Business start-ups

UK entrepreneurs are to benefit from an additional £69 million of Government funding to help start-up and grow small businesses, Prime Minister David Cameron has announced.

Small business owners in the UK work shorter hours compared to their European and American counterparts, according to research carried out by insurance provider Hiscox.

Small business owners operating from home now number 2.5 million in the UK, accounting for 52 per cent of all small businesses, according to Direct Line for Business.

A report by the Prime Minister's adviser on enterprise, Lord Young, has recommended removing the age cap on the Government's loan scheme for start-ups.

The Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS), designed to boost lending to businesses and households, is to be extended until January 2015, the Bank of England has announced.

The Government will invest an extra £30 million over the next three years in its start-up loans scheme, Prime Minister David Cameron has announced. The scheme has also been extended to those aged 25 to 30.

The Department for Communities and Local Government this week launched a pop-up shop in its own London headquarters, as part of a government drive to rejuvenate Britain's high streets and support entrepreneurs.

Businesses making use of public open data may be able to apply for £1.1 million worth of new 'innovation vouchers' to improve their processes and target new markets, the Government has announced.

Entrepreneurs and start-ups in Northern Ireland are to receive a new support programme to get their business ideas off the ground; Northern Ireland's enterprise minister Arlene Foster has announced.

The New Enterprise Allowance (NEA) scheme has been extended to give 33,000 extra jobseekers help to set up their own business.