SMEs going for growth in 2015
More customers, more staff and cutting costs are the three most important goals for UK SMEs in 2015 according to new research by Santander Corporate & Commercial. It has found that 61% of firms polled want to increase their customer base, 52% are looking to employ more people and 51% want to reduce costs. The survey also found that 20% of SMEs are looking to expand overseas. Other aims include buying new capital equipment (45%), developing new products (41%) and finding new suppliers (33%).
Unhappy staff could affect HMRC’s service
One fifth of staff could leave HMRC in the next 12 months according to Bloomsbury Professional, the tax and accounting information group. The firm says 45% of HMRC staff now feel overworked – up by 10% from last year. In addition, overall staff satisfaction has fallen by 2% to 43%. And 22% of staff say they plan to leave HMRC within the next 12 months or sooner, a 5% increase on last year. Martin Casimir, managing director of Bloomsbury Professional, said: “Pressure from political parties is mounting on HMRC to keep delivering more and more. Unless it receives more funding from the Government to achieve this, the quality and accuracy of the work carried out by HMRC staff is likely to suffer.”
Tribunal fees to be reviewed
The introduction of employment tribunal fees in 2013 has resulted in a 70% drop in the number of employment tribunal claims made by employees. New research by the CIPD has found that while 38% of employers say the new system should be left as it is, 36% believe that the fees should be either significantly reduced or abolished altogether and 27% are undecided. Vince Cable said: “The fact that employers are so split over whether the introduction of tribunal fees has been a good or a bad thing further reinforces the need for a review … I've now set one in motion in my department.”
Pace of economic growth to “edge up” says BCC
The latest labour market figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that employment rose by 134,000 in three months to January 2015, while unemployment fell by 102,000. The youth unemployment rate was 16.2%, down from 16.6% in the previous three months. David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said the figures “support our forecast that the pace of economic growth will edge up slightly in the first quarter of 2015.”