By Jan Cavelle
As another well-known entrepreneur is given the task of boosting business creation in a certain way, more attention should be given to existing aspiration firms.
Thanks to some entrepreneurial spirit and a little help from the government, the much beleaguered high street is showing signs of resilience and recovery.
The shadow business secretary spoke to Real Business at the launch of Small Business Saturday 2015, providing details on his ambitious aims for the annual day and why the event is instrumental in helping companies of all sizes prosper.
If the UK’s retailers embed mobile strategies like Apple Pay into tangible locations, it could be the key to injecting £7.8bn into Britain’s high street in 2015, according to RetailMeNot.
There was plenty for businesses to be pleased about in last week’s Budget. The cut in corporation tax will be very welcome – as of course will be the levy on “big business” to support the training of apprentices for all firms.
High street retailer Marks & Spencer has reported its first rise in profit for four years, with underlying profit before tax rising 6.1 per cent to £661.2m – described by CEO Marc Bolland as “good progress”.
In order to support “stakeholders in town city communities”, a five-year digital strategy has been created by the Digital High Street Advisory Board to encourage a focus on web and mobile connectivity, which could unlock £18.8bn in revenue for SMEs.
Despite the rise of ecommerce, and perceived decline of the high street, a staggering 89 per cent of UK retail still occurs offline. Of this, 50 per cent of home and fashion items are researched online, and then purchased locally, in bricks and mortar shops. This has uniquely positioned Everline Future 50 mobile app StreetHub to help shoppers find products in independent home and fashion boutiques.
Recent trends show the town centre landscape is set to change dramatically over the next 12 months. With this in mind, high street stakeholders are being urged to think differently if they want to secure their place in the future.
Clothing retail chain Bank have called in administrators Deloitte after “struggling in a highly-competitive industry”, putting 1,555 employees at risk.
