wefinda weekly small business news news 23/08/2010

We start this week with Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs). These are due to replace Regional Development Agencies and are aimed at providing a joint local government and business approach to development in areas such as housing, planning, local transport and infrastructure, employment & enterprise and the transition to the low carbon economy. The deadline for proposals is 6 September so there isn’t long to talk to your council and find out how you can make a difference in shaping development in your area.

Businesses who have an annual turnover of more than £100,000 or who registered for VAT after 1 April 2010 already have to file their VAT returns on line with optional on line filing being available for other businesses. Now the Government has announced that on line filing of VAT returns will be compulsory for all businesses from April 2012. To avoid the final rush it might be worth scheduling a switch to on line filing within the next year.

Bank of England reports last week brought two pieces of news which are potentially worrying to SMEs. The first was a confirmation that Bank lending to business continues to fall. The second was that according to the Bank’s regional agents, business confidence has fallen in recent months and that consumer spending growth has also fallen slightly. Exports and manufacturing have picked up and services are edging higher so it is not all doom and gloom. Remember if you have a business success story then share it with us at mail@wefinda.co.uk as Wefinda loves to spread good news around the business community.

According to research by Gartner, worldwide sales of mobile devices grew by 13.8% in the second quarter of 2010 although competition is driving prices down. Combine that with a recent Ofcom report showing that we spend 45% of our waking time watching TV and using our mobiles and other communication devices. The survey appears to concentrate on social media outside work, looking at texting, TV, social sites such as facebook and surfing. At least multi-tasking isn’t dead with people simultaneously using more than one form of communication. The 16-24 age group are best at this, cramming 9.5 hours of consumption into 6.5 hours of the day. Watch out for the Wefinda report on social media coming soon with hints to help your business make the most of the social media boom.

And finally, we are all aware of the statistic that most job interviewers will have made up their minds about interviewees within a few seconds of meeting them. A study in the USA takes this one further with a warning that any interviewee associating themselves with alcohol will worsen their chances of getting a job. The survey showed a mock interview to over 600 managers. In the interview the candidate choose either coke or wine to drink. Those who chose wine were rated as inferior to those choosing coke.

We’re not sure what the impression would be if the candidate had arrived in a car powered by whiskey by-products but according to scientists in Edinburgh last week whiskey could be the answer to our fuel problems. The by-products of the whiskey process can be turned into biobutanol which can be run in most cars without the need for conversion.