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The following sites offer general advice and information to businesses, and provide help to prospective UK SMEs on setting up a company. Additional
sites that provide information that is useful to small businesses, for
example interest rates, postal codes, currency exchange can be found on
the
Day-to-day Essentials page.
Information on mailing lists and direct marketing can be found on the
Direct Marketing page
Starting points & general information
British Chambers of Commerce www.britishchambers.org.uk
Business Essentials on the Web bl-business-essentials.wikispaces.com
Set up by the British Library's Business and IP Centre this wiki aims to provide business information aimed at entrepreneurs and SMEs. Topics covered currently include business planning, grants and finance, marketing and PR as well as industry specific pages. Anyone can join the wiki community, edit and add listings; a brave move but I have not yet seen any "vandalism" or spam. If there have been any inappropriate entries then BIPC have been very quick off the mark in removing them. An excellent starting point for relevant information on setting up and running a business, and highly recommended for SMEs and startups. Businesslink www.businesslink.gov.uk
Developed in partnership with subject experts within government and relevant business-support organisations, Business Link services are intended to help businesses comply with regulations and improve performance.
Business support, business Wales, grants, finance, starting, advice, recession, funding fs4b.wales.gov.uk
Provides advice, training, information and support for businesses in Wales. Scottish Enterprise
www.scottish-enterprise.com
General Information on doing business in Scotland and details of the Local
Enterprise Companies (LECs). The Business
Gateway (www.bgateway.com) provides information for start-up
and existing business in Scotland.
Highlands and Islands Enterprise
www.hie.co.uk
Help and advice for SMEs in the Scottish Highlands and Islands.
Invest Northern Ireland www.investni.com
Invest Northern Ireland's role is to grow the economy by helping new and existing businesses to compete internationally, and by attracting new investment to Northern Ireland. It is part of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment and principally supports businesses in the manufacturing and tradeable services sectors
NI Business Info - Practical advice for Northern Ireland Business www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk
This site provides information on setting up and running a business in Northern Ireland. There is a very useful directories section, which includes a companies directory of over 90,000 businesses in Northern Ireland.
Better Business www.cobwebinfo.com/site/services/better_business/
A
a bi-monthly mazine for small and independent business owner-managers, freelancers, consultants and business advisers. Now owned and published by Cobweb
Better Payment Practice Campaign
www.payontime.co.uk
Advice on Credit Management aimed mainly at the SME sector. Includes a
guide to getting paid on time, current legislation and credit management
letters. There are also private sector league tables showing how quickly
(or not!) companies pay their bills.
Business Zone www.businesszone.co.uk
"The key resource for SOHO and SME professionals on the Internet".
One of the SIFT communities. Advice and articles on running an SME.
CobWeb Information www.cobwebinfo.com
A specialist business information and content provider based in Newcastle
Upon Tyne in the UK. Cobweb's subscription products are designed for business
advisers, trainers and other professional business intermediaries. There is a free weekly fortnightly current awareness service called Business Advisers' Digest ("BAD News") and
EDGE News, a monthly international entrepreneurship news bulletin for practitioners and professionals from around the world. The same organisation
produces and maintains Scavenger
(www.scavenger.net) and Enterprise
Quest (www.enterprisequest.com), both of which are aimed directly
at small businesses themselves.
Enterprise Quest - Ideas and
know-how for small business www.enterprisequest.com
Home of a weekly coaching and ideas bulletin called EnterQuest and published
by Cobweb Information. Provides tips, ideas and know-how for small business
and home business owners.
Federation for Small Business www.fsb.org.uk
The Federation of Small Businesses is a UK campaigning pressure group promoting and protecting the interests of the self-employed and owners of small firms. Formed in 1974, it now has 200,000 members across 33 regions and 194 branches.
Health for Work Adviceline for Small Business www.health4work.nhs.uk
This is part of
part of the UK government's initiative to help people stay in work or return to work more quickly when they develop a health condition or impairment.
The free Health for Work Adviceline for Small Business helps small businesses to quickly and effectively address the issue of employee health, minimise the impact of staff illness, and provide essential support to staff with physical or mental health issues. The adviceline provides expert support to help:
- get an employee back to work after long-term sickness
- manage the impact on the business when an employee takes time off work through ill health
- support an employee and benefit from their abilities if they are at work with health issues
- encourage and support an employee who is off work, yet wants to return and contribute to the business
- develop a working culture where work-related illness is less likely to occur
Scavenger www.scavenger.net
Approximately 640 reports and factsheets to help research a business idea
and market, help write a business plan or marketing plan, and start a
small business. Scavenger is produced and maintained by Cobweb Information.
You can buy factsheets and guides through a pay-as-you-go service and
they are delivered electronically in PDF format.
Simply Business Knowledge - Business advice, information and guides for your company, organisation www.simplybusiness.co.uk/knowledge
Simply Business offers a range of insurance services for businesses in the UK. Simply Business Knowledge provides
articles, guides and tutorials on issues such as Tax and Finance, Marketing your Business, Staying Legal and Managing your Business.
Startups.co.uk www.startups.co.uk
Offers guides for small businesses. Topics
covered include funding, finding premises, employing people, writing business plans. Set up and maintained by Crimson Business.
Telegraph Business Club www.telegraphbusinessclub.co.uk
The Daily Telegraph Business Club aims to help SMEs through weekly case studies, information, free seminars and membership discounts. Registration is free and the club has a page every Tuesday in the Business Section of the Daily Telegraph.
West Midlands Collaborative Commerce
Marketplace www.wmccm.co.uk
A free West Midlands on-line business directory and networking resource
for West Midlands SMEs. Information available includes details of regional
businesses, events and news.
Grants
Access Funds - Grants information
for the British charitable and non-profit sector www.access-funds.co.uk
Business, Voluntary and Community sector grant information for the UK and Ireland www.j4b.co.uk
Searchable database of grants and loans available to small businesses, voluntary and community organisations and Irish organisations. Maintained by
Idox Information Solutions Ltd. Free but registration required.
Grantfinder www.grantfinder.co.uk
Claims to be the most comprehensive database of UK and EU funding,
including grants, loans, subsidies and other incentives that are available
to UK businesses. Subscription service. Grants Online www.grantsonline.org.uk
Information on the latest and current calls for proposals from the European
Union, UK Government Agencies, the lottery and grant making trusts and foundations. It also
offers tailored alerts and a weekly electronic newsletter called Funding Insight. Subscription service.
GreenGrantsMachine www.greengrantsmachine.co.uk
Provides information on the latest funding schemes to enable UK companies to become more environmentally friendly. The site is updated daily and coves more than 350 funding schemes available from local, regional, national and European sources. The website also includes advice about how any organisation can take simple actions to go green. There is a regular e-newsletter and grant alert service with the latest changes in green funding and policy. Maintained by Idox Information Solutions Ltd. Free but registration required.
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