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Levi Roots spices up the Dragon’ s Den
On the first night of the fourth Dragon’ s Den series on the BBC, viewers were lucky enough to have caught Reggae singer / songwriter / producer Levi Roots pitching his Reggae Reggae Sauce to the Dragons. Levi pitched in style, choosing an original entrance to the Den- he walked up the stairs singing and playing his guitar to a catchy Reggae Reggae Sauce jingle. He was able to walk away with the £ 50,000 that he requested to
New financial advice scheme to help small businesses
A new scheme is being launched to help SMEs get expert financial advice.
The SME Funding Adviser Scheme aims to ensure businesses have access to a wide choice of independent professional advisers across the UK on a range of business finance options.
Along with several other organisation, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales( ICAEW) will aim to meet the needs of SMEs and help them to address some of the key issues in raising finance.
About 1,900 ICAEW firms have signed up to the new manufacture his spicy and jerk Reggae Reggae Sauce. The two Dragons that went in on the deal were Peter Jones and Richard Farleigh who together will receive 40 % of the company’ s shares. Not a bad deal considering Levi( Keith) has been using his own kitchen to manufacture the sauce- with most sales made at the Notting Hill Carnival. Congratulations Levi and we look forward to seeing the sauce in the stores.
scheme so far, registering the specialisms their firms offer, including advice on bank loans and overdrafts and business plans for bank and equity finance.
All firms are subject to the ICAEW Practice Assurance scheme. The scheme has been set up in response to the Government and Accountants Working Group report‘ Facilitating Finance’( 2004) which recommended the introduction of a mechanism to ensure the easy identification of specialist and experienced finance advisers, particularly for SMEs.
New guide to help small firms trade abroad
An online guidance service to help UK firms looking to trade overseas has been launched, following a new survey which reveals Britain’ s small businesses are reluctant to take the plunge to trade abroad due to a lack of understanding of foreign markets.
The new service on businesslink. gov. uk will help businesses access information on key issues, such as VAT liabilities, customs procedures and which Incoterm( International Commercial Contract Term) to use – in plain English.
The survey, conducted by Business Link, found that red tape, risks associated with new markets and a lack of understanding of the processes involved were seen to be the main obstacles to international trade. About 40 % of small and mediumsized businesses cited confusion over how to deal with international paperwork as the main deterrent to trading abroad, according to Business Link. But just under half of respondents identified language barriers as the primary obstacle to international trade and just under a third expressed concerns over the risks that could be involved. Another 41 % said a lack of experience in working overseas made them reluctant to trade abroad.
Contribution of Ethnic Minority Employees to Small and Medium Sized Enterprises( CEMESME)
February 2007, House of Lords: Lord Karan Bilimoria, Founder and Chief Executive of Cobra Beer, launched the results of a significant piece of research into Small and Medium Sized Enterprises; the utilisation of Ethnic Minority staff in SMEs and the impact on performance. The research, carried out by the Policy Research Institute on Ageing and Ethnicity( PRIAE), provided important statistical data based on just under 300 SMEs, spread across the UK- some as old as 200 years when they were first established. The results of the research outlined the implications for SMEs, government, finance institutions and all those concerned with ethnic diversity and employment / enterprise.
ISSUE THREE 2007 engage | uk