By Kirstie McDermott on Growth Business - Your gateway to entrepreneurial success As of 6 April 2024, UK workers have the right to ask their employer for a change to their working conditions from their first day in a job, thanks to the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill 2023. This can be done through the means of making a statutory application, and requests can include amends to the number of hours you work, start or finish time, the days of the week you work, or the location of your work. The aim is to enable people to work, within reason, in the way that suits them best. And there ..read more

By Dom Walbanke on Growth Business - Your gateway to entrepreneurial success With the aim of bringing our readers an extensive UK business events, exhibitions and trade fairs diary, Growth Business will be continually updating this page as new events come onto our radar. If you notice any events we have missed, or would like to feature your event on our list, please get in touch with Anna Jordan at anna.jordan@stubbenedge.com. Event month: 2024 – April | May | June | October | November 2025 – March April 2024 Event: SME XPO Date: 23-24 April 2024 Location: ExCel Londo ..read more

By Dom Walbanke on Growth Business - Your gateway to entrepreneurial success Marketing is a pricey and difficult world to navigate but social media is a great way to get eyeballs on your brand for relatively little cost. Setting up accounts on X, Facebook and Instagram is simple, but success lies in ensuring you drive engagement. Success on social platforms can be unpredictable, unless you have some simple ways to consistently boost your social media following and bring traffic to your company. Here are some tips to help you on your way. #1 – Ask and you shall receive One of the best ways to ..read more

By Dom Walbanke on Growth Business - Your gateway to entrepreneurial success Juggling the many tasks that an entrepreneur is required to complete to run a successful business is stressful and difficult. Your mind races between all the jobs you need to do and it can be hard to maintain your stress levels and keep calm in the face of the sheer volume of work. Developing coping techniques to deal with the problems you are having in running your business is vital to survival. According to a report in September 2023, mental ill health was the leading cause of sick days in the workplace, with sick ..read more

By Dom Walbanke on Growth Business - Your gateway to entrepreneurial success There are various reasons why companies are choosing to take part in a four-day week trial. These include the possibility of improved employee wellbeing, improved productivity and easier recruitment and staff retention as a result. In the world’s biggest four-day working week trial, 51 per cent of participating firms have opted to make the change permanent, while 89 per cent are still operating the policy a year on. Key to success, according to the report authors, was companies communicating their four-day week clear ..read more

By Dom Walbanke on Growth Business - Your gateway to entrepreneurial success Alternative lender ThinCats is to lend over £300 million to growing UK businesses via a new fund. The new fund, which will be for “high-growth and owner-managed” businesses, give help companies based in London, the South East, North West and the Midlands with a EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) of more than £1 million a year. The finance provider provided a record £395 million to businesses in 2023 and has lent around £1.7 billion in total. Although it is sector agnostic in its ..read more

By Kirstie McDermott on Growth Business - Your gateway to entrepreneurial success Last week, the EU parliament gave the nod to the “AI Act”, a parcel of lawmaking that was proposed as far back as 2021, but which, in the past 18 months since the phenomenal success of generative AI platforms such as ChatGPT, has become even more timely. The EU’s approach to regulation has several prongs, and depending on the risk level, will be enforced over a rolling schedule. This will see outright bans on those forms of AI considered to be highest risk later this year. More rules will apply 12 months after t ..read more

By David Gevorkian on Growth Business - Your gateway to entrepreneurial success In the UK, there are over 16 million people with disabilities, accounting for one in every four  people. Any business must ensure that its marketing strategies are inclusive of individuals with any kind of disability. In this article, you will find actionable tips for creating more inclusive social media content for your business. Web accessibility regulations Accessibility refers to how easily a product, service, environment, or device can be reached and used by a diverse group of people. There are two prima ..read more

By Dom Walbanke on Growth Business - Your gateway to entrepreneurial success UK-based e-commerce company Modern Milkman was the fastest-growing company in the UK between 2019-2022, a report has revealed.   The eighth annual FT1000 rankings by the Financial Times and Statista is based on revenue growth in the three years to 2022.   Modern Milkman, an e-commerce startup, came out on top with an annual compound growth rate of 322.3 per cent. The company offers dairy products in plastic-free packaging and returnable glass bottles. The survey included 2021 ..read more

By Dom Walbanke on Growth Business - Your gateway to entrepreneurial success Is artificial intelligence good or bad? Either way, it’s growing. Whether it is JPMorgan’s AI cashflow model that claims to cut manual banking work by 90 per cent, AI therapists or AI-powered security cameras, AI is making its mark on society and the workplace. With so many resources being dedicated to its development and no real obstacles predicted, its rapid development is set to continue. In many ways, this is a good thing that will help the pharmaceutical industry detect and understand disease. On the other hand ..read more