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Small Talk: Have we got the right target if Aim shares can go into an Isa?

Mon, 13 May 2013 01:06:54 GMT

There are times when you know the answer before you've even asked the question: so it is with a survey of investors in Alternative Investment Market shares by The Share Centre. The stockbroker asked whether the Government should change the law so Aim stocks can be held within an individual savings account, something that's not currently allowed. This would enable investors to shelter all profits from tax – 95 per cent of the investors agreed this was a good idea.

Small Talk: It will take years to solve the zombie problem – if it exists

Mon, 06 May 2013 23:49:30 GMT

There are two contradictory ways to look at the latest statistics on corporate insolvencies for England and Wales, which fell sharply during the first three months of the year for the fifth successive quarter. They either make a nonsense of the idea that an army of zombie companies threatens to undermine the economy's recovery, or confirm our worst fears.

Small Talk: Tackling late payers is a question of culture, not law

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 23:00:00 GMT

Which industry is worse than any other at paying its suppliers on time? The answer will not come as a surprise to readers who have followed recent efforts of companies such as Selfridges and John Lewis to squeeze more margin out of their supply chains. Retailers, it turns out, are the only companies who are paying more tardily today than a year ago.

Small Talk: Time for suppliers to stand up to bully boys

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 00:11:44 GMT

Next time you buy something in Selfridges, feel free to tell its staff you're happy to pay the price marked on the goods but that if they want the money there and then, you expect a 5 per cent discount. After all, that's effectively what the department store chain has just told its suppliers.

Small Talk: Firms that have cash are finding it tough as well

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 23:00:00 GMT

In a nation obsessed with home ownership, savers have long been let down by policymakers' one-eyed focus on mortgage interest rates – never more so than today in this era of unprecedented monetary stimulus when millions of savers are earning negative real rates of return on their money. But while personal savers are beginning to build up a head of steam as they protest at the raw deal they're getting, who is looking out for the interests of small businesses who hold money on deposit?

Small Talk: George Osborne's Aim lifelines may not be a help to UK small firms

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 02:16:15 GMT

Someone at the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market must have been owed a favour by the Chancellor.

Small Talk: Here's how Osborne can make a big difference to the SMEs

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Almost exactly a year ago today, George Osborne arrived at the Federation of Small Businesses annual dinner with an inspiring message. "I know that with the energy, creativity, innovation and courage of Britain's small businesses we can take on the forces of stagnation and win," the Chancellor of the Exchequer told his audience, inviting small and medium-sized enterprises to take the lead in driving economic recovery.

Small Talk: It's vital firms take steps to defuse the stress time bomb

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Is your workforce too stressed to perform to the best of its abilities, or even to make it into the office day in, day out? If so, you're not alone – new research suggests employee stress is a serious problem at a significant and rising number of small and medium-sized enterprises.

Small Talk: Entrepreneurship as a force for social good

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT

One doesn't hear so much talk of the "big society" these days, but that is not to say it isn't out there. The rise of social entrepreneurship has largely gone unnoticed by the mainstream business community – or policymakers for that matter – but thanks to the support of some organisations that might surprise you, this is a movement which is definitely in the ascendancy.

Small Talk: Save the schemes that find finance for our small firms

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 00:49:45 GMT

Treasury minister David Gauke was in congratulatory mood at the EIS Association's annual dinner at the House of Lords last week. The enterprise investment scheme, through which investors get tax breaks for putting money into smaller companies, is "the most successful and widely respected venture capital relief scheme in Europe", Mr Gauke told his fellow diners.

Small Talk: Scandals can become a silver lining for the smaller retailer

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Small businesses need all the help they can get, and they certainly shouldn't be afraid to capitalise on others' misfortunes. The horsemeat scandal, argues the Federation of Small Businesses, represents a real opportunity for independent retailers to win back customers from the giant supermarkets that have done them so much damage.

Small Talk: It's vital to remember that not all small firms are the same

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Chuka Umunna, Labour's high-profile shadow Business Secretary, is trying to stick to a new year's resolution that may surprise you: he has promised not to utter the phrase "small and medium-sized enterprise" (or even SME) during 2013. It's not that Mr Umunna and the Labour Party aren't interested in small business; his argument is that the phrase is so generic that it is both meaningless and misleading.

