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Survey reveals confidence mixed among small firms for 2009

Over a third of small businesses believe that 2009 will be a difficult financial year to begin with and then pick up, according to a survey by Orange SMS Business Jury. One in five of the small firms surveyed were optimistic regarding the coming year with 32% believing that they will struggle to cope. The survey also revealed that 25% of firms have experienced credit facilities being negativly affected through the economic downturn, although 33% stated that their credit had not been hit and they didn't expect it to be affected in the coming year. Despite the mixed outlook of companies towards 2009, there was more consensus over the impact of the government's measures. 60% of those surveyed responded that the VAT cut had no impact on their businesses with 11% reporting that it had been a hindrance.
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Tough Christmas for high street retailers

High street retailers Next and Debenhams have announced falls in like-for-like sales over the Christmas period, suggesting the credit crunch had a severe impact on consumer spending
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Unpaid overtime at record high

More UK workers are putting in unpaid extra hours than ever before as staff battle to keep hold of their jobs and companies look to control costs, according to the TUC.
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Pension savings in small firms is ‘inadequate’

Savings levels in pension schemes offered by small firms need to be doubled in order to provide staff with an adequate retirement income, according to the Association of Consulting Actuaries (ACA). Saving levels are at similar levels to 1996 and the ACA has warned that pensions for employees of small firms retiring now and in the near future are, "increasingly inadequate." The trade body surveyed just under 400 small companies and found that the average combined employer and staff contribution in firms that employ less than 50 staff is just 8% of members pay.
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Office workers receive average of 450 emails on return to work

The average office worker will have 450 emails, 70% of which will be spam, awaiting them when they return to the office today after the Christmas break. Small business workers are being advised to not delete all the messages, as it could lead to vital information being lost. "It brings a cathartic pleasure [deleting all messages] but you may be deleting critical information," advises Bob Hallewell of consultancy firm Expert Messaging.
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House prices continue to fall

House prices in England and Wales fell by 1.9% in November, taking the year-on-year figure to 12.2%, according to figures released by the Land Registry.
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Employers can ‘save money’ by retaining staff

Firms are being advised that they can save more money by keeping staff as the average redundancy costs employers over £16,000 before any savings are made, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). "While making people redundant can seem one of the most straightforward ways of cutting costs, redundancy is itself a significant cost to most organisations with a number of direct and indirect or hidden costs," said CIPD chief economist John Philpott. The CIPD has warned that over 600,000 UK jobs could be lost this year, with other institutions predicting that the figure could be even higher. The latest statistics have show that 1.86m people are out of work in the UK - the highest figure since 1997.
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Passenger groups criticise train fare increases of 6%

Rail passenger groups have criticised the latest increases in train fares as being out of kilter with the real economy.
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Second banking bailout considered by Chancellor

Alistair Darling is reportedly considering a second banking bailout as the lending crisis worsens. The Chancellor will soon decide whether to inject more money into UK banks as evidence grows that the initial £37bn bail-out has not stimulated borrowing as expected. This follows a report released by the Bank of England that banks decreased lending in the final quarter of 2009 and are currently planning even tighter restrictions. Despite the £37bn taxpayer’s bailout many small business owners still struggled to access funds from their banks and saw their charges for overdrafts and lending actually increase. “The government is going to have to do more to restore credit flows across the country,” said Richard Lambert of the Confederation of British Industry. Without firmer government control of the bank to make them increase lending, it is unclear what good any further cash injection would be.
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House prices declined over 16% in 2009

The average price of a home in the UK has fallen to the lowest level since August 2004, according to figures released by the Halifax. A drop in value in December of 2.2% brought the average cost of a home down to just under £160,000. Prices dropped by over 16% in 2008 – the largest drop since the lender began records in 1983 – and follow news from the Bank of England that getting a mortgage is increasingly difficult. The Bank of England has released figures showing that the number of mortgage approvals in November last year fell to a nine-year low of 27,000. "Continuing pressures on incomes and the negative impact of the dislocation of the financial markets on the availability of mortgage finance are expected to exert future downward pressure on the market over the coming months," said Halifax chief economist Martin Ellis. Mr Ellis went on to add that he expects house prices to fall an extra 15% in 2009, bad news for any small businesses owners whose house a main financial asset. "This bodes ill for business activity, investment, employment, consumer spending and housing market activity," said Howard Archer of IHS Global Insight.
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