Scammers have been targeting small business owners through a variety of invoice scams in 2022, according to a new study from Barclays.
In the first three months of 2022, invoice scams have made up more than half (55%) of all claims, with an average loss of £2,100. The amount that’s been stolen has gone up 13% year-on-year.
If your business offers remote working, you’ll understand that the security of your data is paramount, especially when employees are working away from the office – something that is arguably more important now than ever, given the coronavirus lockdown means more of us are working from home, with employees potentially using their own equipment.
A virtual private network (VPN) is essential to keep your company’s network and data secure – here’s everything you need to know about this essential piece of security kit for your company…
The pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine have both pushed the climate crisis from the headlines over the lats couple of years. But the need to be more environmentally friendly is still a huge priority for all of us, both individually and collectively.
The trouble is, not only can going green take a lot of effort, the latest data from the British Business Bank shows the vast majority of smaller businesses in the UK don’t understand common environmental terms such as ‘net zero’, ‘carbon neutral’ and ‘carbon footprint’ or how they apply to their businesses.
Let’s cut through the jargon and give you some useful tips to help cut your carbon footprint and fight climate change from your office.
It’s impossible to avoid talking about energy prices right now – the 54% increase in the energy price cap has got households across the country on the brink of a cost of living crisis (if not already embroiled in one).
But it’s not just households that are feeling the squeeze, these are worrying times for business owners across the country – we’re still recovering from the pandemic, Brexit could be biting for decades, and now we’re facing ridiculously high business energy bills.
Here’s what some business owners have to say about the impending energy bills crisis.
Energy prices are barely out of the news these days – soaring wholesale gas prices have put household and business energy prices up to record levels. And today’s energy price cap announcement means domestic energy bills will increase by £693 for millions of households from April 1 this year.
But if you’re a business owner and you have a dedicated premises for your business, you won’t be protected by the price cap. This situation has seen some commercial suppliers put their out of contract rates up by as much as 120%.
In this instance, it makes sense to compare business energy and switch if you can get better rates. If you run a large business or SME, it makes sense to take out a business energy deal as you can often negotiate cheaper gas and electricity rates than if you have a domestic energy deal at your business premises. But what if you work from home or run a micro business?
The government has cut the length of time that people with Covid-19 have to spend in self-isolation from seven days to five days. The changes will take effect from Monday.
This means that if you or any of your employees get hit by Covid, you’ll not need to spend as long in self-isolation. Although the advice remains to work from home wherever possible.
We asked several business owners what they made of the the relaxed rules. Here’s what they had to say.
2022 is nearly upon us. After losing most of 2020 and 2021 to the coronavirus pandemic, it’s time to prepare for a (hopefully) more stable and prosperous post-Covid world.
How many of our small business New Year resolutions will your business be carrying out?
If your business is closing down over Christmas, and you’re looking forward to clocking of for an extended festive break, you’ll no doubt already be winding down and counting the hours until you can switch on the out of office. The trouble is, switching off completely means there’s a chance you’ll come back to a packed inbox and a full answerphone.
But a little bit of preparation before you break up could help your colleagues to keep things ticking over and make sure you come back to an organised office that’s ready to take the new year by storm.
December 4th sees the return of Small Business Saturday, the one day of the year where customers are encouraged to rebel against the retail chains, overlook the massive online shops, and buy from local stores instead.
This year marks the ninth anniversary of the event, and all small businesses are being encouraged to get involved, from family butchers to online sellers.
For many of us, this year will be the first since 2019 that we’ve had to foot the bill for Christmas commuting costs, as last year’s lockdown put paid to any festive travel plans.
Whether you’re travelling to the Big Smoke for business or pleasure, Cheap Advance Single tickets have just been released on Trainline, for travel on many train operators’ routes, up to and including Christmas Eve.