HLAS

Households need to brace for a prolonged period of high inflation and further interest rate rises. The Governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, has warned that he will take forceful action to tackle inflation, already running at 9.4% and forecast to hit double figures later this year. He defended the decision last week to raise interest rates, saying there is a "real risk" of soaring prices becoming "embedded". Interest rates rose to 1.75% - the biggest rise in 27 years - with inflation now set to hit more than 13%. The UK is forecast to fall into recession [...]

With ever-increasing supplier prices, a rise in interest rates and a looming recession, managing your business's cash and understanding the flow are now vital tools in maintaining resilience and being able to adopt flexible strategies for success. Cash flows are a reflection of all the cash that is flowing in and out of a business. Owners can look at the direction of the cash flows for insights into the health of specific products or services and overall market patterns. Some types of businesses are more likely to run into cash flow problems, while other types appear to be more resilient. [...]

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, has launched the Design Foundations July 2022 funding competition. This will invest up to £2 million in early-stage innovation projects that use people and planet-centred design processes and expertise. The competition aims to help businesses develop new ideas that will deliver benefits for people and the planet, aligned with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. These can be for new or significantly improved products, services, places or business models. The competition is for eligible organisations that want to test and improve the customer experience, social and environmental benefits of their early-stage ideas, as [...]

Up to £25 million is available for disruptive research and development (R&D) innovations that can significantly impact the UK economy. All proposals must be business-focused, with deliverable, realistic and adequately resourced plans to achieve return on investment, growth and market share following project completion. Applications can come from any area of technology and be applied to any part of the economy, such as, but not exclusively: Net-zero The arts Design and media This round of Smart grants reflects the importance of obtaining economic benefits from public funding, and the potential for successful commercialisation, growth and exports. To be in the scope, your [...]

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, is working with the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation to run a Privacy Enhancing Technologies Challenge. This is part of an aligned programme with the US National Science Foundation, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. This challenge aims to accelerate the development and adoption of privacy-preserving federated learning approaches and build trust in their adoption. To achieve this, participants are asked to develop approaches that: Leverage a combination of input and output privacy techniques. Deliver strong privacy guarantees against a [...]

The Healthy Ageing market is one of the fastest growing markets in the world. The market in China is the largest geographically-defined opportunity. The Accelerator Programme includes a de-risking pathway to enter this market and make UK businesses competitive, as well as growth and export-ready. The Innovation Exchange Program is working alongside Oxford Innovation Advice and the UK National Innovation Centre for Ageing (NICA), to find innovative companies that are ambitious to grow their business. They seek innovators with new product or service ideas that can support us to stay healthy and active, and help us to remain mobile and [...]

The new Register of Overseas Entities is held by Companies House and requires overseas entities that own land or property in the UK to declare their beneficial owners and/or managing officers. There will be sanctions for those who do not comply, including restrictions on buying, selling, transferring, leasing or charging their land or property in the UK. Overseas entities who want to buy, sell or transfer property or land in the UK must register with Companies House and tell them who their registrable beneficial owners or managing officers are. Overseas entities who already own or lease land or property in the UK will [...]

Companies House have recordings of webinar presentations that you can watch whenever suits your schedule. The webinars cover a range of topics, including: Starting a limited company and your responsibilities to Companies House and HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). How intellectual property, such as patents, trademarks and copyrights can affect your business. Guidance on starting a community interest company (CIC). How to register company mortgages and other charges at Companies House. How to restore a company to the register. Click on the links below to view the recordings: Support to guide you on your business journey Choosing the right legal [...]

The British Standards Institution (BSI), in conjunction with the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Race to Zero campaign, are supplying 100,000 free copies of  BS ISO 50005. The ISO 50005 standard provides SMEs with a means to develop a practical approach to energy management to reduce energy consumption, energy bills and greenhouse gas emissions. Using a phased approach enables quick wins to be achieved in reducing energy usage and allows businesses to build upon these successes over time. See: BS ISO 50005:2021 | BSI (bsigroup.com)

Employment status affects everyone who works. Pay, leave and working conditions can all depend on employment status. People with different employment statuses have different rights set out in law. The rights are designed to protect individuals. Most of the rights are compulsory, and usually cannot be signed away. The UK Government has recently issued new guidance. The guidance complements the existing GOV.UK Employment status guidance, and provides practical advice and examples on: Employment status and how it determines the employment rights individuals are entitled to and for which employers are responsible. Factors determining an individual’s employment status. Special circumstances and recent developments in the [...]