The Made Smarter Innovation - Smart Manufacturing Data Hub (SMDH) is now accepting applications for funded projects that will support manufacturing small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) on their smart manufacturing journey.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has stated that this has been the biggest tax-raising parliament since records began, pushing UK tax revenues to historically high levels. They comment “At the time of the last general election, UK tax revenues amounted to around 33% of national income. By the time of the next election in 2024, on current forecasts, taxes will amount to around 37% of national income – a level not sustained in the post-war period. Compared with a world in which taxes had stayed at 33% of national income, the UK government will be raising upwards of £100 billion more in tax revenues next year. This is equivalent to around £3,500 more per household, though of course the tax rise will not be shared equally.

The annual Made in the UK, Sold to the World awards recognises and celebrate the global trading success of SMEs from across the UK.

From 6 to 10 November 2023, the British Business Bank, along with several partners from across the UK, will host Business Finance Week 2023.

With increasing supplier prices and economic uncertainty, managing your business’s cash and understanding its flow are now vital tools in maintaining resilience and being able to adopt flexible strategies for success.

With the constant news surrounding the economy, interest rate uncertainty, and high inflation, it is difficult not to worry about these issues and lose sight of what’s really important – the health and welfare of you and your loved ones.

Start Up Loans are personal loans designed to help new businesses begin trading. They were created to support would-be business owners who have struggled to secure finance from traditional lenders.

The iconic Small Business Saturday UK Tour is back again this November.

The countdown to Small Business Saturday is officially on, as ‘The Tour’ returns to spotlight and supports small businesses all over the country.

The UK’s manufacturing sector has climbed one place to eighth in the world rankings, overtaking France in the process, according to analysis of the latest official data published by Make UK.

Innovation has generally been recognised as essential for value creation, both for individual companies and for the UK economy as a whole. The development of new ideas, processes, and technologies and their flow across different sectors is a significant driver of economic growth and productivity. Recently, innovation has also been identified as crucial to the transition of the economy away from fossil fuels and carbon-intensive business activities.

For limited companies, when it comes to making decisions, Company Law states shareholders who own more than 50% can pass a motion at a company meeting regardless of the views of other shareholders and if a shareholder(s) owns 75% or more of the shares they, control the company outright and can veto the decisions of all other shareholders.

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will work with micro, small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to invest up to £3.8 million in innovation projects. These will be to support the net zero agenda.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) states that UK organisations should prepare for an extended period of heightened cyber security threat. It has guidance for organisations on the steps to take to improve security.

Being resilient by choice is critical for both survival and for strategic advantage in an era where disruption is the norm. The threats businesses face today are complex and becoming more frequent than in previous times. We have seen a pandemic, an ongoing war in Europe with supply chain issues, a cost of living crisis, extreme weather and frequent ongoing cyber-attacks.

Motorists can opt for digital vehicle tax reminders rather than having to wait for a paper reminder to drop through their letter box. The change comes as part of DVLA’s new Driver and vehicles account service, which was launched on GOV.UK last week.

With continuing inflation in the UK, many of us and our businesses have been put “off track” in the short to medium term. The Bank of England recently increased interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 5.25 per cent. The rise was as expected by economists in view of the latest data showing annual inflation at 7.9 per cent in June which is four times higher than the Bank of England’s 2 per cent target.

We were finally getting over the financial crisis when Covid struck. Russia’s war in Ukraine has not only meant human suffering – it has affected the entire global economy, driving up the cost of food and energy. It adds to the hardship for those on low incomes and means serious food security risks in the world’s poorest economies.

HMRC’s annual report was published last week, and it shows that they failed to meet many of their key customer services measures in 2022-23. Customer satisfaction dropped to 79% from 82% last year and telephone performance has also declined with an average wait of 16 minutes to get through to an adviser. 63% of callers waited more than 10 minutes, with an average wait-time of over 20 minutes in January to March 2023. To their credit, HMRC have improved their correspondence reply time to 73% cleared within 15 days from 46% in 2021-22.

Farming is the largest employer in the world but millions of people who live and work on smallholder farms don’t earn enough to provide for either themselves or their families.

The Find a Grant service offers a free central place on GOV.UK for business, individuals, and organisations to find and apply for UK government grants. The Find a Grant service is an initiative being delivered by the Government Grants Management Function, in Cabinet Office.