Small business confidence made a welcome return to positive territory for the first time in two years, the first evidence that the small business community has now come out of the late 2023 recession, according to FSB’s Small Business Index (SBI) for Q1 2024. The headline confidence reading jumped up over 20 points to reach +5.5 points in the first three months of 2024, up from -15.0 points in the final quarter of last year. Outside of COVID waves, this is the first confidence reading above zero since 2018, which makes it significant and important that it be sustained. The gap in confiden ..read more

Food entrepreneur Charlie Bigham talks to Irene Graham, CEO of the ScaleUp Institute, at the Evening Standard SME XPO                                               Picture: ANNABEL MOELLER Charlie Bigham, the entrepreneur behind the hugely successful eponymous food brand seen in all the best supermarkets, takes no time in passing on his No 1 tip to would-be small business owners. “Employ brilliant people – even if you can’t afford them,” he says without hesitation. “When I lo ..read more

SME Magazine catches up with Andrew Molyneux, co-founding director of TM Lighting. Can you start by telling us what your company is called and when did you launch? Harry Triggs, left, with Andrew Molyneux I founded TM Lighting with my business partner Harry Triggs in 2012, bringing together our experience of over 30 years in the industry. The name TM Lighting was born out of combining our surnames. What was the inspiration behind it?  In the UK we are fortunate to have hundreds of architecturally outstanding historic houses that possess remarkable collections of art created by some of the ..read more

The Royal Academy of Engineering has launched a major new initiative to support engineering and technology entrepreneurs to start and grow businesses in Scotland. Building on the Academy’s success across the UK as one of Europe’s leading startup hubs, Enterprise Hub Scotland will focus on helping local entrepreneurs to commercialise deep tech innovations, spin out companies from universities and attract further external investment. The Academy’s Enterprise Hub has already supported 35 early-stage entrepreneurs in Scotland and awarded £1.6 million in total grant funding to date. The Hub, curren ..read more

By Tammy Evans, below, Partner, Ignition Law Following on from the sense of celebration and ever-increasing positivity felt when International Women’s Day comes around, are we starting to see a shift in the balance and the breaking down of at least some of the hurdles faced by female founders? We know that women are underrepresented in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. The reasons for this range from gender bias, the funding gap, lack of support and expectation through to plain old primary/family care responsibilities. Access to funding is the biggest challenge. The Alison Rose Report c ..read more

The search is on again for Britain’s best small business name. Insurance company Simply Business has teamed up with comedian to look at companies in the running for the title and the £2,500 cash prize. Voting is now open to the public to choose their winner before voting closes on May 13 The full shortlist for 2024 is: Business Name  Business Type Location Barber Streisand Barbers London Easy Lay Landscaping Landscaping Milton Keynes Furry Godmothers Dog groomers Newport Lord Of The Bins Waste clearance Brighton Poke Nom Hawaiian Street food London Prints Charming Prin ..read more

Nadina and Michael, above, are the founders of Milky Plant and produce plant-based milk at home.  A few years ago, Nadina was diagnosed with high cholesterol and wanted to make healthy changes to her diet but quickly found that everyday plant-based milks weren’t as natural or healthy as they claimed to be. Here, they tell SME about their business journey. Can you start by telling us what your company is called and what does it do? Milky Plant is an appliance that makes plant-based milk at home. It is unique to anything on the market as the owners say others on the market are extra fine ..read more

By Graham Clark, below, Managing Director, OCM Enable The latest prediction for the UK from the Office of Budget Responsibility is that the economic outlook remains challenging in the medium term. For SMEs the poor economic environment means some will continue to face an array of issues that can hamper growth. To navigate ongoing skills shortages and retention issues, as well as concerns around employee mental health and burnout, along with the impact of technology especially AI, SMEs need a fresh new approach on how to overcome problems and lead during a time of uncertainty and complexity. In ..read more

By Sara Daw, below, Group CEO of The CFO Centre Group and The Liberti Group SME entrepreneurs, business leaders, and owners are remarkable individuals. Against all odds, they create organisations that ultimately become the backbone of global economies. Often fuelled by a personal idea, they innovate with ambition, agility, and determination to change lives – their own, their employees’, their families’, and their customers’. They strive to make a difference. I have tremendous admiration for them. But they are missing out. When they venture from their back-bedroom idea to starting a busin ..read more

Food entrepreneur Charlie Bigham talks to Irene Graham, CEO of the ScaleUp Institute, at the Evening Standard SME XPO                                               Picture: ANNABEL MOELLER And that’s a wrap on another remarkable edition of SME XPO, with the 2024 event attracting nearly 4447 visitors over two dynamic days of networking, learning, and collaboration. Held at ExCeL London, SME XPO 2024 brought together entrepreneurs, innovators, investors, and industry experts, p ..read more