FSB: Olympic Games bring mixed fortunes for British business

Are you #open4biz?
The Federation of Small Businesses is asking small companies to tweet using the hashtag #open4biz in order to assess the impact of the Olympic Games as well as to encourage people to support local enterprises. Read all about it in the Financial Times.

Mixed fortunes from the Olympics
After the first week of the London 2012 Games, there is a mixed picture on how businesses have fared. Read the comments in the Daily Mail and see London’s Policy Chairman on Sky News. Email your experiences.

Funding for Lending Scheme opens
The banks can now access cheap funding to lend to small businesses as the Funding for Lending Scheme opened this week. Read the FSB’s comments on the BBC and in the Guardian, Evening Standard, Daily Mail and listen to the FSB on the Today Programme and Wake up to Money.

IRSA guidance
The FSB has developed a guide to help small firms that may have been mis-sold an interest rate swap agreement. If you think you’ve been affected email your story.

Parliamentary update
Before the House of Lords began its summer recess, the FSB briefed Peers on a Statutory Instrument to scrap work-related learning from the secondary school curriculum, with Baroness Hughes of Stretford and Baroness Walmsley both mentioning our briefing in the debate. In particular Baroness Hughes quoted the briefing extensively and was supportive of a number of concerns raised. Lord Wallace of Tankerness also mentioned our evidence to the Silk Commission on Devolution in Wales.

Cabinet Office ‘Mystery Shopper’ scheme

The Cabinet Office has developed a Mystery Shopper scheme for businesses to tell Government about issues within the supply chain, including problems in the Government supply chains. Find out more, email your comments and view the latest results.

Red Tape challenge
The Red Tape Challenge website gives businesses the opportunity to highlight regulations which they find particularly burdensome. You can use the website to draw attention to any general regulations but each month there is also a specific focus on certain areas of regulation.

Facebook application to promote Real-Life Entrepreneurs

The FSB has launched an application on its Facebook Page where businesses can enter their details, upload photos and videos and share business tips to promote their business. Firms can then share the post and get friends to vote for them to become a featured business and get to the top of the leader board.

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