While  GDP figures show 0.3% growth over the last quarter, some business sectors are performing against the odds and experiencing exceptional growth. Barclays Online Business Outlook 2013 released this week has revealed that companies that operate online are thriving, with half of those questioned having produced double digit growth in the last three years. The average online company surveyed experienced 11.4% compound annual growth over the last three years, that’s over 50 times the rate of the... Read more >

The UK’s most ambitious SMEs are hungry for new and affordable technology, with access to the latest tech seen as one of the tipping points for business success. Almost 80 per cent of companies believe that technology plays an essential part in their plans for growth, helping businesses to up their game and reach larger audiences, according to a new study commissioned by TalkTalk Business based on research by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). The report’s author,... Read more >

Two thirds (65 per cent) of SMEs in the UK have been forced to overhaul how they work in reaction to poor economic conditions, according to a new report from CitySprint. The report, ‘Collaborate UK’, highlights the new strategies being followed in response to the downturn, revealing a significant cultural shift among the dynamic SME community and the emergence of a new breed of leaner, more focused ‘size zero’ businesses. It found that a quarter (24 per cent) of the 700 SMEs surveyed are... Read more >

UK firms are at serious risk of losing business by leaving customers hanging on the telephone for more than 30 seconds at a time, new research has revealed. A survey of 3,630 companies by PH Media Group discovered the British public are being left on hold for an average of 33.48 seconds during calls to businesses. The implications for profitability are grave. Previous research has shown 50 per cent of callers will hang up within 20 seconds if forced to listen to silence while on hold. But the study... Read more >

IT software budgets for 93 per cent of SMEs have increased or remained the same over the last five years. Despite this, more than three quarters of companies said that on average, 12 per cent of software purchases still go unused. This is the first in a series of surveys from SolarWinds and demonstrates that while investing in IT software is seen as an important expenditure, there is work to be done to ensure that the software purchased is used effectively. The majority of SMEs surveyed (63 per cent),... Read more >

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