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Consumer protection regulations reminder Businesses are being warned about the introduction of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, which come into force on 26 May. The Regulations will implement the EU-wide Unfair Commercial Practices Directive and will ensure that traders act fairly towards their customers and imply a general duty not to trade unfairly. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has said that the majority of businesses will not need to change their practices, but the laws will catch out those who do treat customers unfairly. Get tough on late payers, businesses urged Law firm Mace and Jones is urging businesses to crack down on late payers and tighten their credit control procedures as the number of insolvencies rises. Research by Deloitte revealed that the number of businesses going into administration increased in the first quarter of 2008, and the Bankers' Automated Clearing Service (BACS) released new research findings which showed that UK businesses are owed £18.6 billion in outstanding payments. Mace and Jones recommended that businesses offer incentives for prompt payment and make customers aware of their obligation to pay with prompt invoices. Free public sector contracts trial for small businesses The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) has announced that small businesses can get access to the public sector contracting website Supply2Gov for free, for a limited period of time. Businesses registering between 1 May and 31 July 2008 can access public sector contract opportunities valued under £100,000 through the whole of the UK. The free trial is part of measures outlined in this year's Budget which aim to increase the amount of public sector business won by small firms. Once the free trial period has ended, registered businesses will revert to the free local area access service unless they choose to keep the UK-wide service for a fee. New business-government forum on tax announced Chancellor Alistair Darling has announced that a new working group made up of UK businesses and Government representatives will look at the UK tax system and the challenges it faces. The group is to be chaired by Financial Secretary Jane Kennedy and will discuss how the tax system can provide long-term certainty to businesses in the face of challenges such as increased competitiveness. The Chancellor said that tax is something which makes the UK competitive at global levels, and reiterated that the UK rate of corporation tax is one of the lowest in the G7. E-recruitment is cost-effective, says report Research from the Cranfield School of Management has revealed that e-recruitment is a cost-effective way of attracting new recruits. The research, which looked at public sector e-recruitment systems, also revealed that e-recruitment is an efficient way to attract high- quality job seekers. The benefits of e-recruitment include removing the need for paper systems and the reliance on agencies, as well as reducing administration and hiring times. |
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