In the build-up to the UK’s general election, Labour’s shadow chancellor – and now chancellor – Rachel Reeves, said the party wanted to reform the country’s business rate framework. Reeves said a Labour government would look to cut overheads for small retailers on the high street, while asking larger corporations and multinationals to “pay their fair share”. Business rates are...

Lots of people are looking to earn additional income to supplement their full-time earnings. The cost-of-living crisis has exacerbated this need. Meanwhile the Covid-19 pandemic opened the eyes of many to the importance of doing what you love most. Are you planning on starting a new side hustle that you hope to turn into a fully-fledged business one day? If...

According to industry research from Gartner, less than 12% of workers wish to return to the workplace full-time for office-based roles. The last couple of years throughout the Covid-19 pandemic has been a proving ground for remote working, both in terms of the volume of worker output and the quality of worker output. The upshot is that many firms have...

What is the purpose of office or studio space if we can simply work from home? That’s the question on the lips of many since the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Although remote working does work for many creatives, there are several benefits to work-from-home professionals having a separate studio space they can escape to and call their own. Although we have...

A new report from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has indicated that nationwide demand for commercial property has now exceeded pre-pandemic levels. In its Q4 2021 commercial property survey, the RICS noted a shift in demand to office space, suggesting that fears of long-term repercussions from the Covid-19 pandemic are beginning to wane. Nevertheless, the survey did show...

England’s ‘Second City’ of Birmingham is said to have recorded an increase in gross value added (GVA) to its economy of 7.5% in Q4 2021. That’s according to a joint study undertaken by Irwin Mitchell and the Centre for Economics & Business Research (Cebr) titled ‘UK Powerhouse: Overcoming Disruption in 2022’. In addition, the report states that Birmingham’s employment forecast...

Proposals to reform regulations surrounding flexible working are under consultation, in response to the relevant suggestions within the ‘Good Work Plan: Proposals to support families’ consultation in the summer of 2019. As long ago as 2003, new laws came into force enabling parents and guardians to request flexible working arrangements, surrounding their work hours and patterns. More than a decade...

The last 18 months have been a testing time for commercial property tenants and landlords alike. Although tenants’ issues and demands naturally ebb and flow over time, few landlords could have anticipated the ferocity and scale of change that has occurred in tenant behaviour since March 2020. The successful roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine has enabled sufficient relaxation of social...

The UK’s Small Business Saturday campaign will roll into Britain’s high streets again this winter on 4th December 2021. The now-iconic campaign, designed to champion the benefits of shopping with small retailers, will see its nationwide tour commence in the coming days, starting with Glasgow ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26). In total, this year’s Small Business Saturday...

England’s second city of Birmingham has been named the UK’s eighth best city for work-life balance. That’s according to a new study from Shawbrook Bank, which researched the 15 cities offering the best blend of work opportunities and a comfortable standard of living.   The report assessed a host of metrics including average monthly salaries, weekly working hours and average...