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1 May 2024

Small shops have been more "agile" at fighting COVID sale slumps than chain stores, according to a new report.

29 Apr 2024

A Peterborough store stocking products solely from local entrepreneurs said it is bucking the High Street trend and looking to expand due to its success.

29 Apr 2024

BIRA is giving independent businesses across the UK a powerful new resource with the launch of its “High Street Matters” podcast.

29 Apr 2024

The Guardian has reported independent shopkeepers saying prices they pay at Tesco’s cash-and-carry arm Booker are often higher than in Tesco’s stores.

18 Apr 2024

Independent record stores around the country are preparing to celebrate all things vinyl for this year’s Record Store Day on Saturday April 20th. 

18 Apr 2024

BIRA, the British Independent Retailers Association, has announced its partnership with this year’s SME National Business Awards., joining the 2024 awards as a leading sponsor, backing...

18 Apr 2024

A Midlands fish and chip shop is celebrating 40 years in business and offering half-price chips to mark the milestone.

18 Apr 2024

Assaulting a shop worker is to be made a separate criminal offence in England and Wales as part of a government response to a wave of retail crime. 

18 Apr 2024

Eleven new businesses that have opened in the last year in the historic arcades of Cardiff city centre’s Morgan Quarter, made up of the Morgan and Royal arcades, have helped the arcades...

15 Apr 2024

The Rediscovery Centre, the National Centre for the Circular Economy in Ireland, today announced its partnership with Cytech, the internationally recognised training and accreditation scheme for...

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Small businesses set to take on more staff than larger companies

Posted on in Business News , Cycles News , Creative News, Outdoor News

Employers in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are nearly five times more likely to employ more people in the next quarter than larger businesses, research finds.

The proportion of smaller employers expecting to increase staff levels over those who expect to decrease staff levels in the second quarter of 2014 is +52, compared with +11 for large employers, according to a study by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

According to the CIPD's latest quarterly Labour Market Outlook, employment intentions are at their highest level for six and a half years.

If you're looking to take on new staff, don't forget all ActSmart subscribers have access to the jobs board, with Silver, Gold and Platinum subscribers able to post an unlimited number of jobs for free!

Click here to find out more and start recruiting the best staff for your business today.

Skilled workforce

Encouragingly, more organisations plan to invest in their talent pipeline than in previous years, with around three in ten (31 per cent) employers that currently have hard-to-fill vacancies intending to hire more UK graduates, around one in five (22 per cent) planning to hire more apprentices and half (50 per cent) of such employers planning to up-skill existing staff in the next two years.

Gerwyn Davies, labour market adviser at the CIPD says that while the UK jobs market looks set to continue its 'remarkable' post-recession performance, skills shortages are still relatively concentrated in particular sectors in the domestic labour market.

Against the backdrop of the prediction of strong employment growth, now is the time for employers to ensure that any future plans to increase business investment prioritises investment in training,' Davis adds. 'This will not only help stave off the threat of recruitment difficulties increasing sharply in the future, but also help to boost productivity levels that we know are essential to the nation's overall economic performance and therefore pay prospects.

Looking to train your current staff or take on an apprentice? ATG Training can help. As the largest Cytech training facility in the UK, contact ATG today to find out more about improving the skills of your workforce.

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