Improving SME processes
When you are trying to grow your SME business, looking to build good relationships with suppliers and customers and deliver products and services which will resonate in the marketplace, the last thing you need is…
When you are trying to grow your SME business, looking to build good relationships with suppliers and customers and deliver products and services which will resonate in the marketplace, the last thing you need is…
The phone rings and an automated voice starts to inform you that either your internet connection has been sending out fake signals or your tax return has been flagged up as faulty and you are…
What’s in a number? In the past we have written about the importance of choosing your business telephone number wisely; promoting local numbers for local businesses, whilst suggesting that those who look to trade over…
Raw materials, key components, vital infrastructure; whatever your business, the decision to change suppliers is never an easy one. No matter how much research you carry out there is always the worry in the back…
What infrastructure do you need in place in order to support your business? Do you rely on a good catchment area and the wide availability of parking in order to bring employees and customers to…
As a SME business where do you find your main customer base? Now I appreciate that your answers will be many and varied depending on your business size and market place. After all, with SMEs…
As Storm Callum roars onward into the history books leaving flooding and devastation in its wake there is little doubt that autumn has arrived in force. Will it finish up as a season of mists…
New telephone regulations have come into force which aim to strengthen consumer protection. The regulations, brought in by the communications watchdog Ofcom, came into force on 1 October and follow a review of the…
When the subject of SMEs comes up in the news or in conversation what springs to mind? Perhaps your local corner shop or independent garage, a one man band or just a handful of people…
It doesn’t matter whether you are a small, medium, or large business; customers are key to your success. So why is it that all too often we look at product or pricing rather than people?…
What’s your projected growth rate this year? Perhaps you are a start-up company in a fast growth phase, or are you more likely to be predicting a period of stability, holding your own in a…
The aim of a charity is clear; delivering that aim can be complex. Why do we say that? Well, when a charity is set up it is generally with the aim of providing some measure…
For football and rugby union supporters the month of May is a bittersweet time. Whether it’s relief at your team’s survival for another year, elation at a promotion gained or facing the sad reality of…
After a long hot weekend which saw May bank holiday temperature records broken in the UK, it seems almost indecent to talk about planning for a rainy day. And we do have to admit that…
Back to work after the Easter break and it’s time to check if your phone security stood up to the test of a long double bank holiday weekend. And this poses a problem. With potential…
On 10 March 1876 Alexander Graham Bell made the first telephone call, summoning his assistant from the next room. Admittedly, he would probably have got the same response had he merely called out loud; but…
In 2017 London’s Oxford Street saw 291 instances of ‘theft by moped.’ And Oxford Street isn’t alone. According to the Metropolitan Police, drive by thefts across London’s main shopping streets increased sixfold in the two…
UK SMEs plan to go back to basics in order to support their growth plans for 2018. So says a report commissioned by American Express and Oxford Economics which also revealed that the UK SME…
It may have its origins in a travel company initiative but Blue Monday now seems to be firmly established in the business calendar. In 2018 this allegedly most depressing of days falls on 15th January,…
If you are basking in the glow of superfast broadband connections spare a thought for the 1.1 million UK homes and businesses which, according to Ofcom, still cannot get a decent broadband connection. Admittedly this…
What is the UK’s highest mountain peak? Hands up all those who said Ben Nevis? Sorry but you are wrong; the answer is Mount Hope which at 3,239m is more than twice the…
December: a time for reflection and a time for planning. No we aren’t talking here about arranging the Christmas party or organising the secret Santa although undoubtedly they are looming large in the calendars of…
There’s no denying that sport is now a global industry. At the time of writing England’s cricketers are in Australia, with the women’s Ashes series almost complete and the men’s about to get underway. At…
Unless you’ve been completely out of touch recently it probably won’t have escaped your notice that interest rates have gone up. Or at least the Bank of England has raised its base rate to 0.5%,…
It’s scarcely a month since we were talking about the effects of Hurricane Irma and now we have our own hurricane to worry about. Ironically in a week in which various news reports have been…
As the days grow shorter and cool autumn winds start to blow it is hard to ignore the pattern of life, the rhythm of the world which calls on us to adapt our lives in…
As hurricane Irma approached landfall, news screens were filled with tales of evacuations and preparations; of people doing what little they could in the face of the power of nature. No amount of predictions prepared…
September is here and those placards and posters which have been foretelling doom all summer long have now come true! It’s ‘back to school’ time.
For parents that means the trauma of sorting…
Wrong numbers, signal fluctuations, even the modern phenomenon of pocket dialling are just some of the vagaries of a joined up communication system which we’ve probably all experienced from time to time. Thanks then to…
On 30 June 2017 the 999 service celebrated its eightieth birthday. The oldest emergency telephone service in the world came about following a fire in a doctor’s surgery in 1935 in which five people perished.…