Blackberry is under pressure from all angles
BlackBerry users now find themselves facing a 3rd consecutive day of service disruption.
As a result, RIM, BlackBerry’s maker, whose recent financial results have disappointed investors (we blogged about it here ) is now under further pressure as it faces the prospect of losing subscribers who are disgruntled due to service quality. (more…)
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Steve Jobs
It was with great sadness that I heard the news this morning reporting Steve Jobs’ passing.
Regardless of whether you are an Apple devotee or not, it is undeniable that Steve Jobs’ vision, creativity and innovation has had a dramatic impact on our personal and business lives. His inventions were always way ahead of the world’s technology companies and each one has spawned countless imitations .
There will be a lot written about Steve Jobs in the wake of his death but the definitive tribute and therefore the last word in this blog should come from Apple.
So, there’s a new iPhone, but it’s not the one the world was expecting. In fact the iPhone 4S is really just a slightly enhanced version of the existing model. It has the same look and feel as the existing iPhone 4, which was launched 15 months ago, but boasts an improved camera, longer battery life and some new voice recognition capabilities.
There has been widespread disappointment following the launch with avid Apple fans feeling underwhelmed. Shares in Apple fell by almost 5% within minutes of the eagerly anticipated launch, with analysts saying that investors and Apple fans had expected the latest version to be a more radical. (more…)
I have to confess that I didn’t really want to write this blog, because I fear that I am now contributing to the self-fulfilling prophecy that says we are talking ourselves back into recession again… (more…)
With the party conference season in full swing, the news has been full of conflicting views about how to get the UK’s faltering economy back on track.
As a business owner you know the pain of the times we are living in, so you may be pleased to hear that one organisation has decided to tell the Government exactly what it should do to boost the UK’s business prospects.
The Institute of Directors’ Route Back to Growth report outlines 15 proposals which it says “could make the UK one of the most competitive advanced economies in the world by 2020-25″.
The proposals include a second round of quantitative easing (whereby the Bank of England injects new money into the financial system to try to boost banks’ lending, and in turn the wider economy) and also cutting the top rate of income tax from 50% to 40%.
“I think there is a despair around Britain as a whole, and around British business, about the way the economy is trending,” new IoD director general, Simon Walker told the BBC.
Driving growth was urgent, he said, and although the government was on the right track, it ought to be going “faster and further”.
The IoD’s other proposals are:
The IoD wants the Bank of England to spend an initial extra £50bn on quantitative easing (QE).
Minutes of the Bank’s last Monetary Policy Committee meeting indicated that the Bank is looking at the possibility of more QE.
The full version of the IoD’s Route Back to Growth Plan can be read here
What do you think of the IoD’s plans? Would they make make a difference to your business?
Not quite equal, but agency workers will have similar rights to permanent staff from 1st October
A couple of days ago we blogged about how red tape for businesses can sometimes be a good thing. But today’s post highlights new rules which are unlikely to be received warmly by UK SMEs.
From tomorrow, agency workers will have additional rights in pay and benefits which are similar to full-time staff once they have completed 12 weeks of service doing comparable work. This means you’ll have to pay agency staff overtime, shift allowances, holiday pay and bonuses not attributable to individual performance, as well as maternity rights after 12 weeks’ service.
Business groups have suggested the changes could cost firms up to £2bn a year. (more…)
If you visit a McDonalds drive through you’ll notice they now have signs advertising contactless payment. And Barclaycard ran a huge promotional campaign, including an iPhone game, about contactless payment too (remember the waterslide through the city?).
So, it is little surprise that Google, one of the greatest innovators of our time has gone into the market by capitalising on its Android operating system for mobile phones. Here’s how Google explains its new Google Wallet… (more…)
Another sign of the times perhaps as, Techmesh, the IT and telecommunications business-to-business member network, has merged with the Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce.
Techmesh was originally set up and launched in 2010 by Connect Yorkshire on the back of Yorkshire Forward’s initiative to set up an IT and telecoms B2B member network for the Yorkshire and Humber region.
Since its launch, Techmesh has grown its membership to more than 160, including 08Direct and Core Telecom. (more…)
We’re in a vicious circle with our economy at the moment.
We need businesses (like yours) to grow and create jobs so that people have more money to spend with businesses (like yours!).
Unfortunately, banks have been reluctant to lend money to businesses and that’s caused a problem because without that funding SMEs can’t invest and grow.
However, we might be turning a corner today because one of the banks is breaking the cycle with a new campaign to boost confidence among small and medium-sized businesses. (more…)
