Business

2017 was a particularly interesting year in the global energy markets as crude oil declined from around $55 per barrel in January to around $43 per barrel in June before rising again to end the year around $65 per barrel. OPEC's move to cut oil production levels as a proactive move to end the 3-year supply glut in oil started bearing fruits in 2017 and the bullish trend is building up momentum to continue in 2018. Crude oil is already...

Unbelievably, a decade after the global banking collapse the British taxpayer has been asked to bail out one of Britain’s largest contractors for public projects as it owes the banks - including those we bailed out - hundreds of millions. Carillion had asked the Government to bail it out with uncertainty hanging over thousands of jobs and public projects contracted out to the failing giant all over Britain from hospitals to HS2. Yet again while the risks are borne by...

Union calls for urgent review of private sector contract awards as company collapse plunges workers and services into crisis GMB, Britain’s general union has called on Prime Minister Theresa May to act immediately to take Carillion contracts into public ownership after the company went into liquidation today. The union called for a full and transparent inquiry into the provision of public services by private sector contractors once jobs and services were secured. Tim Roache, GMB General Secretary said: “The Prime Minister...

Tragic example of failures of privatisation and outsourcing requires Government to intervene to protect public sector work, says GMB. GMB, the UK’s general union, demands the Government intervene and protect Carillion workers’ jobs and pensions – rather than focussing on bailing out a failing private company. Carillion, one of the government's biggest contractors, is struggling under £1.5bn of debt, including a pension shortfall of £587m. The government is meeting Carillion and the Pensions Regulator today (Friday) to discuss the services...

Management is all about cost cutting. It is one of the main tasks of any manager. Whatever business you operate, the aim is to reduce costs and to increase control. Controlling is one of the most important stages of the managerial process. It enables continuous learning and up-skilling. It is rare that any process happens without defaults. In order to identify them, you need to track or to control. Then you need to eliminate the discrepancies in business scheme. Tracking...

In the post-Christmas and New Year’s haze many people choose to adopt pious resolutions; spend less, eat less, drink less, work out more. Despite this, it seems that British shoppers just cannot resist a deal. Undeterred by a weak pound and economic doubt, the Boxing Day sales reaped in an estimated total of 4.5 billion pounds. What December’s frenzied crowds show us is that consumers are always on the lookout for new deals and great shopping opportunities. In fact, it...

You have probably heard of the term ‘big data’ before, but wondered what exactly it involves. In essence, big data is a huge set of data that is analyzed by using many different algorithms that can help business owners to make better business decisions and follow up market trends. Big data is primarily used by larger corporations and big companies, but it can be very useful for smaller businesses as well. If you want to learn something more besides how...

The death or long-term illness of a key person in any small or medium-sized enterprise is likely to have a serious impact, even if it’s only short term. Any amount of time without a key player can have a considerable impact on the profitability of the business. Most SMEs have at least one person whose loss would cause significant disruption to the business and may even contribute to the business’s collapse. Here’s how losing a key employee could affect your...

A successful flexible working policy can be enormously beneficial for your company, whether your business is large or small. Effective workforce planning will help you achieve cost savings and productivity improvements, ensure adequate out-of-hours coverage and boost staff morale. Done properly, it’s a a win/win situation for your business. If you’ve decided to employ a flexible worker, here are 7 steps you should take to introduce the new member of staff into your company. Clarity from Day One No doubt,...