium Credit Insurance Index, 51% of SMEs say their business insurance costs have increased over the past 12 months and 10% described the rise as “dramatic”. An expert from insurance broker SJL says many firms could face further cost pressure going into 2026 after announcements in the Autumn Budget which may have an impact. Furthermore, the same 2025 Premium Credit data shows that 54% of SMEs are…
Scotland is due to get a new bank holiday in 2026 to mark its men’s national team playing in the 2026 World Cup. Leading HR advisory firm BrightHR warns of the various HR implications that could arise if the King grants the additional bank holiday. Alan Price, CEO of BrightHR said: “When an extra bank holiday is announced, employers are usually faced with the question; what does this mean for my employees? “Employers will need to look carefully at their employees’ contracts of employment to determine whether they have a contractual right to have the day off; there is no…
In the early days of a business, every founder knows the rhythm of the work. You jump between customer calls, packaging orders, approving quotes, answering questions from your team, and reviewing invoices long after the rest of the world has stopped working. And strangely, it feels good. Every task carries meaning. Every decision moves the company forward. There is momentum in those early days because nothing feels distant. Everything is close enough to touch, and that closeness creates a genuine sense of control. But as the business grows, that feeling begins to shift. What once felt energising slowly becomes scattered.…
Small and medium-sized enterprises account for 99.9 percent of all UK private sector businesses, according to the House of Commons Library Business Statistic Report. This makes SME performance a central pillar of UK economic stability. However, the environment SMEs operate in has shifted materially. Competitive pressure is no longer defined solely by price, scale, or sector, but by how quickly organisations can adapt to change. For smaller firms with limited buffers, delayed decisions compound risk more rapidly than in larger enterprises. Evidence suggests that firms which adopt digital tools and technologies are more likely to improve efficiency and operational outcomes.…
Alain Dilworth, one of the original architects of the Made Smarter Adoption programme, has been awarded an MBE for services to business growth and digitalisation in the King’s New Year Honours List. Dilworth has played a pivotal role in shaping and delivering Made Smarter since its inception in 2018, working closely with government and industry to design a national programme that helps manufacturing SMEs adopt digital technologies, strengthen leadership capability and improve productivity. As Programme Manager for the North West adoption programme, delivered by The Growth Company, he oversaw the launch of the £20 million, three-year pilot initiative that established…
2026 is set to be a big year for small businesses as they are still grappling with the effects of the latest government Budget, struggling high streets and ongoing cost of living challenges. Andy Fishburn, Managing Director of Virgin StartUp, has shared comments on three key trends he expects to emerge this year. Purpose-driven entrepreneurship becomes the norm “In 2026, we’ll see purpose-led start-ups become the norm rather than the exception. Purpose is no longer a “nice-to-have” or a marketing strategy, it’s proven to be a business growth driver. Since the pandemic we’ve seen a growing number of small businesses successfully embed…
Why empathy, agility and AI readiness will separate the businesses that succeed or fail in 2026 2025 has seen AI transform business workflows, accelerating the pace of task execution and opening new opportunities for teams’ capabilities regardless of IT knowledge. For example, ‘Vibe coding’, which refers to the art of making an app or website without having to manually write a line of code became so popular that Collins dictionary declared it the word of the year. However, if 2025 has been the year in which businesses experimented with AI to transform their operations, 2026 will be the year business…