All Best Business Decisions
Next big thing: automated call-centres
Along with airport car parks and fake tan, call centres are one of the great ills of the modern world. A company based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Artingence, believes it has discovered the antidote.
Object of desire: the Tesla Roadster
Production of this electric car began in March this year, but according to Fortune magazine, only seven have so far rolled off the production line.
State funds friends, not foes
The rise of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) does not present a serious threat to Western economies, according to research from two US- and UK-based academics.
Business founders seek work-life balance
More than a quarter of those who set up their own business did so to achieve a better work-life balance, according to an online poll of 908 owner-managed businesses from Business XL’s sister title SmallBusiness.co.uk.
Rising star: Aspect Maintenance
Banker-turned-plumber William Davies set up Aspect Maintenance in 2004, aiming to provide reliable property maintenance services. The company’s turnover has doubled every year since launch and is now £4.4 million.
What I’m reading now
Make Your First Million: Ditch the 9-5 and Start the Business of Your Dreams, by Martin Webb - reviewed by Alyson Pellowe, Founder of People Vision
Stagflation strikes again
Inflation has broken through three per cent, reducing the chance of rate cuts and threatening growth. Brian Farthing, senior economist at PricewaterhouseCoopers, considers the impacts of rising prices on growing businesses.
Going places...
This month, entrepreneur Louise Wreathall is awarded the 'Best Mumpreneur' accolade and corporate financier Ewan Lloyd Baker is spearheading a series of deals on behalf of one of his companies.
My best business decision
Dylan Thwaites, CEO of digital marketing company Latitude, explains how he hit a rich vein when he launched an offering for smaller businesses.
eBay for business sales
More than 1,000 UK businesses, many of them websites, are putting themselves up for sale on eBay.co.uk at the time of writing. BusinessesforSale.com offers 63,309 worldwide, roughly half of them in the UK, and DaltonsBusiness.com has just relaunched its site with more than 27,000 companies up for grabs across Europe.
Object of desire: The MonoTracer
The thrill and glamour of a motorbike, without getting your leathers wet. That’s the proposition offered by the MonoTracer from Swiss company Peraves.
Tax climbdown on the cards
A move by HM Treasury to tax intellectual property (IP) on UK companies with foreign subsidiaries seems set to be ditched after a backlash by businesses.
Tech stocks on the wane
Software companies listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) are maintaining a strong average share price performance (up 19 per cent). This, however, is the only bright spot among the pervading gloom of the technology sector.
Rising star: Glassesdirect.co.uk
James Murray Wells started online spectacles retailer Glassesdirect.co.uk with the last £1,000 of his student loan. With the help of VCs he is now aiming to turn it into a £1 billion company.
What I’m reading now
The Balancing Act: Work-life solutions for busy people by Fiona Parashar - reviewed by Kerry Glazer, chief executive, AAR Group
Economic insight: 2008 budget
As the storm of protest against chancellor Alistair Darling’s changes to capital gains tax dies down, Mike Truman, editor of Taxation Magazine, looks at the implications for growing companies.
Business intelligence maps
Google and Information Builders have released the first so-called business intelligence “mash-up”, a mix and match software giving users a visual representation of sales figures and stock movements in different geographies via an interactive Google Map.
The electronic cigarette
They say there’s no smoke without fire, but that was before the electronic cigarette. The SuperSmoker uses a microchip and a harmless liquid made up of food products that, when the user inhales, turns into a virtually odourless vapour that looks just like smoke and provides the hit of nicotine.
Corporate manslaughter law comes into force
Companies that ignore new corporate manslaughter laws could be ‘courting disaster’, according to security specialist red24.
Downturn hits half of businesses
Roughly half of small and medium-sized enterprises are feeling the effects of the economic downturn, according to a survey from Business XL’s sister title GrowthBusiness.co.uk.
More from GrowthBusiness
News & Market Deals
BYOD security business AirWatch tops up its Series A with help from Accel Partners
Mobile security business AirWatch has added to the $200 million Series A round it closed earlier in the year by securing an extra $25 million.
Growing A Business
Corporate leaks: How to prevent and investigate if they occur
Bob Mecrate-Butcher, partner at Charles Russell, looks at how corporate leaks can first be prevented and then plugged when they do occur.
Comment & Analysis
Channeling Instagram for start-up success
That a team of 13 could build a business worth $1 billion should be the inspiration that all entrepreneurs need.
Research
The rise of cash shells
New research from GrowthBusiness shows that the number of UK cash shells is climbing. We speak to new entrants to the market and those that have recently closed deals to find out what’s driving shells’ increasing popularity.
