Guide To Suppliers

While the 2008 recession was not as deep or prolonged as the infamous 1930s Great Depression, the UK's economy is in danger of taking far longer to recover this time round. That is the warning from the Forum of Private Business’s (FPB's) economic adviser, Professor Phillip Wyman, as he looks to 2012 and what the new year has in store for small businesses.

Just a month before a raft of legal changes take place, research from the Forum of Private Business (FPB) shows small firms pay almost £6bn per year to outside consultants in exchange for support on complying with regulations – more than a third of their £16.8bn annual red tape bill. With the latest ‘common commencement date’ for new regulations coming on 1 October, more than two thirds of respondents (67%) to the Forum’s latest Referendum survey have seen consultancy costs rise since 2009.

The Forum of Private Business (FPB) is warning its members that their websites could fall foul of new EU rules governing the use of ‘cookies’ - the code that is installed on a user's computer allowing a site to remember and recognise visitors. Currently, many websites use cookies to help users navigate pages efficiently, performing tasks such as remembering log-in details, browsing history and ordering information.

The Forum of Private Business is urging business owners who feel they have been unfairly denied bank lending to put a new appeals process to the test. The British Bankers’ Association has announced the creation of the new process, which sits alongside the Better Business Finance campaign and the recently introduced Lending Code – a self-regulatory code of practice which the banks say they will follow when dealing with small business customers.

More than half of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Britain now use social media, according to a new survey by the Forum of Private Business (FPB). Through its latest Referendum ballot, which was themed around electronic technology and smaller firms, the FPB discovered that 52 per cent of its members now use websites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. However, of that 52 per cent, over half (27 per cent) expressed serious doubts about the value of the popular networking sites.