Small Talk: Watchdog has left door open on interest-rate swap cases

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The emails began arriving within minutes of the announcement by the Financial Services Authority that tens of thousands of small businesses have been mis-sold interest-rate swaps by the banks. Within half an hour, no fewer than six "claims management" firms had got in touch offering their views on mis-selling and, naturally, their services to small businesses that might be due compensation.

Small Talk: Unity is strength when it comes to beating late payers

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT

How do small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) deal with persistent late payers that damage their cashflow and jeopardise their very survival? A new piece of research from Barclays Bank suggests many SMEs are getting tough with late payers – if that's the case, it's not before time.

Small Talk: Taxman is cracking down hard on the small companies with very little hope

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Is the taxman getting tough on small businesses struggling to pay their bills? HM Revenue & Customs' own figures suggest this may well be the case.HMRC's data, crunched by Wilkins Kennedy, the accountant, reveals that in the 2011-12 tax year, it presented 57 per cent more petitions to wind up companies with unpaid tax bills than in the previous 12 months. It sought to liquidate just over 5,300 companies last year, up from about 3,400 in 2010-11.

Small Talk: Problems ahead but the tax revolution looks a winner

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 01:16:29 GMT

HM Revenue & Customs is as adept as any commercial organisation at presenting changes to its practices as "improvements", no matter what additional expense or hassle they cause. So it is with real-time information (RTI), about which David Gauke, the Treasury minister with responsibility for HMRC, tends to be evangelical.

Small Talk: Flawed, but scheme to help start-ups still has lots to offer

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 01:05:23 GMT

How many people have begun January by resolving to make 2013 the year they finally strike out alone and start their own business? Social market research invariably shows self-employment is hugely appealing to many people – over and above the increases we have seen in the past couple of years (one suspects many of these newly self-employed people have been forced into this status by the double-dip recession).

Small Talk: Sorry, but it's time to end the misery of these zombie firms

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Here's the thing about zombies. As every horror movie fan knows, the fact the undead are invariably victims themselves – typically of some awful pandemic – they still pose a threat that must be countered.

Small Talk: Lots of funding initiatives but precious few achievements

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 18:57:53 GMT

The patchwork quilt of different measures designed to fund the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises is at last being knitted together. But goodness, progress is slow.

Small Talk: Volume may be a problem for investment trusts

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The investment-trust industry, which has long been the poor relation of open-ended funds such as unit trusts, is rubbing its hands with glee at the prospect of the retail distribution review. The regulatory shake-up of financial advice, which takes effect on 1 January, will ban providers from paying commissions to advisers who recommend their products to clients. Investment trusts, as quoted companies, have never been able to do this and blame commission bias for the fact financial advisers neglected the sector in favour of open-ended funds.

Small Talk: Osborne prolongs the great business rates robbery

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 00:00:00 GMT

All Chancellors give with one hand only to take with another – that's the job – but for far too many small businesses, George Osborne's Autumn Statement only prolongs the agony. For all the talk of targeted help for small businesses, the great business rates robbery will continue.

Small Talk: Stalemate over new bank is disappointing

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Wednesday's Autumn Statement looks set to see another chance to boost small and medium enterprises go begging. Despite months of discussions, it's almost certain George Osborne will not be able to unveil the blueprint for a state-backed business bank. The Chancellor and his officials have apparently failed to reach agreement with Vince Cable's Department for Business on the detail. This is unhelpful, for the arguments over bank lending to SMEs have reached a stalemate.

Small Talk: Why the seed enterprise scheme fell on stony ground for the Treasury

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Sometimes, you can't even give your money away. That must be the feeling among those ministers who have had a hand in the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme.

Small Talk: Few entrepreneurial role models for risk-averse British

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Who are the role models for Britain's aspiring entrepreneurs and small business founders? There are surprisingly few – anyone who works with small and medium-sized enterprises will quickly become accustomed to the same faces used to promote the sector's campaigns.

Small Talk: Let's give a warmer welcome to Vince and his Business Bank

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Government isn't much fun – just ask Business Secretary Vince Cable, who in pre-coalition days was routinely lauded as politics' voice of reason, but who today has barely a friend to his name. The latest Vince wheeze to get a kicking is the Government's new Business Bank, which he hopes will be able to turn £1bn of taxpayers' money into £10bn worth of support for small and medium-sized enterprises.