Inspiring leaders. Safeguarding business.

Knowledge is power – is this the year for change?

10 March 2010 by Alex Mitchell

Sorrel2Speaking at the IoD Annual Convention last year Peter Jones said: “Times like this are difficult, but I will be a little controversial and say that, for an entrepreneur, this is the time. Recession, in my mind, can drive innovation – quite simply because we can do more with less. We are forced to do more with less.”

Nearly a year on and we are officially out of recession and unemployment levels are starting to drop slightly. So there’s good news for a change… However, history shows that it can take a very long time for all sectors to come out of a recession and unemployment rates— particularly for the under 25s—may well take a decade or more to get back to pre-recession levels. Read More»

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The IoD’s Business Manifesto

09 March 2010 by Miles Templeman

parlimentIn the run up to the General Election we have published a Business Manifesto. In it we argue that a new government needs to have a bold programme over the next parliament to restore the UK’s competitiveness. It is also vital that a new government acts decisively and early to address the UK’s immediate challenges. Measures, such as an emergency budget, a school reform bill and regulatory caps across all departments, in the first 100 days of a new government would show that the UK was serious about remaining competitive, addressing its fiscal situation, and creating a skilled workforce in the long run.

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UK Election 2010 – Facing up to the big issues

08 March 2010 by Miles Templeman

iStock_000004262765XSmall-editElection fever, if you can call it that, is now beginning to hot up, although I think the politicians are far more focused on it than the electorate. Most directors are concentrating on the more pressing issue of making sure their businesses survive.

The recession itself may technically be over, but any thought that this automatically means recovery is underway can be very misleading. Rather, we all know we face a long hard struggle through 2010. Unemployment may not be increasing but directors know it will be some time before they take on new staff. Read More»

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Leeds Initiative – Have your say in the future of Leeds

05 March 2010 by IoD Member

Delegatesleeds(2)Last Monday (22nd February), Martin Dean, Deputy Director, Leeds Initiative joined IoD Members over lunch to discuss The Vision for Leeds 2030.

Leeds Initiative is ‘the city’s local strategic partnership. Founded in 1990, we bring together the public, private, community, voluntary and faith sectors to work together to achieve success, encourage improvement, and tackle and overcome problems for the benefit for all citizens now and in the future. In 2004 we published the Vision for Leeds 2004 to 2020, a long-term plan for the ongoing economic, cultural and environmental development of the city.’ Read More»

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Cost of regulation hits £80 billion a year

02 March 2010 by Miles Templeman

IoD Director General Miles Templeman, IoD member and Welcome Gate founder Jason Choy, and IoD regulation expert Alexander Ehmann discuss the impact of regulation on businesses and call for a Civil Service culture change.

A new IoD report has been published today which reveals that the cost to business of Government regulation is now running at a staggering £80 billion a year. This equates to 5.7% of the UK’s GDP. Those seem like big figures, but how does this translate at ground level? We’ve found that instead of devoting all their time to building up their businesses and creating new jobs, directors are spending over a month each year handling Government red tape. You can read the full report here.

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Banks need to be more business friendly

02 March 2010 by Miles Templeman

iStock_000005297514XSmall[1]Some of you may have seen the press coverage of the recent IoD Policy Voice survey on bank lending, which showed that 57% of our members who’d tried to access finance from their bank in 2009 had been rejected. We pointed out in the media that this contradicted a claim made by some of the banks that they are meeting the majority of lending demand.

I have to say I was surprised when I saw the 57% figure in the research findings. I certainly hear a lot of anecdotal evidence from people running businesses that banks have become very difficult, with higher charges, more security being demanded, and reasonable requests for credit being refused. But even so, a rejection rate of 57% is high – worryingly high. Read More»

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