Amid a drop in UK goods exports, international logistics specialist Aramex UK has urged logistics providers to offer greater support to SMEs in expanding their reach to overseas markets. According to Umar Butt, CEO of the UK and Europe at Aramex, many within the industry are guilty of making it harder for small to medium sized businesses to trade internationally by imposing several barriers, ultimately limiting their access to effective logistics solutions and advice. This comes as UK goods exports continue to decline, with recent reports revealing that, aside from Japan, the UK has recorded the weakest export performance among…
Author: sme-admin
The procurement act came into play on Monday 24th February 2025, and how organisations set, track and report on social value commitments will be under the spotlight. A new, entirely free tool is making it possible for well-intended businesses of all shapes and sizes to get on the front-foot. The recent launch and expansion of this progressive valuation platform, MeasureUp, is tackling one of the most difficult challenges around assessing social value head-on: how to value real impact in a meaningful way. By sharing publicly-available data and useful resources – usually hidden behind paywalls – this bold move by partners Impact…
In this article Phillip Mellet, General Counsel of Pipedrive discusses the issues around trusting and verifying the data practices of partners, and ensuring the data privacy and protection side of best practices is highly secure. UK GDPR and the price of non-compliance should be top-of-mind for business leaders. Data is central to businesses, from reasonably simple areas like email lists to more sensitive and personally identifiable characteristics like identity, health, and financial data that businesses need from customers to provide services. Businesses should note that as of January, there’s been a cumulative tally of just over €5.5 billion in GDPR-related fines…
In February 2025, Dell’s CEO, Michael Dell, announced that the company is “retiring” its hybrid work policy. In his announcement, Dell stated, “Nothing is faster than the speed of human interaction. A thirty-second conversation can replace an email back-and-forth that goes on for hours or even days”. Here, Kristian Torode, Direction and Co-Founder of business communication specialist Crystaline, argues that with the right technology set up, businesses can move beyond traditional work models and embrace hybrid. Since 2020, hybrid work models have become increasingly commonplace. In 2025, it’s estimated 63 per cent of UK employees now working remotely at least…
With almost half of sales teams reporting higher competition in the last year, marketing experts have revealed the key statistics that every marketer and salesperson should know to maximise results in 2025. The top 10 B2B sales statistics for 2025 Over two-thirds of B2B buyers prefer emails as their method of contact. More than half of salespeople who use social media spend less than 10% of their time on it. More than nine in 10 buyers think calls from unknown numbers are fake. While 54% of B2C buyers prefer in-person shopping, 73% of B2B buyers purchase through digital channels. Businesses that use a…
Lynda Clarke, Chief Operating Officer at Tribe Payments – a leading digital payments and infrastructure orchestrator specialising in issuer and acquirer processing, explores how hyper-personalisation is transforming banking and redefining customer experiences. Today’s customers no longer settle for generic banking services – and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are no different. SMEs, which account for 99.8% of all businesses in the UK and contribute £2.8 trillion to the economy, increasingly expect highly tailored experiences that meet their specific business needs in real time. Thanks to advancements in AI, big data, and behavioural analytics, banks now have the tools to move…
With the Employment Rights Bill (ERB) progressing through Parliament, SMEs need to prepare for some of the biggest employment law changes in years. From extended tribunal claim deadlines to new protections for carers, whistleblowers, and domestic abuse survivors, the proposed amendments could significantly impact small and medium-sized businesses. SA Law’s employment legal experts break down the key changes and what they mean for SMEs. The Employment Rights Bill (ERB), the Government’s flagship Bill proposing significant changes to employment law, completed its Committee Stage in the House of Commons on 16 January 2025. The Committee considered the draft ERB alongside more…
As companies navigate the complexities of return-to-office (RTO) mandates, James Campanini, Head of Logitech for Business, discusses a key challenge that is often overlooked: the readiness of office spaces to accommodate a full workforce in today’s hybrid-first era. The debate over whether to return to the office or sustain a remote team has become one of the most significant workplace discussions in recent years. Companies are struggling to balance remote and in-office work, yet strict return-to-office (RTO) mandates are failing to deliver the intended results. While many assume the COVID-19 pandemic was the advent of hybrid work models, in reality, many businesses…
There’s no denying that divorce can be one of life’s most challenging events, but for SME owners, it brings a unique set of hurdles. Beyond personal heartbreak, the fate of your business – often built on years of hard work and ambition – can hang in the balance. From asset valuations to financial settlements, divorce involving business ownership can be complicated. James Maguire, Founder and Managing Director at Maguire Family Law, has spent over 30 years advising business owners through complex divorces. What’s more, having co-founded Maguire Family Law with his now ex-wife, James understands firsthand how professional and personal…
UNiDAYS, the world’s leading student verification platform, has released new data which highlights UK students’ views on the workplace and their preferred working patterns. As students consider their job options after graduation, new data from UNiDAYS reveals that UK students are eager to experience traditional office life. Of the over 700 students surveyed, 65% said a physical office is either very or somewhat important to them when considering where they choose to start their career. Despite companies such as WPP and Amazon facing backlash after telling staff to come into the office more, the data indicates that this will not deter the next intake…