Jules looks at how the UK can help start-ups build on their potential and scale up to the next level.
British business is presently treading a fruitful path. Financial figures from the US reveal that the UK economy – with 2.6% GDP growth in 2014 to the US’s 2.4% – is now the fastest growing amongst developed nations.
(Reuters) – A British government scheme requiring banks to refer small firms rejected for loans to alternative finance providers should be up and running by next year, the managing director of the British Business Bank said.
Having been ignored for decades, apprenticeships are back for good. According to the government, ‘over 2.1m people have started apprenticeships this Parliament, with a six-fold increase in higher apprenticeships started since 2009-10’. The number is planned to increase and there’s an apprenticeship voucher scheme on the way, scheduled for roll-out in 2017. In yesterday’s Budget from Chancellor George Osborne, the apprentice wage went up by 57p an hour to £3.30 – equivalent to an annual salary increase of over £1,000 for a full time worker.
Nov 18 (Reuters) – The Association of British Insurers said on Tuesday that Huw Evans would succeed Otto Thoresen as director general in February 2015.Evans, who joined the ABI in 2008 and is currently director of policy and deputy director general, takes over from Thoresen who was recently appointed chairman of the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST).