News

November 08, 2013

Also in the news this week – 8 November 2013

Poor grammar is a major customer turn off

New research shows that 59% of Britons would not use a company that had grammatical or spelling mistakes on its website or marketing materials. The poll of over 1,000 UK adults, conducted by Global Lingo, found that 61% of respondents said they "wouldn't trust the company to provide a good quality service" if it had poor grammar or spelling errors in its marketing material or website. 34%, said they would be "put off due to an obvious lack of care", and 26% would consider the company to be "unprofessional". In addition, 82% would not use a company that hadn't correctly translated their online and marketing materials into English.

UKTI to partner 2014 Business Festival

UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) is to be an official event partner at the International Festival for Business (IFB) 2014. UKTI will host a programme of 15 export-related events with cross sector and country-focused themes. Highlights include sessions focusing on emerging markets such as China, Latin America and India. It is also offering IFB delegates free export health checks with trade advisors, free export market selection services and free entry into the IFB export competition. The 50-day business festival takes place in Liverpool in June and July 2014 and is set to attract 250,000 visitors.

Drop in major injuries at work

Figures published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) show an 11% drop in major workplace injuries in 2012/13, compared to 2011/12. Workplace injuries and ill health (excluding work-related cancer) cost society an estimated £13.8 billion in 2010/11, compared with £16.3 billion in 2006/07. Judith Hackitt, chair of HSE, said: "Britain continues to improve its health and safety performance. But we still see too many deaths and injuries occur in the workplace, many of which could have been prevented through simple safety measures."

Date for the diary: The Business Show

The Business Show is aimed at anyone planning to start up or grow a business. This year's speaker line-up includes social media brand leaders such as Felicity McCarthy of Facebook and Dara Nasr of Twitter. In addition, successful entrepreneurs will share the secrets of their success – including Martyn Dawes of Coffee Nation and Clippy McKenna of Clippy's Jams. Business experts who will be speaking include Doug Richard, David Gold, Warren Cass and Brad Burton. The Business Show takes place at London's Olympia on 28 and 29 November.

Microbusinesses turn their backs on payday lenders

The vast majority of freelancers and microbusiness owners (92%) say they would never trust payday loan services like Wonga, according to a survey by Crunch Accounting. A further 6.2% revealed that while they haven't used one, they would consider it. Only 1.7% of businesses had used a payday loan service – as a last resort to maintain cash flow. Darren Fell, managing director of Crunch Accounting, said: "The astronomical interest rates, combined with huge penalties for late repayments, make them totally unsuitable for sole traders and self-employed professionals. With alternative sources of finances such as peer-to-peer lending and Credit Unions becoming more and more popular, hopefully these kinds of loans will soon be a thing of the past."