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In these difficult times, you may find your business slowing down and sales harder to come by. Given this trend, establishing and maintaining connections with existing and potential customers have become more important than ever. So here are some simple tips to help you step up your marketing game: 1. Strengthen your social media presence. With the extended lockdowns and social distancing rules in place, it is the perfect time…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Update. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Lately, economists have been talking about a “K-shaped” recovery from the current recession. As this article in The Conversation explains, this kind of recovery happens when different parts of the economy recover at different rates. White-collar workers who can more easily work remotely may have an easier and faster path to recovery than…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Update. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Read on for this week’s update. UK Unemployment Hits 3-Year High in August UK unemployment hit its highest rate in over three years, rising to 4.5% in the three months to August, according to data released by the Office for National Statistics. The report also showed that the number of people claiming jobless…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Update. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Read on for this week’s update. New Three-Tier Lockdown Planned for England Last week, restrictions were tightened in northeast England due to the increasing rate of COVID-19 cases in the region. Now, leaked government documents reveal tougher COVID-19 measures that could be implemented locally or nationally. This may include the closure of pubs…  Read more

Countries in recession, unemployment rates rising, multiple economic indicators at their all-time lows, increased market volatility– these are just some of the economic impacts we’re seeing as a result of the pandemic. As we continue to battle the COVID-19 crisis, it is important for everyone, especially those who have had their income stream affected, to keep their finances in check and proactively find ways to navigate to recovery. By creating…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Update. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Read on for this week’s update. New Job Support scheme set to replace furlough Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced the government’s plan to protect jobs and support businesses in the coming months. Key parts of the announced Winter Economy Plan include: a new Job Support Scheme, an extension of Self-Employment Income Support Scheme,…  Read more

Now is the perfect time to evaluate your financial position and come up with innovative ways to add revenue streams and generate cash. Here are five ways you might consider to improve your cash inflow: 1. Evaluate your current company assets. Take a look at your assets, both fixed and human. Could you make slight pivots to create a new form of income? For instance, if you run a coffee…  Read more

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced the government’s plan to protect jobs and support businesses in the coming months. Key parts of the announced Winter Economy Plan include: a new Job Support Scheme, extension of Self Employment Income Support Scheme, an extension of the VAT cut for hospitality and tourism sectors, and help for more than 1 million businesses in repaying government-backed loans. We break it down for you below, but…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Update. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Read on for this week’s update. New COVID-19 Restrictions As the UK reached “a perilous turning point”, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a set of new restrictions for England which could last for up to 6 months. Below are the new rules as summarised by BBC: Office workers are being told to…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Update. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Read on for this week’s update. UK’s Rule of Six Explained The ‘rule of six‘ started on Monday banning social gatherings of more than six people due to a surge of COVID-19 cases. Here are the specific rules for England, Scotland, and Wales. Rules in England It is illegal to gather socially (indoors…  Read more

It’s very rare these days that people just happen to find your business and become a client or customer with no work on your part. Your business has to grab people’s attention, turn curious visitors into leads and then convert those leads into sales. This means that the more solid leads you have, the greater your chances of making a sale. Solid leads are those contacts who are engaged in…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Update. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Read on for this week’s update. UK COVID-19 Cases Continue to Rise Deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam said the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases was of great concern and that some people had been too relaxed. The UK recorded 2,948 daily cases, according to government data published on Monday. This…  Read more

The COVID-19 pandemic has caught most of us off guard. Who would’ve thought that the world would spend the year battling a virus? This unprecedented global crisis is a reminder that these business threats are very real and acts as a wake-up call for business leaders. Even if the scenario may seem far-fetched, it pays to prepare for the worst. When a pandemic hits, businesses play a crucial role in…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Update. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Read on for this week’s update. Finance Minister Considers Tax Hikes to Fix the Hole in Public Finances As the UK’s public debt surpassed 2 trillion pounds, pushed up by emergency spending on coronavirus job retention scheme, tax cuts for businesses and consumers, and dining-out subsidy, British finance minister Rishi Sunak is considering…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Update. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Read on for this week’s update. AstraZeneca Starts UK COVID-19 Drug Trial AstraZeneca’s AZD7442 drug, which is a combination of two antibodies, is being tested on 48 healthy people aged between 18 and 55. This clinical trial marks an important milestone in the Cambridge-headquartered pharma giant’s development of a potential COVID-19 vaccine, and…  Read more

Networking can be a key way to keep your business growing. Regardless of your industry or business size, it is hard to ignore the benefits of forming professional networks for potential partnerships, expanding your client base, and scaling up. However, while we are all constantly reminded about the importance of networking, reaching out to grow your network isn’t the same now thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. Social restrictions to prevent…  Read more

As you know, the COVID-19 pandemic is not just a public health issue, it’s also caused lockdowns and financial worries on a global scale. Small businesses are not strangers to the impacts of the pandemic. In a survey by the International Trade Centre (ITC) among 1,200 businesses in 109 countries between 20 April and 4 May, the pandemic has strongly affected 60% of the businesses. The results of the survey…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Update. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Read on for this week’s update. Business Conditions Improved Moderately, UK Firms Remain Vulnerable Data from the latest Coronavirus Business Tracker shows business conditions improved only moderately in the weeks since the economy suffered a historic contraction in Q2 2020. The number of businesses which reported an increase in revenue from UK customers increased…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Update. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Read on for this week’s update. Contact Tracers Going Door-to-Door The government is overhauling their testing and contact tracing efforts to avoid a potential increase in infections. The army of officials tasked with finding people who’ve come into contact with COVID-19 positive individuals will be replaced by locally-based teams. The volunteers will go…  Read more

We started 2020 with optimism and hope that this year was going to be better than the last– but then, COVID-19 happened and brought sudden massive changes worldwide. It has disrupted the way we interact, shop, work, and transact. Businesses of all sizes have been plunged into darkness, with some even having to shut completely Meanwhile, others managed to find dynamic solutions to shelter their businesses from the harsh impacts…  Read more