Uncategorized

Government to reduce burdens on business

Government budget proposals

  • will improve and reform the Enterprise Management Incentive scheme (EMI), which helps SMEs recruit and retain talent, by providing additional support to help start-ups access the scheme; by consulting on amending restrictions that currently prevent the scheme being used by academics employed by start-ups, and by more than doubling the individual grant limit to £250,000, subject to State aid approval;
  • will consult on simplifying the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) energy efficiency scheme to reduce administrative burdens on business.  Should very significant administrative savings not be deliverable, the Government will bring forward proposals in autumn 2012 to replace CRC revenues with an alternative environmental tax, and will engage with business before then to identify potential options;
  • will scrap or improve 84 per cent of health and safety regulation, including legislating in 2012 so that ‘strict liability’ provisions in health and safety law will no longer hold employers to be in breach of their duties when they have done everything that is reasonably practicable and foreseeable to protect their employees;
Read more

Headway Essex benefits from CJAM’s expertise

The main support CJAM will provide for Headway Essex, which provides brain injury care and support, is assistance with its digital marketing campaigns, helping it to raise additional valuable funds.

Christine Joyce, managing director, CJAM, explains: “Each year we use our expertise in marketing and business support services to help a worthy local charity. For 2012 we are delighted to announce that it is Headway Essex which does a great job helping those people who have acquired a brain injury.”

Read more

RIDDOR Regulations 1995 Change – 6 April 2012

From 6 April 2012, subject to Parliamentary approval, RIDDOR’s over three day injury reporting requirement will change. From then the trigger point will increase from over three days’ to over seven days’ incapacitation (not counting the day on which the accident happened).

Read more

Mid-sized firms to spearhead UK export drive

The first-ever UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) trade visit to focus exclusively on the opportunities for MSBs in an emerging market.This is one of a number of actions to unlock growth among the UK’s 10,000 mid-sized businesses. They have been described as a “forgotten army” of businesses, yet they account for one fifth of the private sector.

Read more

A new national programme launched to help SMEs

A new national programme which will focus on helping small and medium manufacturing businesses to grow has officially launched, Business Minister Mark Prisk and the Manufacturing Advisory Consortium (MAC) announced recently.

The new Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) is now available to all manufacturing businesses across England. It will be delivered by the MAC, which is comprised of Grant Thornton, Pera, WM Manufacturing Consortium Ltd and SWMAS Ltd. It has been estimated that the new MAS will help to generate £1.5 billion in economic growth, 23,000 jobs and safeguard 50,000 jobs.

Businesses interested in finding out more about the programme can find out more by visiting www.mymas.org or by calling an advisor on 0845 658 9600.

Read more

New intellectual property support for SMEs

The package forms part of the Government’s Innovation and Research Strategy for Growth, which has been published today. It sets out plans to boost growth through substantial investment in research and innovation across the UK.

 Key actions announced today by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) include:

  •  A new online business advisor training tool that will give advisors the skills and information they need to help businesses protect the value of their intellectual property.
  • An online register of advisors to help businesses find the right advisor for them quickly and easily.
  • Consulting businesses, business advisors and IP specialists about how lower cost IP legal and commercial advice can be provided.
  • Offering free intellectual property audits to businesses through routes such as the Technology Strategy Board.
  • Enhancing existing schemes such as mediation to provide a more efficient dispute resolution service that can prevent potentially costly legal cases.
Read more

Apprenticeships: Cable guarantees quality, slashes red tape and delivers cash boost for firms

Business Secretary Vince Cable today announced new measures to ensure more young people benefit from an apprenticeship, and to help employers gain the skilled workers they need to grow.

As part of the Government’s plan for growth, Ministers are taking action to make it easier for companies to take on apprentices, and ensure that the quality of apprenticeships is continually improved. He told businesses in Londonrecently that the Government would slash the red tape that can deter hard pressed firms from taking on apprentices, and provide a financial incentive to help the smallest firms recruit their first young apprentices.

The following measures to further strengthen the UK’s world class apprenticeships programme were recently announced:

· To encourage thousands of small firms that don’t currently hire apprentices to take on a young apprentice aged 16 to 24, the Government will offer employers with up to 50 employees an incentive payment of up to £1,500. This will support up to 20,000 new apprenticeships in 2012/13. An initial payment will be made two months after the individual has started their apprenticeship; the balance will be paid after the apprenticeship has been completed and the trainee has progressed into sustainable employment.

Read more
Back To Top